Summary of Science,
August 2008.
You
can find all the Science summaries in web format at:
http://www.brainischemia.net
Unlike
the JCBFM journal club, ONLY RELEVANT ARTICLES are listed. My relevance
assessment is entirely implicit and is designated with regard to work we are
doing or contemplating RIGHT NOW.
In
August 2008, I found the following articles of interest:
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*1. Essential
Cytoplasmic Translocation of a Cytokine Receptor–Assembled Signaling Complex. Atsushi Matsuzawa et al.
Sullysummary:
The authors describe a novel, two-stage mechanism of cytokine signaling through
CD-40 and TRAF 2 and 3. Binding of a tethered CD40 complex causes receptor
oligomerization, followed by the accretion of a complex of proteins on the
intracellular domain, including TRAFs 2 and 3, MEKK, IKK-gamma, UBC-13, and
c-IAP. For subsequent MAPK signaling to occure, polyubiquination and
proteolysis of TRAF3 is required. Pretty neat: ubiquination and proteolysis as
a proximal element in MAPK signaling.
Relevance: LOW
Link (PDF):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5889/663.pdf
Link (PDF, Summary):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5889/648.pdf
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*2. Problem solved (sort
of).
Robert Service.
Sullysummary:
progress in the field of computational protein folding. Mark my words: this is
a sea change across multiple disciplines, and in the long term it will alter the
shape of our world. The implications for biomedicine, materials science,
biowarfare, nanotechnology and even computer/electronics engineering are simply
collosal.
Relevance: LOW.
Link (PDF):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5890/784.pdf
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*3. Responses
to "Painful Publishing."
Sullysummary:
Interesting (and somewhat vociferous) responses to an article highlighed in
last month's journal club, regarding the often unnecessary burdens imposed on
investigators seeking publication, in the form of demanding additional
experiments that strengthen the work marginally or not at all.
Relevance: Medium.
Link (PDF):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5892/1039b.pdf
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*4. Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Generated
from Patients with ALS Can Be Differentiated into Motor Neurons. Dimos et al.
.
Sullysummary: The authors
demonstrate that adult fibroblasts can reprogrammed into into embryonic stem
cells that can in turn be differentiated into patient specific neural tissue. A
patient's skin cells can be transduced with a cocktail of transcription factors
to form embryoid bodies. These are treated with retinoate and sonic hedgehod,
and differentiate into lumbs of neurons and astrocytes. The study is concerned
primarily with ALS, but the potential for other neurodegenerative diseases,
including brain ischemia, seems clear.
Relevance: Medium.
Link (PDF):
http://www.sciencemag.org/cgi/reprint/321/5893/1218.pdf
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END SUMMARY.