Volume 499 Number 7458

Editorials

米国とヨーロッパの大規模な2つの脳研究計画は、神経科学を大変革する可能性を秘めているが、他の脳研究の資金を奪わない配慮が必要だ。

The benefits of brain mapping p.253

Two huge projects have the potential to revolutionize neuroscience, as long as they don’t drain money from other work and are monitored to keep them on target.

doi: 10.1038/499253a

ヒトパピローマウイルス(HPV)ワクチンの接種を、積極的に進めるべきだ。

Active protection p.253

Parents should vaccinate their children against human papillomavirus.

doi: 10.1038/499253b

レーザーを利用すれば、宇宙船からのデータ転送の効率が大幅に改善するが、その実現には、まだ克服すべき課題がある。

Light show p.254

Lasers will one day improve data transfer from spacecraft, but hurdles must still be overcome.

doi: 10.1038/499254a

News

小惑星からの岩石採取を目指すNASAの探査計画が、目標探しで足踏み。

Asteroid plan looks rocky p.261

NASA mission to retrieve a small space rock could be tripped up by lack of candidates.

doi: 10.1038/499261a

米オレゴン州の畑で未認可遺伝子組換え(GM)コムギが見つかり、侵入経路の調査が。

Hunt for mystery GM wheat hots up p.262

Investigators hope to track origins of the transgenic crop.

doi: 10.1038/499262a

NIHが、開発中止になった新薬候補を、別の用途で再開発する研究を推進へ。

NIH gambles on recycled drugs p.263

Early success could bolster congressional support for agency’s translational science centre.

doi: 10.1038/499263a

牛疫の根絶後、一時的に禁止されていた牛疫ウイルスの研究が、厳しい管理の下で再開へ。

Rinderpest research restarts p.264

As moratorium lifts, oversight is put in place to assess studies on eradicated cattle virus.

doi: 10.1038/499264a

福島は、放射能の生態系への影響を調べられる貴重な場だが、資金の不足も。

Fukushima offers real-time ecolab p.265

But ecologists say they need more funding.

doi: 10.1038/499265a

惑星科学のビッグデータの活用に向け、レーザーによるデータ転送に期待が。

Lasers boost space communications p.266

Optical systems set to handle planetary science’s big data.

doi: 10.1038/499266a

News Features

デジタル学習:仮想研究室

Education online: The virtual lab p.268

オンライン学習の爆発的人気を受けて、科学の実践的技術を教える新しい方法を編み出そうと研究が行われている。

doi: 10.1038/499268a

神経科学:脳の謎を解く

Neuroscience: Solving the brain p.272

米国とヨーロッパがそれぞれ、脳の働きを理解すべく数十億ドル規模の大プロジェクトを計画しているが、技術的な課題は大きい。

doi: 10.1038/499272a

News & Views

量子物理学:次の段階に進んだアンドレーエフ状態

Quantum physics: Andreev states taken to the next level p.286

アンドレーエフ束縛状態は超伝導の弱結合理論の特徴である。用途の広いジョセフソン効果をソース、デバイス、検出器として使って、このような1/2スピン状態が直接観測された。

doi: 10.1038/499286a

生物地球化学:森林での二酸化炭素と水の使われ方

Biogeochemistry: Carbon dioxide and water use in forests p.287

植物は大気中に含まれる二酸化炭素の濃度の上昇に、水をより効率的に使うことで対処すると予想されている。この仮説を直接裏付ける証拠が森林での観察から得られたが、効果の大きさについては論争を呼びそうだ。

doi: 10.1038/nature12411

RNA生物物理学:3状態のバランスをとる

RNA biophysics: A three-state balancing act p.289

病原体が温度変化を生き抜く仕組みはどのようなものなのだろうか。分子レベルで見ると、ある細菌は、該当するRNAの塩基配列の構造平衡を介して、温度に応じた遺伝子発現の調節を行うらしい。

doi: 10.1038/nature12410

素粒子物理学:レット・イット・B

Particle physics: Let it B p.290

CP対称性の破れとして知られる現象は、物質の存在をまさに説明するもので、BS0中間子の崩壊で観測された。この知見は素粒子物理学の標準模型が正しいことをまた別の側面から示している。

