Nucleic Acids Research, 2008, Vol. 36, No. 22 6945-6947
© 2008 The Author(s)
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/2.0/uk/) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Editorial |
Editorial
For the third year running, NAR and Oxford Journals have awarded prizes to students in recognition of their outstanding achievements. This year, prizes were awarded at six different international conferences. A detailed list of the awards is presented below. Our warm congratulations go to the prize winners.ESF-EMBO Symposium on Antiviral Applications of RNA Interference, Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain, 5–10 April 2008
Best Poster Award: Alexander Karlas
Applications of RNA interference against influenza A viruses
A. Karlas, N. Machuy, D. Becker, K.-P. Pleissner, E. Nielsen, K. Howard, H. Prakash, S. Hess, E. Müller, M. Drabkina, J. D. Manntz, T. Rudel, P. Erbacher, J. Kjems, T. F. Meyer
Summary: Alexander Karlas (Max-Planck-Institute for Infection Biology, Berlin) reported on the use of RNAi against influenza A viruses. siRNAs modified with locked nucleic acids (LNA) and delivered by polyethylenimine or chitosan were found to be efficient in a mouse influenza model. In order to identify host factors on which the virus depends, large scale screens were performed. Amongst the identified targets a considerable number of factors were related to the host cell RNA processing machinery.
2008 FASEB SUMMER RESEARCH CONFERENCE ON TRANSCRIPTIONAL REGULATION DURING CELL GROWTH, DIFFERENTIATION, AND DEVELOPMENT, SNOWMASS VILLAGE, COLORADO, USA, 22–27 JUNE 2008
Best Student Poster Award: Kimberly Blahnik
Genomewide KAP1 co-repressor complex binding pattern analysis
Kimberly Blahnik et al.
Summary: KAP1 is an important co-repressor for many Kruppel like Zinc finger TFs, one of the most abundant family of TFs in the mammalian genome. Very little is known about these TFs or their functions. The judges felt that Kimberly's; work made important insights into the problem.
Best Student Poster Award: John Latham
Methylation of the kinetochore protein Dam1 by Kmt2/Set1 is regulated by ubiquitination
John Latham et al.
Summary: This impressive presentation described the discovery of an alternate target for Set1.
Best Post-Doc Poster Award: Inti De La Rosa-Velasquez
Interstitial heterochromatin discriminates epigenetic variation in a mouse chromosome
Inti De La Rosa-Velasquez et al.
Summary: Sophisticated and insightful presentation for how chromatin modifications distinguish active versus inactive regions of the genome.
Best Post-Doc Poster Award: David Hawkins
Identification of distal transcription factor binding sites in the hESC genome
David Hawkins et al.
Summary: This poster described the use of ChIP-microarrays and ChIP-Seq to identify enhancers in human stem cells. Identification of enhancers is very difficult as, unlike promoters, they are scattered at various distances from the transcription startsite. The description of the strategy was exceptional.
Fourth International Society for Computational Biology (ISCB) Student Council Symposium, Toronto, Canada, 18 July 2008
Best Presentation Award Winner: Surya Saha
Discovering relationships among dispersed repeats using spatial association rule mining
Surya Saha, Susan Bridges, Zenaida Magbanua, Daniel G. Peterson
Summary: We utilized spatial association rules and graph mining in our data mining algorithm to discover highly fragmented repeat regions for which only the conserved parts are reported by a computational repeat finder.
Best Poster Award Winner: Lixia Yao
Quantitative systems-level determinants of drug targets
Lixia Yao, Andrey Rzhetsky
Summary: We analyzed specific systems-level properties of human genes and proteins targeted by 919 FDA-approved drugs and identified some quantitative measures for characterizing and predicting drug targets.
Best Poster Award Runner Up: Sebastian Pechmann
Competition between protein aggregation and protein complex formation
Sebastian Pechmann, Emmanuel D. Levy, Gian G. Tartaglia, Michele Vendruscolo
Summary: The poster discussed design principles that regulate the competition between functional and dysfunctional association of proteins.
