Description: Modern strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from the Americas are closely related to those from Europe, supporting the assumption that human tuberculosis was introduced post-contact. This notion, however, is incompatible with archaeological evidence of pre-contact tuberculosis in the New World. Comparative genomics of modern isolates suggests that M. tuberculosis attained its worldwide distribution following human dispersals out of Africa during the Pleistocene epoch, although this has yet to be confirmed with ancient calibration points. Here we present three 1,000-year-old mycobacterial genomes from Peruvian human skeletons, revealing that a member of the M. tuberculosis complex caused human disease before contact. The ancient strains are distinct from known human-adapted forms and are most closely related to those adapted to seals and sea lions. Two independent dating approaches suggest a most recent common ancestor for the M. tuberculosis complex less than 6,000 years ago, which supports a Holocene dispersal of the disease. Our results implicate sea mammals as having played a role in transmitting the disease to humans across the ocean.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4550673/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4550673/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Bos, Kirsten I -- Harkins, Kelly M -- Herbig, Alexander -- Coscolla, Mireia -- Weber, Nico -- Comas, Inaki -- Forrest, Stephen A -- Bryant, Josephine M -- Harris, Simon R -- Schuenemann, Verena J -- Campbell, Tessa J -- Majander, Kerttu -- Wilbur, Alicia K -- Guichon, Ricardo A -- Wolfe Steadman, Dawnie L -- Cook, Della Collins -- Niemann, Stefan -- Behr, Marcel A -- Zumarraga, Martin -- Bastida, Ricardo -- Huson, Daniel -- Nieselt, Kay -- Young, Douglas -- Parkhill, Julian -- Buikstra, Jane E -- Gagneux, Sebastien -- Stone, Anne C -- Krause, Johannes -- 098051/Wellcome Trust/United Kingdom -- AI090928/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- MC_U117581288/Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- R01 AI090928/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- Medical Research Council/United Kingdom -- England -- Nature. 2014 Oct 23;514(7523):494-7. doi: 10.1038/nature13591. Epub 2014 Aug 20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tubingen, Ruemelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tubingen, Germany [2]. ; 1] School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, Arizona 85287-2402, USA [2]. ; 1] Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tubingen, Ruemelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tubingen, Germany [2] Center for Bioinformatics, University of Tubingen, Sand 14, 72076 Tubingen, Germany [3]. ; 1] Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland [2] University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland [3]. ; Center for Bioinformatics, University of Tubingen, Sand 14, 72076 Tubingen, Germany. ; 1] Genomics and Health Unit, FISABIO-Public Health, Avenida Cataluna 21, 46020 Valencia, Spain [2] CIBER (Centros de Investigacion Biomedica en Red) in Epidemiology and Public Health, Instituto de Salud Carlos III, C/ Monforte de Lemos 3-5, Pabellon 11, Planta 0, 28029 Madrid, Spain. ; Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tubingen, Ruemelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tubingen, Germany. ; Pathogen Genomics, The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SA, UK. ; Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X1, Rondebosch, 7701, South Africa. ; School of Human Evolution and Social Change, Arizona State University, PO Box 872402, Tempe, Arizona 85287-2402, USA. ; CONICET, Laboratorio de Ecologia Evolutiva Humana (FACSO, UNCPBA), Departamento de Biologia (FCEyN, UNMDP), Calle 508 No. 881 (7631), Quequen, Argentina. ; Department of Anthropology, University of Tennessee, 250 South Stadium Hall, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996, USA. ; Department of Anthropology, Indiana University, 701 East Kirkwood Avenue, Bloomington, Indiana 47405-7100, USA. ; 1] Molecular Mycobacteriology, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Parkallee 1, 23845 Borstel, Germany [2] German Center for Infection Research, Forschungszentrum Borstel, Parkallee 1, 23845 Borstel, Germany. ; McGill International TB Centre, McGill University, 1650 Cedar Avenue, Montreal H3G 1A4, Canada. ; Biotechnology Institute, CICVyA-INTA Castelar, Dr. Nicolas Repetto y De Los Reseros S/N, (B1686IGC) Hurlingham, Buenos Aires, Argentina. ; Instituto de Investigaciones Marinas y Costeras (CONICET-UNMdP), Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales, Universidad Nacional de Mar del Plata, San Luis 1722, Mar del Plata 7600, Argentina. ; 1] Department of Medicine, Imperial College, London W2 1PG, UK [2] Division of Mycobacterial Research, MRC National Institute for Medical Research, Mill Hill, London NW7 1AA, UK. ; 1] Department of Medical Parasitology and Infection Biology, Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Socinstrasse 57, 4002 Basel, Switzerland [2] University of Basel, Petersplatz 1, CH-4003 Basel, Switzerland. ; 1] Department of Archaeological