EFTA00772478.pdf

From: F1000 Biology Update <info®f1000biology.com> To: Jeff Epstein <[email protected]> Subject: Unravelling the origin of swine flu, exploring the link between Down's syndrome and tumor suppression, and can fat enhance your memory? Date: Wed, 01 Jul 2009 16:56:04 +0000 View in your defult web browser. 01-Jul-2009 Search F1000 Biology g aSubmit Please note: The search function will not work for all email clients. Click here to search FI000 Biology. Wac WiFaculty of 1000 Biology ulty Faculty of 1000 Biology Major Advances. Expert Opinions. In this issue... Wellcome Trust Praises F1000 Editor's choice: Unravelling the origin of swine flu Hidden Jewel: Can fat enhance your memory? Broad impact: Exploring the link between Down's syndrome and tumor suppression F1000 Biology Reports: latest articles Last Chance: Rate Your Workplace by July 3rd F1000 on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedln! Free access to some of F1000 Biolowy's most popular recent evaluations Recommend F1000 to your librarian! Faculty of 1000 Biology Leaflets Wellcome Trust Praises F1000 The Wellcome Trust has used Faculty of 1000 evaluations to monitor the success of their funding support for scientific studies over the past 5 years. As well as accumulating bibliometric data, a panel of experts reviewed the publications funded by the Wellcome Trust for scientific merit and found their scores agreed with F1000 ratings. The Wellcome Trust highlighted the need for post-publication review as many articles they highly regarded did not have high citation scores and might be missed when reviewing bibliometric data alone. The authors of the study believe that "mechanisms such as Faculty of 1000 of post- publication peer review are a valuable additional mechanism for assessment of the quality of EFTA00772478 biomedical research literature." View the F1000 press release. View the original article in PLoS ONE. back to too Editor's choice: Unravelling the origin of swine flu It is three months since the first case of swine flu was uncovered in Mexico and the number of cases now stands at over 70,000 in 75 countries worldwide. With the recent declaration from the WHO that the current outbreak has reached Pandemic proportions, it is more important than ever for researchers to understand more about the new swine-origin influenza A (H1N1) virus (S-OIV) and its origin. In an important and illuminating paper, evaluated by Genomics and Genetics Faculty Member Steven Salzberg, the authors analyse sequences from all viruses known to be related to the current outbreak in order to build up a picture of the relationships and estimate a date of origin for the new H1N1 influenza A virus. Dr Salzberg writes "The authors report that the pandemic sequences have a common origin, with their most recent common ancestor having originated only a few months in the past, probably in January 2009 and no earlier than August 2008. More interesting, though, is their finding that the common ancestor of the S-OIV virus and other known (sequenced) viruses is between 9 and 17 years ago." He explains the implications of these findings, observing "This result shows that the pandemic virus has been circulating - in pigs, presumably - for 9 years or more without a single isolate being reported." Dr Salzberg concludes by noting "Clearly, our efforts as a community to track the influenza virus need to be much more extensive. Collecting and sequencing influenza samples is relatively inexpensive and closer surveillance may allow us to contain and perhaps prevent future outbreaks." Read the comments in full back to too 2,[ Hidden Jewel: Can fat enhance your memory? The authors of this fascinating paper, evaluated by Michael Andresen of the Physiology Faculty, look at the effect of fat-induced release of satiety factor Oleoylethanolamide (OEA) on memory consolidation. Dr Andresen writes EFTA00772479 "In this elegantly spare series of studies, the authors make the case that postprandial fat reaching the small intestine can significantly enhance memory consolidation." He adds "The work draws attention to the integrative impact of reflex pathways of the lower brainstem in linking homeostatic state to cortical function -- a body-mind interaction -- and, in a bit of a tweak, these results might suggest that there are important, healthy rewards in a bit of fat in your meal." [See full evaluation] The Hidden Jewels lists are one of the most popular features on the Faculty of 1000 Biology site as they bring to scientists' attention papers they otherwise might have missed (especially in fields adjacent to their own). These lists are compiled daily and include highly viewed papers evaluated within the previous month. back to too n oel Broad Impact: Exploring the link between Down's syndrome and tumor suppression Recent work has shown that individuals with Down's syndrome have a lower risk of developing many solid tumors and that Down's syndrome candidate region-1 (DSCRI) plays a key role in inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. The authors of the current study further investigate the mechanism of this interesting observation. Maria L. Mancini and Alex Toker of the Cell Biology Faculty report "This most recent paper reveals that DSCRI inhibits tumor angiogenesis in vivo through suppression of the NFAT/calcineurin signaling axis and decrease in endothelial specific NFAT target genes such as COX-2. Furthermore, they show that DYRK1A, which also regulates the NFAT pathway and is associated with Down's syndrome phenotypes, may act in concert with DSCRI, making these two molecules potentially important novel targets for therapeutic intervention in cancer." Eugenio Sangiorgi and Genomics and Genetics Faculty Member, Giovanni Neri, explains that the authors. "...used a wide range of techniques from iPS to a transgenic mouse model for Down's syndrome to a KO mouse for Dscrl, conclusively showing that the Dscrl copy number influences growth and vascularization, modulating angiogenesis within the host tumour microenvironment." Lin Chen of the Structural Biology Faculty, explores the therapeutic implications of this finding, observing, "...the fact that DYRK1A, another chromosome 21 gene with tumor suppressor function, is also an NFAT inhibitor, and that DYRKIA and DSCRI have been previously shown to function synergistically to inhibit NFAT {2}, will definitely draw attention to the possibility that NFAT inhibition might offer a potential therapeutic strategy for cancer." EFTA00772480 The structure of Faculty of 1000 Biology makes