Science News | June 19(3), 2008

チンパンジーの雌、交尾の際は静か＝英研究者ら | 世界のこぼれ話 | Reuters

Female Chimpanzees Use Copulation Calls Flexibly to Prevent Social Competition.
Simon W. Townsend, Tobias Deschner, Klaus Zuberbühler.
PLoS ONE 3, e2431 (2008) | doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0002431

The adaptive function of copulation calls in female primates has been debated for years. One influential idea is that copulation calls are a sexually selected trait, which enables females to advertise their receptive state to males. Male-male competition ensues and females benefit by getting better mating partners and higher quality offspring. We analysed the copulation calling behaviour of wild female chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes schweinfurthii) at Budongo Forest, Uganda, but found no support for the male-male competition hypothesis. Hormone analysis showed that the calling behaviour of copulating females was unrelated to their fertile period and likelihood of conception. Instead, females called significantly more while with high-ranking males, but suppressed their calls if high-ranking females were nearby. Copulation calling may therefore be one potential strategy employed by female chimpanzees to advertise receptivity to high-ranked males, confuse paternity and secure future support from these socially important individuals. Competition between females can be dangerously high in wild chimpanzees, and our results indicate that females use their copulation calls strategically to minimise the risks associated with such competition.

　# 性行動は子孫繁栄のための生存戦略に直結するのか…

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asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：脊椎動物の祖先はナメクジウオ　「ホヤ」との論争に決着 - サイエンス

ヒトなど脊椎動物、祖先はナメクジウオの仲間…ゲノム解読で : 科学 : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）

脊椎動物：祖先はナメクジウオ　ヒトと遺伝子６割共通 - 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞)

GenomeWeb News: New Genome Sequence Provides Clues About Vertebrate Evolution

Evolutionary biology: The amphioxus unleashed.
Henry Gee.
Nature 453, 999-1000 (2008) | doi:10.1038/453999a

The genome sequence of a species of amphioxus, an iconic organism in the history of evolutionary biology, opens up a fresh vista on the comparative investigation of chordates and vertebrates.

The amphioxus genome and the evolution of the chordate karyotype.
Nicholas H. Putnam, Thomas Butts, David E. K. Ferrier, Rebecca F. Furlong, Uffe Hellsten, Takeshi Kawashima, Marc Robinson-Rechavi, Eiichi Shoguchi, Astrid Terry, Jr-Kai Yu, E`lia Benito-Gutiérrez, Inna Dubchak, Jordi Garcia-Fernàndez, Jeremy J. Gibson-Brown, Igor V. Grigoriev, Amy C. Horton, Pieter J. de Jong, Jerzy Jurka, Vladimir V. Kapitonov, Yuji Kohara, Yoko Kuroki, Erika Lindquist, Susan Lucas, Kazutoyo Osoegawa, Len A. Pennacchio, Asaf A. Salamov, Yutaka Satou, Tatjana Sauka-Spengler, Jeremy Schmutz, Tadasu Shin-I, Atsushi Toyoda, Marianne Bronner-Fraser, Asao Fujiyama, Linda Z. Holland, Peter W. H. Holland, Nori Satoh, Daniel S. Rokhsar.
Nature 453, 1064-1071 (2008) | doi:10.1038/nature06967

Lancelets ('amphioxus') are the modern survivors of an ancient chordate lineage, with a fossil record dating back to the Cambrian period. Here we describe the structure and gene content of the highly polymorphic ∼520-megabase genome of the Florida lancelet Branchiostoma floridae, and analyse it in the context of chordate evolution. Whole-genome comparisons illuminate the murky relationships among the three chordate groups (tunicates, lancelets and vertebrates), and allow not only reconstruction of the gene complement of the last common chordate ancestor but also partial reconstruction of its genomic organization, as well as a description of two genome-wide duplications and subsequent reorganizations in the vertebrate lineage. These genome-scale events shaped the vertebrate genome and provided additional genetic variation for exploitation during vertebrate evolution.

