This press release contains:
• Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Neuroscience: Maximizing learning efficiency
Neuroscience: All wired up
Chemical Biology: Mitotic molecules
Neuroscience: A capsule for glioma therapeutics
Immunology: Innate helpers
• 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] Neuroscience: Maximizing learning efficiency
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2990
Confirming what teachers and educators have professed for years, that the best method for learning involves spacing-out study periods rather than attempting to cram, a study published online this week in Nature Neurosciencesuggests that moreover, the proper timing may be a bit more complex than previously assumed. By showing that it is possible to design training conditions that take into account the timing of known molecular events, this study provides a framework from which future studies may be designed to examine whether it is possible to improve learning and memory in higher organisms.
Certain enzymes in neurons increase their activity in response to learning. However, the time course with which each of these enzymes becomes activated is very different.
John Byrne and colleagues used a mathematical modeling approach to design a method of learning which accounts for the precise timing of these events so that the activation of these enzymes may be maximized during training and learning periods. The authors also show that their specifically-designed training schedule can maximize one form of memory in the sea slug, Aplysia californica.
Author contact:
John Byrne (University of Texas Medical School, Houston, TX, USA)
Tel: +1 713 500 5602; E-mail: [email protected]
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[2] Neuroscience: All wired up
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3001
Physical connections between various parts of the brain can predict neural activity within those regions, finds a study published online this week in Nature Neuroscience. Working out the match between physical connections and activation in the brain is likely to be useful for understanding individual differences in how the brain works, and how the function of the brain changes when these connections change naturally, as when people age.
Zeynep Saygin and colleagues focus on the fusiform gyrus, which is important for processing faces. However, as with the rest of the brain, there are many differences from person to person in the exact pattern of neural activity in this region.
Using diffusion tractography to work out what brain areas connect to the fusiform gyrus, the authors determine person-specific ‘wiring diagrams’ for this area. Then, they used functional magnetic resonance imaging to track each person’s whole brain activity while viewing faces. By combining the information from these two experiments, Saygin and colleagues find how patterns of physical connectivity match up with the brain activation patterns. In a different group of subjects, the authors were then able to use this information to accurately predict activation patterns in response to faces, just from subjects' individual pattern of physical connections. These results demonstrate that information about the physical connections in the brain can be powerful predictors of how the brain works.
Author contact:
Zeynep Saygin (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 401 935 2405; E-mail: [email protected]
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[3] Chemical Biology: Mitotic molecules
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.758
A streamlined method to synthesize molecules that look and act like natural products is presented this week in Nature Chemical Biology. The molecules’ ability to manipulate mitosis in cells is useful for scientists trying to understand regular cellular functions and the development of cancer.
Kamal Kumar, Herbert Waldmann and colleagues drew on a class of natural products—indole alkaloids—as their structural inspiration for creating a focused set of synthetic molecules. The authors created a synthetic method where 12 distinct reactions occurred in a single pot, yielding highly complex multi-ring compounds varying in six places around the molecule.
With 26 different molecules in hand, they then tested to see if the molecules had any effect on cells. Like the indole alkaloids the synthesized compounds were meant to mimic, the new structures did impact mitosis. Two centrosomal proteins, nucleophosmin and Crm1, were targeted by these compounds. As nucleophosmin is involved in the establishment of cancer, yet its specific role is not well understood, these compounds could provide valuable insights into the function of this protein in normal and diseased cells.
Author contacts:
Kamal Kumar (Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany)
Tel: +49 231 133 2431; E-mail: [email protected]
Herbert Waldmann (Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Physiology, Dortmund, Germany)
Tel: +49 231 133 2400; E-mail: [email protected]
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[4] Neuroscience: A capsule for glioma therapeutics
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3019
Packaging therapeutic stem cells with a biomaterial wrap improves their efficiency for brain cancer treatment, reports a paper published online this week in Nature Neuroscience. This study highlights the potential of a promising bioengineering strategy for glioma treatment, which may help guide future clinical trials.
