This press release contains:
Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Nature: Unprecedented Arctic ozone loss in 2011
Immunology: Selecting mucosal memory
Geoscience: Dust–climate links in the tropical Atlantic
Genetics: BRIP1 variant associated with ovarian cancer
And finally…Nature: New therapeutic strategies in leukaemia
Mention of papers to be published at the same time
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: Unprecedented Arctic ozone loss in 2011
DOI: 10.1038/nature10556
A hole in the ozone layer over the Arctic in early 2011 was, for the first time in the observational record, comparable to that in the Antarctic, according to research in Nature this week. The hole was driven by an unusually long cold snap and high levels of ozone-destroying chlorine. Whether similar or more severe conditions may occur again in the future is difficult to predict.
Chemical ozone destruction occurs over both polar regions in local spring seasons. Relatively milder conditions in the Arctic normally mean that the damage is not as bad as in the harsher Antarctic. However, Gloria Manney and colleagues show that Arctic chemical ozone depletion in spring 2011 exceeded previous observations, with a loss of over 80 per cent at an altitude of 18 to 20 kilometres. Unusually long-lasting cold conditions above the North Pole in late 2010–early 2011 meant that enhanced levels of ozone-destroying forms of chlorine lingered in the atmosphere for a prolonged period.
Author contact:
Gloria Manney (California Institute of Technology, Socorro, NM, USA)
Tel: +1 575 838 0323; E-mail: [email protected]
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[2] Immunology: Selecting mucosal memory
DOI:10.1038/ni.2106
How protective immunological memory arises at mucosal sites is reported online this week in Nature Immunology.
Many pathogens enter the body at mucosal sites, mainly the tissues that line the gut and respiratory tract. A long-term goal has been to understand how to generate effective memory at these sites.
Hilde Cheroutre and colleagues identify a molecule called TL that influences selection of memory T cells. TL is expressed on the surface of gut epithelial cells where it interacts with T cells. Surprisingly, TL induces cell death of these cells, unless they express another surface molecule CD8alpha-alpha. Expression of CD8alpha-alpha is induced by T cell activation – and higher affinity cells express more CD8alpha-alpha. Hence the TL-CD8alpha-alpha interaction serves as a means to select for more effective memory T cells that patrol mucosal tissues.
Author contact:
Hilde Cheroutre (La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology, La Jolla, CA, USA)
Tel: +1 858 752 6730; E-mail: [email protected]
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[3] Geoscience: Dust–climate links in the tropical Atlantic
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1276
Variability in tropical Atlantic sea surface temperatures and winds is closely linked to African dust outbreaks, suggests an article published online this week in Nature Geoscience. Dust emissions over West Africa are, in turn, strongly influenced by changes in land use.
Amato Evan and colleagues simulated tropical Atlantic Ocean dynamics with an ocean general circulation model, and used reconstructed atmospheric dust concentration from a coral proxy and satellite retrievals to determine surface radiation. Fluctuations in sea surface temperatures arise when there are variable concentrations of dust reflecting solar radiation back to space. The researchers find that these fluctuations help maintain the dominant mode of coupled ocean–atmosphere variability in the tropical Atlantic.
Author contact:
Amato Evan (University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA, USA)
Tel: +1 434 243 7711; E-mail: [email protected]
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[4] Genetics: BRIP1 variant associated with ovarian cancer
DOI: 10.1038/ng.955
A genetic variant associated with ovarian cancer is reported this week in Nature Genetics.
Ovarian cancer causes more deaths than any other gynecologic malignancy in developed countries. Thorunn Rafnar, Kari Stefansson and colleagues report a genome-wide association analysis that utilizes the entire genome sequences of 457 Icelanders along with information on Icelandic genealogy to test sequence variants for association with ovarian cancer in 41,675 Icelanders. They identify an associated frameshift variant in BRIP1 which encodes a BRCA1-interacting protein. The mutation was also associated with increased risk of cancer in general.
Author contacts:
Kari Stefansson (deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland)
Tel: +354 5701900; E-mail: [email protected]
Thorunn Rafnar (deCODE Genetics, Reykjavik, Iceland)
Tel: +354 570 1900; E-mail: [email protected]
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[5] And finally…Nature: New therapeutic strategies in leukaemia
DOI: 10.1038/nature10509
A novel small molecule inhibitor of a protein family associated with the control of gene expression may offer promise as a therapy for aggressive forms of leukaemia, a Nature paper suggests. The molecule demonstrates efficacy in mouse models of mixed lineage leukaemia (MLL) and in human leukaemic cells.
