The great pretenders - pp695 - 696

doi:10.1038/nm0708-695

Some analysts believe that the economic hegemony of the US is on its last legs, but the same does not seem to be true of its scientific supremacy.

Abstract - | Full Text - The great pretenders | PDF (163 KB) - The great pretenders

Harvard turns to matchmaking to speed translational research - p697

Meredith Wadman

doi:10.1038/nm0708-697

Full Text - Harvard turns to matchmaking to speed translational research | PDF (389 KB) - Harvard turns to matchmaking to speed translational research

Extra drugs and slower weaning lowers HIV risk for newborns - p698

Virginia Hughes

doi:10.1038/nm0708-698a

Full Text - Extra drugs and slower weaning lowers HIV risk for newborns | PDF (197 KB) - Extra drugs and slower weaning lowers HIV risk for newborns

Among preemies, milk benefits girls most - p698

Virginia Hughes

doi:10.1038/nm0708-698b

Full Text - Among preemies, milk benefits girls most | PDF (197 KB) - Among preemies, milk benefits girls most

Fearful of vaccines, some parents find cause for celebration - p699

Genevive Bjorn

doi:10.1038/nm0708-699a

Full Text - Fearful of vaccines, some parents find cause for celebration | PDF (141 KB) - Fearful of vaccines, some parents find cause for celebration

Brazilian court decision eases scientists' stem cell worries - p699

Rodrigo Squizato

doi:10.1038/nm0708-699b

Full Text - Brazilian court decision eases scientists' stem cell worries | PDF (141 KB) - Brazilian court decision eases scientists' stem cell worries

New countermeasures considered as drug counterfeiting grows - p699

Charlotte Schubert

doi:10.1038/nm0708-700a

Full Text - New countermeasures considered as drug counterfeiting grows | PDF (143 KB) - New countermeasures considered as drug counterfeiting grows

Victims of West Nile virus face long-term health problems - p700

Genevive Bjorn

doi:10.1038/nm0708-700b

Full Text - Victims of West Nile virus face long-term health problems | PDF (143 KB) - Victims of West Nile virus face long-term health problems

Report urges Europe to combine wealth of biobank data - p701

Coco Ballantyne

doi:10.1038/nm0708-701a

Full Text - Report urges Europe to combine wealth of biobank data | PDF (145 KB) - Report urges Europe to combine wealth of biobank data

Healthy actions reverberate strongly - p701

Coco Ballantyne

doi:10.1038/nm0708-701b

Full Text - Healthy actions reverberate strongly | PDF (145 KB) - Healthy actions reverberate strongly

News in brief - pp702 - 703

doi:10.1038/nm0708-702

Full Text - News in brief | PDF (755 KB) - News in brief

Straight talk with...Charles Rotimi - pp704 - 705

doi:10.1038/nm0708-704

When Charles Rotimi moved from his native Nigeria in January 1982 to study public health at the University of Mississippi, he came face to face with a startling problem. In his coursework and daily life, he grappled with the question of why some US groups—in particular African-Americans—suffered overall poorer health than others, such as those of European ancestry. He's now poised to help answer that question as the head of the new Intramural Center for Genomics and Health Disparities, launched in March in Bethesda, Maryland, as part of the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). Charlotte Schubert talked with Rotimi about how perceptions of race influence research and medicine—and how genetics can be used to help break down stereotypes.

Abstract - | Full Text - Straight talk with...Charles Rotimi | PDF (447 KB) - Straight talk with...Charles Rotimi

Just spit it out - pp706 - 709

Trisha Gura

doi:10.1038/nm0708-706

The microbes that inhabit the human mouth have a lot to say about one's general health. That's part of the motivation behind a massive new push to catalog these oral bacteria. Trisha Gura finds out why researchers believe that the study of saliva deserves more than just lip service.

Abstract - | Full Text - Just spit it out | PDF (862 KB) - Just spit it out

The evolution of tissue culture - p710

Kendall L Knight reviews Culturing Life: How Cells Became Technologies by Hannah Landecker

doi:10.1038/nm0708-710

Full Text - The evolution of tissue culture | PDF (103 KB) - The evolution of tissue culture

Regulatory RNA goes awry in Alzheimer's disease - pp711 - 712

Peter St George-Hyslop & Christian Haass

doi:10.1038/nm0708-711

An antisense RNA may contribute to Alzheimer's disease by upregulating -secretase (pages 723–730).

