| | Cardiology: A big-hearted molecule
Blockade of the enzyme PDE9 prevents degradation of the molecule cyclic GMP, which has been shown to protect against heart failure. The finding indicates that PDE9 inhibition might be a drug target for treating this condition.
| Cancer: A piece of the p53 puzzle
An iron-dependent form of cell death called ferroptosis has been implicated as a component of the tumour-suppressor activity of p53, providing fresh insight into how this protein prevents cancer development.
| MAP4K4 regulates integrin-FERM binding to control endothelial cell motility
A new MAP4K4–moesin–talin–β1-integrin pathway regulating endothelial cell motility was discovered through chemical and siRNA screens; loss of Map4k4 or inhibition of MAP4K4 kinase activity altered the sprout morphology of endothelial cells during angiogenesis by blocking moesin phosphorylation, which regulates the disassembly of focal adhesions, demonstrating that this pathway is involved in both normal and pathological angiogenesis.
| Ferroptosis as a p53-mediated activity during tumour suppression
p53 suppresses expression of SLC7A11, a key component of the cystine/glutamate amino acid transport machinery, leading to inhibition of cystine uptake and promoting ferroptosis, an iron-dependent form of cell death.
| YAP is essential for tissue tension to ensure vertebrate 3D body shape
D'Arcy Thompson predicted a century ago that animal body shape is conditioned by gravity, but there has been no animal model to study how cellular forces are coordinated to generate body shapes that withstand gravity; the hirame medaka fish mutant, with pronounced body flattening, reveals how the hirame/YAP gene controls gravity-resisting cellular forces to produce complex 3D organs and body shapes.
| Selection on noise constrains variation in a eukaryotic promoter
Quantifying activity of cis-regulatory sequences controlling gene expression shows that selection on expression noise has a greater impact on sequence variation than selection on mean expression level.
| Atomic structure of anthrax protective antigen pore elucidates toxin translocation
Cryo-electron microscopy determination of anthrax toxin protective antigen pore structure at a resolution of 2.9 Å, revealing the catalytic Φ-clamp and the membrane-spanning translocation channel.
| Ancient proteins resolve the evolutionary history of Darwin's South American ungulates
Protein sequences preserved in two Quaternary taxa, Macrauchenia and Toxodon, resolve the evolutionary history of South American native ungulates.
| Structural imprints in vivo decode RNA regulatory mechanisms
The single-stranded nature of RNAs synthesized in the cell gives them great scope to form different structures, but current methods to measure RNA structure in vivo are limited; now, a new methodology allows researchers to examine all four nucleotides in mouse embryonic stem cells.
| hiCLIP reveals the in vivo atlas of mRNA secondary structures recognized by Staufen 1
A method, termed hiCLIP, has been developed to determine the RNA duplexes bound by RNA-binding proteins, revealing an unforeseen prevalence of long-range duplexes in 3′ untranslated regions (UTRs), and a decreased incidence of SNPs in duplex-forming regions; the results also show that RNA structure is able to regulate gene expression.
| N6-methyladenosine marks primary microRNAs for processing
The addition of the N6-methyladenosine (m6A) mark to primary microRNAs by METTL3 in mammalian cells is found to promote the recognition of these microRNA precursors by DGCR8, a component of the microprocessor complex.
| Two insulin receptors determine alternative wing morphs in planthoppers
Some insects have alternative wing morphs, one that is long-winged and changes habitat to follow resources, and one that is short-winged and flightless but has high fertility; here, the molecular details of this switch are revealed, with opposite effects of two insulin receptors controlling the development of different wing morphs in the planthopper.
| Pioneer factors govern super-enhancer dynamics in stem cell plasticity and lineage choice
An analysis of mouse skin reveals that super-enhancers are critical to identity, lineage commitment and plasticity of adult stem cells; dynamic super-enhancer remodelling in new niches is dependent on the levels of pioneer transcription factor SOX9, which is identified as a key regulator of super-enhancer chromatin for hair follicle stem cells.
| Monolayer semiconductor nanocavity lasers with ultralow thresholds
A miniature laser is reported that uses two-dimensional tungsten diselenide as the active medium, which is placed on a photonic crystal membrane that acts as the laser cavity; the laser emits visible light, with an ultralow pump threshold.
| Shape-changing magnetic assemblies as high-sensitivity NMR-readable nanoprobes
A shape-changing sensor made of pairs of magnetic disks spaced by swellable hydrogel material removes all need for optical access by operating in the nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) radio-frequency spectrum.
| Phosphodiesterase 9A controls nitric-oxide-independent cGMP and hypertrophic heart disease
The inhibition, in mice, of the phosphodiesterase PDE9A, which specifically regulates natriuretic-peptide-coupled cGMP signalling, is independent of nitric oxide and is upregulated in failing human hearts, and can reverse pre-established stress-induced heart disease.
| | | | | | Masterclasses: Teach your researchers how to produce papers that appeal to international, high-impact journals with Nature Masterclasses. Taught by Nature journal editors, tailored to fit your researchers' needs — find out more today. | | | | | | | | | | | | | Cooperative insertion of CO2 in diamine-appended metal-organic frameworks
A cooperative insertion mechanism for CO2 adsorption is shown to generate highly efficient adsorbents for carbon capture applications.
