From: F1000 Biology Update

From: F1000 Biology Update To: Jeff Epstein <jeeproject®yahoo.com> Subject: Mobile phone microscopy, caffeine's effects on neonates and who will fight for researchers' rights? Date: Wed, 21 Oct 2009 13:45:15 +0000 View in your defult web browser. 21-Oct-2009 Search F1000 Biology ;Submit Please note: The search function will not work for all email clients. Click here to search F1000 Biology. WOJ'ac ulty PiFaculty of 1000 Biology 1 Faculty of 1000 Biology In this issue... ~~~~~~ Post-publication peer review at its best Blog: Who will fight for researchers' rights? Editor's Choice: Mobile phone-based clinical microscopy for global health applications. Broad Impact: Mechanism of protein kinase activation in cell signalling revealed. Hidden Jewel: Caffeine's long term consequences on neonates. F1000 BiolouSeports: Latest articles (including one by Joan Conaway) Full access to some of FI000 Biology's most popular recent evaluations. Blog: Who will fight for researchers' rights? A recent F1000 blog.post looked at an exceptional Journal of Neuroscience opinion piece on animal research that was evaluated by more than a dozen members of our Neuroscience Faculty. The evaluations on Faculty of 1000 Biology of the article, "We Must Face the Threats" by scientists from the University of California, explored how the animal testing debate affects the global science community. Read all comments in full. back to top EFTA00771787 Editor's Choice: Mobile phone-based clinical microscopy for global health applications Biological studies often depend on observations 'in the field'. The challenge for researchers, therefore, is how to gather data of sufficient quantity and quality in areas that instruments and scientists cannot reach? In a recent paper highlighted by Sean Ryder of the Cell Biology Faculty, researchers suggest taking advantage of the ubiquity of mobile phone networks in developing areas by using an imaging tool that fits into a 3.2Mp camera phone. Dr Ryder explains "Light and fluorescence microscopy is required for many diagnostic evaluations of human disease. The equipment necessary to obtain diagnostic images is not portable and is often expensive, which limits its use in many regions of the world." He continues "The authors of this paper devise a simple fluorescence microscope that incorporates cell phone camera technology, LED fluorescence activation, and inexpensive optical equipment. They demonstrate the utility of this instrument in the collection and post-processing of diagnostic images of bacterial and parasitic infections and genetic disease in the field" And concludes "This simple yet ingenious device promises to revolutionize diagnostic medicine in the developing world, and could prove a useful tool to researchers that collect and analyze field samples." Read all comments in full. back to top Broad Impact: Mechanism of protein kinase activation in cell signaling revealed An exceptional article from the University of Texas reveals how ubiquitin activates protein kinases in cell signaling. By reconstituting TAK 1 activation in vitro to study TRAF6- dependent ubiquitination, the authors discover the mechanism by which this occurs. David Wotton of the Cell Biology Faculty explains "Although proteins within the pathway were known to be poly-ubiquitinated as part of the TAKI activation mechanism, it was not known whether the ubiquitination of a specific protein was required, or simply the presence of poly-ubiquitin chains." James Meabon and Mark Bothwell, Neuroscience Faculty, tell us "The present paper reveals that TRAF6-dependent regulation of the activity of protein kinases such as TAKI and IKK does not require covalent modification of the protein kinases by polyubiquitin. Rather, TRAF6 catalyzes the synthesis of free-floating polyubiquitin chains. Unanchored polyubiquitin apparently activates TAKI by binding non- covalently to the TAKI regulatory protein TABI." John Kyriakis of the Cell Biology Faculty adds EFTA00771788 "They also provide evidence that activation involves trans-autophosphorylation. This paper describes a new form of second messenger -- Lys63-linked poly-Ub -- and explains how TRAF6 mutants missing their autoubiquitination sites, but still possessing E3 activity, retain their signaling capability." Estanislao Nistal-Villan and Adolfo Garcia-Sastre, Microbiology Faculty, believe "Further investigations on the role of free polyubiquitin and ubiquitin-like molecules in regulating cellular processes during normal cellular functions and during pathological conditions, including infectious diseases, may open new possibilities to design intervention strategies for the treatment of multiple diseases." Read all comments in full. back to top Hidden Jewel: Caffeine's long term consequences on neonates The authors of this Must Read paper, highlighted by James Duffin of the Physiology. Faculty, describe