Abstract - | Full Text - Regulatory RNA goes awry in Alzheimer's disease | PDF (229 KB) - Regulatory RNA goes awry in Alzheimer's disease

Imatinib buys time for brain after stroke - pp712 - 713

Peter Rieckmann

doi:10.1038/nm0708-712

The most effective drug to treat acute ischemic stroke, tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), must be applied within three hours after symptom onset because of the risk of hemorrhage and other complications such as neurotoxicity. The anticancer drug imatinib (Gleevec) may help overcome these limitations by counteracting the ability of tPA to increase the permeability of the blood-brain barrier (pages 731–737).

Abstract - | Full Text - Imatinib buys time for brain after stroke | PDF (409 KB) - Imatinib buys time for brain after stroke

Rejuvenating premature aging - pp713 - 715

Eran Meshorer & Yosef Gruenbaum

doi:10.1038/nm0708-713

Two commonly prescribed drugs, statins and aminobisphosphonates, may be helpful in combating the rare aging disorder, Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome (pages 767–772).

Abstract - | Full Text - Rejuvenating premature aging | PDF (957 KB) - Rejuvenating premature aging

Chipping away at gallstones - pp715 - 716

Folkert Kuipers & Albert K Groen

doi:10.1038/nm0708-715

Gallstone disease occurs more frequently in subjects with the metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes. Findings in a mouse model suggest that the forkhead transcription factor FoxO1 lies behind this association (pages 778–782).

Abstract - | Full Text - Chipping away at gallstones | PDF (496 KB) - Chipping away at gallstones

Trauma therapy on ice - p717

doi:10.1038/nm0708-717

Full Text - Trauma therapy on ice | PDF (266 KB) - Trauma therapy on ice

Research highlights - pp718 - 719

doi:10.1038/nm0708-718

Full Text - Research highlights | PDF (414 KB) - Research highlights

Bedside to Bench: The element of surprise - pp720 - 721

Daniele Piomelli

doi:10.1038/nm0708-720

Full Text - Bedside to Bench: The element of surprise | PDF (307 KB) - Bedside to Bench: The element of surprise

Bench to Bedside: Soothing the seizures of children - pp721 - 722

Beat Lutz & Krisztina Monory

doi:10.1038/nm0708-721

Endocannabinoids are versatile molecules, regulating a variety of functions in the body. Daniele Piomelli explores how recent clinical trials testing rimonabant, an inhibitor of endocannabinoid signaling, for weight loss emerged from studies of individuals with schizophrenia; such trials have spurred basic research into how endocannabinoids affect both energy use and mood. Beat Lutz and Krisztina Monory examine how rimonabant might prove useful for preventing the development of adult epilepsy in response to fever-induced seizures in infants and young children.

Abstract - | Full Text - Bench to BedsideSoothing the seizures of children | PDF (332 KB) - Bench to BedsideSoothing the seizures of children

Expression of a noncoding RNA is elevated in Alzheimer's disease and drives rapid feed-forward regulation of -secretase - pp723 - 730

Mohammad Ali Faghihi, Farzaneh Modarresi, Ahmad M Khalil, Douglas E Wood, Barbara G Sahagan, Todd E Morgan, Caleb E Finch, Georges St. Laurent III, Paul J Kenny & Claes Wahlestedt

doi:10.1038/nm1784

BACE is an enzyme necessary for the generation of neurotoxic amyloid- in Alzheimer's disease. Claes Wahlestedt and his colleagues identify a noncoding RNA that is upregulated in the brains of individuals with Alzheimer's disase. This noncoding RNA increases expression of BACE, driving amyloid- generation and possibly disease progression.

Abstract - | Full Text - Expression of a noncoding RNA is elevated in Alzheimer's disease and drives rapid feed-forward regulation of -secretase | PDF (329 KB) - Expression of a noncoding RNA is elevated in Alzheimer's disease and drives rapid feed-forward regulation of -secretase | Supplementary information

Activation of PDGF-CC by tissue plasminogen activator impairs blood-brain barrier integrity during ischemic stroke - pp731 - 737

Enming J Su, Linda Fredriksson, Melissa Geyer, Erika Folestad, Jacqueline Cale, Johanna Andrae, Yamei Gao, Kristian Pietras, Kris Mann, Manuel Yepes, Dudley K Strickland, Christer Betsholtz, Ulf Eriksson & Daniel A Lawrence

doi:10.1038/nm1787

tPA is a clot-buster used to treat stroke, but if it's given too late after stroke onset, it can cause complications like hemorrhage. Daniel Lawrence and his colleagues show that a US Food and Drug Administration–approved kinase inhibitor, Gleevec, can prevent this side effect, thereby extending tPA's therapeutic window.