　# NHKスペシャルでアノマロカリスから逃げるピカイアを思い出してしまった…

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asahi.com（朝日新聞社）：慢性骨髄性白血病、根治へ治療法を開発　ハーバード大 - サイエンス

がん：制御遺伝子発見　日米伊チーム - 毎日ｊｐ(毎日新聞)

PML targeting eradicates quiescent leukaemia-initiating cells.
Keisuke Ito, Rosa Bernardi, Alessandro Morotti, Sahoko Matsuoka, Giuseppe Saglio, Yasuo Ikeda, Jacalyn Rosenblatt, David E. Avigan, Julie Teruya-Feldstein, Pier Paolo Pandolfi.
Nature 453, 1072-1078 (2008) | doi:10.1038/nature07016

The existence of a small population of 'cancer-initiating cells' responsible for tumour maintenance has been firmly demonstrated in leukaemia. This concept is currently being tested in solid tumours. Leukaemia-initiating cells, particularly those that are in a quiescent state, are thought to be resistant to chemotherapy and targeted therapies, resulting in disease relapse. Chronic myeloid leukaemia is a paradigmatic haematopoietic stem cell disease in which the leukaemia-initiating-cell pool is not eradicated by current therapy, leading to disease relapse on drug discontinuation. Here we define the critical role of the promyelocytic leukaemia protein (PML) tumour suppressor in haematopoietic stem cell maintenance, and present a new therapeutic approach for targeting quiescent leukaemia-initiating cells and possibly cancer-initiating cells by pharmacological inhibition of PML.

　# 抗ガン剤と亜ヒ酸の組み合わせが有効だなんて、分子生物学的に調べなきゃ出てこない発想だよな

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政府懇談会が提言、低炭素社会へ国民的取り組み求める : 環境 : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）
　# なんか「低炭素社会」という言葉に違和感を覚えるのは気のせいかい？

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環境問題解決に大型研究施設の共有へ…Ｇ８科学技術相会合 : 環境 : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）
　# ここでいう環境問題解決に使うという大型研究施設って具体的に何なんですか？

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岩手・宮城地震、震央から１１ｋｍの地点で２・１ｍ隆起 : 科学 : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）

「駒の湯温泉」襲った土砂崩落、東京ドーム１・２杯分に : 科学 : YOMIURI ONLINE（読売新聞）
　# 地震関連です

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光で細胞表面の受容体の動きを観察　京大が新手法 - MSN産経ニュース

お好みの蛍光色素で薬物受容体を瞬時に標識：創薬研究への応用 – 京都大学

Coiled-Coil Tag－Probe System for Quick Labeling of Membrane Receptors in Living Cells.
Yoshiaki Yano, Akiko Yano, Shinya Oishi, Yukihiko Sugimoto, Gozoh Tsujimoto, Nobutaka Fujii, Katsumi Matsuzaki.
ACS Chem. Biol., ASAP Article | doi:10.1021/cb8000556

The specific labeling of proteins in living cells using a genetically encodable tag and a small synthetic probe targeting the tag has been craved as an alternative to widely used larger fluorescent proteins. We describe a rapid method with a small tag (21 amino acids) for the fluorescence labeling of cell-surface receptors using a high affinity coiled-coil formation without metals or enzymes. The peptide probes K3 (KIAALKE)₃ and K4 (KIAALKE)₄ labeled with a fluorophore specifically stained the surface-exposed tag sequence E3 (EIAALEK)₃ attached to the N-terminus of the mouse-derived prosta-glandin EP3β receptor in living cells (K_d = 64 and 6 nM for K3 and K4, respectively). The labeling was quick (<1 min), nontoxic, and available even in culture medium without affecting receptor function. As an application of this tractable method, the agonist-induced internalization of the human-derived β-adrenergic receptor and epidermal growth factor receptor was successfully visualized.

　# 受容体じゃないところを標識したい場合はどうするんですかねぇ？