NATURE AND THE NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE
This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below
This press release contains:
Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Nature: A new target in sight for blindness prevention
Genetics: Genetic ancestry correlated with leukemia relapse
Methods: Multicoloured fly brains
Methods: Watching single molecules under flow
Mention of papers to be published at the same time with the same embargo
Geographical listing of authors
PDFs of all the papers mentioned on this release can be found in the relevant journal’s section of http://press.nature.com. Press contacts for the Nature journals are listed at the end of this release.
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[1] Nature: A new target in sight for blindness prevention
DOI: 10.1038/nature09830
Loss of activity of the enzyme DICER has been implicated in the development of a form of blindness called geographic atrophy. The discovery of a new function for this enzyme, reported online in this week’s Nature, may lead to the identification of targets that could help treat a major cause of blindness.
Jayakrishna Ambati and colleagues report that the expression of DICER1 is considerably reduced in the retina of human eyes with geographic atrophy, an advanced form of age-related macular degeneration, although this was not observed for other retinal diseases. In mice, this reduced expression is associated with an accumulation of Alu RNA ― toxic transcripts that cause death in certain retinal cells. The authors show that DICER1 can inhibit the detrimental effects of Alu RNA on the retina by binding to the transcription factor.
The findings shed light on the pathology of geographic atrophy and reveal a novel function of DICER in the degradation of Alu RNA that could be exploited in new therapeutic strategies.
Author contact:
Jayakrishna Ambati (University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY, USA)
Tel: +1 859 323 0686; E-mail: [email protected]
[2] Genetics: Genetic ancestry correlated with leukemia relapse
DOI: 10.1038/ng.763
Genetic markers correlated with Native American ancestry are associated with a higher risk of relapse among children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), according to a study published online this week in Nature Genetics.
Ethnic differences in survival among children with ALL have been reported in many clinical studies, with poorer survival observed among African Americans or those with Hispanic ethnicity when compared with European Americans or Asians. However, the underlying causes for this are uncertain. Mary Relling and colleagues analyzed genetic variation in 2,534 children with ALL and found that the component of genetic variation that correlated with Native American ancestry was associated with a higher risk of relapse following chemotherapy, even after adjusting for known prognostic factors. The study also found that ancestry-related differences in relapse risk were eliminated by the addition of a single extra phase of chemotherapy, suggesting that treatment modifications can mitigate ethnic disparities in outcome among children with ALL.
Author contact:
Mary Relling (St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Memphis, TN, USA)
Tel: +1 901 595 2348; E-mail: [email protected]
[3] & [4] Methods: Multicoloured fly brains
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1566
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1567
Using genetic methods, multicolour labeling of individual cells belonging to the same lineage in the fly brain is possible, reports two papers published this week in Nature Methods. The ability to visualize individual neurons in their entirety and in relation to each other in the same preparation makes it possible to address questions about the brain’s anatomy and about how cellular lineages contribute to neural circuits.
The fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster is an ideal organism for studying neuronal connections. Over the past decades, an expanding repertoire of genetic tools has facilitated the visualization and manipulation of cell populations in this model organism.
Julie Simpson and colleagues and Iris Salecker and colleagues now report Drosophila Brainbow and Flybow, respectively – two independent adaptations of the mouse multicolour labeling technique known as Brainbow. These methods use genetic tools to allow the random expression of fluorescent proteins in specific cells in the fly brain. As a result, neurons that belong to the same lineage can be individually labeled with different colours.
Author contacts:
Julie H. Simpson (Janelia Farm Research Campus, Ashburn, VA, USA) Author paper [3]
Tel: +1 571 209 4183; E-mail: [email protected]
Iris Salecker (MRC National Institute for Medical Research, London, UK) Author paper [4]
Tel: +44 20 8816 2601; E-mail: [email protected]
[5] & [6] Methods: Watching single molecules under flow
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1568
DOI 10.1038/nmeth.1569
Methods for improved single-molecule fluorescence experiments are reported in two papers published online this week in Nature Methods. Understanding single molecule dynamics is important on a fundamental level as well as for modeling protein structure and for drug design.
Observing single molecules can yield insights into molecular behaviour that cannot be discerned from typical experiments in which populations of molecules are studied. For example, the intermediate states that a protein briefly occupies as it goes from an unfolded, inactive state to a folded, functional structure, can often only be detected by following a single protein as it folds.
Ashok Deniz and colleagues report a rapid microfluidic mixing device in which the output flow is slowed down such that it is compatible with single-molecule detection. They use the device to study the early folding steps of an intrinsically disordered protein, alpha-synuclein, using a detection technique known as single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer.
