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Volume 522 Issue 7555, 11 June 2015

‘Dis-assembly�, Daniel Kohn’s interpretation of a chromothripsis event from his series ‘Thinking about Science � DataSets�. Chromothripsis, a dramatic chromosomal event involving massive chromosome breakage and rearrangement, typically restricted to one or a few of a cell’s chromosomes, has been observed in various cancers and congenital diseases. A new study uses a combination of live-cell imaging and single-cell genome sequencing to recreate chromothripsis-like rearrangements. The results show that after single chromosomes are missegregated into so-called micronuclei, they can shatter. After cell division, these fragments can be incorporated back into the genome, generating rearrangements that in some cases bear all the hallmark features of chromothripsis. Chromosome shattering in micronuclei can also lead to the formation of small circular chromosome fragments, the initial step in forming ‘double minute chromosomes�, which carry amplified oncogenes in cancer. This study thus provides the first experimental demonstration of a molecular mechanism underlying chromothripsis. Cover art by Daniel Kohn, http://www.kohnworkshop.com/

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News & Views

  • An RNA-interference screen has identified the protein CD55, expressed on the surface of red blood cells, as an essential receptor for infection of the cells by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum.

    • Wai-Hong Tham
    • Alexander T. Kennedy
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  • After cell division, membranes become fused around the nucleus to encapsulate the cell's chromosomes. It emerges that this process is regulated by the ESCRT-III protein complex. See Letters p.231 & p.236

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  • The unusual properties of hyperbolic metamaterials, such as their ability to propagate light on the nanoscale without diffraction, have been realized in two-dimensional devices, heralding improved photonic circuits. See Letter p.192

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  • Extensive chromosomal rearrangement – chromothripsis – is seen in several cancers. Imaging and sequencing of single cells shows that this phenomenon can occur inside cellular anomalies known as micronuclei. See Article p.179

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    • Angelika Amon
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  • Links between various climate records for the North Atlantic Ocean and the Mediterranean Sea have helped to identify a potential mechanism that enhanced sea-level rise during the last interglacial time interval. See Letter p.197

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  • Two studies of ancient human DNA reveal expansions of Bronze Age populations that shed light on the long-running debate about the origins and spread of Indo-European languages. See Article p.167 & Letter p.207

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Article

  • An analysis of 101 ancient human genomes from the Bronze Age (3000–1000 bc) reveals large-scale population migrations in Eurasia consistent with the spread of Indo-European languages; individuals frequently had light skin pigmentation but were not lactose tolerant.

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  • The mechanism for chromothripsis, “shattered” chromosomes that can be observed in cancer cells, is unknown; here, using live-cell imaging and single-cell sequencing, chromothripsis is shown to occur after a chromosome is isolated into a micronucleus, an abnormal nuclear structure.

    • Cheng-Zhong Zhang
    • Alexander Spektor
    • David Pellman
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Letter

  • Infrared imaging reveals all of Saturn’s faint, outermost ring, showing that it is composed principally of small dust particles and suggesting that particle temperatures are increased because of the radiative inefficiency of the smallest grains.

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    • Michael F. Skrutskie
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  • A model of the heating of the quiet Sun, in which magnetic fields are generated by a subphotospheric fluid dynamo intrinsically connected to granulation, shows fields expanding into the chromosphere, where plasma is heated at the rate required to match observations by small-scale eruptions that release magnetic energy and drive sonic motions, while the corona is heated by the dissipation of Alfvén waves.

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  • Visible-frequency hyperbolic metasurfaces defined on single-crystal silver exhibit negative refraction and diffraction-free propagation, as well as strong, dispersion-dependent spin–orbit coupling for propagating surface plasmon polaritons, with device performance greatly exceeding those of previous bulk metamaterial demonstrations.

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  • A synthesis of new and existing data allows Heinrich Stadial 11 (HS11), a prominent Northern Hemisphere cold event, to be linked to the timing of peak sea-level rise during glacial termination T-II, whereas rapid sea-level rise in T-I is shown to clearly post-date Heinrich Stadial 1, so fundamentally different mechanisms seem to be at work during glacial terminations.

    • G. Marino
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  • Electrical anisotropy measurements at high temperatures and quasi-hydrostatic pressures on previously deformed olivine plus melt samples show that electrical conductivity is much higher in the direction of deformation; this is confirmed with a layered electrical model of the asthenosphere and lithosphere that reproduces existing field data.

    • Anne Pommier
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  • A genome-wide analysis of 69 ancient Europeans reveals the history of population migrations around the time that Indo-European languages arose in Europe, when there was a large migration into Europe from the Eurasian steppe in the east (providing a genetic ancestry still present in Europeans today); these findings support a ‘steppe origin’ hypothesis for how some Indo-European languages arose.

    • Wolfgang Haak
    • Iosif Lazaridis
    • David Reich
    Letter
  • The ESCRT-III complex is implicated in the reformation of the nuclear envelope; the CHMP2A component of ESCRT-III is directed to the forming nuclear envelope through classical ESCRT-assembly mechanisms, with the help of the p97 complex component UFD1, and provides an activity essential for nuclear envelope reformation.

    • Yolanda Olmos
    • Lorna Hodgson
    • Jeremy G. Carlton
    Letter
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Futures

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    • George Zebrowski
    • Charles Pellegrino
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