Microbiology

Quantitative imaging of Plasmodium transmission from mosquito to mammal

Using epifluorescence microscopy, Amino et al. track the in vivo behavior of GFP-expressing Plasmodium berghei after its transmission into mice via mosquito bite. By observing the initial entry of sporozoites into the dermis, followed by invasion of blood and lymphatic vessels, they obtain insights into malaria pathology that may assist vaccine design.

Amino, R. et al. Nat. Med. 12, 220–224 (2006).

Bioinformatics

GeneDesign: rapid, automated design of multikilobase synthetic genes

Many research projects require the construction or modification of synthetic genes. Design can be tricky, however, and careful attention must be given to such factors as restriction-site usage and codon selection. Richardson et al. now describe GeneDesign, a publicly accessible, modular online system that can assist users with every stage of the design and assembly process.

Richardson, S.M. et al. Genome Res.; published online 15 February 2006.

Protein biochemistry

Self-assembly of synthetic collagen triple helices

Collagen is a useful substrate for several cell biology and biomaterials applications, but the use of natural collagen preparations has sometimes proven problematic. Kotch and Raines have designed two short 'sticky' polypeptide fragments capable of self-assembly into long, triple-helical collagen-like fibers, with the potential for chemical modification for the design of tailored collagen variants.

Kotch, F.W. & Raines, R.T. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 3028–3033 (2006).

Bioinformatics

Structure modeling of all identified G protein–coupled receptors in the human genome

G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs) are considered important drug targets for numerous diseases, but detailed structural data are lacking for the majority of these proteins. To address this, Zhang et al. conducted a genome-wide computational analysis of putative GPCRs, and estimate that their TASSER algorithm has predicted accurate folds for nearly 820 human GPCRs.

Zhang, Y. et al. PLoS Comp. Biol. 2, e13 (2006).

Imaging and visualization

Automated cell lineage tracing in Caenorhabditis elegans

To date, automated methods for tracking cell lineage in C. elegans development in live embryos have only succeeded as far as the eight-cell stage. Bao et al. now describe an improved method that combines effective fluorescence labeling of cell nuclei with highly sensitive image analysis algorithms, allowing accurate in vivo tracking of cell lineage up to the 350-cell stage.

Bao, Z. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 103, 2707–2712 (2006).