Sciences, University of Tubingen, Ruemelinstrasse 23, 72070 Tubingen, Germany [2] Senckenberg Centre for Human Evolution and Palaeoenvironment, University of Tubingen, Tubingen 72070, Germany [3] Max Planck Institute for Science and History, Khalaische Strasse 10, 07745 Jena, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25141181" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Epigenetic alterations, that is, disruption of DNA methylation and chromatin architecture, are now acknowledged as a universal feature of tumorigenesis. Medulloblastoma, a clinically challenging, malignant childhood brain tumour, is no exception. Despite much progress from recent genomics studies, with recurrent changes identified in each of the four distinct tumour subgroups (WNT-pathway-activated, SHH-pathway-activated, and the less-well-characterized Group 3 and Group 4), many cases still lack an obvious genetic driver. Here we present whole-genome bisulphite-sequencing data from thirty-four human and five murine tumours plus eight human and three murine normal controls, augmented with matched whole-genome, RNA and chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing data. This comprehensive data set allowed us to decipher several features underlying the interplay between the genome, epigenome and transcriptome, and its effects on medulloblastoma pathophysiology. Most notable were highly prevalent regions of hypomethylation correlating with increased gene expression, extending tens of kilobases downstream of transcription start sites. Focal regions of low methylation linked to transcription-factor-binding sites shed light on differential transcriptional networks between subgroups, whereas increased methylation due to re-normalization of repressed chromatin in DNA methylation valleys was positively correlated with gene expression. Large, partially methylated domains affecting up to one-third of the genome showed increased mutation rates and gene silencing in a subgroup-specific fashion. Epigenetic alterations also affected novel medulloblastoma candidate genes (for example, LIN28B), resulting in alternative promoter usage and/or differential messenger RNA/microRNA expression. Analysis of mouse medulloblastoma and precursor-cell methylation demonstrated a somatic origin for many alterations. Our data provide insights into the epigenetic regulation of transcription and genome organization in medulloblastoma pathogenesis, which are probably also of importance in a wider developmental and disease context.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Hovestadt, Volker -- Jones, David T W -- Picelli, Simone -- Wang, Wei -- Kool, Marcel -- Northcott, Paul A -- Sultan, Marc -- Stachurski, Katharina -- Ryzhova, Marina -- Warnatz, Hans-Jorg -- Ralser, Meryem -- Brun, Sonja -- Bunt, Jens -- Jager, Natalie -- Kleinheinz, Kortine -- Erkek, Serap -- Weber, Ursula D -- Bartholomae, Cynthia C -- von Kalle, Christof -- Lawerenz, Chris -- Eils, Jurgen -- Koster, Jan -- Versteeg, Rogier -- Milde, Till -- Witt, Olaf -- Schmidt, Sabine -- Wolf, Stephan -- Pietsch, Torsten -- Rutkowski, Stefan -- Scheurlen, Wolfram -- Taylor, Michael D -- Brors, Benedikt -- Felsberg, Jorg -- Reifenberger, Guido -- Borkhardt, Arndt -- Lehrach, Hans -- Wechsler-Reya, Robert J -- Eils, Roland -- Yaspo, Marie-Laure -- Landgraf, Pablo -- Korshunov, Andrey -- Zapatka, Marc -- Radlwimmer, Bernhard -- Pfister, Stefan M -- Lichter, Peter -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jun 26;510(7506):537-41. doi: 10.1038/nature13268. Epub 2014 May 18.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2]. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2]. ; Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestrasse 63-73, Berlin 14195, Germany. ; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology and Clinical Immunology, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Moorenstrasse 5, Dusseldorf 40225, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, NN Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, 4th Tverskaya-Yamskaya 16, Moscow 125047, Russia. ; Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, National Cancer Institute (NCI)-Designated Cancer Center, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 2880 Torrey Pines Scenic Drive, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ; 1] Queensland Brain Institute, University of Queensland, QBI Building, St Lucia, Queensland 4072, Australia [2] Department of Oncogenomics, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, the Netherlands. ; Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. ; 1] Division of Translational Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Data Management Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Oncogenomics, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam 1105 AZ, the Netherlands. ; 1] Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Clinical Cooperation Unit Pediatric Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn Medical Center, Sigmund-Freud-Strasse 25, Bonn 53105, Germany. ; Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. ; Cnopf'sche Kinderklinik, Nurnberg Children's Hospital, St.