Best Poster Award Runner Up: Bridget Chukualin
TrypanoCyc—a metabolic pathway database for Trypanosoma brucei
Bridget Chukualim, Nick Peters, Christiane Hertz Fowler, Matthew Berriman
Summary: TrypanoCyc, a metabolic pathway database for Trypanosoma brucei (causative agent of African sleeping sickness) has been created, connections between enzymes have been interrogated and new drug targets identified.
35th International Symposium on Nucleic Acids Chemistry and 18th International Roundtable on Nucleosides, Nucleotides and Nucleic Acids, Kyoto, Japan, 8–12 September 2008
Best Poster Award Winner: Hankil Lee
Synthesis and antitumor activity of 1-β-4-selenoarabinofuranosyl cytosine (4'-Seleno-ara-C)
Hankil Lee, Dilip K. Tosh, Won Jun Choi, Yu Min Kim, Sang Kook Lee, Lak Shin Jeong
Summary: 4-Seleno analogue of 1-β-arabinofuranosyl cytosine (ara-C) was synthesized via 4'-selenouridine as a key intermediate, which was easily prepared from D-ribose. The synthesized 4'-seleno-ara-C showed potent antitumor activity (IC50 = 1.5 µM) against stomach cancer cells (SNU638).
Best Poster Award Winner: Sebastien Lyonnais
Functionalization of DNA G-Wires for patterning and nanofabrication
S. Lyonnais, O. Piétrement, A. Chepelianski, S. Guéron, L. Lacroix, E. Lecam, J. L. Mergny
Summary: DNA structures made of guanine tetrads are interesting candidates for future applications in nanofabrication. In this context, we report the production of end-functionalized four-stranded wires (G-Wires) assembled from poly(dG) strands. These functionalizations were used to comb these G-Wires on various surfaces, or to assemble complex structures for nanoconstruction purposes.
5th Meeting of the GBM study section ‘RNA-Biochemistry’
RNA Biochemistry & Workshop ‘Single Molecule Techniques’, Kassel, Germany, 18–21 September 2008
Best Poster Award Winner: Nils Anspach
Single molecule studies on nucleic acid methylation
N. Anspach, T. Jurkowski, R. Jurkowska, V. Maximov, A. Schöne, A. Jeltsch, W. Nellen
Summary: Investigation of the connection between structure and function of DNA Methyltransferase nucleic acid complexes by single molecule AFM imaging.
Best Poster Award Winner: Anke Detzer
Phosphorothioate-stimulated cellular uptake of siRNA: a cell culture model to study bottlenecks of intracellular siRNA trafficking
A. Detzer, M. Rompf, A. Mescalchin, G. Sczakiel
Summary: The cellular uptake of short interfering RNA (siRNA) followed by its trafficking to the subcellular location where it enters the RNA interference (RNAi) pathway remains a major technical hurdle for its use in vivo including therapeutic applications. Therefore the aim of this study was to investigate the importance of intracellular translocation steps for siRNA-mediated target suppression.
Best Poster Award Winner: Sven Findeiß
Small regulatory RNAs with a function in virulence of Xanthomonas campestris pv. Vesicatoria—Yellow Sticks, Structured RNAs and Black Spots
S. Findeiß, C. Schubert, M. Lechner, P. F. Stadler, U. Bonas
Summary: The combination of bioinformatic (e.g. prediction of ncRNAs using RNAz and their targets using RNAup) and experimental (e.g. high-throughput sequencing of cDNAs) approaches led to the identification of small RNAs with an expression pattern suggesting a function in virulence.
Quadruplex Nucleic Acids Symposium London, UK, 24 September 2008
Best Poster Award Winner: Nancy Campbell
Selective ligand recognition of G-quadruplex loops
Nancy H. Campbell, Manisha Patel, Amina B. Tofa, Ragini Ghosh, Gary Parkinson, Stephen Neidle
Summary: A series of crystal structures of G-quadruplexes in complex with di- and tri-substituted acridines reveals that the nature of quadruplex loop, propeller or diagonal, results in selectivity in ligand recognition of specific quadruplex conformation, making it possible to target a specific quadruplex fold.
Keith Fox, Senior Editor, Nucleic Acids Research
Rich Roberts, Senior Editor, Nucleic Acids Research
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