doi: 10.1038/499290a

がん:計算された治療

Cancer: Calculated treatment p.291

患者のデータと関連付けられた数値モデリングで、がんにおける薬剤耐性の発生防止には併用療法の方が連続療法よりも効果的であることが示唆されている。この予測手法は個別化治療への道を容易にする可能性がある。

doi: 10.1038/499291a

細菌学:縦に並んだ毒素

Bacteriology: Toxins in tandem p.293

腸チフス菌(Salmonella Typhi)が産生する毒素の分析によって、毒素サブユニットが異例の構造をとっていることが明らかになり、腸チフスの症状の大半が片方のサブユニットのDNA損傷能に関連していることも分かった。

doi: 10.1038/nature12409

Articles

神経科学:ニューロン活動を画像化するための超高感度蛍光タンパク質

Ultrasensitive fluorescent proteins for imaging neuronal activity p.295

Sensitive protein sensors of calcium have been created; these new tools are shown to report neural activity in cultured neurons, flies and zebrafish and can detect single action potentials and synaptic activation in the mouse visual cortex in vivo.

doi: 10.1038/nature12354

発生:膜に存在するmyomakerは筋芽細胞融合と筋形成の活性化物質である

Myomaker is a membrane activator of myoblast fusion and muscle formation p.301

A muscle-specific membrane protein called myomaker is transiently expressed during myogenesis and is both necessary and sufficient to drive myoblast fusion in vivo and in vitro.

doi: 10.1038/nature12343

細胞:LRG1は内皮でのTGF-βシグナル伝達の調整により血管新生を促進する

LRG1 promotes angiogenesis by modulating endothelial TGF-β signalling p.306

LRG1 is identified as a new regulator of TGF-β signalling that promotes angiogenesis via a TβRII–ALK1–ENG–Smad1/5/8 signalling pathway; antibody-mediated inhibition of LRG1 reduces pathogenic neovascularization in a mouse model of retinal injury.

doi: 10.1038/nature12345

Letters

物理:超伝導原子接触においてアンドレーエフ対を励起する

Exciting Andreev pairs in a superconducting atomic contact p.312

A fundamental and previously unobserved aspect of the Josephson effect is revealed through spectroscopic measurements of the excited Andreev states in superconducting atomic contacts.

doi: 10.1038/nature12315

材料:高性能ペロブスカイト増感太陽電池を得る手段としての逐次析出

Sequential deposition as a route to high-performance perovskite-sensitized solar cells p.316

A method of producing perovskite-sensitized solar cells by sequential — as opposed to single-step — deposition of the perovskite’s components onto a nanoporous titanium oxide film allows for greater reproducibility of device performance and a record power conversion efficiency of 15 per cent.

doi: 10.1038/nature12340

生物無機化学:ハロゲナーゼSyrB2の触媒サイクルにおけるFe(IV)=O中間体の解明

Elucidation of the Fe(iv)=O intermediate in the catalytic cycle of the halogenase SyrB2 p.320

Synchrotron-based nuclear resonance vibrational spectroscopy is used to characterize the reactive Fe(iv)=O intermediate of the halogenase SyrB2; the substrate directs the orientation of this intermediate, presenting specific frontier molecular orbitals that can activate the selective halogenation.

doi: 10.1038/nature12304

地球:大気中二酸化炭素濃度の増加に伴う森林の水利用効率の上昇

Increase in forest water-use efficiency as atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations rise p.324

Present-day forests use water more efficiently, probably owing to the effect of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on leaf stomata, which partially close to maintain a near-constant level of carbon dioxide inside the leaves despite increasing atmospheric levels.

doi: 10.1038/nature12291

地球:ケイ酸塩地球のS、Se、Te比が必要とする揮発性物質に富むレイトベニア

Ratios of S, Se and Te in the silicate Earth require a volatile-rich late veneer p.328

Newly determined ratios and abundances of sulphur, selenium and tellurium in mantle peridotites are consistent with the view that a ‘late veneer’ of slightly volatile-depleted, carbonaceous-chondrite-like material supplied between 20 and 100 per cent of the silicate Earth’s highly volatile elements, such as hydrogen and carbon.

