EMBO reports Table of Contents for 1 June 2014; Vol. 15, No. 6

June 2014 | Volume 15, Number 6 Submit Table of Contents Editorial Opinion Hot off the Press Science & Society Reviews Scientific Reports Volume 15, Number 6 Editorial I'm a teenage lobotomy The content of doctoral degrees is ill‐defined and extremely variable. Fairness demands benchmarks that are universally recognized and applied. It's up to us. Howy Jacobs Published online 02.06.2014 Opinion It's time to exploit your favorite quirky organism with new technologies Progress in biology demands new technology and new model organisms. Modern techniques to manipulate gene expression mean we can select new organisms based on the relevance of their biology, rather than their genetic tractability. Haruhiko Siomi Published online 12.05.2014 Hot off the Press A new Riff: Rif1 eats its cake and has it too In contrast to human Rif1, S. cerevisiae Rif1 promotes nucleolytic processing of DNA double‐strand breaks by limiting binding of the resection inhibitor Rad9 to the breaks. Grzegorz Ira and André Nussenzweig Published online 27.04.2014 Science & Society Standing up for science: The antivivisection movement and how to stand up to it Antivivisectionists have long dominated the debate on animal research. It is increasingly important for the scientific community to reach out to the public and stand up for their vital work using animals. Tom Holder Published online 28.04.2014 The laboratory notebook in the 21st century: The electronic laboratory notebook would enhance good scientific practice and increase research productivity The paper‐based laboratory notebook has served scientists well for a long time. Given the increasing digitalization of research, it might be time to adopt electronic alternatives. Sara Y Nussbeck, Philipp Weil, Julia Menzel, Bartlomiej Marzec, Kai Lorberg, and Blanche Schwappach Published online 15.05.2014 The prisoners’ dilemmas: Authorship guidelines and impact factors: between a rock and a hard place Scientists are caught in a prisoners’ dilemma of authorship ethics and the misuse of impact factors, which damages the whole scientific endeavor. Breaking out of this trap requires the dedicated engagement of the whole community. David Shaw Published online 29.04.2014 A little hard to swallow?: The use of nanotechnology in the food industry might be both boon and bane to human health The food industry is exploring the use of nanotechnology to extend product freshness, detect bacterial spoilage and deliver additives. Yet critics and experts worry that there is a lack of knowledge about the potential risks to human health. Melissa Suran Published online 19.05.2014 Reviews The Hippo signaling pathway in stem cell biology and cancer The Hippo pathway regulates tissue homeostasis and organ size by controlling tissue‐specific stem cells, and dysregulation of this pathway is associated with various diseases. This review focuses on the role of Hippo signaling in stem cell biology and its potential implications in tissue homeostasis and cancer. Jung‐Soon Mo, Hyun Woo Park, and Kun‐Liang Guan Published online 12.05.2014 Metabolomic strategies for the identification of new enzyme functions and metabolic pathways Many genes, among them numerous putative enzymes, have unknown function. Recent technological advances allow large‐scale identification of enzymatic function, illuminating this medically and biotechnologically important resource. Gareth A Prosser, Gerald Larrouy‐Maumus, and Luiz Pedro S de Carvalho Published online 14.05.2014 Scientific Reports A novel import route for an N‐anchor mitochondrial outer membrane protein aided by the TIM23 complex This study reveals a novel pathway for the insertion of an N‐anchor mitochondrial protein Om45 into the outer membrane from the intermembrane space side, which requires the TIM23 complex in the inner membrane, a translocator for presequence‐containing proteins. Jiyao Song, Yasushi Tamura, Tohru Yoshihisa, and Toshiya Endo Published online 29.04.2014 The presequence pathway is involved in protein sorting to the mitochondrial outer membrane This study shows that import of Om45 into mitochondria involves protein translocases of the presequence pathway and the outer membrane MIM machinery. Thus, machineries known to direct preproteins to different mitochondrial membranes can be functionally connected to form a new protein sorting pathway. Lena‐Sophie Wenz, Łukasz Opaliński, Max‐Hinderk Schuler, Lars Ellenrieder, Raffaele Ieva, Lena Böttinger, Jian Qiu, Martin van der Laan, Nils Wiedemann, Bernard Guiard, Nikolaus Pfanner, and Thomas Becker Published online 29.04.2014 DYRK1A phoshorylates histone H3 to differentially regulate the binding of HP1 isoforms and antagonize HP1‐mediated transcriptional repression DYRK1A counteracts chromatin‐mediated transcriptional repression of pro‐inflammatory genes by phosphorylating histone H3 at the genes' promoters. Inhibiting excessive DYRK1A activity in megakaryoblastic leukemia linked to Down's syndrome might be a way to control the pro‐inflammatory cytokinemia associated with this disease. Suk Min Jang, Saliha Azebi, Guillaume Soubigou, and Christian Muchardt Published online 12.05.2014 Saccharomyces cerevisiae Rif1 cooperates with MRX‐Sae2 in promoting DNA‐end resection Rif1 promotes nucleolytic processing of DNA double‐strand breaks in Saccharomyces cerevisiae via a pathway that is partially redundant with the one involving Sae2 and Exo1. Marina Martina, Diego Bonetti, Matteo Villa, Giovanna Lucchini, and Maria Pia Longhese Published online 01.04.2014 Genome‐wide screen identifies signaling pathways that regulate autophagy during Caenorhabditis elegans development A screen for regulators of autophagy during C. elegans development identifies 139 genes and multiple pathways that inhibit autophagy. Interestingly, some pathways regulate the transcription of autophagy genes in a TFEB‐independent manner. Bin Guo, Xinxin Huang, Peipei Zhang, Linxiang Qi, Qianqian Liang, Xuebo Zhang, Jie Huang, Bin Fang, Wenru Hou, Jinghua Han, and Hong Zhang Published online 24.04.2014 BIG3 inhibits insulin granule biogenesis and insulin secretion This study identifies a regulatory role for the novel protein BIG3 in systemic metabolism through its inhibitory effects on insulin granule biogenesis and insulin secretion. Hongyu Li, Shunhui Wei, Kenneth Cheng, Natalia V Gounko, Russell E Ericksen, Aimin Xu, Wanjin Hong, and Weiping Han Published online 07.04.2014 A variant of KCC2 from patients with febrile seizures impairs neuronal Cl− extrusion and dendritic spine formation A missense mutation of the K‐Cl co‐transporter KCC2, identified in patients with febrile seizures, leads to defects in neuronal Cl− extrusion and dendritic spine formation in vivo and in cultured cells. Martin Puskarjov, Patricia Seja, Sarah E Heron, Tristiana C Williams, Faraz Ahmad, Xenia Iona, Karen L Oliver, Bronwyn E Grinton, Laszlo Vutskits, Ingrid E Scheffer, Steven Petrou, Peter Blaesse, Leanne M Dibbens, Samuel F Berkovic, and Kai Kaila Published online 24.03.2014   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 © 2014 by the European Molecular Biology Organisation.