This month in BioMed Roundup:

• Riquelme et al. reported that a specific set of circulating fatty acids triggers cardiac hypertrophy in snakes and mammals.
• Lindorff-Larsen et al. used millisecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations of 12 proteins to reveal a set of common principles for protein folding.
• Login et al. reported that a beetle species synthesizes an antimicrobial peptide to constrain a bacterial symbiont in specialized organs.
• Wu et al. showed that the basic composition of the human gut microbiome is influenced by long-term diet: high fat and protein versus high fiber.

Jump to:

• Biochemistry
• Neuroscience
• Medicine
• Cell/Developmental Biology
• Microbiology/Virology
• Genetics
• Immunology
• Molecular Biology

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BIOCHEMISTRY

Sequential Establishment of Stripe Patterns in an Expanding Cell Population (14 October 2011)
C. Liu et al.
A synthetic circuit implementing density-controlled bacterial motility autonomously produces a tunable stripe pattern.

NMR Detection of Structures in the HIV-1 5'-Leader RNA That Regulate Genome Packaging (14 October 2011)
K. Lu et al.
An RNA structural switch regulates whether the HIV genome is translated or dimerized and packaged.

Computation-Guided Backbone Grafting of a Discontinuous Motif onto a Protein Scaffold (21 October 2011)
M. L. Azoitei et al.
A two-segment HIV epitope grafted into a scaffold protein maintains high affinity for a broadly neutralizing antibody.

Antagonists Induce a Conformational Change in cIAP1 That Promotes Autoubiquitination (21 October 2011)
E. C. Dueber et al.
Antagonist binding to an apoptosis inhibitor releases inhibition by promoting dimerization required for autoubiquitination.

Mass Spectrometry of Intact V-Type ATPases Reveals Bound Lipids and the Effects of Nucleotide Binding (21 October 2011)
M. Zhou et al.
The effect of lipids and nucleotides on the soluble head domain and membrane base domain is examined in an intact adenosine triphosphatase
See related Perspective

The Complex Folding Network of Single Calmodulin Molecules (28 October 2011)
J. Stigler et al.
A multidimensional folding pathway can be observed online in single-molecule experiments.
How Fast-Folding Proteins Fold (28 October 2011)
K. Lindorff-Larsen et al.
Millisecond-scale molecular dynamics simulations of 12 proteins reveal a set of common principles for protein folding.
See related Perspective


NEUROSCIENCE

Early Gamma Oscillations Synchronize Developing Thalamus and Cortex (14 October 2011)
M. Minlebaev et al.
Thalamic gamma rhythms help develop highly spatially and laminar-specific ascending cortical projections.

Cerebellum Shapes Hippocampal Spatial Code (21 October 2011)
C. Rochefort et al.
Cerebellar protein kinase C–dependent mechanisms process self-motion information needed for spatial representation and accurate

Activity-Dependent Long-Term Depression of Electrical Synapses (21 October 2011)
J. S. Haas et al.
Paired bursting in coupled neurons depresses electrical synapses while their asymmetry increases after unidirectional use.
See related Perspective


MEDICINE

MED12, the Mediator Complex Subunit 12 Gene, Is Mutated at High Frequency in Uterine Leiomyomas (14 October 2011)
N. Mäkinen et al.
Uterine fibroids frequently harbor mutations in a specific gene that has been implicated in transcriptional regulation.

BRCA1 Tumor Suppression Depends on BRCT Phosphoprotein Binding, But Not Its E3 Ligase Activity (28 October 2011)
R. Shakya et al.
The properties of breast cancer susceptibility protein required for tumor suppression have been explored.
See related Perspective

Fatty Acids Identified in the Burmese Python Promote Beneficial Cardiac Growth (28 October 2011)
C. A. Riquelme et al.
A specific set of circulating fatty acids triggers cardiac hypertrophy in snakes and mammals.


CELL/DEVELOPMENTAL BIOLOGY

The Dynamic Architecture of Hox Gene Clusters (14 October 2011)
D. Noordermeer et al.
Sequential activation of Hox genes correlates with a transition of negative to positive three-dimensional chromosome structure.

Information Transduction Capacity of Noisy Biochemical Signaling Networks (21 October 2011)
R. Cheong et al.
Noise limits information transfer through a single signaling pathway in a single cell to just one bit.
See related Perspective

ER Tubules Mark Sites of Mitochondrial Division (21 October 2011)
J. R. Friedman et al.
Mitochondrial division occurs at positions where endoplasmic reticulum tubules contact mitochondria and mediate constriction.


MICROBIOLOGY/VIROLOGY

Linking Long-Term Dietary Patterns with Gut Microbial Enterotypes (7 October 2011)
G. D. Wu et al.
The basic composition of the human gut microbiome is influenced by long-term diet: high fat and protein versus high fiber.
See related Perspective

Successful Transmission of a Retrovirus Depends on the Commensal Microbiota (14 October 2011)
M. Kane et al.
Intestinal Microbiota Promote Enteric Virus Replication and Systemic Pathogenesis (14 October 2011)
S. K. Kuss et al.
Commensal microflora promote the pathogenesis of mucosally acquired viruses.

Antimicrobial Peptides Keep Insect Endosymbionts Under Control (21 October 2011)
F. H. Login et al.
A beetle species synthesizes an antimicrobial peptide to constrain a bacterial symbiont in specialized organs.



GENETICS

The Shaping of Modern Human Immune Systems by Multiregional Admixture with Archaic Humans (7 October 2011)
L. Abi-Rached et al.
Viral defense and embryo implantation mechanisms have been shaped by contributions from Neandertal and Denisovan genes.

An Aboriginal Australian Genome Reveals Separate Human Dispersals into Asia (7 October 2011)
M. Rasmussen et al.
Whole-genome data indicate that early modern humans expanded into Australia 62,000 to 75,000 years ago.

Transgenerational Epigenetic Instability Is a Source of Novel Methylation Variants (21 October 2011)
R. J. Schmitz et al.
Spontaneous methylation rates that may affect phenotype in the plant Arabidopsis are higher than the mutation rate.



IMMUNOLOGY

Acetylcholine-Synthesizing T Cells Relay Neural Signals in a Vagus Nerve Circuit (7 October 2011)
M. Rosas-Ballina et al.
A neural circuit that involves a specialized population of memory T cells regulates the immune response.
Functional Innervation of Hepatic iNKT Cells Is Immunosuppressive Following Stroke (7 October 2011)
C. H. Y. Wong et al.
Neurotransmitters relay immunosuppressive signals to natural killer T cells after stroke.
See related Perspective

The Antibacterial Lectin RegIIIγ Promotes the Spatial Segregation of Microbiota and Host in the Intestine (14 October 2011)
S. Vaishnava et al.
Innate immune signaling and antimicrobial peptide activity maintain separation of the microbiota and intestinal epithelium.
See related Perspective


MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

The Escherichia coli Replisome Is Inherently DNA Damage Tolerant (14 October 2011)
J. T. P. Yeeles and K. J. Marians
The core DNA replication machinery of Escherichia coli has an inherent ability to squeeze past DNA damage on the leading strand.

Stochastic Pulse Regulation in Bacterial Stress Response (21 October 2011)
J. C. W. Locke et al.
Energy stress activates an alternative sigma factor in stochastic pulses and modulates pulse frequency to control activity.

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