proteins that play crucial roles in
numerous cellular activities. ACD
PHOTOS: (LEFT TO RIGHT) © DPA PICTURE ALLIANCE ARCHIVE/ALAMY; DR. KARI LOUNATMAA/SCIENCE SOURCE
propose a mechanism by
which obesity and associated
Edited by Sacha Vignieri
IN OTHER JOURNALS and Jesse Smith
is exceptionally potent, even
though its substrate is the most
abundant protein of a eukaryotic
cell: actin. — SMH
Science, this issue p. 535
CALCIUM CHANNELS
One gene for three
calcium currents
Mammals produce alterna-
tive forms of the Orai1 protein,
which forms the pore of various
calcium channels. This involves
using two different transla-
tion initiation start sites in the
encoding transcripts. Desai et
al. showed that these long and
short forms produce calcium
channels with distinct properties.
Both forms can participate in two
kinds of channels that respond
to the depletion of calcium from
internal stores. However, only
the long form contributes to
a channel that is activated by
arachidonic acid and leukotriene
C4, lipids that promote inflamma-
tion. Thus, alternative translation
initiation of the Orai1 message
produces at least three types of
calcium channels with distinct
signaling and regulatory proper-
ties. — NRG
Sci. Signal. 8, ra74 (2015).
METABOLISM
S-nitrosylation links
obesity and cell stress
Obesity and other diseases are
somehow linked to malfunc-
tion of the protein-protecting
functions of the endoplasmic
reticulum (ER). Yang et al.
Obese mice exhibit more cellular stress
SCIENCE sciencemag.org
chronic inflammation may be
linked to the accumulation of
unfolded proteins in the ER.
Such stress would normally
trigger the process known as
the unfolded protein response
(UPR). However, obese mice
had increased S-nitrosylation
of inositol-requiring protein-1
(IRE1α), a ribonuclease that
regulates the UPR. The modified
IRE1α had decreased RNAse
activity. The authors expressed
an IRE1α mutant protein that
could not be nitrosylated in
the liver of obese mice. This
approach improved the UPR
and helped restore glucose
homeostasis. — LBR
Science, this issue p. 500
HIV
How antibodies
mature
Antibodies are stalwart protec-
tors against infection, but even
they need a little help from
their friends. Through a process
called affinity maturation, T fol-
licular helper (TFH) cells guide B
cells to produce antibodies with
improved specificity to a partic-
ular pathogen. Now Yamamoto
et al. report that in nonhuman
primates, the frequency and
quality of TFH cells were associ-
ated with the development of
broadly neutralizing antibodies
that might be protective against
simian HIV. These findings
suggest that HIV vaccines that
incorporate TFH cell stimulation
could boost broadly neutralizing
antibody production. — ACC
Sci. Transl. Med. 7, 298ra120 (2015).
Published by AAAS
Innate lymphoid
cells help control
damaging Clostridium
difficile infection
Downloaded from http://science.sciencemag.org/ on June 11, 2021
INFECTIOUS DISEASE
Innate lymphoid cells to the rescue
M
ost people enter the hospital with the hope of getting
better, but recent increases in hospital-acquired infec-
tions have made hospitals deadly in their own right.
For instance, deaths caused by the enteric bacterium
Clostridium difficile increased by 400% in the last
decade. C. difficile is an opportunistic pathogen that takes
advantage of disruptions in the microbiota caused by antibi-
otic treatment. Abt et al. provide new insight into how the host
defends itself against this unwelcome intruder. Studying
C. difficile–infected mice, the authors found that the mice
required innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) to survive the infection.
ILCs did not substantially contribute to reducing pathogen
burden but instead appeared to limit pathology and systemic
dissemination. – KLM
Cell Host Microbe 18, 27 (2015).
SIGNAL TRANSDUCTION Smoothened was restricted by
binding events at the base of the
Signaling probed by cilium. Activation of Hedgehog
single-molecule tracking signaling decreased the affinity
Developmental signaling through of such binding. Such regulated
the so-called Hedgehog pathway binding of Smoothened to its
is transduced through the yet-to-be-defined partner(s)
receptor-like protein within the cilium is likely an
Smoothened. Hedgehog signaling important step in the Hedgehog
requires highly specific localiza- signaling mechanism. – LBR
tion of Smoothened in target cells Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 10.1073/
at the primary cilium, a structure pnas.1510094112 (2015).
that functions somewhat like an
antenna to receive and transmit
signals. Milenkovic et al. tracked NEUROSCIENCE
movement of single molecules
of Smoothened in the cilia
At the center of our own
of cultured mouse embryo spatial social network
fibroblasts. Movement of Neurons in the hippocampus
31 JULY 2015 • VOL 349 ISSUE 6247 491
RESEA RCH | I N OT H E R J OU R N A L S

that cessation of the drug results

in regain of weight. – PAK
New Engl. J. Med. 373, 11 (2015).