Abstract - | Full Text - Activation of PDGF-CC by tissue plasminogen activator impairs blood-brain barrier integrity during ischemic stroke | PDF (482 KB) - Activation of PDGF-CC by tissue plasminogen activator impairs blood-brain barrier integrity during ischemic stroke | Supplementary information

TRPM2-mediated Ca²⁺ influx induces chemokine production in monocytes that aggravates inflammatory neutrophil infiltration - pp738 - 747

Shinichiro Yamamoto, Shunichi Shimizu, Shigeki Kiyonaka, Nobuaki Takahashi, Teruaki Wajima, Yuji Hara, Takaharu Negoro, Toshihito Hiroi, Yuji Kiuchi, Takaharu Okada, Shuji Kaneko, Ingo Lange, Andrea Fleig, Reinhold Penner, Miyuki Nishi, Hiroshi Takeshima & Yasuo Mori

doi:10.1038/nm1758

The Ca²⁺-permeable channel TRPM2 stimulates monocytes to produce chemokines in response to reactive oxygen species, and channel inhibition attenuates inflammatory disease in mice. TRPM2 could be a new target for treating inflammatory diseases.

Abstract - | Full Text - TRPM2-mediated Ca2+ influx induces chemokine production in monocytes that aggravates inflammatory neutrophil infiltration | PDF (571 KB) - TRPM2-mediated Ca2+ influx induces chemokine production in monocytes that aggravates inflammatory neutrophil infiltration | Supplementary information

The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib depletes plasma cells and protects mice with lupus-like disease from nephritis - pp748 - 755

Kirsten Neubert, Silke Meister, Katrin Moser, Florian Weisel, Damian Maseda, Kerstin Amann, Carsten Wiethe, Thomas H Winkler, Joachim R Kalden, Rudolf A Manz & Reinhard E Voll

doi:10.1038/nm1763

Bortezomib, a drug useful for the treatment of multiple myeloma, reduces kidney damage in animal models of lupus.

Abstract - | Full Text - The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib depletes plasma cells and protects mice with lupus-like disease from nephritis | PDF (419 KB) - The proteasome inhibitor bortezomib depletes plasma cells and protects mice with lupus-like disease from nephritis | Supplementary information

Aggravation of viral hepatitis by platelet-derived serotonin - pp756 - 761

Philipp A Lang, Claudio Contaldo, Panco Georgiev, Ashraf Mohammad El-Badry, Mike Recher, Michael Kurrer, Luisa Cervantes-Barragan, Burkhard Ludewig, Thomas Calzascia, Beatrice Bolinger, Doron Merkler, Bernhard Odermatt, Michael Bader, Rolf Graf, Pierre-Alain Clavien, Ahmed N Hegazy, Max Löhning, Nicola L Harris, Pamela S Ohashi, Hans Hengartner, Rolf M Zinkernagel & Karl S Lang

doi:10.1038/nm1780

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Aggravation of viral hepatitis by platelet-derived serotonin | PDF (595 KB) - Aggravation of viral hepatitis by platelet-derived serotonin | Supplementary information

Dose-response curve slope sets class-specific limits on inhibitory potential of anti-HIV drugs - pp762 - 766

Lin Shen, Susan Peterson, Ahmad R Sedaghat, Moira A McMahon, Marc Callender, Haili Zhang, Yan Zhou, Eleanor Pitt, Karen S Anderson, Edward P Acosta & Robert F Siliciano

doi:10.1038/nm1777

Siliciano and his colleagues propose a new index for measuring the antiviral activity of anti-HIV drugs in vitro, which suggests that there are limitations to the efficacy of antiviral drugs on the basis of their mechanism of action. They suggest that the new index is a more accurate way of measuring antiviral activity and that it correlates well with clinical outcomes.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Dose-response curve slope sets class-specific limits on inhibitory potential of anti-HIV drugs | PDF (301 KB) - Dose-response curve slope sets class-specific limits on inhibitory potential of anti-HIV drugs | Supplementary information

