This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below.
This press release contains:
- Summaries of newsworthy papers:
Genetics: Enzymes make their mark - Nature
Weather really is universal - Nature Physics
Tumors that suppress immunity - Nature Immunology
- 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.
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/.
PLEASE CITE THE SPECIFIC NATURE JOURNAL AND WEBSITE AS THE SOURCE OF THE FOLLOWING ITEMS. IF PUBLISHING ONLINE, PLEASE CARRY A HYPERLINK TO THE APPROPRIATE JOURNAL’S WEBSITE.
***************************NATURE******************************
(http://www.nature.com/nature)
[1] & [2] Genetics: Enzymes make their mark
Members of a protein subfamily have been found to have demethylase activity, according to two papers to be published online by Nature this week. They show that the enzymes alter the structure of the protein–DNA complex called chromatin.
In chromatin, DNA is wrapped around proteins called histones. Specific patterns of methyl groups attached to one histone, H3, are involved in silencing genes and have been thought to be permanent chromatin marks. Kristian Helin and colleagues show that an enzyme called GASC1 (also called JMJD2C), and others in the same family, remove these methyl groups and thus alter the chromatin structure and consequently gene expression.
Production of GASC1 was previously known to be boosted in some human cancers, and the researchers show that blocking this enzyme cuts cell proliferation, suggesting that such an approach could stall the runaway cell division in cancer.
In a linked paper, Yi Zhang and colleagues show that the related protein JHDM3A (also called JMJD2A) also removes methyl groups from histone H3 and can change chromatin structure and the expression of genes when overexpressed.
CONTACT
Kristian Helin (Biotech Research & Innovation Centre, Copenhagen, Denmark)
Tel: +45 3917 9666; E-mail: [email protected]
Yi Zhang (The University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, USA)
Tel: +1 919 843 8225; E-mail: [email protected]
************************NATURE PHYSICS**********************
(http://www.nature.com/naturephysics)
[3] Weather really is universal
DOI: 10.1038/nphys314
The onset of intense tropical rain and magnetism share the same underlying physics, report Ole Peters and David Neelin in the June issue of Nature Physics. They describe a link between the physics of the two, even though magnetism has a lot of exact theoretical machinery behind it and no one can predict tomorrow's weather.
This is an example of universality, a property that enables different physical systems - with vastly different length-scales - to behave in similar ways near a phase transition.
The authors analysed the vapour content of tropical precipitation, or wet weather data, and found that it undergoes a smooth, continuous phase transition to a state of intense downpour as the amount of water vapour passes a critical value. This observed long-range correlated behaviour in atmospheric convection, of up to hundreds of kilometres, is similar to that well known in magnetic micrometre-scale crystals. That such simplicity lies behind a complex meteorological system is unexpected, and may pave the way for future climate models.
Author contact
Ole Peters (Santa Fe Institute, Santa Fe, NM, USA)
Phone: +1 505 946 2713; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Physics to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[4] Rapid sympathetic cooling to Fermi degeneracy on a chip
DOI: 10.1038/nphys309
[5] Annealed high-density amorphous ice under pressure
DOI: 10.1038/nphys313
[6] Room-temperature coherent coupling of single spins in diamond
DOI: 10.1038/nphys318
*********************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY**********************
(http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)
[7] Tumors that suppress immunity
DOI: 10.1038/ni1350
The normally harmonious balance of the immune system can be disturbed by cancer. A new report in the July issue of Nature Immunology shows how late-stage tumors can promote the development of ‘suppressor’ cells that prevent other immune cells from effectively fighting against the tumor.
Tumors can produce many types of abnormal proteins, some of which enable them to grow rapidly whereas others may affect immune cells that are supposed to attack the tumor. In some cases, tumor products can serve as ‘tumor beacons’, alerting the immune system that danger is present and stimulating effective tumor immunity.
Spies and colleagues demonstrate a potentially harmful effect of one particular protein when overproduced by the tumor: it can spur otherwise helpful immune cells, called T helper cells, to divide and become suppressor cells that inhibit the activity of other immune cells. Exactly how the T helper cells become suppressor cells is not yet known. But the requirement for the tumor-derived protein in their production is clear and emphasizes the many ways that cancer cells can be detrimental to immune cells.