Glioma is a common form of brain cancer that occurs when glial cells in the brain become malignant. Current treatments for gliomas are based on a combination of surgical intervention along with radio- and chemotherapies, but their outcome remains poor.
Using a mouse model of glioma, Khalid Shah and his colleagues remove the malignant mass, mimicking the surgical interventions common in glioma patients. They then implant neural stem cells that were genetically engineered to produce a tumor-selective killing agent in the resulting cavity. To improve their efficiency, Shah and colleagues packaged these engineered stem cells with a biomaterial called synthetic extracellular matrix to increase their survival and stability in brain tissue. Implanting such encapsulated stem cells led to a substantial increase in the lifespan of the sick mice compared to those receiving the non-encapsulated treatment.
Author contact:
Khalid Shah (Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 726 4821; E-mail: [email protected]
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[5] Immunology: Innate helpers
DOI:10.1038/ni.2194
Neutrophils—the immune system’s rapid response force—play an unexpected role by boosting antimicrobial antibody production, according to a report published in Nature Immunology. These findings suggest neutrophils act at multiple levels within the immune system to help combat infections.
Neutrophils possess an arsenal of antimicrobial toxic chemicals that can be unleashed locally at infection sites. Andrea Cerutti and colleagues show neutrophils help splenic B immune cells by releasing soluble factors that lead to a more potent antibody response. These direct interactions between neutrophils and B cells occur within distinct regions of the spleen call marginal zones. Patients that lack neutrophils have fewer marginal zone B cells and less robust antibody production to microbes.
Author contact:
Andrea Cerutti (IMIM-Hospital del Mar, Barcelona, Spain)
Tel: +34 933 160 389; E-mail: [email protected]
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NATURE
[6] Ars2 maintains neural stem-cell identity through direct transcriptional activation of Sox2
DOI: 10.1038/nature10712
[7] Purkinje neuron synchrony elicits time-locked spiking in the cerebellar nuclei
DOI: 10.1038/nature10732
[8] Recovery rates reflect distance to a tipping point in a living system
DOI: 10.1038/nature10723
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NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY
[9] Genome architectures revealed by tethered chromosome conformation capture and population-based modeling
DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2057
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NATURE CHEMICAL BIOLOGY
[10] Small molecule proteostasis regulators for protein conformational diseases
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.763
[11] Skepinone-L is a selective p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitor
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.761
[12] Primary amines protect against retinal degeneration in mouse models of retinopathies
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio.759
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NATURE GENETICS
[13] Exome sequencing identifies recurrent somatic MAP2K1 and MAP2K2 mutations in melanoma
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1026
[14] Frequent somatic mutations in MAP3K5 and MAP3K9 in metastatic melanoma identified by exome sequencing
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1041
[15] Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies identifies three new risk loci for atopic dermatitis
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1017
[16] Mutations in the colony stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) gene cause hereditary diffuse leukoencephalopathy with spheroids
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1027
[17] A genome-wide association study in Chinese men identifies three risk loci for non-obstructive azoospermia