-Johannis-Muhlgasse 19, Nurnberg 90419, Germany. ; 1] Program in Developmental and Stem Cell Biology, The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada [2] Division of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada [3] Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario M5S 1A8, Canada. ; 1] Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich Heine University Dusseldorf, Moorenstrasse 5, Dusseldorf 40225, Germany [2] German Consortium for Translational Cancer Research (DKTK), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Institute of Pharmacy and Molecular Biotechnology (IPMB), University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [3] Bioquant Center, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [4] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Department of Neuropathology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 220, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Clinical Cooperation Unit Neuropathology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 220-221, Heidelberg, 69120 Germany. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24847876" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Medulloblastoma is a highly malignant paediatric brain tumour currently treated with a combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy, posing a considerable burden of toxicity to the developing child. Genomics has illuminated the extensive intertumoral heterogeneity of medulloblastoma, identifying four distinct molecular subgroups. Group 3 and group 4 subgroup medulloblastomas account for most paediatric cases; yet, oncogenic drivers for these subtypes remain largely unidentified. Here we describe a series of prevalent, highly disparate genomic structural variants, restricted to groups 3 and 4, resulting in specific and mutually exclusive activation of the growth factor independent 1 family proto-oncogenes, GFI1 and GFI1B. Somatic structural variants juxtapose GFI1 or GFI1B coding sequences proximal to active enhancer elements, including super-enhancers, instigating oncogenic activity. Our results, supported by evidence from mouse models, identify GFI1 and GFI1B as prominent medulloblastoma oncogenes and implicate 'enhancer hijacking' as an efficient mechanism driving oncogene activation in a childhood cancer.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201514/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4201514/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Northcott, Paul A -- Lee, Catherine -- Zichner, Thomas -- Stutz, Adrian M -- Erkek, Serap -- Kawauchi, Daisuke -- Shih, David J H -- Hovestadt, Volker -- Zapatka, Marc -- Sturm, Dominik -- Jones, David T W -- Kool, Marcel -- Remke, Marc -- Cavalli, Florence M G -- Zuyderduyn, Scott -- Bader, Gary D -- VandenBerg, Scott -- Esparza, Lourdes Adriana -- Ryzhova, Marina -- Wang, Wei -- Wittmann, Andrea -- Stark, Sebastian -- Sieber, Laura -- Seker-Cin, Huriye -- Linke, Linda -- Kratochwil, Fabian -- Jager, Natalie -- Buchhalter, Ivo -- Imbusch, Charles D -- Zipprich, Gideon -- Raeder, Benjamin -- Schmidt, Sabine -- Diessl, Nicolle -- Wolf, Stephan -- Wiemann, Stefan -- Brors, Benedikt -- Lawerenz, Chris -- Eils, Jurgen -- Warnatz, Hans-Jorg -- Risch, Thomas -- Yaspo, Marie-Laure -- Weber, Ursula D -- Bartholomae, Cynthia C -- von Kalle, Christof -- Turanyi, Eszter -- Hauser, Peter -- Sanden, Emma -- Darabi, Anna -- Siesjo, Peter -- Sterba, Jaroslav -- Zitterbart, Karel -- Sumerauer, David -- van Sluis, Peter -- Versteeg, Rogier -- Volckmann, Richard -- Koster, Jan -- Schuhmann, Martin U -- Ebinger, Martin -- Grimes, H Leighton -- Robinson, Giles W -- Gajjar, Amar -- Mynarek, Martin -- von Hoff, Katja -- Rutkowski, Stefan -- Pietsch, Torsten -- Scheurlen, Wolfram -- Felsberg, Jorg -- Reifenberger, Guido -- Kulozik, Andreas E -- von Deimling, Andreas -- Witt, Olaf -- Eils, Roland -- Gilbertson, Richard J -- Korshunov, Andrey -- Taylor, Michael D -- Lichter, Peter -- Korbel, Jan O -- Wechsler-Reya, Robert J -- Pfister, Stefan M -- 5P30CA030199/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P01 CA096832/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P30 CA030199/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P41GM103504/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- R01 CA159859/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2014 Jul 24;511(7510):428-34. doi: 10.1038/nature13379. Epub 2014 Jun 22.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2]. ; 1] Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093-0685, USA [2] Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA [3]. ; 1] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany [2]. ; European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany. ; Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada. ; Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; The Donnelly Centre, University of Toronto, 160 College Street, Toronto, Ontario M5S 3E1, Canada. ; Department of Pathology, University of California San Diego, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, California 92093, USA. ; Tumor Initiation and Maintenance Program, Sanford-Burnham Medical Research Institute, 10901 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA. ; Department