Mutant deoxynucleotide carrier is associated with congenital microcephaly

The disorder Amish microcephaly (MCPHA) is characterized by severe congenital microcephaly, elevated levels of alpha-ketoglutarate in the urine and premature death. The disorder is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern and has been observed only in Old Order Amish families whose ancestors lived in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania. Here we show, by using a genealogy database and automated pedigree software, that 23 nuclear families affected with MCPHA are connected to a single ancestral couple. Through a whole-genome scan, fine mapping and haplotype analysis, we localized the gene affected in MCPHA to a region of 3 cM, or 2 Mb, on chromosome 17q25. We constructed a map of contiguous genomic clones spanning this region. One of the genes in this region, SLC25A19, which encodes a nuclear mitochondrial deoxynucleotide carrier (DNC), contains a substitution that segregates with the disease in affected individuals and alters an amino acid that is highly conserved in similar proteins. Functional analysis shows that the mutant DNC protein lacks the normal transport activity, implying that failed deoxynucleotide transport across the inner mitochondrial membrane causes MCPHA. Our data indicate that mitochondrial deoxynucleotide transport may be essential for prenatal brain growth.     

Active fluidization of polymer networks through molecular motors

Entangled polymer solutions and melts exhibit elastic, solid-like resistance to quick deformations and a viscous, fluid-like response to slow deformations. This viscoelastic behaviour reflects the dynamics of individual polymer chains driven by brownian motion: since individual chains can only move in a snake-like fashion through the mesh of surrounding polymer molecules, their diffusive transport, described by reptation, is so slow that the relaxation of suddenly imposed stress is delayed. Entangled polymer solutions and melts therefore elastically resist deforming motions that occur faster than the stress relaxation time. Here we show that the protein myosin II permits active control over the viscoelastic behaviour of actin filament solutions. We find that when each actin filament in a polymerized actin solution interacts with at least one myosin minifilament, the stress relaxation time of the polymer solution is significantly shortened. We attribute this effect to myosin's action as a 'molecular motor', which allows it to interact with randomly oriented actin filaments and push them through the solution, thus enhancing longitudinal filament motion. By superseding reptation with sliding motion, the molecular motors thus overcome a fundamental principle of complex fluids: that only depolymerization makes an entangled, isotropic polymer solution fluid for quick deformations.     

Gate-induced superconductivity in a solution-processed organic polymer film

The electrical and optical properties of conjugated polymers have received considerable attention in the context of potentially low-cost replacements for conventional metals and inorganic semiconductors. Charge transport in these organic materials has been characterized in both the doped-metallic and the semiconducting state, but superconductivity has not hitherto been observed in these polymers. Here we report a distinct metal-insulator transition and metallic levels of conductivity in a polymer field-effect transistor. The active material is solution-cast regioregular poly(3-hexylthiophene), which forms relatively well ordered films owing to self-organization, and which yields a high charge carrier mobility (0.05-0.1 cm2 V(-1) s(-1)) at room temperature. At temperatures below approximately 2.35 K with sheet carrier densities exceeding 2.5 x 10(14) cm(-2), the polythiophene film becomes superconducting. The appearance of superconductivity seems to be closely related to the self-assembly properties of the polymer, as the introduction of additional disorder is found to suppress superconductivity. Our findings therefore demonstrate the feasibility of tuning the electrical properties of conjugated polymers over the largest range possible-from insulating to superconducting.     

The global impact of HIV/AIDS

The scale of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)/AIDS epidemic has exceeded all expectations since its identification 20 years ago. Globally, an estimated 36 million people are currently living with HIV, and some 20 million people have already died, with the worst of the epidemic centred on sub-Saharan Africa. But just as the spread of HIV has been greater than predicted, so too has been its impact on social capital, population structure and economic growth. Responding to AIDS on a scale commensurate with the epidemic is a global imperative, and the tools for an effective response are known. Nothing less than a sustained social mobilization is necessary to combat one of the most serious crises facing human development.