experiments on rats showing that caffeine treatment in neonates leads to changes in sleep and respiratory regulation that continue in adulthood. Dr Duffin explains "Premature babies often experience instabilities of breathing with the occurrence of apneas. To treat this condition, caffeine, an adenosine receptor antagonist, is commonly used as a respiratory stimulant for extended periods with beneficial results. However, the long-term effects of neonatal caffeine treatment on brain development have not been examined." He continues "The authors of this study questioned whether caffeine administration in the neonatal period would have lasting effects on sleep and breathing regulation. They tested their hypothesis on rats and found that adult rats treated with caffeine during their neonatal period had increased resting ventilation, reduced sleep time (with increased sleep onset latency), and fragmented non-rapid eye movement sleep compared to controls." He uss "The findings therefore raise concerns about the long-term consequences of neonatal caffeine administration on brain development and behavior." Read all comments in full. back to top F1000 Biology Reports See the latest 4 articles published in F1000 Biology Reports, including "When transcription meets recombination: a lesson from the human RECQ protein complexes" by Yilun Liu and Cell Biology. Section Head Joan Conaway. Then look out for the next set of 4 articles that will be published at the end of the month. R[F1000 Reports Logo] EFTA00771789 back to top F1000 on Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn [R,Twitter Logo rFacebook Logo WinIcedIn Logo back toFollow Faculty of 1000 on Twitter: http://twitter.corn/f1000. Our feed is open to all and contains breaking news, updates and links to specific evaluations that catch our eye F1000 is now on Facebook. Become a fan! Join or start a discussion on our LinkedIn group. Access to five Full Biology Evaluations This commentary proposes that epistasis is an important component of common disease and has implications for personal genomics. The authors hit on a number of topics that are highly controversial in the field...MORE Selected by 'Marylyn Ritchie (Vanderbilt University, USA) Epistasis and its implications for personal genetics. IF woo Factor 6.0 Moore JH and Williams SM, Am J Hum Genet 2009 Sep 85(3):309-20 Just a few bad apples or a rotten barrel? We believe the latter about Wall Street and used car salesmen, but a meta-analysis of surveys asking scientists about their knowledge of fraud and misconduct suggests that an alarming number of scientists acknowledge data fabrication and other questionable research practices...MORE Selected by 'David Triggle (SUNY at Buffalo, USA) How many scientists fabricate and falsify research? A systematic F xotptional `E1000 Factor 9.0 I review and meta-analysis of survey data. Fanelli D. PLoS One 2009 4(5):e5738 p This paper provides the first detailed analysis of male killing induced by the endocellular microbe, Arsenophonus nasoniae...MORE Selected by 'Timothy Karr (Arizona State University, USA) A bacterium targets maternally inherited centrosomes to kill males IF woo Factor 6.0 I in Nasonia. Ferree PM at al. Curr Biol 2008 Sep 23 18(18):1409-14 This study identifies biomarkers of ageing in two key tissues (heart and brain), compares them across different inbred strains of mice, and examines their changes in response to treatments that alter ageing processes...MORE Selected by Jennifer Tullet and David Gems (University College London, UK) Gene expression profiling of aging in multiple mouse strains: eeomineolled identification of aging biomarkers and impact of dietary -moo Facier3.0 antioxidants. Park SK at al. Aging Cell 2009 Aug 8(4):484-95 EFTA00771790 Fritz et al. find body size to be particularly important in the tropics. This is a consequence of the relative lag in human encroachment in the region, whereby historical human impacts on large mammals had been relatively small...MORE Selected by I Lochran Traill and Barry Brook (University of Adelaide, Australia) Geographical variation in predictors of mammalian extinction 3.0 risk: big is bad, but only in the tropics. Fritz SA et al. Eco! Lett 2009 Jun 12(6):538-49 back to top 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. If your institution does not have access, then please recommend the service to your library 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 sponsorship: see http://www.f1000biology.com/aboutThinari. back to top You have received this message because you asked to receive updates from Faculty of 1000 Biology. Your registered email address is: jeeprojectgyahoo.com Please click here if you do not wish to receive any further messages from this G : Unsubscri tion For further information or enquiries please contact Customer Services at: F I OOD Biology. 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