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Papers published online on 14 December by Nature and the Nature Research Journals

December 16, 2003

NATURE GENETICS(http://www.nature.com/naturegenetics)

[1] Mutant gene turns gall bladder into pancreas

10.1038/ng1273 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1273)

A new study published in the January issue of Nature Genetics shows that, when a developmental gene switch was removed from experimental mice, what would have developed into a gall bladder instead turned into tissues remarkably like those in a pancreas.
        
Several of the major organs for digesting food appear at the same time in the same place in the development of the embryos of humans and other mammals. The liver, the gall bladder and bile ducts, and pancreas all develop from the gut and take on their distinctive identities as the genetic program for development unfolds. Ryo Sumazaki and his colleagues report that they have discovered a key part of this program, a gene switch that helps to assign the identities of these three essential digestive organs.
        
This result means that the gene, called Hes1, is normally responsible for deciding which organ is which, by discouraging the developing gall bladder from following its alternative career path toward becoming a pancreas, for example. Since this aspect of the genetic program of development is shared between mouse and man, this study provides an insight into the causes of human diseases such as the Alagille syndrome, a hereditary problem where the gall bladder and bile ducts are underdeveloped.

Author contact:
Ryo Sumazaki (University of Tsukuba, Japan)
Tel: +81 2 9853 3210; E-mail: rsuma@md.tsukuba.ac.jp

Other papers from Nature Genetics to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

[2] Phosphorylation by aurora kinase A induces Mdm2-mediated destabilization and inhibition of p53
(DOI: 10.1038/ng1279) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1279)

[3] Epigenetic regulation of telomere length in mammalian cells by the Suv39h1 and Suv39h2 histone methyltransferases
(DOI: 10.1038/ng1278) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1278)

[4] Growth and specification of the eye are controlled independently by Eyegone and Eyeless
in Drosophila melanogaster
(DOI: 10.1038/ng1281) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ng1281)

NATURE NEUROSCIENCE(http://www.nature.com/natureneuroscience)

[5] Near my shadow, near my body

DOI: 10.1038/nn1167 (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1167)

Shadows help our visual system decide about spatial relationships between objects, their movement, and even their shape. Visual stimuli falling near shadows cast by a person's body can also be tightly bound to the person's tactile sensations, reports a paper in the January issue of Nature Neuroscience.
        
When people are asked to discriminate a touch on the thumb or index finger, flashed visual distractors near the location of the touch are known to increase reaction times and error rates. In the new study, Pavani and Castiello found that visual distractors near the hand's shadow have a similar effect. When the hand did not cast a shadow or when the shadow was not shaped like a hand, visual distractors in the same location had less influence on responses. The authors conclude that the brain's internal model of our body's shape and size can include the shadows that it casts.
        
Author contact:
Francesco Pavani (Universit'  degli Studi di Trento, Italy)
Tel: +39 04 64483601; E-mail: pavani@form.unitn.it

Other papers from Nature Neuroscience to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

[6] Hippocampal plasticity requires postsynaptic ephrinBs
(DOI: 10.1038/nn1164) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1164)

[7] Increased prefrontal and parietal activity after training of working memory
(DOI: 10.1038/nn1165) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1165)

[8] BDNF is necessary and sufficient for spinal respiratory plasticity following intermittent hypoxia (DOI: 10.1038/nn1166) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nn1166)

Items from other Nature journals to be published online at the same time and with the same embargo:

NATURE (http://www.nature.com)

[9] A microRNA controlling left/right neuronal asymmetry in Caenorhabditis elegans
(DOI: 10.1038/nature02255) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02255)

[10] Two mitotic kinesins cooperate to drive sister chromatid separation during anaphase
(DOI: 10.1038/nature02256) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature02256)

NATURE MATERIALS (http://www.nature.com/naturematerials)

[11] Charge, orbital and spin ordering phenomena in the mixed valence manganite (NaMn3+3)(Mn3+2Mn4+2)O12
(DOI: 10.1038/nmat1038) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat1038)

[12] Deformation-mechanism map for nanocrystalline metals by molecular-dynamics simulation
(DOI: 10.1038/nmat1035) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nmat1035)

NATURE MEDICINE (http://www.nature.com/naturemedicine)

[13] Suppression of breast cancer by chemical modulation of vulnerable zinc fingers in estrogen receptor
(DOI: 10.1038/nm969) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm969)

[14] A transgenic mouse model for monitoring endoplasmic reticulum stress
(DOI: 10.1038/nm970) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm970)

[15] Overexpression of CNP in chondrocytes rescues achondroplasia through a MAPK-dependent pathway
(DOI: 10.1038/nm971) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nm971)

NATURE BIOTECHNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturebiotechnology)

[16] Complete genome sequence of the metabolically versatile photosynthetic bacterium Rhodopseudomonas palustris
(DOI: 10.1038/nbt923) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt923)

[17] Gaining confidence in high-throughput protein interaction networks
(DOI: 10.1038/nbt924) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt924)

[18] Systematic identification of sense-antisense transcripts in mammalian cells
(DOI: 10.1038/nbt925) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nbt925)

NATURE IMMUNOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/natureimmunology)

[19] Entry is a rate-limiting step for viral infection in a Drosophila melanogaster model for pathogenesis
(DOI: 10.1038/ni1019) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ni1019)

[20] Gadd45beta is important for perpetuating cognate and inflammatory signals in T cells
(DOI: 10.1038/ni1020) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ni1020)

[21] The extracellular matrix protein mindin is a pattern recognition molecule for microbial pathogens
(DOI: 10.1038/ni1021) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ni1021)

NATURE CELL BIOLOGY (http://www.nature.com/naturecellbiology)

[22] Nitric oxide switches on glycolysis through the AMP protein kinase and 6-phosphofructo-2-kinase pathway
(DOI: 10.1038/ncb1080) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncb1080)

[23] The transmembrane protein XFLRT3 forms a complex with FGF receptors and promotes FGF signalling
(DOI: 10.1038/ncb1082) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncb1082)

[24] Late-G1 cyclin-CDK activity is essential for control of cell morphogenesis in budding yeast
(DOI: 10.1038/ncb1078) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncb1078)

[25] Mutant Frizzled 4 associated with vitreoretinopathy traps wild-type Frizzled in the endoplasmic reticulum by oligomerization
(DOI: 10.1038/ncb1081) (http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/ncb1081)

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