EMBO reports Table of Contents for February 2015; Vol. 16, No. 2

February 2015 | Volume 16, Number 2 Submit Table of Contents Hot off the Press Science & Society Review Scientific Reports Volume 16, Number 2 Hot off the Press Penetrability of the inner mucus layer: who is out there? A study in this issue shows that isogenic mice strains bred in SPF conditions harbor variable non‐pathogenic microbiotas that heritably affect mucus structure and host responses. Free‐living mice have a thicker bacteria‐free inner mucus layer. Hai Li, Julien P Limenitakis, Stephanie C Ganal, and Andrew J Macpherson Published online 08.01.2015 Science & Society Medicinal use of cannabis in Europe: The fact that more countries legalize the medicinal use of cannabis should not become an argument for unfettered and uncontrolled use The use of cannabis to treat chronic pain from cancer or neurological diseases is now legal in many countries. However, the uncontrolled smoking of cannabis leads to neurological harm and cannabis should be treated like any prescription drug to achieve the best effect for patients and safety for the public. Maurizio Bifulco and Simona Pisanti Published online 09.01.2015 Do we understand the personalized medicine paradigm?: Personalized medicine marks the beginning of a new attitude in medicine Personalized medicine is a new, holistic view of health focused on the individual. Social scientists will need to help handle the inevitable societal, ethical and legal challenges created by these new applications of science and medicine. Krešimir Pavelić, Tamara Martinović, and Sandra Kraljević Pavelić Published online 30.12.2014 Living too long: The current focus of medical research on increasing the quantity, rather than the quality, of life is damaging our health and harming the economy Longer lifespans, often ending with multiple diseases, threaten the viability of social and health systems. Rather than prolonging life further, research and funding should focus on increasing the quality of life in old age. Guy C Brown Published online 18.12.2014 Lessons learned in Germany: In the past decade, Germany has invested a great deal of money into science funding schemes that have markedly changed its research landscape. Was the money well spent, and how will it be spent in future? More than a decade ago, Germany began to reform its universities and public research endeavours with concomitant increased investment in research. The country has made some progress, but challenges remain to further improve the quality of scientific research at German universities. Katrin Weigmann Published online 12.01.2015 The virtual university: Digital tools for e‐learning and remote learning are becoming an increasingly important tool for teaching at universities Universities are investing in e‐learning to reach out to a larger audience and change the way students experience lectures and lab work. Philip Hunter Published online 08.01.2015 Review Molecular control of PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 signaling in neutrophils Many cellular processes in neutrophils are mediated by PtdIns(3,4,5)P3 at the plasma membrane, which is negatively regulated by lipid phosphatases and inositol phosphates. This review discusses how these molecules affect neutrophil function in infection and inflammation. Hongbo R Luo and Subhanjan Mondal Published online 09.01.2015 Scientific Reports The composition of the gut microbiota shapes the colon mucus barrier Mice of the same strain living in the same animal facility can have distinct microbiotas, which affects the penetrability of the colon mucus barrier in a transmissible manner. Free‐living mice have impenetrable mucus, as one of the experimental groups. Hedvig E Jakobsson, Ana M Rodríguez‐Piñeiro, André Schütte, Anna Ermund, Preben Boysen, Mats Bemark, Felix Sommer, Fredrik Bäckhed, Gunnar C Hansson, and Malin EV Johansson Published online 18.12.2014 The RNA‐binding