of Neuropathology, NN Burdenko Neurosurgical Institute, 4th Tverskaya-Yamskaya 16, Moscow 125047, Russia. ; Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Data Management Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Genomics and Proteomics Core Facility, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Vertebrate Genomics, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics, Ihnestrasse 63-73, Berlin 14195, Germany. ; Division of Translational Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Translational Oncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) and National Center for Tumor Diseases (NCT), Im Neuenheimer Feld 460, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1st Department of Pathology and Experimental Cancer Research, Semmelweis University SE, II.sz. Gyermekklinika, Budapest 1094, Hungary. ; 2nd Department of Pediatrics, Semmelweis University, SE, II.sz. Gyermekklinika, Budapest 1094, Hungary. ; 1] Glioma Immunotherapy Group, Division of Neurosurgery, Lund University, Paradisgatan 2, Lund 221 00, Sweden [2] Department of Clinical Sciences, Lund University, Paradisgatan 2, Lund 221 00, Sweden. ; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Masaryk University and University Hospital, Brno, Cernopolni 9 Brno 613 00, Czech Republic. ; Department of Pediatric Hematology and Oncology, 2nd Faculty of Medicine, Charles University and University Hospital Motol, V Uvalu 84, Prague 150 06, Czech Republic. ; Department of Oncogenomics, AMC, University of Amsterdam, Meibergdreef 9, Amsterdam 1105, AZ Netherlands. ; Department of Neurosurgery, Tubingen University Hospital, Hoppe-Seyler Strasse 3, Tubingen 72076, Germany. ; Division of Immunobiology, Program in Cancer Pathology of the Divisions of Experimental Hematology and Pathology, Program in Hematologic Malignancies of the Cancer and Blood Disease Insitute, Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 452229, USA. ; 1] Department of Developmental Neurobiology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA [2] Department of Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA. ; Department of Oncology, St Jude Children's Research Hospital, 262 Danny Thomas Place, Memphis, Tennessee 38105, USA. ; Department of Paediatric Haematology and Oncology, University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Martinistrasse 52, Hamburg 20246, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, University of Bonn, Sigmund-Freud-Str. 25, Bonn 53105, Germany. ; Cnopf'sche Kinderklinik, Nurnberg Children's Hospital, St-Johannis-Muhlgasse 19, Nurnberg 90419, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, Heinrich-Heine-University Dusseldorf, Moorenstrasse 5, Dusseldorf 40225, Germany. ; Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; Department of Neuropathology, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 220, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] Division of Theoretical Bioinformatics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] The Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumor Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada [2] Division of Neurosurgery, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario M5G 1X8, Canada. ; 1] Division of Molecular Genetics, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Heidelberg Center for Personalised Oncology (DKFZ-HIPO), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany. ; 1] European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Genome Biology Unit, Meyerhofstrasse 1, Heidelberg 69117, Germany [2] EMBL, European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), Wellcome Trust Genome Campus, Hinxton, Saffron Walden CB10 1SD, UK. ; 1] Division of Pediatric Neurooncology, German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ), Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, Heidelberg 69120, Germany [2] Department of Pediatric Oncology, Hematology & Immunology, Heidelberg University Hospital, Im Neuenheimer Feld 430, Heidelberg 69120, Germany.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25043047" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The vertebrate thymus provides an inductive environment for T-cell development. Within the mouse thymus, Notch signals are indispensable for imposing the T-cell fate on multipotential haematopoietic progenitors, but the downstream effectors that impart T-lineage specification and commitment are not well understood. Here we show that a transcription factor, T-cell factor 1 (TCF-1; also known as transcription factor 7, T-cell specific, TCF7), is a critical regulator in T-cell specification. TCF-1 is highly expressed in the earliest thymic progenitors, and its expression is upregulated by Notch signals. Most importantly, when TCF-1 is forcibly expressed in bone marrow (BM) progenitors, it drives the development of T-lineage cells in the absence of T-inductive Notch1 signals. Further characterization of these TCF-1-induced cells revealed expression of many T-lineage genes, including T-cell-specific transcription factors Gata3 and Bcl11b, and components of the T-cell receptor. Our data suggest a model where Notch signals induce TCF-1, and TCF-1 in turn imprints the T-cell fate by upregulating expression of T-cell essential genes.