Biography of Cornelia I. Bargmann BIOGRAPHY
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Corrections MEDICAL SCIENCES. For the article ‘‘HLA-B*5801 allele as a BIOGRAPHY, NEUROSCIENCE. For the article ‘‘Biography of Cornelia genetic marker for severe cutaneous adverse reactions caused by I. Bargmann,’’ by Melissa Marino, which appeared in issue 9, allopurinol,’’ by Shuen-Iu Hung, Wen-Hung Chung, Lieh-Bang March 1, 2005, of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (102, 3181–3183; Liou, Chen-Chung Chu, Marie Lin, Hsien-Ping Huang, Yen- first published February 22, 2005; 10.1073͞pnas.0500025102), Ling Lin, Joung-Liang Lan, Li-Cheng Yang, Hong-Shang Hong, due to an editorial office error, the term ‘‘roundworm’’ was Ming-Jing Chen, Ping-Chin Lai, Mai-Szu Wu, Chia-Yu Chu, incorrectly replaced with ‘‘flatworm’’ in the first sentence. The Kuo-Hsien Wang, Chien-Hsiun Chen, Cathy S. J. Fann, Jer- correct sentence should read as follows: ‘‘In the unhearing, Yuarn Wu, and Yuan-Tsong Chen, which appeared in issue 11, unseeing world of the roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans, its March 15, 2005, of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (102, 4134–4139; sense of smell is its lifeline.’’ first published March 2, 2005; 10.1073͞pnas.0409500102), due to ͞ ͞ ͞ ͞ a printer’s error, the symbols in the affiliation line appeared www.pnas.org cgi doi 10.1073 pnas.0502717102 incorrectly. The corrected affiliation line appears below. aInstitute of Biomedical Sciences, Academia Sinica, Taipei 11529, Taiwan; Departments of cDermatology, eRheumatology, Allergy, and Immunology, and hNephrology, Chang Gung Memorial Hospital, Taipei 10507, Taiwan; fDepartment of Medical Research, Mackay Memorial Hospital, Taipei 10449, Taiwan; gDepartment of Immunology and Rheumatology, Taichung Veterans General Hospital, Taichung 40705, Taiwan; iDepartment of Dermatology, National Taiwan University Hospital, Taipei 10002, Taiwan; jDepartment of Dermatology, Taipei Medical University Hospital, Taipei 11031, Taiwan; kDepartment of Medical Research, China Medical University Hospital, Taichung 40447, Taiwan; lDepartment of Pediatrics, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC 27710; and dMolecular Medicine Program, Taiwan International Graduate Program, Academia Sinica and the School of Life Sciences, National Yang Ming University, Taipei 11529, Taiwan www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0502360102 CORRECTIONS www.pnas.org PNAS ͉ April 26, 2005 ͉ vol. 102 ͉ no. 17 ͉ 6237–6238 Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 MICROBIOLOGY. For the article ‘‘Symmetrical base preferences surrounding HIV-1 and avian sarcoma͞leukosis virus but not murine leukemia virus integration sites,’’ by Alexander G. Holman and John M. Coffin, which appeared in issue 17, April 26, 2005, of Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (102, 6103–6107; first published March 31, 2005; 10.1073͞pnas.0501646102), the au- thors note the following: ‘‘After our report appeared in the PNAS Early Edition, we observed that the simultaneously published paper by Wu et al. (1) reported similar base prefer- ences for all integration sites; however, the placement of the integration site in the analysis of the murine leukemia virus (MLV) data set differed by one base. Further analysis revealed a small initial error that propagated through our analysis, ultimately leading us to misplace the location of the MLV integration site by one base. As a consequence, the MLV integration site preferences incorrectly appeared to be asym- metric. We now conclude that HIV-1, avian sarcoma͞leukosis virus (ASLV), and MLV all show symmetrical base preferences surrounding their integration sites. Accordingly, the title of the article should be corrected to read ‘Symmetrical base prefer- ences surrounding HIV-1, avian sarcoma͞leukosis virus, and murine leukemia virus integration sites,’ and it has been cor- rected in the online version. Fig. 2 and Figs. 11 and 12, which are published as supporting information on the PNAS web site, can be corrected by placing the integration site between offset 0 and 1 instead of Ϫ1 and 0. A corrected version of Fig. 4 and its legend appear below. The remainder of the analysis was unaffected by this error, and with the described correction, we remain confi- dent in our overall conclusions.’’ 1. Wu, X., Li, Y., Crise, B., Burgess, S. M. & Munroe, D. J. (2005) J. Virol. 79, 5211–5214. www.pnas.org͞cgi͞doi͞10.1073͞pnas.0502810102 Fig. 4. Comparison of the observed integration preferences to the inferred preferences for the opposite LTR. (A) Schematic of the topology of HIV-1 integration. HIV-1 integration complexes join the viral LTRs to opposite strands of the DNA separated by five bases. MLV joins with an offset of four bases, whereas ASLV uses a six-base offset (not pictured). (B) Symmetry observed in HIV-1 with five-base offset. Black lettering represents the base preference seen from the top LTR (Fig. 1).The integration site is indicated by the black dashed vertical line in the graph and the black arrow in the numbering schematic. The vertical arrow indicates the expected axis of sym- metry based on the characteristic five-base spacing between the sites of HIV-1 DNA integration. The red lettering represents the same base preferences; however, they are reversed and shifted five bases to represent the preferences as observed from the bottom LTR. The inferred integration site is indicated by the red vertical line in the graph and the red arrow in the numbering schematic. (C) Symmetry observed in MLV with four-base offset. (D) Symmetry observed in ALV with six-base offset. 