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SCIENCE: 19. 6. 2013

SCIENCE: 19. 6. 2013

SCIENCE: Microbiology: Ever-Bigger Viruses Shake Tree of Life

"A decade ago, the discovery in an amoeba of a virus that rivals the size of a small bacterium prompted a rethinking of how viruses originated and what they could do. Now, a team in France has described two new viruses with by far the largest genomes ever seen in a virus, including one that's bigger than the genomes of some parasitic eukaryotes. The two pandoraviruses, so named because of the viruses' amphora shape and the surprises they may portend, also have strikingly different genes and physical appearances from other viruses. Most of the pandoravirus genes don't look like any genes in known databases, suggesting the viruses originated from a totally different primitive cellular lineage than bacteria, archaea, and eukarya. The tree of life may need to be redrawn to account for these new viruses, some researchers say."

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6143/226.summary

 

SCIENCE: Developmental Biology: Enhancing Pluripotency and Lineage Specification

"Embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) hold great promise in regenerative medicine. Realizing this potential requires a thorough understanding of the genetic programs regulating their pluripotency and lineage commitment. Recent studies have generated a wealth of information regarding the transcriptional circuitry underlying self-renewal and lineage commitment of ES cells. Here we review these studies, focusing on a type of cis-regulatory sequences called enhancers and their potential roles in pluripotency and cell fate determination. We also discuss how such information can help ES cell research and regenerative medicine, together with the challenges to understand the functions and regulation of these elements."

http://www.sciencemag.org/content/341/6143/245.summary

 

NATURE IMMUNOLOGY: Platelet-macrophage partnership in innate immunity

"Platelets and phagocytes engage in bidirectional interaction in innate immunity and inflammation. Kupffer cell–platelet cooperation results in the rapid encasement of blood-borne bacteria and host protection."

http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v14/n8/full/ni.2666.html

 

NATURE IMMUNOLOGY: NLRP3 inflammasome activation: CD36 serves double duty

"Studies have linked the NLRP3 inflammasome pathway to the elaboration of sterile inflammation. CD36 serves a dual role by priming transcription of the gene encoding interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and inducing assembly of the NLRP3 inflammasome complex, which leads to the release of active IL-1β."

http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v14/n8/full/ni.2668.html

 

NATURE IMMUNOLOGY: The IL-20 cytokine subfamily: bad guys in host defense?

"Resistance to infection of the skin with Staphylococcus aureus depends on early production of interleukin 1β (IL-1β) and IL-17A by skin-resident cells. However, several members of the IL-20 subfamily of cytokines (IL-19, IL-20 and IL-24) can inhibit the local generation of those two cytokines."

http://www.nature.com/ni/journal/v14/n8/full/ni.2664.html