Making cancer stem cells

Nature and the Nature Research Journals Press Release for papers that will be published online on 16 July 2006. Summaries of newsworthy papers include Neurodegeneration: Alternative genetic cause of devastating dementia, Cold sore virus can evade the immune system

NATURE AND THE NATURE RESEARCH JOURNALS PRESS RELEASE

For papers that will be published online on 16 July 2006

This press release is copyrighted to the Nature journals mentioned below.

This press release contains:

· Summaries of newsworthy papers:

Cancer: Making cancer stem cells – Nature
Neurodegeneration: Alternative genetic cause of devastating dementia - Nature
Cold sore virus can evade the immune system – 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.

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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] Cancer: Making cancer stem cells
DOI: 10.1038/nature04980

Cancer stem cells have the ability to self-renew and thereby drive the development and maintenance of tumours. Researchers now show how cancer-triggering oncogenes can allow blood cells to acquire this ability and thus become leukaemia stem cells.

In a paper published online in Nature this week, Scott Armstrong and his colleagues describe how they introduced an oncogene into mouse haematopoietic (blood-cell producing) progenitor cells and then isolated cancer stem cells from the resulting leukaemias. Comparing the profile of active genes in these cells with the blood cells from which they had developed showed that the oncogene ramps up a specific subset of the genes active also in normal blood stem cells. These genes confer on cells the ability to self-renew. A subset of these genes is also expressed in human leukaemias associated with certain oncogenes.

Thus although cancer is thought to start often in normal stem cells, at least some oncogenic events can drive cancer from other cells by switching on stem cell genes.

Author contact:
Scott Armstrong (Harvard Medical School Boston, MA, USA)
Tel: +1 617 919 2508; E-mail: [email protected]

[2] & [3] Neurodegeneration: Alternative genetic cause of devastating dementia
DOI: 10.1038/05016
DOI: 10.1038/05017

Two groups of neuroscientists have uncovered a mutation that can cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD). The discovery may help to resolve confusion over the disease's underpinnings - another mutation is already known to cause the condition, but not all sufferers have this genetic defect, which prompted researchers to look for a secondary cause.

Mutations in a gene called progranulin, which encodes a growth factor, can cause FTD, report research teams led by Christine Van Broeckhoven and Mike Hutton in two papers published online in Nature this week. The condition, the second most common form of dementia among under-65s, impairs memory, personality and may also affect movement.

Previously, mutations in a neighbouring gene called microtubule-associated protein tau (MAPT; both MAPT and progranulin are situated on the same chromosome) was shown to be associated with some, but not all, cases of FTD. The discovery of another mutation that leads to the disease suggests an alternative mechanism in those patients who do not show MAPT mutations.

Author contacts:
Mike Hutton (Mayo Clinic College of Medicine, Jacksonville, FL, USA)
Tel: +1 904 953 0159; E-mail: [email protected]

Christine Van Broeckhoven (University of Antwerp, Belgium)
Tel: +32 3 265 1001; E-mail: [email protected]

Other papers from Nature to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

[4] Phosphorylation of WAVE1 regulates actin polymerization and dendritic spine morphology
DOI: 10.1038/04976

***************************NATURE IMMUNOLOGY ****************************
(http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)

[5] Cold sore virus can evade the immune system
DOI: 10.1038/ni1364

A newly identified method deployed by viruses to escape the immune system is reported in the August issue of Nature Immunology. Many strategies devised by viruses to 'hide' or 'escape' have been devised and these results describe another, previously unknown mechanism.

Immune cells called natural killer T cells are important in detecting and containing herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) infections, which cause cold sores. HSV-1 particles are ‘displayed’ on the surface of infected cells, enabling the natural killer T cells to distinguish between infected and uninfected cells. The molecule CD1d, which presents HSV-1 particles, constantly moves in a loop from the cell surface to the interior of the cell to sample and display of the contents of infected cells to natural killer T cells.

Peter Cresswell and colleagues demonstrate that HSV-1 blocks this loop; specifically preventing CD1d molecules from returning back to the cell surface. As a result, HSV-1-infected cells appear to be uninfected and are therefore nearly ‘invisible’ to natural killer T cells. Precisely how the virus blocks CD1d looping remains to be determined. However, these results emphasize an additional mechanism by which viruses can escape immune detection.

Author contact:
Peter Cresswell (Yale University, New Haven, CT, USA)
Tel: +1 203 785 5176; E-mail: [email protected]

Other papers from Nature Immunology to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

[6] Signaling protein SWAP-70 is required for efficient B cell homing to lymphoid organs
DOI: 10.1038/ni1365

[7] Remodeling of the lectin-EGF-like domain interface in P- and L-selectin increases adhesiveness and shear resistance under hydrodynamic force
DOI: 10.1038/ni1366

***************************************************************************
Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)

[8] Steps on anatase TiO2(101)
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1695

[9] Crystal structure transformations in SiO2 from classical and ab initio metadynamics
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1696

[10] X-ray microbeam measurements of individual dislocation cell elastic strains in deformed single-crystal copper
DOI: 10.1038/nmat1698

Nature MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)

[11] Heparin binding directs activation of T cells against adeno-associated virus serotype 2 capsid
DOI: 10.1038/nm1445

Nature BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnolgy)