NUCLEAR CHEMISTRY
Subsurface corrosion
of uranium
Uranium dioxide, the most
common form of nuclear fuel,
becomes mobile as it oxidizes.
Although oxidative corrosion is
inherently a surface-mediated
process, interstitial oxygen
atoms can induce oxidation
many atomic layers deeper. By
detailing the surface structure
and composition of UO2 after
exposure to oxygen in air and
water, Stubbs et al. show that

Downloaded from http://science.sciencemag.org/ on June 11, 2021

Relict microatoll
oxidation does not follow a clas-
on southeastern island
sical diffusion pattern. Instead,
of Simeulue, Sumatra
interstitial oxygens preferentially
occupy every third atomic layer
GEOPHYSICS below the terminal (111) surface.
This pattern is a product of the
Allowing faults out of lock-up delocalized electronic structure
of nonsurface U atoms, which

T
he crust around a locked, earthquake-prone fault responds to the two sides pulling in oppo- also allows for the coexistence of
site directions by bowing and bulging over time. Meltzner et al. and Wesson et al. challenge three U oxidation states. — NW
a common assumption that this deformation progresses mostly in a uniform, linear way. Phys. Rev. Lett. 114, 246103 (2015).
Deformation shows up in seafloor bathymetry, which changes abruptly for both Sumatra and
Isla Santa Maria, Chile, over a seismic cycle. Periods during which the fault is weakly locked
explains the non-uniform behavior. Quantifying the effect clarifies subduction zone mechanics, APPLIED OPTICS
which may require updating estimates of earthquake hazard. — BG
Quat. Sci. Rev. 10.1016/j.quascirev.2015.06.003 (2015);
Dealing with
Nat. Geosci. 10.1038/ngeo2468 (2015). big data

create a maplike representation
of the environment, forming
what is called spatial memory.
Tavares et al. suggest that
humans also create a 3D map
of social space with themselves
at the center. They measured
the representation of a map
of social interactions based
on a role-playing game where
participants could interact with
fictional characters along power
(dominance, hierarchy, etc.) and
affiliation (intimacy, trustwor-
thiness, etc.) gradients, while
placed in an fMRI scanner. Left
hippocampal activity correlated
with the angle of a vector cre-
ated by these two measures,
but not by either of them alone,
while the strength of correlation
also depended on the social
skills and personality traits like
neuroticism and conscientious-
ness of the individual. – LNS
Neuron 87, 231 10.1016/j.
neuron.2015.06.011 (2015).
OBESITY MANAGEMENT
New drug—and new
hope—for a losing game
Many people would gladly trade
a dip in the fountain of youth for
a safe drug that makes them
thinner. Despite years of effort,
the pharmaceutical industry has
yet to deliver such a drug. New
hope is offered by Pi-Sunyer et
al., who report the results of a
56-week, double-blind clinical
trial examining the metabolic
effects of a drug called liraglu-
tide, which mimics a hormone
produced in the gastrointestinal
tract (glucacon-like peptide 1)
that increases satiety. People
taking liraglutide, in conjunc-
tion with dieting and exercise,
lost a mean of 8.4 kilograms as
compared with 2.8 kilograms
in those taking a placebo.
Drawbacks include the delivery
method (injection) and hints
Injectable weight loss: In the long run, is it
too good to be true?
PHOTOS: (TOP TO BOTTOM) ARON J. MELTZNER/EARTH OBSERVATORY OF SINGAPORE; DR. P. MARAZZI/SCIENCE SOURCE
Data generation often occurs at
such a high rate that it cannot be
analyzed on the fly but must be
stored and archived for access
later on. While banks of mag-
netic hard drives are the storage
medium of choice at present, the
total capacity, recording times,
and required energy burden are
not expected to keep pace with
the data generation rate. Li et al.
look to optical recording as a pos-
sible solution. Combining
superresolution nanoscopy
to record tiny binary bits in
a photosensitive medium
with multifocusing array
techniques to access
multiple layers within the
medium, it should be pos-
sible to achieve storage
capacities of about 30
terabits per disk and data
recording rates exceeding
gigabits per second. — ISO
Optica 2, 567 (2015).

492 31 JULY 2015 • VOL 349 ISSUE 6247 sciencemag.org SCIENCE

Published by AAAS
Allowing faults out of lock-up
Brent Grocholski

Science 349 (6247), 491-492.

DOI: 10.1126/science.349.6247.491-d

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