6238 ͉ www.pnas.org Downloaded by guest on September 25, 2021 Biography of Cornelia I. Bargmann BIOGRAPHY n the unhearing, unseeing world man tumors?’ everyone would have said of the flatworm Caenorhabditis me. Including me!’’ admits Bargmann. elegans, its sense of smell is its In the years that followed, other re- I lifeline. Cornelia Bargmann’s searchers found that neu gene was am- work has revealed many of the genetic plified in aggressive breast tumors. The and molecular underpinnings of receptor, also called HER2 or erbB2, is C. elegans olfaction and has furthered now the target for the Herceptin (trastu- the understanding of its influence on zumab) antibody, which is used to treat complex behaviors. Additionally, Barg- metastatic breast cancer. Although mann has uncovered key signaling path- Bargmann was not involved in develop- ways that direct the proper wiring of the ing trastuzumab, she states, ‘‘It’s gratify- nematode’s 302 neurons. ing to have been involved in a discovery Previously at the University of that, within your lifetime, results in a California, San Francisco (UCSF), Barg- patient therapy.’’ mann recently moved to The Rock- efeller University (New York), where Sniffing Out Olfaction she is a Howard Hughes Medical Insti- After receiving her Ph.D. from the De- tute investigator, Torsten N. Wiesel Pro- partment of Biology in 1987, Bargmann fessor, and head of the Laboratory of remained at MIT for postdoctoral re- Neural Circuits and Behavior. Barg- search in the laboratory of H. Robert mann’s research has been recognized Horvitz. She began to pursue a long- through numerous awards, including the standing interest in the nervous system Lucille P. Markey Award (1990–1995) and behavior. Although she felt intimi- and the Searle Scholar Award (1992– dated by the complexity of the nervous 1995). She was elected to the American system, an exchange with David Balti- Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2002 Cornelia I. Bargmann. Photograph courtesy of more, an MIT faculty member and No- and the National Academy of Sciences Carly Calhoun. bel laureate, jolted her into action. in 2003. When Baltimore asked about her re- In her Inaugural Article in this issue discipline that would provide the foun- search interests, Bargmann replied that of PNAS (1), Bargmann maps out the dation for her later research career. she was interested in the molecular biol- neural circuit underlying navigation in In 1981, Bargmann graduated from ogy of the nervous system but did not C. elegans—from the neurons involved the University of Georgia with a degree know how to approach it. ‘‘He said, in the initial detection of food odors in biochemistry and headed north to ‘Well, you’re not very brave, are you?’’’ to the motor neurons that control the attend graduate school at the Massachu- worm’s movement. This article presents setts Institute of Technology (MIT, one of only a few behaviors that have Cambridge, MA). ‘‘My first job in a been mapped in such a detailed way. Surprising Success science lab was the Academic Destiny NEUROSCIENCE As a graduate student, Bargmann stud- Growing up in Athens, GA, in a family ied the molecular mechanisms of onco- world’s most menial she describes as ‘‘frighteningly well edu- genesis in the laboratory of Robert summer job— cated,’’ Bargmann took an early liking Weinberg, who focused on Ras genes to her science classes in junior high and and their role in human tumors. Barg- making fly food.’’ high school. ‘‘I always loved science mann became involved in these proj- more than anything else because of the ects and helped identify the mutation ‘blue collar’ aspect of it—the fact that that activated Ras in human bladder she recalls laughingly. ‘‘That is not you actually do it,’’ she says. Bargmann’s cancer (2). something a 20-year-old needs to hear first major foray into scientific research Bargmann’s own thesis research on a from a Nobel laureate.’’ was during her undergraduate years at non-Ras oncogene, called neu, turned Emboldened by Baltimore’s provoca- the University of Georgia (Athens, GA), out to have surprising clinical relevance. tive comment, Bargmann told Horvitz where her father was a professor of After cloning the neu oncogene from a that she wanted to study chemosensory Computer Science and Statistics. At 17, rodent neuroblastoma and determining behavior in C. elegans, the model system ‘‘my first job in a science lab was the that it was an epidermal growth factor used by Horvitz’s laboratory.