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156435/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3156435/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Weber, Brittany Nicole -- Chi, Anthony Wei-Shine -- Chavez, Alejandro -- Yashiro-Ohtani, Yumi -- Yang, Qi -- Shestova, Olga -- Bhandoola, Avinash -- AI059621/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI059621/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- R01 AI059621-09/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- RC1 HL099758/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- RC1 HL099758-01/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- T32 AI055428/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- T32 CA009140/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- T32AI055428/AI/NIAID NIH HHS/ -- T32CA09140/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2011 Aug 3;476(7358):63-8. doi: 10.1038/nature10279.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 19104, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21814277" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Genetic diversity is the amount of variation observed between DNA sequences from distinct individuals of a given species. This pivotal concept of population genetics has implications for species health, domestication, management and conservation. Levels of genetic diversity seem to vary greatly in natural populations and species, but the determinants of this variation, and particularly the relative influences of species biology and ecology versus population history, are still largely mysterious. Here we show that the diversity of a species is predictable, and is determined in the first place by its ecological strategy. We investigated the genome-wide diversity of 76 non-model animal species by sequencing the transcriptome of two to ten individuals in each species. The distribution of genetic diversity between species revealed no detectable influence of geographic range or invasive status but was accurately predicted by key species traits related to parental investment: long-lived or low-fecundity species with brooding ability were genetically less diverse than short-lived or highly fecund ones. Our analysis demonstrates the influence of long-term life-history strategies on species response to short-term environmental perturbations, a result with immediate implications for conservation policies.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Romiguier, J -- Gayral, P -- Ballenghien, M -- Bernard, A -- Cahais, V -- Chenuil, A -- Chiari, Y -- Dernat, R -- Duret, L -- Faivre, N -- Loire, E -- Lourenco, J M -- Nabholz, B -- Roux, C -- Tsagkogeorga, G -- Weber, A A-T -- Weinert, L A -- Belkhir, K -- Bierne, N -- Glemin, S -- Galtier, N -- England -- Nature. 2014 Nov 13;515(7526):261-3. doi: 10.1038/nature13685. Epub 2014 Aug 20.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉1] UMR 5554, Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier 2, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France [2] Department of Ecology and Evolution, Biophore, University of Lausanne, 1015 Lausanne, Switzerland. ; 1] UMR 5554, Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier 2, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France [2] UMR 7261, Institut de Recherches sur la Biologie de l'Insecte, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Universite Francois-Rabelais, 37200 Tours, France. ; UMR 5554, Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier 2, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France. ; Aix-Marseille Universite, Institut Mediterraneen de Biodiversite et d'Ecologie marine et continentale (IMBE) - CNRS - IRD - UAPV, 13007 Marseille, France. ; Department of Biology, University of South Alabama, Mobile, Alabama 36688-0002, USA. ; UMR 5558, Laboratoire de Biometrie et Biologie Evolutive, Universite Lyon 1, CNRS, 69622 Lyon, France. ; 1] UMR 5554, Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier 2, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France [2] The School of Biological and Chemical Sciences, Queen Mary University of London, Mile End Road, London E1 4NS, UK. ; 1] UMR 5554, Institute of Evolutionary Sciences, University Montpellier 2, Centre national de la recherche scientifique, Place E. Bataillon, 34095 Montpellier, France [2] Department of Veterinary Medicine, University of Cambridge, Madingley Road, Cambridge CB3 0ES, UK.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25141177" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Recognition and clearance of a bacterial infection are a fundamental properties of innate immunity. Here, we describe an effector B cell population that protects against microbial sepsis. Innate response activator (IRA) B cells are phenotypically and functionally distinct, develop and diverge from B1a B cells, depend on pattern-recognition receptors, and produce granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor. Specific deletion of IRA B cell activity impairs bacterial clearance, elicits a cytokine storm, and precipitates septic shock. These observations enrich our understanding of innate immunity, position IRA B cells as gatekeepers of bacterial infection, and identify new treatment avenues for infectious diseases.