The bromodomain and extra terminal (BET) protein family provides an ideal ‘druggable’ target in leukaemia as the bromodomain can be selectively targeted by inhibitors to displace the proteins from chromatin. Tony Kouzarides and colleagues show that BET proteins are associated with MLL fusion proteins, which are involved in leukaemia pathogenesis. They go on to identify a small molecule inhibitor of BET proteins — I-BET151 — that provides excellent control of MLL leukaemia progression in mice. I-BET151 induces cell cycle arrest and programmed cell death and inhibits transcription of key genes. These findings demonstrate the potential of BET inhibitors for future clinical studies.
Author contact:
Tony Kouzarides (University of Cambridge, UK)
Tel: +44 1223 334112; E-mail: [email protected]
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Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time:
Nature (http://www.nature.com/nature)
[6] DNA stretching by bacterial initiators promotes replication origin opening
DOI: 10.1038/nature10455
[7] CTCF-promoted RNA polymerase II pausing links DNA methylation to splicing
DOI: 10.1038/nature10442
[8] S-nitrosylation of NADPH oxidase regulates cell death in plant immunity
DOI: 10.1038/nature10427
[9] Molecular mechanism of anaerobic ammonium Oxidation
DOI: 10.1038/nature10453
NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)
[10] Comparative genomic analysis of the thermophilic biomass-degrading fungi Myceliophthora thermophila and Thielavia terrestris
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1976
[11] Tracking single hematopoietic stem cells in vivo using high-throughput sequencing in conjunction with viral genetic barcoding
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1977
[12] Extracting a cellular hierarchy from high-dimensional cytometry data with SPADE
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.1991
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[13] Phosphatidylserine is polarized and required for proper Cdc42 localization and for development of cell polarity
DOI: 10.1038/ncb2351
NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[14] Structural basis for cytokinin recognition by Arabidopsis thaliana histidine kinase 4
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.667
NATURE CHEMISTRY (http://www.nature.com/nchem)
[15] Ultrafast vibrational energy transfer at the water/air interface revealed by two-dimensional surface vibrational spectroscopy
DOI: 10.1038/nchem.1158
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[17] Identification of genetic elements that autonomously determine DNA methylation states
DOI: 10.1038/ng.946
[18] Mutations in TRPV4 cause an inherited arthropathy of hands and feet
DOI: 10.1038/ng.945
[19] Inverted genomic segments and complex triplication rearrangements are mediated by inverted repeats in the human genome
DOI: 10.1038/ng.944
NATURE GEOSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/ngeo)
[20] A model for orbital pacing of methane hydrate destabilization during the Palaeogene
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1266
[21] Increased ventilation age of the deep northeast Pacific Ocean during the last deglaciation
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1272
[22] Eddy-induced reduction of biological production in eastern boundary upwelling systems
DOI: 10.1038/ngeo1273
NATURE IMMUNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[23] The carboxypeptidase ACE shapes the MHC class I peptide repertoire
DOI:10.1038/ni.2107
[24] Endocytosed BCRs sequentially regulate MAPK and Akt signaling pathways from intracellular compartments
DOI:10.1038/ni.2116
[25] A motif in the V3 domain of the kinase PKC-theta determines its localization in the immunological synapse and functions in T cells via association with CD28
DOI:10.1038/ni.2120
NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)
[26] Resolving strain in carbon nanotubes at the atomic level
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3125
[27] Electrical control of the ferromagnetic phase transition in cobalt at room temperature
DOI: 10.1038/nmat3130
Nature MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[28] The calcineurin inhibitor tacrolimus activates the renal sodium chloride cotransporter to cause hypertension
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2497
[29] Nonopioid placebo analgesia is mediated by CB1 cannabinoid receptors
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2435
NATURE METHODS (http://www.nature.com/nmeth)
[30] MS3 eliminates ratio distortion in isobaric labeling-based multiplexed quantitative proteomics
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1714
[31] Gas-phase purification enables accurate, multiplexed proteome quantification with isobaric tagging
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1716
NATURE NANOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nnano)
[32] A decision-directed approach for prioritizing research into the impact of nanomaterials on the environment and human health
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.163
[33] Ambipolar field effect in the ternary topological insulator (BixSb1–x)2Te3 by composition tuning
DOI: 10.1038/nnano.2011.172
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[34] Dorsolateral and ventromedial prefrontal cortex orchestrate normative decision-making: causal evidence from a combined TMS-fMRI study
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2933
[35] A dual-shaping mechanism for postsynaptic ephrin-B3 as a receptor that sculpts dendrites and synapses
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2931
[36] In utero exposure to cocaine delays postnatal synaptic maturation of glutamatergic transmission in the VTA
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2930
Nature PHYSICS (http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[37] Optimization hardness as transient chaos in an analog approach to constraint satisfaction
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2105
[38] Topology by dissipation in atomic quantum wires
DOI: 10.1038/nphys2106
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PICTURES: To obtain artwork from any of the journals, you must first obtain permission from the copyright holder (if named) or author of the research paper in question (if not).
