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MBSJ Code of Ethics
Guidelines relating to presentation of research results
August 2024
Female mosquitoes suck blood to mature their eggs. It has been reported that fibrinopeptide A (FPA), which is cleaved from fibrinogen α chain during blood coagulation, makes mosquitoes feel 'full' and stop sucking blood (Sakuma et al. (2024) Cell Reports 43: 114354, DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2024.114354). The mother in this painting is trying to use a mosquito net imbued with the ability of FPA to override the child's nightmare of a blood-sucking mosquito with the image of a satiated mosquito. In addition to fibrinogen and FPA, the mother's kimono shows schematic images of fibrin that has just begun to coagulate.
July 2024
In establishing the left-right axis of the body in Drosophila, a torsion-like deformation of the cell occurs (cell chirality). Two myosin Is, Myo1D and Myo1C, are thought to be involved in this process, producing right-handed and left-handed cell chirality, respectively. A paper published in the May issue of this journal (Utsunomiya et al. (2024) Genes Cells 29: 380-396, DOI: 10.1111/gtc.13110) reported that when these myosin Is were expressed in macrophages to observe their interactions with the membrane at the single-molecule level, Myo1D exhibited mobility consistent with free diffusion, whereas Myo1C showed notably lower mobility. This picture, depicting two vortices in a strait, aptly illustrates their differences. Compared to the fast currents that produce the right-handed vortex in the back, the currents of the left-handed vortex in the foreground are docile.