Combined treatment with statins and aminobisphosphonates extends longevity in a mouse model of human premature aging - pp767 - 772

Ignacio Varela, Sandrine Pereira, Alejandro P Ugalde, Claire L Navarro, María F Suárez, Pierre Cau, Juan Cadiñanos, Fernando G Osorio, Nicolas Foray, Juan Cobo, Félix de Carlos, Nicolas Lévy, José M P Freije & Carlos López-Otín

doi:10.1038/nm1786

Statins and aminobisphosphonates inhibit post-translational modifications and membrane accumulation of progerin, the protein that causes Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome, pointing to a potential combination therapy for this disease.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Combined treatment with statins and aminobisphosphonates extends longevity in a mouse model of human premature aging | PDF (306 KB) - Combined treatment with statins and aminobisphosphonates extends longevity in a mouse model of human premature aging | Supplementary information

SNO-hemoglobin is not essential for red blood cell–dependent hypoxic vasodilation - pp773 - 777

T Scott Isbell, Chiao-Wang Sun, Li-Chen Wu, Xinjun Teng, Dario A Vitturi, Billy G Branch, Christopher G Kevil, Ning Peng, J Michael Wyss, Namasivayam Ambalavanan, Lisa Schwiebert, Jinxiang Ren, Kevin M Pawlik, Matthew B Renfrow, Rakesh P Patel & Tim M Townes

doi:10.1038/nm1771

First Paragraph - | Full Text - SNO-hemoglobin is not essential for red blood cell–dependent hypoxic vasodilation | PDF (276 KB) - SNO-hemoglobin is not essential for red blood cell–dependent hypoxic vasodilation | Supplementary information

Hepatic insulin resistance directly promotes formation of cholesterol gallstones - pp778 - 782

Sudha B Biddinger, Joel T Haas, Bian B Yu, Olivier Bezy, Enxuan Jing, Wenwei Zhang, Terry G Unterman, Martin C Carey & C Ronald Kahn

doi:10.1038/nm1785

People with the metabolic syndrome often develop gallstones. Why these two disorders are linked has not been not clear, but now Kahn and his colleagues have shown that lack of insulin signaling in the liver leads to dysregulation of genes that control the transport and synthesis of bile acids, thus altering the proper profile of bile salts and resulting in the formation of gallstones.

First Paragraph - | Full Text - Hepatic insulin resistance directly promotes formation of cholesterol gallstones | PDF (268 KB) - Hepatic insulin resistance directly promotes formation of cholesterol gallstones | Supplementary information

Molecular imaging of lymphoid organs and immune activation by positron emission tomography with a new [¹⁸F]-labeled 2'-deoxycytidine analog - pp783 - 788

Caius G Radu, Chengyi J Shu, Evan Nair-Gill, Stephanie M Shelly, Jorge R Barrio, Nagichettiar Satyamurthy, Michael E Phelps & Owen N Witte

doi:10.1038/nm1724

Noninvasively monitoring immune function by positron emission tomography could affect the diagnosis and treatment evaluation of immunological disorders. Progress, however, has been hampered by the lack of probes with distinct biodistribution patterns. Radu et al. exploit the fact that many immune cells utilize a salvage pathway for nucleotide generation during DNA synthesis to develop [¹⁸F]FAC (1-(2'-deoxy-2'[¹⁸F]fluoroarabinofuranosyl) cytosine), a new probe with increased accumulation in proliferating T cells. Studies in mice show it has advantages over commonly used probes and may be clinically useful.

Abstract - | Full Text - Molecular imaging of lymphoid organs and immune activation by positron emission tomography with a new [18F]-labeled 2'-deoxycytidine analog | PDF (526 KB) - Molecular imaging of lymphoid organs and immune activation by positron emission tomography with a new [18F]-labeled 2'-deoxycytidine analog | Supplementary information

Erratum: Wandering eye for RNAi - p789

John Rossi

doi:10.1038/nm0708-789

Full Text - Erratum: Wandering eye for RNAi | PDF (42 KB) - Erratum: Wandering eye for RNAi