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279743/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3279743/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Rauch, Philipp J -- Chudnovskiy, Aleksey -- Robbins, Clinton S -- Weber, Georg F -- Etzrodt, Martin -- Hilgendorf, Ingo -- Tiglao, Elizabeth -- Figueiredo, Jose-Luiz -- Iwamoto, Yoshiko -- Theurl, Igor -- Gorbatov, Rostic -- Waring, Michael T -- Chicoine, Adam T -- Mouded, Majd -- Pittet, Mikael J -- Nahrendorf, Matthias -- Weissleder, Ralph -- Swirski, Filip K -- 1R01HL095612/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- P01-A154904/PHS HHS/ -- P50 CA086355/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P50 CA086355-11/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- P50 CA86355/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL095612/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R01 HL095612-03/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- R24 CA69246/CA/NCI NIH HHS/ -- S10 RR026360/RR/NCRR NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL080731/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- U01 HL080731-04/HL/NHLBI NIH HHS/ -- New York, N.Y. -- Science. 2012 Feb 3;335(6068):597-601. doi: 10.1126/science.1215173. Epub 2012 Jan 12.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Center for Systems Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22245738" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The rapid disruption of tropical forests probably imperils global biodiversity more than any other contemporary phenomenon. With deforestation advancing quickly, protected areas are increasingly becoming final refuges for threatened species and natural ecosystem processes. However, many protected areas in the tropics are themselves vulnerable to human encroachment and other environmental stresses. As pressures mount, it is vital to know whether existing reserves can sustain their biodiversity. A critical constraint in addressing this question has been that data describing a broad array of biodiversity groups have been unavailable for a sufficiently large and representative sample of reserves. Here we present a uniquely comprehensive data set on changes over the past 20 to 30 years in 31 functional groups of species and 21 potential drivers of environmental change, for 60 protected areas stratified across the world's major tropical regions. Our analysis reveals great variation in reserve 'health': about half of all reserves have been effective or performed passably, but the rest are experiencing an erosion of biodiversity that is often alarmingly widespread taxonomically and functionally. Habitat disruption, hunting and forest-product exploitation were the strongest predictors of declining reserve health. Crucially, environmental changes immediately outside reserves seemed nearly as important as those inside in determining their ecological fate, with changes inside reserves strongly mirroring those occurring around them. These findings suggest that tropical protected areas are often intimately linked ecologically to their surrounding habitats, and that a failure to stem broad-scale loss and degradation of such habitats could sharply increase the likelihood of serious biodiversity declines.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Laurance, William F -- Useche, D Carolina -- Rendeiro, Julio -- Kalka, Margareta -- Bradshaw, Corey J A -- Sloan, Sean P -- Laurance, Susan G -- Campbell, Mason -- Abernethy, Kate -- Alvarez, Patricia -- Arroyo-Rodriguez, Victor -- Ashton, Peter -- Benitez-Malvido, Julieta -- Blom, Allard -- Bobo, Kadiri S -- Cannon, Charles H -- Cao, Min -- Carroll, Richard -- Chapman, Colin -- Coates, Rosamond -- Cords, Marina -- Danielsen, Finn -- De Dijn, Bart -- Dinerstein, Eric -- Donnelly, Maureen A -- Edwards, David -- Edwards, Felicity -- Farwig, Nina -- Fashing, Peter -- Forget, Pierre-Michel -- Foster, Mercedes -- Gale, George -- Harris, David -- Harrison, Rhett -- Hart, John -- Karpanty, Sarah -- Kress, W John -- Krishnaswamy, Jagdish -- Logsdon, Willis -- Lovett, Jon -- Magnusson, William -- Maisels, Fiona -- Marshall, Andrew R -- McClearn, Deedra -- Mudappa, Divya -- Nielsen, Martin R -- Pearson, Richard -- Pitman, Nigel -- van der Ploeg, Jan -- Plumptre, Andrew -- Poulsen, John -- Quesada, Mauricio -- Rainey, Hugo -- Robinson, Douglas -- Roetgers, Christiane -- Rovero, Francesco -- Scatena, Frederick -- Schulze, Christian -- Sheil, Douglas -- Struhsaker, Thomas -- Terborgh, John -- Thomas, Duncan -- Timm, Robert -- Urbina-Cardona, J Nicolas -- Vasudevan, Karthikeyan -- Wright, S Joseph -- Arias-G, Juan Carlos -- Arroyo, Luzmila -- Ashton, Mark -- Auzel, Philippe -- Babaasa, Dennis -- Babweteera, Fred -- Baker, Patrick -- Banki, Olaf -- Bass, Margot -- Bila-Isia, Inogwabini -- Blake, Stephen -- Brockelman, Warren -- Brokaw, Nicholas -- Bruhl, Carsten A -- Bunyavejchewin, Sarayudh -- Chao, Jung-Tai -- Chave, Jerome -- Chellam, Ravi -- Clark, Connie J -- Clavijo, Jose -- Congdon, Robert -- Corlett, Richard -- Dattaraja, H S -- Dave, Chittaranjan -- Davies, Glyn -- Beisiegel, Beatriz de Mello -- da Silva, Rosa de Nazare Paes -- Di Fiore, Anthony -- Diesmos, Arvin -- Dirzo, Rodolfo -- Doran-Sheehy, Diane -- Eaton, Mitchell -- Emmons, Louise -- Estrada, Alejandro -- Ewango, Corneille -- Fedigan, Linda -- Feer, Francois -- Fruth, Barbara -- Willis, Jacalyn Giacalone -- Goodale, Uromi -- Goodman, Steven -- Guix, Juan C -- Guthiga, Paul -- Haber, William -- Hamer, Keith -- Herbinger, Ilka -- Hill, Jane -- Huang, Zhongliang -- Sun, I Fang -- Ickes, Kalan -- Itoh, Akira -- Ivanauskas, Natalia -- Jackes, Betsy -- Janovec, John -- Janzen, Daniel -- Jiangming, Mo -- Jin, Chen -- Jones, Trevor -- Justiniano, Hermes -- Kalko, Elisabeth -- Kasangaki, Aventino -- Killeen, Timothy -- King, Hen-biau -- Klop, Erik -- Knott, Cheryl -- Kone, Inza -- Kudavidanage, Enoka -- Ribeiro, Jose Lahoz da Silva -- Lattke, John -- Laval, Richard -- Lawton, Robert -- Leal, Miguel -- Leighton, Mark -- Lentino, Miguel -- Leonel, Cristiane -- Lindsell, Jeremy -- Ling-Ling, Lee -- Linsenmair, K Eduard -- Losos, Elizabeth -- Lugo, Ariel -- Lwanga, Jeremiah -- Mack, Andrew L -- Martins, Marlucia -- McGraw, W Scott -- McNab, Roan -- Montag, Luciano -- Thompson, Jo Myers -- Nabe-Nielsen, Jacob -- Nakagawa, Michiko -- Nepal, Sanjay -- Norconk, Marilyn -- Novotny, Vojtech -- O'Donnell, Sean -- Opiang, Muse -- Ouboter, Paul -- Parker, Kenneth -- Parthasarathy, N -- Pisciotta, Katia -- Prawiradilaga, Dewi -- Pringle, Catherine -- Rajathurai, Subaraj -- Reichard, Ulrich -- Reinartz, Gay -- Renton, Katherine -- Reynolds, Glen -- Reynolds, Vernon -- Riley, Erin -- Rodel, Mark-Oliver -- Rothman, Jessica -- Round, Philip -- Sakai, Shoko -- Sanaiotti, Tania -- Savini, Tommaso -- Schaab, Gertrud -- Seidensticker, John -- Siaka, Alhaji -- Silman, Miles R -- Smith, Thomas B -- de Almeida, Samuel Soares -- Sodhi, Navjot -- Stanford, Craig -- Stewart, Kristine -- Stokes, Emma -- Stoner, Kathryn E -- Sukumar, Raman -- Surbeck, Martin -- Tobler, Mathias -- Tscharntke, Teja -- Turkalo, Andrea -- Umapathy, Govindaswamy -- van Weerd, Merlijn -- Rivera, Jorge Vega -- Venkataraman, Meena -- Venn, Linda -- Verea, Carlos -- de Castilho, Carolina Volkmer -- Waltert, Matthias -- Wang, Benjamin -- Watts, David -- Weber, William -- West, Paige -- Whitacre, David -- Whitney, Ken -- Wilkie, David -- Williams, Stephen -- Wright, Debra D -- Wright, Patricia -- Xiankai, Lu -- Yonzon, Pralad -- Zamzani, Franky -- England -- Nature. 2012 Sep 13;489(7415):290-4. doi: 10.1038/nature11318.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Centre for Tropical Environmental and Sustainability Science and School of Marine and Tropical Biology, James Cook University, Cairns, Queensland 4878, Australia. bill.laurance@jcu.edu.au〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22832582" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: Relative to morphological traits, we know little about how genetics influence the evolution of complex behavioural differences in nature. It is unclear how the environment influences natural variation in heritable behaviour, and whether complex behavioural differences evolve through few genetic changes, each affecting many aspects of behaviour, or through the accumulation of several genetic changes that, when combined, give rise to behavioural complexity. Here we show that in nature, oldfield mice (Peromyscus polionotus) build complex burrows with long entrance and escape tunnels, and that burrow length is consistent across populations, although burrow depth varies with soil composition. This burrow architecture is in contrast with the small, simple burrows of its sister species, deer mice (P. maniculatus). When investigated under laboratory conditions, both species recapitulate their natural burrowing behaviour. Genetic crosses between the two species reveal that the derived burrows of oldfield mice are dominant and evolved through the addition of multiple genetic changes. In burrows built by first-generation backcross mice, entrance-tunnel length and the presence of an escape tunnel can be uncoupled, suggesting that these traits are modular. Quantitative trait locus analysis also indicates that tunnel length segregates as a complex trait, affected by at least three independent genetic regions, whereas the presence of an escape tunnel is associated with only a single locus. Together, these results suggest that complex behaviours--in this case, a classic 'extended phenotype'--can evolve through multiple genetic changes each affecting distinct behaviour modules.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Weber, Jesse N -- Peterson, Brant K -- Hoekstra, Hopi E -- England -- Nature. 2013 Jan 17;493(7432):402-5. doi: 10.1038/nature11816.