In separate work, Devdoot Majumdar and colleagues substantially increase the throughput of single-molecule experiments. Using an automated microfluidic mixing device that is compatible with fluorescence imaging, they monitor single-molecule conformational changes and enzymatic activity under various environmental conditions at a scale that would be inaccessible with manual methods.
Author contacts:
Ashok Deniz (The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA) Author paper [5]
Tel: +1 858 784 9192; E-mail: [email protected]
Devdoot Majumdar (California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, USA) Author paper [6]
Tel: +1 310 947 1081; E-mail: [email protected]
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Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[7] Fluorescent peptides highlight peripheral nerves during surgery in mice
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1764
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[8] Rapid and efficient clathrin-mediated endocytosis revealed in genome-edited mammalian cells
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2175
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[9] Structural landscape of isolated agonist-binding domains from single AMPA receptors
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.523
NATURE CHEMISTRY (http://www.nature.com/nchem)
[10] Palladium-mediated intracellular chemistry
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.981
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[11] Meta-analysis identifies 29 additional ulcerative colitis risk loci, increasing the number of confirmed associations to 47
DOI: 10.1038/ng.764
NATURE GEOSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/ngeo)
[12] Weakening of the equatorial Atlantic cold tongue over the past six decades
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1078
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[13] CD4+ T cell help and innate-derived IL-27 induce Blimp-1-dependent IL-10 production by antiviral CTLs
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1996
[14] Control of the development of CD8alpha-alpha+ intestinal intraepithelial lymphocytes by TGF-beta
DOI: 10.1038/ni.1997
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[15] Orbital reflectometry of oxide heterostructures
DOI: 10.1038/nmat2958
NATURE MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[16] Kinase suppressor of Ras-1 protects against pulmonary Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2296
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[17] Fast DNA sequencing with a graphene-based nanochannel device
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.283
[18] Direct observation of stepwise movement of a synthetic molecular transporter
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2010.284
[19] Flexible high-performance carbon nanotube integrated circuits
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.1
[20] The origins and limits of metal–graphene junction resistance
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.6
NATURE NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[21] NR3A-containing NMDA receptors promote neurotransmitter release and spike timing-dependent plasticity
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2750
[22] The neural substrates of rapid-onset Dystonia-Parkinsonism
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2753
[23] Timing of neurogenesis is a determinant of olfactory circuitry
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2754
[24] SCG10/STATHMIN-2 phosphorylation determines multipolar stage exit and neuronal migration rate
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2755
NATURE PHOTONICS (http://www.nature.com/nphoton)
[25] Nanolasers grown on silicon
DOI: 10.1038/nphoton.2010.315
NATURE PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[26] Transport through Andreev bound states in a graphene quantum dot
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1911
[27] Upscale energy transfer in thick turbulent fluid layers
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1910
[28] Nearly non-magnetic valence band of the ferromagnetic semiconductor GaMnAs
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1905
[29] Observation of ordered vortices with Andreev bound states in Ba0.6K0.4Fe2As2
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1908
[30] Observation of the thermal Casimir force
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1909
[31] Single valley Dirac fermions in zero-gap HgTe quantum wells
DOI: 10.1038/nphys1914
NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[32] Structural insights into energy regulation of light-harvesting complex CP29 from spinach
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2008
[33] Substrate-induced remodeling of the active site regulates human HTRA1 activity
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2013
[34] Genome-wide mapping of Arabidopsis thaliana origins of DNA replication and their associated epigenetic marks
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1988
[35] Competition for XPO5 binding between Dicer mRNA, pre-miRNA and viral RNA regulates human Dicer levels
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1987
[36] LIN-28 co-transcriptionally binds primary let-7 to regulate miRNA maturation in Caenorhabditis elegans
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1986
[37] Structural and biochemical studies of the 5′→3′ exoribonuclease Xrn1
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.1984
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GEOGRAPHICAL LISTING OF AUTHORS
The following list of places refers to the whereabouts of authors on the papers numbered in this release. The listing may be for an author's main affiliation, or for a place where they are working temporarily. Please see the PDF of the paper for full details.