protein Arrest (Bruno) regulates alternative splicing to enable myofibril maturation in Drosophila flight muscle Arrest (Bruno) regulates flight muscle‐specific splicing of a large number of genes encoding for sarcomeric proteins. Correct expression of these flight muscle‐specific isoforms is essential to build the contractile apparatus of fibrillar flight muscles. Maria L Spletter, Christiane Barz, Assa Yeroslaviz, Cornelia Schönbauer, Irene R S Ferreira, Mihail Sarov, Daniel Gerlach, Alexander Stark, Bianca H Habermann, and Frank Schnorrer Published online 22.12.2014 Ubiquitin acetylation inhibits polyubiquitin chain elongation This study shows that endogenous ubiquitin is acetylated at K6 and K48. This inhibits K11‐, K48‐ and K63‐linked chain elongation, leading to the accumulation of monoubiquitylated substrates, and adding a new layer of regulation in the ubiquitin system. Fumiaki Ohtake, Yasushi Saeki, Kensaku Sakamoto, Kazumasa Ohtake, Hiroyuki Nishikawa, Hikaru Tsuchiya, Tomohiko Ohta, Keiji Tanaka, and Jun Kanno Published online 19.12.2014 Positive feedback regulation of type I interferon by the interferon‐stimulated gene STING STING is an important signal transducer in innate immune signaling. Here, it is shown to be an interferon‐stimulated gene that enforces a positive feedback loop of IFN‐I expression in response to cyclic dinucleotides. Feng Ma, Bing Li, Yongxin Yu, Shankar S Iyer, Mingyu Sun, and Genhong Cheng Published online 08.01.2015 Active endocannabinoids are secreted on extracellular membrane vesicles Microvesicles (MVs) are identified as new vehicles for the transfer of endocannabinoids from microglia to neurons. By activating presynaptic CB1 receptors on interneurons, these endocannabinoids inhibit spontaneous GABA release. Martina Gabrielli, Natalia Battista, Loredana Riganti, Ilaria Prada, Flavia Antonucci, Laura Cantone, Michela Matteoli, Mauro Maccarrone, and Claudia Verderio Published online 07.01.2015 RNA‐processing proteins regulate Mec1/ATR activation by promoting generation of RPA‐coated ssDNA The S. cerevisiae RNA decay factors Xrn1, Rrp6 and Trf4 facilitate Mec1/ATR activation by promoting the formation of RPA‐coated ssDNA at dsDNA breaks. Nicola Manfrini, Camilla Trovesi, Maxime Wery, Marina Martina, Daniele Cesena, Marc Descrimes, Antonin Morillon, Fabrizio d'Adda di Fagagna, and Maria Pia Longhese Published online 19.12.2014 Vesicle uncoating regulated by SH3‐SH3 domain‐mediated complex formation between endophilin and intersectin at synapses Neurotransmission requires endocytic membrane retrieval and clathrin‐mediated reformation of synaptic vesicles. This study shows that intersectin 1 directly associates with the BAR domain protein endophilin to facilitate vesicle uncoating at synapses. Arndt Pechstein, Fabian Gerth, Ira Milosevic, Maria Jäpel, Marielle Eichhorn‐Grünig, Olga Vorontsova, Jelena Bacetic, Tanja Maritzen, Oleg Shupliakov, Christian Freund, and Volker Haucke Published online 17.12.2014 Hop/Sti1 phosphorylation inhibits its co‐chaperone function This study shows that Hop and Sti1 are phosphorylated, and the sites and magnitude of the effects are species specific, with Hop being more tightly regulated. Phosphorylation negatively affects interaction with Hsp70. Alina Röhl, Franziska Tippel, Evelyn Bender, Andreas B Schmid, Klaus Richter, Tobias Madl, and Johannes Buchner Published online 12.12.2014 Actomyosin bundles serve as a tension sensor and a platform for ERK activation This study reveals that individual stress fibers work as a platform for activating ERK in a mechanical tension‐dependent manner. Hiroaki Hirata, Mukund Gupta, Sri Ram Krishna Vedula, Chwee Teck Lim, Benoit Ladoux, and Masahiro Sokabe Published online 30.12.2014   Unsubscribe from or edit your subscription for this service. Or by mail: Customer Service * 425 Broadway St * Redwood City, CA 94063 * U.S.A. Copyright © 2015 by the European Molecular Biology Organisation.