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Organismic & Evolutionary Biology, Museum of Comparative Zoology, 26 Oxford Street, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23325221" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The daily solar cycle allows organisms to synchronize their circadian rhythms and sleep-wake cycles to the correct temporal niche. Changes in day-length, shift-work, and transmeridian travel lead to mood alterations and cognitive function deficits. Sleep deprivation and circadian disruption underlie mood and cognitive disorders associated with irregular light schedules. Whether irregular light schedules directly affect mood and cognitive functions in the context of normal sleep and circadian rhythms remains unclear. Here we show, using an aberrant light cycle that neither changes the amount and architecture of sleep nor causes changes in the circadian timing system, that light directly regulates mood-related behaviours and cognitive functions in mice. Animals exposed to the aberrant light cycle maintain daily corticosterone rhythms, but the overall levels of corticosterone are increased. Despite normal circadian and sleep structures, these animals show increased depression-like behaviours and impaired hippocampal long-term potentiation and learning. Administration of the antidepressant drugs fluoxetine or desipramine restores learning in mice exposed to the aberrant light cycle, suggesting that the mood deficit precedes the learning impairments. To determine the retinal circuits underlying this impairment of mood and learning, we examined the behavioural consequences of this light cycle in animals that lack intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells. In these animals, the aberrant light cycle does not impair mood and learning, despite the presence of the conventional retinal ganglion cells and the ability of these animals to detect light for image formation. These findings demonstrate the ability of light to influence cognitive and mood functions directly through intrinsically photosensitive retinal ganglion cells.〈br /〉〈br /〉〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3549331/" target="_blank"〉〈img src="https://static.pubmed.gov/portal/portal3rc.fcgi/4089621/img/3977009" border="0"〉〈/a〉   〈a href="https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3549331/" target="_blank"〉This paper as free author manuscript - peer-reviewed and accepted for publication〈/a〉〈br /〉〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉LeGates, Tara A -- Altimus, Cara M -- Wang, Hui -- Lee, Hey-Kyoung -- Yang, Sunggu -- Zhao, Haiqing -- Kirkwood, Alfredo -- Weber, E Todd -- Hattar, Samer -- R01 AG034606/AG/NIA NIH HHS/ -- R01 GM076430/GM/NIGMS NIH HHS/ -- England -- Nature. 2012 Nov 22;491(7425):594-8. doi: 10.1038/nature11673. Epub 2012 Nov 14.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Biology, Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, Maryland 21218, USA.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23151476" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉

Description: The appearance of anatomically modern humans in Europe and the nature of the transition from the Middle to Upper Palaeolithic are matters of intense debate. Most researchers accept that before the arrival of anatomically modern humans, Neanderthals had adopted several 'transitional' technocomplexes. Two of these, the Uluzzian of southern Europe and the Chatelperronian of western Europe, are key to current interpretations regarding the timing of arrival of anatomically modern humans in the region and their potential interaction with Neanderthal populations. They are also central to current debates regarding the cognitive abilities of Neanderthals and the reasons behind their extinction. However, the actual fossil evidence associated with these assemblages is scant and fragmentary, and recent work has questioned the attribution of the Chatelperronian to Neanderthals on the basis of taphonomic mixing and lithic analysis. Here we reanalyse the deciduous molars from the Grotta del Cavallo (southern Italy), associated with the Uluzzian and originally classified as Neanderthal. Using two independent morphometric methods based on microtomographic data, we show that the Cavallo specimens can be attributed to anatomically modern humans. The secure context of the teeth provides crucial evidence that the makers of the Uluzzian technocomplex were therefore not Neanderthals. In addition, new chronometric data for the Uluzzian layers of Grotta del Cavallo obtained from associated shell beads and included within a Bayesian age model show that the teeth must date to ~45,000-43,000 calendar years before present. The Cavallo human remains are therefore the oldest known European anatomically modern humans, confirming a rapid dispersal of modern humans across the continent before the Aurignacian and the disappearance of Neanderthals.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Notes: 〈/span〉Benazzi, Stefano -- Douka, Katerina -- Fornai, Cinzia -- Bauer, Catherine C -- Kullmer, Ottmar -- Svoboda, Jiri -- Pap, Ildiko -- Mallegni, Francesco -- Bayle, Priscilla -- Coquerelle, Michael -- Condemi, Silvana -- Ronchitelli, Annamaria -- Harvati, Katerina -- Weber, Gerhard W -- England -- Nature. 2011 Nov 2;479(7374):525-8. doi: 10.1038/nature10617.〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Author address: 〈/span〉Department of Anthropology, University of Vienna, Althanstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria. stefano.benazzi@univie.ac.at〈br /〉〈span class="detail_caption"〉Record origin:〈/span〉 〈a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22048311" target="_blank"〉PubMed〈/a〉