Author contact:
Thomas Spies (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, Seattle, WA USA)
Tel: +1 206 667 6940; E-mail: [email protected]
Other papers from Nature Immunology to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
[8] Regulation of naive T cell function by the NF-kappaB2 pathway
DOI: 10.1038/ni1351
***************************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:
Nature CHEMICAL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/nchembio)
[9] The Atx1-Ccc2 complex is a metal-mediated protein-protein interaction
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio797
[10] Visualization of Nitric Oxide in Living Cells by a Copper-Based Fluorescent Probe
DOI: 10.1038/nchembio794
Nature MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)
[11] Deficiency of interleukin-18 in mice leads to hyperphagia, obesity and insulin resistance
DOI: 10.1038/nm1415
[12] Proton NMR analysis of plasma is a weak predictor of coronary artery disease
DOI: 10.1038/nm1432
[13] The autoimmune regulator (Aire) regulates iNKT cell development and maturation
DOI: 10.1038/nm1424
[14] Live imaging of lymphatic development in the zebrafish
DOI: 10.1038/nm1427
[15] Genetic model of selective COX2 inhibition reveals novel heterodimer signalling
DOI: 10.1038/nm1412
Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnolgy)
[16] Sequencing genomes from single cells by polymerase cloning
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1214
[17] Hematopoietic stem cell gene transfer in a tumor-prone mouse model uncovers low genotoxicity of lentiviral vector integration
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1216
NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)
[18] Conserved requirement for a plant host cell protein in powdery mildew pathogenesis
DOI: 10.1038/ng1806
[19] The PHYTOCHROME C photoreceptor gene mediates natural variation in flowering and growth responses of Arabidopsis thaliana
DOI: 10.1038/ng1818
[20] Genome-wide analysis of Polycomb targets in Drosophila melanogaster
DOI: 10.1038/ng1817
Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)
[21] Cocaine self-administration selectively abolishes LTD in the core of the nucleus accumbens
DOI: 10.1038/nn1713
[22] Executive control of countermanding saccades by the supplementary eye field
DOI: 10.1038/nn1714
[23] Control of microglial neurotoxicity by the fractalkine receptor
DOI: 10.1038/nn1715
[24] AMPA receptors regulate transcription of the plasticity-related immediate-early gene Arc
DOI: 10.1038/nn1708
[25] Bayesian calibration of simultaneity in tactile temporal order judgment
DOI: 10.1038/nn1712
NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)
[26] A conserved GTPase-containing complex is required for intracellular sorting of the general amino-acid permease in yeast
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1419
Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)
[27] Crystal structures of the Tie2 receptor ectodomain and the angiopoietin-2-Tie2 complex
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1101
[28] Probing SWI/SNF remodeling of the nucleosome by unzipping single DNA molecules
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1102
[29] The retromer subunit Vps26 has an arrestin fold and binds Vps35 through its C-terminal domain
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1103
[30] Lysine activation and functional analysis of E2-mediated conjugation in the SUMO pathway
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1104
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
Darlinghurst: 8
Melbourne: 6
Sydney: 6
CANADA
Kingston: 15
London: 13
Toronto: 4
FRANCE
Paris: 5
GERMANY
Freiburg: 17
Halle: 18
Heidelberg: 17
Koln: 18
Oberschleissheim: 18
Ruhr: 6
Stuttgart: 6
Tubingen: 18, 19
GREECE
Ioannina: 9
ITALY
Florence: 9
Milan: 17
JAPAN
Morioka: 14
Noda-City: 8
Osaka: 11
Saitama: 25
Tokushima: 8
Tokyo: 25
Tsukuba: 25
SWITZERLAND
Villigen: 5
THE NETHERLANDS
Leiden: 11
Nijmegen: 11
UNITED KINGDOM
Cambridge: 12
Edinburgh: 5
Papworth: 12
UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
Albany : 18
Berkeley : 20
Davis : 19
Emeryville : 20, 21
La Jolla: 8, 19
Los Angeles: 3
San Francisco : 21, 24
Stanford : 18
Walnut Creek : 16
Colorado
Aurora : 11
Denver : 11
Georgia
Augusta: 13
Illinois
Argonne : 27
Maryland
Baltimore : 22
Bethesda: 14, 29
Massachusetts
Beverley: 16
Boston: 16
Cambridge: 10, 16, 26
Worcester: 28
New Jersey
Piscataway: 20
New Mexico
Los Alamos: 3
Santa Fe: 3
New York
Ithaca: 28
New York: 23, 27, 29, 30
North Carolina
Research Triangle Park: 23
Ohio
Cincinnati: 17
Cleveland: 23
Pennsylvania
Philadelphia: 15
Texas
College Station: 6
Tennessee
Nashville: 22
Virginia
Richmond: 27
Washington
Seattle: 7
PRESS CONTACTS…
For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:
Helen Jamison (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4658; E-mail: [email protected]
Ruth Francis (Senior Press Officer, 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)
Kathy Aschheim
Tel: +1 212 726 9346; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Cell Biology (London)
Bernd Pulverer
Tel: +44 20 7843 4892; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Chemical Biology (Boston)
Beatrice Chrystall
Tel: +1 617 475 9241, E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Genetics (New York)
Orli Bahcall
Tel: +1 212 726 9311; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Immunology (New York)
Laurie Dempsey
Tel: +1 212 726 9372; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Materials (London)
Maria Bellantone
Tel: +44 20 7843 4556; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Medicine (New York)
Juan Carlos Lopez
Tel: +1 212 726 9325; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Neuroscience (New York)
Sandra Aamodt (based in California)
Tel: +1 530 795 3256; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Physics (London)
Alison Wright
Tel: +44 20 7843 4555; E-mail: [email protected]
Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (New York)
Michelle Montoya
Tel: +1 212 726 9351; E-mail: [email protected]
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