AUSTRALIA
Brisbane: 5, 11
Canberra: 1, 27
Fremantle: 11
New South Wales: 1
Parkville: 1
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 4, 33
BELGIUM
Brussels: 11
Ghent: 11
Leuven: 11
Liege: 11, 24
CANADA:
Montreal: 11
Quebec: 1
Toronto: 11
CHINA
Beijing: 29, 32
Nanjing: 29
Shanghai: 37
DENMARK
Copenhagen: 24
Viborg: 11
FINLAND
Kuopio: 24
Turku: 24
FRANCE
Lille: 11
Montpellier: 35
Paris: 11, 35
Strasbourg: 35
GERMANY
Berlin: 11
Dortmund: 33
Essen: 16, 33
Heidelberg: 5
Kiel: 11
Munich: 11
Stuttgart: 15
Wurzburg: 15, 31
GREECE
Athens: 11
INDIA
West Bengal: 26
ISRAEL
Rehovot: 4, 27
Tel-Aviv: 11
ITALY
Florence: 11
San Giovanni Rotondo: 11
JAPAN
Kyoto: 18
Nagoya: 19
Sapporo: 21
Tokyo: 18, 21, 28
KOREA
Daejeon: 17
Pohang: 17
Suwon: 1
Wonju City: 1
LITHUANIA
Kaunas: 11
MALAYSIA
Bangi: 10
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam: 11
Groningen: 11
Leiden: 11
Utrecht: 11
NEW ZEALAND
Christchurch: 11
NORWAY
Oslo: 11
Stavanger: 24
SINGAPORE
Singapore: 11, 15
SOUTH KOREA
Gyeonggi-Do:
Jillyang: 15
SPAIN
Alicante: 24
Barcelona: 11
Madrid: 34
Pamplona: 21
WEDEN
Orebro: 11
Stockholm: 11
SWITZERLAND
Bern: 11
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 11
Dundee: 11
Edinburgh: 10, 11
Exeter: 11
Glasgow: 11
London: 4, 11
Manchester: 11
Newcastle: 11
Oxford: 18
Torbay: 11
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Birmingham: 2
California
Berkeley: 8, 25
La Jolla: 5, 7, 21, 36
Los Angeles: 1, 6, 11, 34
Pasadena: 6
Richmond: 8
San Diego: 5
San Francisco: 2, 11
Stanford: 6, 31
Colorado
Aurora: 2
Boulder: 1
Connecticut
New Haven: 11, 23, 30
District of Columbia
Washington: 2
Florida
Gainesville: 1, 2
Georgia
Athens: 34
Atlanta: 1, 11, 26
Hawaii
Honolulu: 12
Illinois
Chicago: 2, 11
Urbana: 26
Kansas
Pittsburgh: 11
Kentucky
Lexington: 1
Maine
Bar Harbor: 1
Maryland
Baltimore: 1, 2, 11
Bethesda: 14
Massachusetts
Boston: 11
New Mexico
Albuquerque: 2
Los Alamos: 30
New York
Bronx: 22
New York: 1, 2, 37
Yorktown Heights: 20
North Carolina
Chapel Hill: 212
Durham: 2
Ohio
Cincinnati: 11
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 1, 11
Tennessee
Memphis: 2
Nashville: 1, 16
Texas
Dallas: 2
Ft. Worth: 2
Houston: 2, 9, 29
Utah
Salt Lake City: 1, 11
Virginia
Ashburn: 3
Charlottesville: 13
Washington
Seattle: 11, 30
Wisconsin
Milwaukee: 2
PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
Rachel Twinn (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
Neda Afsarmanesh (Nature New York)
Tel: +1 212 726 9231; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Head of Press, Nature, London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4562; E-mail: [email protected]
For media inquiries relating to editorial content/policy for the Nature Research Journals, please contact the journals individually:
Nature Biotechnology (New York)
Michael Francisco
Tel: +1 212 726 9288; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Cell Biology (London)
Sowmya Swaminathan
Tel: +44 20 7843 4656; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemical Biology (Boston)
Carrie Meggs
Tel: +1 617 475 9241, E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemistry (London)
Stuart Cantrill
Tel: +44 20 7014 4018; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Genetics (New York)
Myles Axton
Tel: +1 212 726 9324; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Geoscience (London)
Heike Langenberg
Tel: +44 20 7843 4042; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
Tel: +1 212 726 9372; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Materials (London)
Vincent Dusastre
Tel: +44 20 7843 4531; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
Tel: +1 212 726 9325; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Methods (New York)
Hugh Ash
Tel: +1 212 726 9627; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Nanotechnology (London)
Peter Rodgers
Tel: +44 20 7014 4019; Email: [email protected]
Nature Neuroscience (New York)
Kalyani Narasimhan
Tel: +1 212 726 9319; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Photonics (Tokyo)
Oliver Graydon
Tel: +81 3 3267 8776; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Physics (London)
Alison Wright
Tel: +44 20 7843 4555; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (New York)
Sabbi Lall
Tel: +1 212 726 9326; E-mail: [email protected]
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