NOTE: Once a paper is published, the digital object identifier (DOI) number can be used to retrieve the abstract and full text from the journal web site (abstracts are available to everyone, full text is available only to subscribers). To do this, add the DOI to the following URL: http://dx.doi.org/ (For example, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng730). For more information about DOIs and Advance Online Publication, see http://www.nature.com/ng/aop/.
HYPE: We take great care not to hype the papers mentioned on our press releases, but are sometimes accused of doing so. If you ever consider that a story has been hyped, please do not hesitate to contact us at [email protected], citing the specific example.
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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
Melbourne: 2, 3, 24
Sydney: 2, 3, 4
AUSTRIA
Innsbruck: 38
CANADA:
Montreal: 15
Toronto: 4
CHINA
Dalian: 22
FINLAND
Helsinki: 2, 3
FRANCE
Creteil: 4
Evry: 4
Grenoble: 22
Paris: 3, 36
GERMANY
Berlin: 9
Bonn: 3, 4
Dresden: 4
Goettingen: 3, 4
Mannheim: 3, 4
ICELAND
Reykjavik: 3, 4
IRELAND
Belfast: 3
Dublin: 3, 4
ISRAEL
Jerusalem: 3
ITALY
Aoste: 29
Chieti: 15
Rome: 2
Turin: 29
Verona: 3, 4
JAPAN
Kyoto: 27
Nagoya: 21
Saitama: 22, 27
Tsukuba: 27
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam: 3, 23
Groningen: 3
Maastricht: 3
Utrecht: 3, 23
NORWAY
Kristiansand: 3, 4
Oslo: 3, 4
Trondheim: 4
PORTUGAL
Vairao: 2
RUSSIA
Moscow: 3, 38
OUTH AFRICA
Johannesburg: 2
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: 4
Stockholm: 3, 4
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 34
Geneva: 36
Lausanne: 2
Zurich: 34
UNITED KINGDOM
Aberdeen: 3, 4
Birmingham: 4
Cardiff: 3, 4
Cambridge: 3, 16, 34
Dundee: 4
Edinburgh: 3, 4
Essex: 13
Glasgow: 3
London: 3, 4, 28
Newcastle: 4
Oxford: 3, 26
Reading: 3
Southampton: 15
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Huntsville: 4
Arizona
Phoenix: 4
Tempe: 32
California
Berkeley: 33
Davis: 4, 11
Irvine: 4
La Jolla: 3, 4, 17, 19
Los Angeles: 3, 22
Menlo Park: 33
Palo Alto: 4
Pasadena: 35
San Diego: 4, 13, 19
San Francisco: 3, 4, 8, 18
Stanford: 3, 33
Colorado
Aurora: 3
Boulder: 3, 24
Connecticut
New Haven: 15
District of Columbia
Washington: 3, 4
Georgia
Atlanta: 3
Illinois
Evanston: 3
Chicago: 3, 4
Indiana
Indianapolis: 4
Notre Dame: 37
Iowa
Iowa City: 3, 4
Louisiana
New Orleans: 3
Maryland
Baltimore: 3, 4, 15
Bethesda: 3, 4
Rockville: 13
Massachusetts
Boston: 3, 4, 10, 11, 14, 30, 32
Cambridge: 3, 4, 10
Concord: 32
Woods Hole: 15
Michigan
Ann Arbor: 4
Missouri
St Louis: 3, 4
New Jersey
Piscataway: 12
New York
Albany: 15
Bronx: 14
Glen Oaks: 3
Ithaca: 12, 25
Manhasset: 3
New York: 3, 4, 12
North Carolina
Chapel Hill: 3, 4, 18
Oregon
Portland: 4, 28
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 4
Pittsburgh: 4
Texas
Dallas: 35
Virginia
Richmond: 3
Wisconsin
Madison: 31
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)
Elissa Bolt
Tel: +1 617 475 9241, E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemistry (London)
Stuart Cantrill
Tel: +44 20 7014 4018; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Climate Change (London)
Olive Heffernan
Tel: +44 20 7014 4009; 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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