RNA-binding proteins that preferentially interact with 8-oxoG-modified RNAs: our current understanding.

Cells encounter a variety of stresses throughout their lifetimes. Oxidative stress can occur via a myriad of factors, including exposure to chemical toxins or UV light. Importantly, these stressors induce chemical changes (e.g. chemical modifications) to biomolecules, such as RNA. Commonly, guanine is oxidized to form 8-oxo-7,8-hydroxyguanine (8-oxoG) and this modification can disrupt a plethora of cellular processes including messenger RNA translation and stability. Polynucleotide phosphorylase (PNPase), heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein D (HNRPD/Auf1), poly(C)-binding protein (PCBP1/HNRNP E1), and Y-box binding protein 1 (YB-1) have been identified as four RNA-binding proteins that preferentially bind 8-oxoG-modified RNA over unmodified RNA. All four proteins are native to humans and PNPase is additionally found in bacteria. Additionally, under oxidative stress, cell survival declines in mutants that lack PNPase, Auf1, or PCBP1, suggesting they are critical to the oxidative stress response. This mini-review captures the current understanding of the PNPase, HNRPD/Auf1, PCBP1, and YB-1 proteins and the mechanism that has been outlined so far by which they recognize and interact with 8-oxoG-modified RNAs.

Bottom-up nanoscale patterning and selective deposition on silicon nanowires.

We demonstrate a bottom-up process for programming the deposition of coaxial thin films aligned to the underlying dopant profile of semiconductor nanowires. Our process synergistically combines three distinct methods-vapor-liquid-solid nanowire growth, selective coaxial lithography via etching of surfaces (SCALES), and area-selective atomic layer deposition (AS-ALD)-into a cohesive whole. Here, we study ZrO2on Si nanowires as a model system. Si nanowires are first grown with an axially modulated n-Si/i-Si dopant profile. SCALES then yields coaxial poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) masks on the n-Si regions. Subsequent AS-ALD of ZrO2occurs on the exposed i-Si regions and not on those masked by PMMA. We show the spatial relationship between nanowire dopant profile, PMMA masks, and ZrO2films, confirming the programmability of the process. The nanoscale resolution of our process coupled with the plethora of available AS-ALD chemistries promises a range of future opportunities to generate structurally complex nanoscale materials and electronic devices using entirely bottom-up methods.

Intergroup atrocities in war: a neuroscientific perspective.

Studying the most extreme outcomes of intergroup hatred--murder, mass killings and genocides--has long been part of historical and social research. Neuroscientists and psychologists have also been interested in interpersonal and intergroup violence. This article considers the question of how atrocities arise from a neuroscientific perspective, focusing on war as the context in which they most often occur. It describes relevant aspects of brain function, relates them to social psychological research on intergroup hostility and applies the resulting framework to a case study: the US prison camp at Guantanamo Bay.

Familial cancer and developmental dyslexia: an observational pilot study.

The aim of the study was to test the hypothesis that raised platelet-activating factor (PAF) may contribute to the aetiology of developmental dyslexia. PAF is a potent proinflammatory mediator which signals cell damage and facilitates natural killer cell activity. Raised PAF may help protect against tumourigenesis. As dyslexia has a partial genetic basis, the PAF hypothesis predicts that dyslexia may be negatively associated with a family history of cancer. To test this prediction, children with dyslexia (n=163) and children without dyslexia (n=154), with (n=152) and without (n=165) a family history of cancer (total n=317; mean age 11 years 5 months, SD 2 years 11 months), were compared on standard psychometrics (British Ability Scales subtests). Results showed that proportionately fewer children with dyslexia (38%) than controls (58.4%) had a family history of cancer, and there was some evidence of a 'dose' effect: children who had more relatives with cancer showed better reading and spelling. It was concluded that children at genetic risk of dyslexia who have a family history of cancer have better reading and spelling than those without a family history of cancer, confirming the prediction of the PAF hypothesis.

Familial and genetic effects on motor coordination, laterality, and reading-related cognition.

OBJECTIVE: Recent research has provided evidence for a genetically mediated association between language or reading-related cognitive deficits and impaired motor coordination. Other studies have identified relationships between lateralization of hand skill and cognitive abilities. With a large sample, the authors aimed to investigate genetic relationships between measures of reading-related cognition, hand motor skill, and hand skill lateralization. METHOD: The authors applied univariate and bivariate correlation and familiality analyses to a range of measures. They also performed genomewide linkage analysis of hand motor skill in a subgroup of 195 sibling pairs. RESULTS: Hand motor skill was significantly familial (maximum heritability=41%), as were reading-related measures. Hand motor skill was weakly but significantly correlated with reading-related measures, such as nonword reading and irregular word reading. However, these correlations were not significantly familial in nature, and the authors did not observe linkage of hand motor skill to any chromosomal regions implicated in susceptibility to dyslexia. Lateralization of hand skill was not correlated with reading or cognitive ability. CONCLUSIONS: The authors confirmed a relationship between lower motor ability and poor reading performance. However, the genetic effects on motor skill and reading ability appeared to be largely or wholly distinct, suggesting that the correlation between these traits may have arisen from environmental influences. Finally, the authors found no evidence that reading disability and/or low general cognitive ability were associated with ambidexterity.

Occupation choices of adults with and without symptoms of dyslexia.

People with the learning disability developmental dyslexia characteristically have difficulties in processing written language. There is some evidence that they may also have talents in other areas such as visuospatial processing. This pattern of strengths and weaknesses may predispose people who have dyslexia towards adopting certain occupations and away from others. Although there is literature on career choice in learning disabled adults in general, relatively little work has been done specifically for dyslexia. We therefore compared the occupations of adults with and without symptoms of developmental dyslexia. Results were analysed using non-parametric statistics and are illustrated with a case study. We found significant differences in the distribution of our samples. Adults with symptoms of dyslexia were much less likely than adults not reporting such symptoms to be involved in professions such as science/computing, management and finance. They were more likely to be involved in people-oriented professions such as nursing or sales. While preliminary, these results suggest that people with dyslexia may indeed show significantly different patterns of occupation choice.