EMBO reports Table of Contents for November 2015; Vol. 16, No. 11

November 2015 | Volume 16, Number 11 Submit Table of Contents Editorial Opinion News & Views Science & Society Reviews Scientific Reports Articles Volume 16, Number 11 Editorial “Histones and Chromatin” Review series: Wrapping up histone regulation The review series Histones and Chromatin in EMBO Reports explores state of the art molecular and mechanistic understanding of the regulation of chromatin at the histone level. Esther Schnapp Published online 13.10.2015 Opinion “Poppy” yeast Synthetic biology holds great potential for biotechnology but could also be easily abused. The case of a genetically modified yeast to produce morphine highlights the dilemma of dual use research and the potential for abuse by criminals. Teresa Rinaldi Published online 28.09.2015 News & Views PP1 inactivates Greatwall to release PP2A‐B55 from mitotic confinement A recent study in EMBO Reports shows that at mitotic exit the phosphatase PP1 initiates Gwl inactivation by targeting its auto‐phosphorylation site. Satoru Mochida Published online 15.10.2015 A lncRNA to repair DNA In this issue of EMBO Reports, Misteli and colleagues show that the lncRNA DDSR1 promotes DNA repair by homologous recombination by sequestering BRCA1 and hnRNPUL1. Jiri Lukas and Matthias Altmeyer Published online 29.09.2015 Science & Society E‐commerce and biological weapons nonproliferation: Online marketplaces challenge export controls to reduce the risk that rogue states or terrorists could acquire the capacity to produce biological weapons International treaties and export controls have reduced the risk that biological weapons or the means to make them can be acquired by rogue states or terrorists. However, the emergence of Internet commerce has put these safeguards on the trade of dual‐use equipment at risk. Raymond A Zilinskas and Philippe Mauger Published online 12.10.2015 No time to waste—the ethical challenges created by CRISPR: CRISPR/Cas, being an efficient, simple, and cheap technology to edit the genome of any organism, raises many ethical and regulatory issues beyond the use to manipulate human germ line cells CRISPR/Cas technology has applications with potentially more far‐reaching and disastrous outcomes than editing the human germ line. Existing regulation and oversight are not sufficient to deal with specific genetic editing of animals and plants and the possibilities and consequences are receiving little attention in the current debate. Arthur L Caplan, Brendan Parent, Michael Shen, and Carolyn Plunkett Published online 08.10.2015 From ribosomes to royal charters: An interview with Venkatraman Ramakrishnan from the LMB in Cambridge, UK, and President Elect of the Royal Society Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, President Elect of the Royal Society, talks about the role of academic societies in an increasingly technological society and the challenges for European science to remain competitive. Holger Breithaupt Published online 13.10.2015 Talking about animal research: Scientists and their institutions need to communicate more proactively to counter claims of mistreatment by animal rights activists Violence and harassment of scientists from animal rights activists threatens not only researchers working with animals, but also the climate in which all science is conducted. Only communication and transparency are efficient countermeasures against harassment and misinformation. Katrin Weigmann Published online 15.10.2015 Nature's origami: Understanding folding helps to analyze the self‐structuring of molecules, organs and surfaces Folding is ubiquitous in nature at all levels, from DNA and proteins to organs and surfaces. A better understanding of the biological and physical mechanisms behind folding is allowing researchers to understand why folding was an evolutionary advantage and could yield various practical applications. Philip Hunter Published online 15.10.2015 Reviews “Histones and Chromatin” Review series: The H1 linker histones: multifunctional proteins beyond the nucleosomal core particle H1 linker histones are key structural chromatin components. This review discusses functions of the multiple H1 subtypes and their modifications beyond their structural role. Sonja P Hergeth and Robert Schneider Published online 15.10.2015 “Histones and Chromatin” Review series: The right place at the right time: chaperoning core histone variants This review assesses the determinants of the specificity in histone variant‐histone chaperone interactions at the molecular and atomic level, and discusses biological roles of histone variants and chaperones. Francesca Mattiroli, Sheena D'Arcy, and Karolin Luger Published online 12.10.2015 “Histones and Chromatin” Review series: The interplay of histone modifications – writers that read Post‐translational histone modifications correlate with gene expression states. This review discusses how these modifications are formed, reinforced and maintained, and how their crosstalk might define gene expression states. Tianyi Zhang, Sarah Cooper, and Neil Brockdorff Published online 15.10.2015 The Iron age of host–microbe interactions This review analyzes the regulation of host iron metabolism in response to infection with a focus on pathogen class‐specific mechanisms. Strategies to target Fe/heme metabolism for the treatment of infectious diseases are also discussed. Miguel P Soares and Günter Weiss Published online 16.10.2015 Scientific Reports Protein phosphatase 1 is essential for Greatwall inactivation at mitotic exit At mitotic exit, Gwl kinase is inactivated to allow the reactivation of the Cdk1‐antagonizing phosphatase PP2A‐B55. This study shows that phosphatase PP1 initiates Gwl inactivation by targeting its auto‐phosphorylation site. Andreas Heim, Anja Konietzny, and Thomas U Mayer Published online 22.09.2015 Resistance of glia‐like central and peripheral neural stem cells to genetically induced mitochondrial dysfunction—differential effects on neurogenesis Genetic mitochondrial damage does not alter self‐renewal or multipotency of glia‐like neural stem cells (NSCs). However, maturation and survival of NSC‐derived neurons and oligodendrocytes (but not astrocytes) is profoundly impaired. Blanca Díaz‐Castro, Ricardo Pardal, Paula García‐Flores, Verónica Sobrino, Rocío Durán, José I Piruat, and José López‐Barneo Published online 21.09.2015 Articles A BRCA1‐interacting lncRNA regulates homologous recombination This study establishes a role for the lncRNA DDSR1 in maintaining genome stability. DDSR1 promotes homologous recombination by regulating recruitment of DNA repair factors to DSB after DNA damage. Vivek Sharma, Simran Khurana, Nard Kubben, Kotb Abdelmohsen, Philipp Oberdoerffer, Myriam Gorospe, and Tom Misteli Published online 27.09.2015 EGFR kinase activity is required for TLR4 signaling and the septic shock response This study shows that EGFR kinase activity is necessary for the induction of interferon‐dependent, TLR4‐responsive genes. EGFR inhibition in vivo blocks septic shock and prevents death, suggesting a therapeutic avenue for this important pathology. Saurabh Chattopadhyay, Manoj Veleeparambil, Darshana Poddar, Samar Abdulkhalek, Sudip K Bandyopadhyay, Volker Fensterl, and Ganes C Sen Published online 04.09.2015 DYRK1A overexpression enhances STAT activity and astrogliogenesis in a Down syndrome mouse model Using a mouse model of Down Syndrome, this study shows that increased astrogliogenesis, a hallmark of the disease's brain pathology, is caused by DYRK1A‐induced increased astrocytic differentiation of neural progenitor cells. Nobuhiro Kurabayashi, Minh Dang Nguyen, and Kamon Sanada Published online 15.09.2015 AIF inhibits tumor metastasis by protecting PTEN from oxidation AIF interacts with and inhibits the oxidation of PTEN, which promotes the inhibition of EMT and cancer metastasis by suppressing Akt/GSK‐3β/β‐catenin signaling in cancer cells. Shao‐Ming Shen, Meng Guo, Zhong Xiong, Yun Yu, Xu‐Yun Zhao, Fei‐Fei Zhang, and Guo‐Qiang Chen Published online 28.09.2015   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.