it possible to identify papers of broad interest, irrespective of the journal in which they are published. You can see the full comments of all the evaluating Faculty Members on this 'Must Read' Broad Impact paper by visiting the Faculty of 1000 Biology website. back to too F1000 Biology Reports See the latest issue of F 1000 Biology Reports, which contains 8 new articles, including Shaping the meristem by 2[F1000 Reports Logo] mechanical forces by Patrick Laufs, Alexis Peaucelle and Plant Biology Section Head Herman Mille. If you would like to be alerted about the most recently published F1000 Reports each month, please email [email protected] and put "F1000 Biology Reports" in the subject heading. back to too Is your Institution the Best Place to Work in Academia? Take The Scientists 7th annual Best Places to Work in Academia Survey. Are you a science professional working in an academic, hospital, government or private organization? Do you think your cientist Survey organization is a great place to teach? To do research? Does it leave you personally fulfilled? What areas could improve? The Scientist wants to hear what you think about your place of work. After all, a stellar institutional ranking for your employer reflects positively on Take the survey now. you. If you're not satisfied, then this is your chance to voice your concerns anonymously. Institutions really do consider the results of this survey and listen ACT NOW AND YOU COULD WIN - Survey Closes This Week! Complete the survey by Friday, July 3rd and you'll also be entered to win a $250 Amazon gift card. The results will be published in The Scientist's November 2009 issue. Help us help you - Tell your colleagues about the survey by passing this email around! The more responses we receive, the more accurate the results will be. Thank you for your time. We appreciate your contribution! See last year's results: 2008 Best Place to Work in Academia Survey results back to too F1000 on Twitter, Facebook and Linkedln! Follow the Faculty of 1000 on Twitter: http://twitter.com/f1000. Our Twitter Logo feed is open to all and contains breaking news, updates and links to specific evaluations that catch our eye EFTA00772481 RAFacebook Logo F1000 is now on Facebook. Become a fan! IPAInIcedIn Logo Join or start a discussion on our Linkedln group. back to ton Full access to some of F1000 Biology's most popular recent evaluations In this paper, a novel DNA hydrogel that greatly enhances protein production in a cell free system is presented. It is shown that the efficiency of protein production for a number of test proteins is about 300-fold higher for this method than for the raditional solution-based procedures...MORE Selected by 'Barbara Imperiali (Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, USA) pik 1 Must Read A cell-free protein-producing gel. F1000 Factor 6.0 I Park N et al. Nat Mater 2009 May 8(5):432-7 Computer reconstruction of a fossilized Neandertal pelvis indicates that the human birth mechanism, which differs from that of primates including great apes, originated late in human evolution, and differed from that of Neandertals...MORE Selected by 'Anthony Zera (University of Nebraska, USA) Neandertal birth canal shape and the evolution of human childbirth. Weaver TD and Hublin JJ, Proc Nati Acad Sci USA 2009 May 19 :',00 Ea.:1013.0 106(20):8151-6 The authors report the remarkable mutant phenotype in Arabidopsis in which meiosis is replaced by mitosis, whereby diploid fertile gametes are produced. This reproduces one of the key events in producing apomictic plants and the clonal production of hybrid seed...MORE Selected by 'John Bowman (Monash University, Australia) F:xtedlidnal Turning meiosis into mitosis. F 1000 Facto, 9.0 d'Erfurth I et al. PLoS Biol 2009 Jun 9 7(6):e1000124 In this study, fruit flies were selectively bred over 60 generations for poor sleep (short total daily sleep, short sleep bout length and long sleep onset latency), resulting in a novel line of flies that may be the best available animal model of chronic insomnia for genetic analysis...MORE Selected by 'Ralph Mistlberger (Simon Fraser University, Canada) ri:j usi Read Identifying sleep regulatory genes using a Drosophila model of insomnia. FI000 Factor 6.0 Seugnet Let al. J Neurosci 2009 Jun 3 29(22):7148-57 This paper provides an insight into the evolution and economics of cooperation in yeast. Using the model system of "cooperating" and "cheater" strains, the authors demonstrate an emergence of a stable steady-state coexistence of the two strategies... MORE Selected by 'Yuri Wolf (NCBI/NLM/NIH, USA) Must Read Snowdrift game dynamics and facultative cheating iryeast. FI000 Factor 6.0 I Gore J et al. Nature 2009 May 14 459(7244):253-6 back to ton EFTA00772482 Does your institute currently have access to F1000 Biology? If not, why not recommend to your librarian! Over 90% of the world's top institutions currently subscribe to F1000 Biology and many more are trialling. Why not visit the site to see if your own institute has access. If your institution does not have access, then please recommend the service to your library or institution so that they can arrange a free 30-day trial. You can use our online form to send your recommendation. If you prefer, there is a printable form (PDF). Alternatively, you may qualify for free access via HINARI or Faculty Member sponsorships: see http://www.f1000biology.com/about/hinari. back to too Faculty of 1000 Biology leaflets To make it even easier to let your friends and colleagues know about Faculty of 1000 Biology, we have developed two Faculty of 1000 leaflets, which give more information on using the site and making the most of the various features available. Please click on the image of the leaflets below to download them in PDF format. Why not share a few copies with your colleagues and lab members? F1000 Leaflet F1000 Leaflet Please note that there is also a site demonstration available at www.f1000biology.com: either click on the walkthrough button, or go straight there by clicking here. back to ton You have received this message because you asked to receive updates from Faculty of 1000 Biology. Your registered email address is: [email protected] Please click here if you do not wish to receive any fu0her messages from this Group: Unsubscrintion For further information or enquiries please contact Customer Services at: adll000biology.com is EFTA00772483  F1000 Biology. Biology Rcpons Ltd Science Navigation Group. Middlesex Howe, 34-42 Cleveland Street. London. WIT 4LB, United Kingdom EFTA00772484