Nature Genetics - Current issue : May 2009 - Vol 41 No 5
- Transcriptional network
- Breast cancer susceptibility loci
- X-chromosome variants in mental retardation
Latest highlights
Advance online publication
Narcolepsy linked to T-cell receptor
Letter by Joachim HallmayerEmmanuel Mignot and colleagues report that variants in the T-cell receptor alpha (TRA@) locus are strongly associated with narcolepsy. This is the first documented involvement of the TCR locus in human disease and will shed light on how HLA-TCR interactions contribute to organ-specific autoimmune targeting.
Advance online publication
BARD1 variants linked to neuroblastoma
Letter by Mario CapassoJohn Maris and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association and replication study for aggressive neuroblastoma. They show that common variants in BARD1 at 2q35 are strongly associated with aggressive forms of the disease.
Current issue
TMPRSS2-ERG and PTEN loss in prostate cancer
Letter by Brett CarverTwo groups, led by Pier Paolo Pandolfi and Charles Sawyers, respectively, report that prostate-specific overexpression of ERG in transgenic mice results in no overt phenotype on its own but promotes progression of intraepithelial neoplasia to adenocarcinoma mediated by PI3-kinase pathway activation. Both groups report that human TMPRSS2-ERG–positive tumors are enriched for PTEN loss, suggesting that these two events cooperate in human prostate tumorigenesis.
Current issue
GWAS of quantitative traits in Asians
Article by Yoon Shin ChoHyung-Lae Kim and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of quantitative traits of biomedical importance, including hypertension, obesity and type 2 diabetes, in Koreans. Although some loci were previously detected and validated in European populations, others may reflect the identification of new ancestry-specific susceptibility loci.
Current issue
Pol V recruits AGO4 to chromatin
Letter by Andrzej WierzbickiCraig Pikaard and colleagues show that AGO4 is recruited to target loci through physical interactions with nascent RNA polymerase V transcripts. They further show that the SMC hinge-domain protein DMS3 functions in the assembly of Pol V transcription complexes.
Current issue
Causative mutations in XLMR
Article by Patrick TarpeyMichael Stratton and colleagues carry out a large-scale systematic sequencing of the majority of X-chromosome coding exons from 208 families with multiple individuals with mental retardation and a pattern of transmission compatible with X linkage in order to identify XLMR-causing mutations.
