Bio-Med Roundup


This month in Bio-Med Roundup:
    • Rottmann et al. identified a new class of compounds for the treatment of malaria.
    • Knox et al. showed that innervation is required to maintain epithelial progenitor cells that support salivary gland growth and development.
    • Fleming et al. reported that individual differences in the capacity for introspection are reflected in structural variation in the frontal lobe.
    • Korzhnev et al. combined nuclear magnetic resonance and computational methods to determine the structure of "invisible" excited protein states.
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MEDICINE

Effectiveness and Safety of Tenofovir Gel, an Antiretroviral Microbicide, for the Prevention of HIV Infection in Women (3 September 2010)
Q. Abdool Karim et al.
Tenofovir in a vaginal gel formulation shows significant protection against HIV infection in a randomized control trial.

Spiroindolones, a Potent Compound Class for the Treatment of Malaria (3 September 2010)
M. Rottmann et al.
High-throughput screening has offered up an oral antimalarial drug and pointers to its mechanism of action.
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Human-Restricted Bacterial Pathogens Block Shedding of Epithelial Cells by Stimulating Integrin Activation (3 September 2010)
P. Muenzner et al.
Bacterial colonization of the mucosa is facilitated if the microbes engage a human receptor that counteracts epithelial exfoliation.

Aryl Hydrocarbon Receptor Antagonists Promote the Expansion of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cells (10 September 2010)
A. E. Boitano et al.
The identifi cation of a mechanism for ex vivo amplification may facilitate clinical application of hematopoietic stem cell therapies.
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A Unifying Genetic Model for Facioscapulohumeral Muscular Dystrophy (24 September 2010)
R. J. L. F. Lemmers et al.
Sequence variants shared by patients with a genetically complex form of muscular dystrophy explain how the disease arises.
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CELL/DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

Glutamine Deamidation and Dysfunction of Ubiquitin/NEDD8 Induced by a Bacterial Effector Family (3 September 2010)
J. Cui et al.
Pathogenic bacterial proteins interfere with eukaryotic ubiquitination pathways to induce cytopathic effects.

Planar Cell Polarity Acts Through Septins to Control Collective Cell Movement and Ciliogenesis (10 September 2010)
S. K. Kim et al.
A gene involved in morphogenesis and ciliogenesis is mutated in patients with Bardet-Biedl syndrome.
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Self-Assembly of Filopodia-Like Structures on Supported Lipid Bilayers (10 September 2010)
K. Lee et al.
Actin bundle structures formed on lipid bilayers give insight into formation of the finger-like structures involved in cell migration.

Evidence for an Alternative Glycolytic Pathway in Rapidly Proliferating Cells (17 September 2010)
M. G. Vander Heiden et al.
Characterization of cancer cell metabolism provides evidence for a previously uncharacterized metabolic pathway.

Differential Arginylation of Actin Isoforms Is Regulated by Coding Sequence–Dependent Degradation (17 September 2010)
F. Zhang et al.
The translational speed of proteins influences whether they are cotranslationally degraded after arginylation.
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Parasympathetic Innervation Maintains Epithelial Progenitor Cells During Salivary Organogenesis (24 September 2010)
S. M. Knox et al.
Peripheral nerves maintain the undifferentiated state of epithelial progenitor cells during development.
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Olfactory Plasticity Is Regulated by Pheromonal Signaling in Caenorhabditis elegans (24 September 2010)
K. Yamada et al.
A nematode odor response is regulated by population density through dauer pheromone, a neuropeptide, and neprilysin peptidase.

A Vibrio Effector Protein Is an Inositol\ Phosphatase and Disrupts Host Cell Membrane Integrity (24 September 2010)
C. A. Broberg et al.
Altering the homeostasis of membrane-bound signaling molecules allows a bacterial pathogen to corrupt cell function.

α-Synuclein Promotes SNARE-Complex Assembly in Vivo and in Vitro (24 September 2010)
J. Burré et al.
A protein implicated in neurodegeneration promotes the assembly of membrane fusion complexes.


NEUROSCIENCE

Prediction of Individual Brain Maturity Using fMRI (10 September 2010)
N. U. F. Dosenbach et al.
Multivariate pattern analysis of 5-minute brain scans provides a measure of brain maturity.

