
最新一期 Cell 的封面
這… 這….. 這……. 這不是 JoJo 冒險野郎嗎?
國中時,每個禮拜最期待的就是熱門少年 TOP 的出版,除了灌籃高手,第二期待的就是 JoJo 冒險野郎。初識 JoJo 冒險野郎時並不喜歡,粗粗的線條看起來很髒,不過認真看了一次之後就完全迷上了,作者荒木飛呂彥﹝Araki Hirohiko﹞無敵的創意將格鬥漫畫推進另一層次,格鬥不再只是拳腳或氣功,而是藉由形體化的超能力 - 替身。每個角色都有不同的替身能力,而上場人物之龐雜,服裝造型之華麗,故事背景之宏大,每每只能讚嘆作者的想像力,是部必看的經典啊。
最新一期 Cell (September 7 2007:130 (5)) 封面,這筆觸,分明就是 JoJo 冒險野郎啊!
做生物領域的人都知道 Cell 是本多性感的期刊啊,能發一篇是會笑開嘴,翹尾巴的。漫畫人物現身 sexy biological journal 封面,這真是太有趣了~
Cover Caption 是這麼寫的:
“On the cover: Presynaptic plasticity is a fundamental, yet poorly understood, neural phenomenon that is thought to be the basis of learning and memory. In this issue, Yao et al. (pp. 943–957) identify a novel ubiquitin ligase named SCRAPPER, which is responsible for tuning of synaptic vesicle release probability. SCRAPPER ubiquitinates presynaptic active zone protein RIM1, triggering its proteasomal degradation. Neurons from the Scrapper-knockout mice have hyper electrophysiological activity and contained increased amount of RIM1, and these phenotypes could be rescued by re-expression of SCRAPPER or knockdown of RIM1. The results highlight the importance of protein degradation in the regulation of synaptic activity in vivo. On the cover, the purple SCRAPPER humanoid is putting blue heart-shaped ubiquitins on the red RIM creatures. Japanese manga artist Hirohiko Araki created the cover image with scientific direction from Drs. Setou and Ageta.”
大意是說,日本研究團隊發現了一種 ubiquitin ligase,叫做 SCRAPPER,它們會促進 RIM1 的降解,而RIM1 是一種 persynaptic vesicle zone protein,過多的 RIM1 累積會造成過高的神經活性。
所以封面圖的意義就是人體使用 SCRAPPER 替身,將心型的 ubiquitin 標示在 RIM1 身上,使之難以遁逃,必須接受被降解的命運,以維持正常的神經活性。﹝人人都是 JoJo 啊~ 不過實驗是以老鼠做 model 的啦﹞
想必這位日本教授瀬藤光利﹝Setou Mitsutoshi﹞也是 JoJo 冒險野郎的迷吧,真是宅得太有創意了!