[12] Combinatorial engineering of intergenic regions in operons tunes expression of multiple genes
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1226

[13] Stem cell–derived erythroid cells mediate long-term systemic protein delivery
DOI: 10.1038/nbt1227

NATURE GENETICS (http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)

[14] Mutations in the gene encoding the 3’-5’ DNA exonuclease TREX1 cause Aicardi-Goutières syndrome at the AGS1 locus
DOI: 10.1038/ng1845

[15] Mutations in genes encoding ribonuclease H2 subunits cause Aicardi-Goutières syndrome and mimic congenital viral brain infection
DOI: 10.1038/ng1842

[16] A functional SNP in PSMA6 confers risk of myocardial infarction in the Japanese population
DOI: 10.1038/ng1846

[17] Systematic mapping of genetic interactions in Caenorhabditis elegans identifies common modifiers of diverse signaling pathways
DOI: 10.1038/ng1844

Nature NEUROSCIENCE (http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)

[18] G(o) signaling is required for Drosophila associative learning
DOI: 10.1038/nn1738

[19] Vesicular proteins exocytosed and subsequently retrieved by compensatory endocytosis are nonidentical
DOI: 10.1038/nn1739

[20] BK calcium-activated potassium channels regulate circadian behavioral rhythms and pacemaker output
DOI: 10.1038/nn1740

[21] IGF-1 receptor is essential for the establishment of hippocampal neuronal polarity
DOI: 10.1038/nn1742

NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)

[22] Negative regulation of ERK activity by VRK3-mediated activation of VHR phosphatase
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1447

[23] Critical role of Daxx in regulating Mdm2
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1442

[24] A complex of Yos9p and the HRD ligase integrates endoplasmic reticulum quality control into the degradation machinery
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1445

[25] Regulation of cytokinesis by spindle-pole bodies
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1449

[26] Ku70 stimulates fusion of dysfunctional telomeres yet protects chromosome ends from homologous recombination
DOI: 10.1038/ncb1444

Nature STRUCTURAL & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natstructmolbiol)

[27] The role of BRCA2 in replication-coupled DNA interstrand cross-link repair in vitro
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1120

[28] Proteasome-mediated protein processing by bidirectional degradation initiated from an internal site
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1122

[29] Architecture of the SARS coronavirus prefusion spike
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1123

[30] Hemifusion arrest by complexin is relieved by Ca2+-synaptotagmin I
DOI: 10.1038/nsmb1124

********************************************************************************
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.

ARGENTINA
Cordoba: 21

BELGIUM
Antwerp: 3
Gent: 3
Leuven: 3, 11

CANADA
Montreal: 14
Winnipeg: 29
Vancouver: 2

FRANCE
Amiens: 15
Bordeaux: 15
Chalon sur Saone: 15
Illkirch: 4
Lyon: 15
Paris: 14, 15

GERMANY
Berlin: 15, 24
Dresden: 6
Essen: 14, 15
Freiburg: 15
Goettingen: 19
Martinsried: 28

IRELAND
Dublin: 14, 15

ITALY
Pavia: 15
Rome: 15
Sienna: 17

JAPAN
Osaka: 16
Tokyo: 16
Yokohama: 16

KOREA
Pohang: 4, 22

SPAIN
Madrid: 15
Valencia: 15

SWITZERLAND
Lugano: 9
Zurich: 9

THE NETHERLANDS
Maastricht: 14
Nijmegen: 14
Rotterdam: 3

UNITED KINGDOM
Birmingham: 15
Bradford: 14, 15
Cambridge: 15, 17
Edinburgh: 14, 15
Glasgow: 15
Halifax: 15
Hertfordshire: 14
Hull: 14
Leeds: 14, 15
London: 14, 15
Manchester: 2
Oxford: 15
Preston: 15
Salford: 2
Sheffield: 15

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
California
Berkeley: 12
Los Angeles: 10
Pasadena: 12
Stanford: 20
Colorado
Aurora: 21
Connecticut
New Haven: 4, 5
Florida
Jacksonville: 2
Illinois
Argonne: 10
Evanston: 20
Iowa
Ames: 30
Louisiana
New Orleans: 8
Maryland
Baltimore: 20
Chevy Chase: 1
Gaithersburg: 10
Massachusetts
Boston: 1, 6, 7
Cambridge: 1, 7, 23
Woods Hole: 25
Minnesota
Rochester: 2
Nebraska
Omaha: 27
New Jersey
Princeton: 4, 8
New York
Albany: 25
New York: 4, 6, 13, 26
Oregon
Beaverton: 5
Portland: 4
Pennsylvania
King of Prussia: 23
Philadelphia: 11, 23
South Carolina
Greenwood: 15
Tennessee
Oak Ridge: 10
Texas
Houston: 18, 30

PRESS CONTACTS…

For media inquiries relating to embargo policy for all the Nature Research Journals:

Katherine Anderson (Nature London)
Tel: +44 20 7843 4502; 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)
Peter Hare
Tel: +1 212 726 9324; E-mail: [email protected]

Nature Cell Biology (London)
Bernd Pulverer
Tel: +44 20 7843 4892; 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 Structural & Molecular Biology (New York)
Michelle Montoya
Tel: +1 212 726 9326; E-mail: [email protected]

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Published: 16 Jul 2006

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