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1040
[18] A genome-wide association study in Han Chinese identifies multiple susceptibility loci for IgA nephropathy
DOI: 10.1038/ng.1047
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NATURE IMMUNOLOGY
[19] Mice completely lacking immunoproteasomes show major changes in antigen presentation
DOI:10.1038/ni.2203
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NATURE MEDICINE
[20] 3D imaging of the unsectioned adult spinal cord to assess axon regeneration and glial responses after injury
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2600
[21] Endogenous-like inhibitory antibodies targeting activated metalloproteinase motifs show therapeutic potential
DOI: 10.1038/nm.2582
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NATURE METHODS
[22] HHblits: lightning-fast iterative protein sequence searching by HMM-HMM alignment
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1818
[23] Visualizing adenosine-to-inosine RNA editing in the Drosophila nervous system
DOI: 10.1038/nmeth.1827
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NATURE NEUROSCIENCE
[24] Chromatin modification of Notch targets in olfactory receptor neuron diversification
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2998
[25] Bidirectional modulation of fear extinction by mediodorsal thalamic firing in mice
DOI: 10.1038/nn.2999
[26] Uncoupling the roles of synaptotagmin I during endo- and exocytosis of synaptic vesicles
DOI: 10.1038/nn.3013
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NATURE STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
[27] A cis-antisense RNA acts in trans in Staphylococcus aureus to control translation of a human cytolytic peptide
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2193
[28] A metal switch for controlling the activity of molecular motor proteins
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb.2190
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 [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
Brisbane: 14, 15
Melbourne: 15
Perth: 15
AUSTRIA
Vienna: 20
BELGIUM
Brussels: 5
CANADA:
Toronto: 15
CHINA
Beijing: 18
Fuzhou: 18
Guangzhou: 18
Hefei: 18
Nanjing: 17, 18
Shanghai: 17
Shenzhen: 17
Taiyuan: 18
Wuhan: 17
Zhengzhou: 18
CZECH REPUBLIC
Ceske Budejovice: 24
DENMARK
Aarhus: 15
Copenhagen: 15
Gentofte: 15
ESTONIA
Tartu: 15
FINLAND
Kuopio: 15
Oulu: 15
FRANCE
Paris: 5
Rennes: 27
GERMANY
Bonn: 15, 20
Dortmund: 3, 11
Dresden: 3
Freiburg: 5
Goettingen: 20
Hamburg: 20
Hannover: 15
Homburg: 20
Jena: 11
Kiel: 15
Martinsried: 20
Munich: 15, 16, 20, 22
Munster: 3
Neuherberg: 15
Oldenburg: 20
Tuebingen: 11
ISRAEL
Rehovot: 21
ITALY
Brescia: 5
Genova: 5
JAPAN
Tokyo: 24
Wako: 24
KOREA
Cheonan-Si: 24
Daejeon: 25
Seoul: 25
NETHERLANDS
Amsterdam: 15
Groningen: 15
Rotterdam: 15
Utrecht: 15
Wageningen: 8
NORWAY
Oslo: 15
Trondheim: 16
PORTUGAL
Lisbon: 10
SINGAPORE
Singapore: 18
SPAIN
Barcelona: 5
Valencia: 5
SWEDEN
Gothenburg: 15, 16
Stockholm: 15
SWITZERLAND
Basel: 15
Geneva: 13, 15
Lausanne: 13, 16
UNITED KINGDOM
Aberdeen: 16
Bristol: 15
Cambridge: 15, 24
London: 15, 20
Manchester: 15
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
Alabama
Huntsville: 16
Arizona
Phoenix: 14
California
La Jolla: 10
Los Angeles: 9
San Francisco: 20, 23
Colorado
Aurora: 7
Florida
Jacksonville: 16
Jupiter: 10
Georgia
Atlanta: 5, 19
Illinois
Evanston: 7, 10
Urbana: 13
Indiana
Bloomington: 28
Indianapolis: 16
Iowa
Iowa City: 15
Kansas
Kansas City: 16
Maryland
Gaithersburg: 14
Massachusetts
Boston: 4, 5
Cambridge: 2, 4, 10
Worcester: 19
Michigan
Detroit: 16
Grand Rapids: 14
Minnesota
Rochester: 16
Missouri
St Louis: 15, 16
New Hampshire
Hanover: 28
New York
New York: 5, 6
Rochester: 16
Tarrytown: 19
Ohio
Cleveland: 12
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 15, 23
Rhode Island
Providence: 23
Tennessee
Nashville: 11
Texas
Houston: 1, 14
Lubbock: 16
Utah
Salt Lake City: 19
Wisconsin
Madison: 26
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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