Thomas M. McDonald, Jarad A. Mason, Xueqian Kong et al. | The fine-scale genetic structure of the British population
Extensive genetic analysis of over 2,000 individuals from different locations in Britain reveals striking fine-scale patterns of population structure; comparisons with similar genetic data from the European continent reveal the legacy of earlier population migrations and information about the ancestry of current populations in specific geographic regions.
Stephen Leslie, Bruce Winney, Garrett Hellenthal et al. | Visualizing transient Watson–Crick-like mispairs in DNA and RNA duplexes
dG•dT and rG•rU 'wobble' mispairs in DNA and RNA transiently form base pairs with Watson–Crick geometry via tautomerization and ionization with probabilities that correlate with misincorporation probabilities during replication and translation.
Isaac J. Kimsey, Katja Petzold, Bharathwaj Sathyamoorthy et al. | Crystal structure of the eukaryotic origin recognition complex
The crystal structure of the heterohexameric origin recognition complex (ORC), essential for coordinating DNA replication onset in eukaryotes, is resolved at 3.5 Å resolution.
Franziska Bleichert, Michael R. Botchan, James M. Berger | | A dusty, normal galaxy in the epoch of reionization
Far-infrared measurements of galaxies in the early Universe would reveal their detailed properties, but have been lacking for the more typical galaxies where most stars form; here an archetypal, early Universe star-forming galaxy is detected at far-infrared wavelengths, allowing its dust mass, total star-formation rate and dust-to-gas ratio to be calculated.
Darach Watson, Lise Christensen, Kirsten Kraiberg Knudsen et al. | Highly efficient star formation in NGC 5253 possibly from stream-fed accretion
Detection of carbon monoxide in a molecular cloud in dwarf galaxy NGC 5253 reveals the highest star-formation efficiency yet seen, driven by an accreting streamer of gas.
J. L. Turner, S. C. Beck, D. J. Benford et al. | Ligand-enabled meta-C–H activation using a transient mediator
A combination of norbornene and pyridine-type ligand enables commonly used ortho-directing groups to direct meta-C–H activation with palladium catalysts.
Xiao-Chen Wang, Wei Gong, Li-Zhen Fang et al. | Observational determination of surface radiative forcing by CO2 from 2000 to 2010
Empirical evidence for the effect of rising atmospheric carbon dioxide levels on Earth's surface energy balance is presented: the increase in surface radiative forcing from 2000 to 2010 measured at two sites is directly attributable to the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide over that decade and agrees with model results.
D. R. Feldman, W. D. Collins, P. J. Gero et al. | Long-term decline of the Amazon carbon sink
The capacity of Amazonian forests to sequester carbon has weakened with potentially important implications for climate change.
R. J. W. Brienen, O. L. Phillips, T. R. Feldpausch et al. | Polyploidy can drive rapid adaptation in yeast
In vitro evolution experiments on haploid, diploid, and tetraploid yeast strains show that adaptation is faster in tetraploids, providing direct quantitative evidence that in some environments polyploidy can accelerate evolutionary adaptation.
Anna M. Selmecki, Yosef E. Maruvka, Phillip A. Richmond et al. | Thermosensory processing in the Drosophila brain
The mechanisms of thermosensing in the Drosophila brain are elucidated by the identification of distinct classes of projection neurons which are excited either by external cooling or warming, or both; the neurons that are excited by warming participate in complex circuits that incorporate crossover inhibition from cool receptor neurons.
Wendy W. Liu, Ofer Mazor, Rachel I. Wilson | Temperature representation in the Drosophila brain
This study identifies distinct classes of neurons in the fly brain, which respond to external cooling, warming, or both, and contribute to behavioural response; the results illustrate how higher brain centres extract a stimulus' quality, intensity and timing from a simple temperature map at the periphery.
Dominic D. Frank, Genevieve C. Jouandet, Patrick J. Kearney et al. | CetZ tubulin-like proteins control archaeal cell shape
The structure and function of CetZ, a protein related to both tubulin and FtsZ (the bacterial homologue of tubulin) from the archaeon Haloferax volcanii, is reported and its involvement in the control of cell shape uncovered; it appears that this family of proteins was involved in the control of cell shape long before the evolution of eukaryotes.
Iain G. Duggin, Christopher H. S. Aylett, James C. Walsh et al. | Tetanus toxoid and CCL3 improve dendritic cell vaccines in mice and glioblastoma patients
A clinical trial in patients with glioblastoma shows increased immune and anti-tumour responses to dendritic cell vaccination after pre-conditioning the site of vaccination with tetanus toxoid (Td); similar results are also seen in mice in part due to the actions of the chemokine CCL3, and the findings may represent new ways to improve the efficacy of anti-cancer vaccines.
Duane A. Mitchell, Kristen A. Batich, Michael D. Gunn et al. | A human tRNA synthetase is a potent PARP1-activating effector target for resveratrol
A human tRNA synthetase connects resveratrol to stress signalling.
Mathew Sajish, Paul Schimmel | NAD captureSeq indicates NAD as a bacterial cap for a subset of regulatory RNAs
A newly developed method, NAD captureSeq, has been used to show that bacteria cap the 5′-ends of some RNAs to protect against degradation, much as happens with eukaryotic messenger RNAs, although with a different modification: nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide.
Hana Cahová, Marie-Luise Winz, Katharina Höfer et al. | | | | |
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