This month in Bio-Med Roundup:

• Anderson et al. showed that gossip influences whether a face is seen as well as how it is evaluated.
• Mineur et al. reported that nicotine decreases weight by targeting a brain pathway involved in the regulation of energy balance and food intake.
• Donlea et al. reported that inducing sleep in flies reverses long-term memory caused by social enrichment.
• Qian and Winfree used DNA and the principles of simplicity, abstraction, and tolerance to build a molecular computer demonstrating scalability and noise control.

Jump to:

• Cell/Developmental Biology
• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience/Psychology
• Molecular Biology
• Physiology
• Plant Science

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CELL/DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

Interaction Between Notch and Hif-a in Development and Survival of Drosophila Blood Cells (3 June 2011)
T. Mukherjee et al.
Ligand-independent Notch signaling promotes blood cell survival during normal development and under hypoxic stress.

A DNA Damage Response Screen Identifies RHINO, a 9-1-1 and TopBP1 Interacting Protein Required for ATR Signaling (10 June 2011)
C. Cotta-Ramusino et al.
A screen identifies proteins not previously known to function in protecting cells from DNA damage.

The mTOR-Regulated Phosphoproteome Reveals a Mechanism of mTORC1-Mediated Inhibition of Growth Factor Signaling (10 June 2011)
P. P. Hsu et al.
Phosphoproteomic Analysis Identifies Grb10 as an mTORC1 Substrate That Negatively Regulates Insulin Signaling (10 June 2011)
Y. Yu et al.
A search for substrates of a growth-promoting kinase revealed a regulatory feedback loop involved in tumor suppression.
See related Perspective

TFEB Links Autophagy to Lysosomal Biogenesis (17 June 2011)
C. Settembre et al.
Starvation activates a transcriptional program controlling autophagosome formation, lysosome fusion, and substrate degradation.
See related Perspective

AMPK Is a Direct Adenylate Charge-Regulated Protein Kinase (17 June 2011)
J. S. Oakhill et al.
The cellular energy sensor adenosine monophosphate-activated protein kinase also binds and is regulated by adenosine diphosphate.
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Gametogenesis Eliminates Age-Induced Cellular Damage and Resets Life Span in Yeast (24 June 2011)
E. Ünal et al.
When yeast commits to sex, reversal of age-induced cellular damage rejuvenates its life span.

A Cell Cycle Phosphoproteome of the Yeast Centrosome (24 June 2011)
J. M. Keck et al.
Phosphorylation of the yeast centrosome reveals sites of regulation and predicts complex regulation of mammalian centrosomes.


BIOCHEMISTRY

Scaling Up Digital Circuit Computation with DNA Strand Displacement Cascades (3 June 2011)
L. Qian and E. Winfree
Scalability and noise control are demonstrated in a molecular computer built from DNA.
See related Perspective

Crystal Structure of the Maltose Transporter in a Pretranslocation Intermediate State (3 June 2011)
Michael L. Oldham and Jue Chen
An intermediate structure provides insight into how a transport substrate allosterically activates adenosine triphosphatase activity.

Residue-Specific Vibrational Echoes Yield 3D Structures of a Transmembrane Helix Dimer (3 June 2011)
A. Remorino et al.
Vibrational spectroscopy coupled with isotopic substitution can probe protein structure.

Activation of Visual Pigments by Light and Heat (10 June 2011)
D.-G. Luo et al.
Thermal activation of visual pigments involves the same chromophore-isomerization reaction as does light activation.

A Synthetic Optogenetic Transcription Device Enhances Blood-Glucose Homeostasis in Mice (24 June 2011)
H. Ye et al.
An implanted device using blue-light–triggered expression of the glucagon-like peptide 1 attenuates diabetes in mice.
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NEUROSCIENCE/PSYCHOLOGY

The Visual Impact of Gossip (17 June 2011)
E. Anderson et al.
Negative gossip about a person renders that person’s face more visible to the onlooker.

Selective Attention from Voluntary Control of Neurons in Prefrontal Cortex (24 June 2011)
R. J. Schafer and T. Moore
The activity of neurons with both visual and motor properties in the frontal eye field can be controlled voluntarily.
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Inducing Sleep by Remote Control Facilitates Memory Consolidation in Drosophila (24 June 2011)
J. M. Donlea et al.
Inducing sleep in flies reverses deficits in long-term memory caused by social enrichment.

Sleep and Synaptic Homeostasis: Structural Evidence in Drosophila (24 June 2011)
D. Bushey et al.
Flies’ need for sleep depends on how many synapses are formed while awake.


MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

SIRT6 Promotes DNA Repair Under Stress by Activating PARP1 (17 June 2011)
Z. Mao et al.
A genome stability regulator integrates DNA repair and stress signaling pathways.

Mutagenic Processing of Ribonucleotides in DNA by Yeast Topoisomerase I (24 June 2011)
N. Kim et al.
An enzyme that removes supercoils from DNA can cause mutations when RNA bases accidentally get incorporated into the DNA.
See related Perspective


PHYSIOLOGY

Nicotine Decreases Food Intake Through Activation of POMC Neurons (10 June 2011)
Y. S. Mineur et al.
Nicotine decreases weight gain by targeting a brain pathway involved in the regulation of energy balance and food intake.

A Molecular Mechanism for Circadian Clock Negative Feedback (17 June 2011)
H. A. Duong et al.
New cogs in the mammalian circadian clock are identified.


PLANT SCIENCE

Direct Ubiquitination of Pattern Recognition Receptor FLS2 Attenuates Plant Innate Immunity (17 June 2011)
D. Lu et al.
Targeted degradation of bacterial sensing proteins keeps plant defenses from running amok.
See related Perspective