Top Late Abstracts Named as “Hot Picks” at Annual Meeting

The origins of Gullah-speaking African-Americans, an old antibiotic as a new drug candidate for Duchenne muscular dystrophy, and a powerful cellular self-defense mechanism against breast cancer are among the five "Hot Picks" selected by the Public Information Committee (PIC) from the more than 400 "late abstracts" to be presented today at the American Society for Cell Biology's 43rd Annual Meeting. Other PIC "Hot Pick" papers focus on a unique set of microRNAs that could identify human embryonic stem cells and a new therapeutic target for treating African Sleeping Sickness.

"Late Abstracts have been one of the great secrets of the ASCB meeting," explains PIC Chair Kathy L. Wilson. "They are submitted months after the regular abstract deadline and always presented on the last afternoon so Late Abstracts are often the freshest and the most unexpected work at the ASCB Annual Meeting. The 2003 Hot Picks list is the PIC's attempt to share that secret." All 417 Late Abstracts submissions were given a double "peer-screening" by PIC members to identify the work with the greatest news value or significance. ASCB 2003 Late Abstracts Top Five "HOT PICKS" (Not in ranked order.)

Mitochondrial DNA haplotypes of Gullah speaking African Americans and their possible origins among the four major ethnic groups in Sierra Leone.J. L. Wilson,1 B. Jackson,2 W. T. Garvey,3 B. Ely4 ; 1 Biochemistry, Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 2 Boston University School of Medicine, Boston, MA, 3 Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, 4 Department of Biological Sciences, University of South Carolina, Columbia, SCAt the Annual Meeting: Wednesday, 12/17/03, Noon—3pm. Poster # L364

Negamycin restores dystrophin expression in skeletal and cardiac muscles of mdx miceM. Shiozuka,1 M. Arakawa,1 Y. NakayamA,2 T. Hara,2 M. Hamada,3 D. Ikeda,3 Y. Takahashi,3 R. Sawa,3 Y. Nonomura,3 K. Sheykholeslami,4 K. Kondo,4 K. Kaga,4 S. Takeda,5 R. Matsuda1 ; 1 Dept. of Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 2 Dept. of Tumor Biochemistry, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Sciences, Tokyo, Japan, 3 The Institute of Microbial Chemistry, Tokyo, Japan, 4 Dept. of Otolaryngology, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan, 5 Dept. of Molecular Therapy, National Institute of Neuroscience, Tokyo, JapanAt the Annual Meeting: Wednesday, 12/17/03, Noon—3pm. Poster # L95 Human Embryonic Stem Cells Express a Unique Set of MicroRNAsK. Kim,1 M. Suh,1 Y. Lee,2 J. Kim,1 S. Kim,1 S. Moon,1 J. Lee,1 K. Cha,1 H. Chung,1 S. Moon,3 H. Yoon,4 V. Kim2 ; 1 Cell & Gene Therapy Research Institute, Pochon CHA University College of Medicine/CHA General Hospital, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 2 2Institute of Molecular Biology and Genetics and School of Biological Sciences, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 3 Department of OB/GYN, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Republic of Korea, 4 Medical Research Center, MizMedi Hospital, Seoul, Republic of KoreaAt the annual meeting: Wednesday, 12/17/03, Noon—3pm. Poster # L340

Mammary Epithelial Acini Induce Apoptosis in Breast Tumor CellsR. M. Boudreau,1 B. D. Engel,1 T. Pellegrino,2 W. J. Parak,2 A. P. Alivisatos,2 M. A. Le Gros,1 C. A. Larabell3,1 ; 1 Physical Biosciences, Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA, 2 Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, CA, 3 Anatomy, University of California, San Francisco, CAAt the annual meeting: Wednesday, 12/17/03, Noon—3pm. Poster # L190

Targeting Cathepsins for New Therapy against African Sleeping SicknessT. O'Brien, Z. B. Mackey, D. Greenbaum, J. McKerrow; Pathology, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, CAAt the annual meeting: Wednesday, 12/17/03, Noon—3pm. Poster # L374