doi: 10.1038/nature12285

進化:ショウジョウバエで起こった祖先の性染色体から常染色体への逆戻り

Reversal of an ancient sex chromosome to an autosome in Drosophila p.332

An autosomal chromosome pair in Drosophila, the dot chromosome, is shown to have evolved from an ancestral X chromosome: these findings explain several previously puzzling aspects of dot chromosome biology and challenge the view that differentiated sex chromosomes represent a terminal evolutionary stage.

doi: 10.1038/nature12235

神経科学:体性感覚皮質の長距離投射ニューロンの行動依存的な動員

Behaviour-dependent recruitment of long-range projection neurons in somatosensory cortex p.336

In the mouse whisker region of primary somatosensory cortex (S1), neurons projecting to secondary somatosensory cortex (S2) and primary motor cortex (M1), respectively, are differentially activated during distinct whisker-based behavioural tasks; sensory stimulus features alone do not elicit these differences, suggesting that selective transmission of S1 information to S2 and M1 is driven by behaviour.

doi: 10.1038/nature12236

神経科学:ニューロン活動依存的なMeCP2のスレオニン308リン酸化はNCoRとの相互作用を調節する

Activity-dependent phosphorylation of MeCP2 threonine 308 regulates interaction with NCoR p.341

Rett syndrome is caused by mutations in MeCP2, and this study identifies a site on MeCP2, T308, whose phosphorylation is regulated by neuronal activity: phosphorylation of T308 blocks the interaction of MeCP2 with the NCoR co-repressor complex, suppressing MeCP2's ability to repress transcription, and mice carrying mutations of MeCP2 T308 show Rett-syndrome-related symptoms.

doi: 10.1038/nature12348

医学:ハダカデバネズミのがん抵抗性には、高分子量ヒアルロナンが関わっている

High-molecular-mass hyaluronan mediates the cancer resistance of the naked mole rat p.346

Naked mole rats seem almost entirely protected from developing cancer, and this can now, at least in part, be explained by the production of a unique high-molecular-mass form of hyaluronan, a component of the extracellular matrix; together with an increased sensitivity of naked mole-rat cells to hyaluronan signalling, this form protects its cells from oncogenic transformation.

doi: 10.1038/nature12234

医学:チフス菌のA2B5キメラ型毒素の構造と機能

Structure and function of the Salmonella Typhi chimaeric A2B5 typhoid toxin p.350

Unlike most salmonellae, Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi causes life-threatening systemic infections known as typhoid fever, for which the molecular basis is unknown; here administration of typhoid toxin produced by S. Typhi reproduces many of the acute symptoms of typhoid fever, carbohydrates on cell surface glycoproteins are identified as receptors for typhoid toxin and the toxin’s crystal structure is determined, providing insights into these interactions.

doi: 10.1038/nature12377

生物物理:3状態機構が、リボスイッチのリガンドと温度感知とを共役させている

Three-state mechanism couples ligand and temperature sensing in riboswitches p.355

In the human pathogen Vibrio vulnificus, the riboswitch regulating gene expression of the adenosine deaminase is shown to exist in three distinct stable conformational states; this three-state mechanism allows control of gene expression over a broad temperature range, which is essential for Vibrio adaptation.

doi: 10.1038/nature12378

分子生物学:プロモーターの方向性はU1 snRNPとポリアデニル化シグナルによって制御される

Promoter directionality is controlled by U1 snRNP and polyadenylation signals p.360

Asymmetric sequence determinants flanking gene transcription start sites are shown to control directionality of transcription elongation in mammalian cells by regulating promoter-proximal cleavage and polyadenylation.

doi: 10.1038/nature12349

構造生物学:X線結晶解析により明らかとなったマルトース輸送体での炭素カタボライト抑制

Carbon catabolite repression of the maltose transporter revealed by X-ray crystallography p.364

The X-ray crystal structure of a member of the glucose-specific phosphotransferase system (EIIAGlc) bound to the MalFGK2 maltose transporter is presented, revealing that two EIIAGlc proteins bind to the cytoplasmic ATPase subunits of the maltose transporter to stabilize it in an inward-facing conformation that prevents ATP hydrolysis.

doi: 10.1038/nature12232

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