MiR-16 Targets the Serotonin Transporter: A New Facet for Adaptive Responses to Antidepressants (17 September 2010)
A. Baudry et al.
The uptake transporter for a key neurotransmitter is regulated by a microRNA, yielding new insight into how Prozac functions.

Relating Introspective Accuracy to Individual Differences in Brain Structure (17 September 2010)
S. M. Fleming et al.
Individual differences in the capacity for introspection are reflected in structural variation in the frontal lobe.
See related Perspective

Dendritic Discrimination of Temporal Input Sequences in Cortical Neurons (24 September 2010)
T. Branco et al.
Dendrites of neurons are sensitive to the sequence of synaptic activation and can implement cortical computation.
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MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Signaling Kinase AMPK Activates Stress-Promoted Transcription via Histone H2B Phosphorylation (3 September 2010)
D. Bungard et al.
The energy sensor AMPK facilitates gene transcription by localizing to chromatin and phosphorylating histone H2B.
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Human SIRT6 Promotes DNA End Resection Through CtIP Deacetylation (10 September 2010)
A. Kaidi et al.
A protein implicated in stress, aging, and genome stability is required for the accurate repair of broken DNA.

Sequence- and Structure-Specific RNA Processing by a CRISPR Endonuclease (10 September 2010)
R. E. Haurwitz et al.
How a prokaryotic immune system makes small RNAs that target invading nucleic acids.

A General Mechanism for Network-Dosage Compensation in Gene Circuits (24 September 2010)
M. Acar et al.
A simple gene circuit consisting of an activator and an inhibitor is insensitive to the number of copies of a gene network.


BIOCHEMISTRY

The Molecular Interaction of CAR and JAML Recruits the Central Cell Signal Transducer PI3K (3 September 2010)
P. Verdino et al.
Ligand engagement and initiation of signaling has been imaged for a costimulatory receptor for immune cells in the skin.
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A Transient and Low-Populated Protein-Folding Intermediate at Atomic Resolution (10 September 2010)
D. M. Korzhnev et al.
Nuclear magnetic resonance and computational methods are combined to determine the structure of "invisible" excited protein states.
See related Perspective

Structural Basis for Activation of Class Ib Ribonucleotide Reductase (17 September 2010)
A. K. Boal
et al.
A single protein activates two different metallofactors by distinct chemistries.
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The Genetic and Molecular Basis for Sunscreen Biosynthesis in Cyanobacteria (24 September 2010)
E. P. Balskus and C. T. Walsh
A gene cluster encodes a four-enzyme pathway that uses an unusual mechanism to synthesize small-molecule sunscreens.


IMMUNOLOGY

The Junctional Adhesion Molecule JAML Is a Costimulatory Receptor for Epithelial γδ T Cell Activation (3 September 2010)
D. A. Witherden et al.
A costimulatory receptor for immune cells in the skin is identified.

Hemocyte Differentiation Mediates Innate Immune Memory in Anopheles gambiae Mosquitoes (10 September 2010)
J. Rodrigues et al.
Early immune priming limits malaria parasite infection of mosquitoes.

Island Biogeography Reveals the Deep History of SIV (17 September 2010)
M. Worobey et al.
Separation of the island of Bioko from West Africa about 10,000 years ago dates the origins of simian immunodeficiency virus.

Bifurcation of Toll-Like Receptor 9 Signaling by Adaptor Protein 3 (17 September 2010)
M. Sasai et al.
Compartmentalization of signaling components allows induction of distinct pathways downstream of a pathogen receptor.

Stability of the Regulatory T Cell Lineage in Vivo (24 September 2010)
Y. P. Rubtsov et al.
A subset of T cells that suppress immune-mediated inflammation is maintained by self-renewal.


SOCIOLOGY

The Spread of Behavior in an Online Social Network Experiment (3 September 2010)
D. Centola
An online experiment shows how network structure affects the spread of health behavior.


PLANT SCIENCE

Oscillating Gene Expression Determines Competence for Periodic Arabidopsis Root Branching (10 September 2010)
M. A. Moreno-Risueno et al.
Oscillations in gene expression define the positions of periodic lateral roots in a plant model.
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