Nature Communications - 14 October 2015

Advertisement Accelerating Neuroscience Research A major challenge in neuroscience research and drug discovery is the lack of easy access to relevant animal models for use in screening drug candidates.  The Advanced Neuroscience Mouse Model Portfolio provides simplified access to models and services for the study of neuronal disease and signaling. Learn about extensive phenotyping data, and aging services to help accelerate research outcomes. Learn More     Weekly Content Alert Nature Communications is now fully open access. Read more. 14 October 2015  Featured image: Eagle et al. measured isotopes of fossil eggshells to estimate the body temperature of female dinosaurs during periods of ovulation. Latest content: Articles Errata Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement Nature Microbiology: Call for Papers Launching in January 2016, Nature Microbiology is now open for submissions and inviting high-quality submissions. The journal will cover all aspects of microorganisms be it their evolution, physiology and cell biology, their interactions with each other, with a host, with an environment, or their societal significance.  Submit your next research paper to the journal.       Nature Communications - now fully open access All new submissions, if accepted, will be published open access and an article processing charge (APC) will apply. For more information visit the website. Visit our open access funding page or contact openaccess@nature.com to learn more about APC funding.       Latest Articles View all Articles     Mucosal vaccination with attenuated Mycobacterium tuberculosis induces strong central memory responses and protects against tuberculosis OPEN Deepak Kaushal, Taylor W. Foreman, Uma S. Gautam, Xavier Alvarez, Toidi Adekambi, Javier Rangel-Moreno, Nadia A. Golden, Ann-Marie F. Johnson, Bonnie L. Phillips, Muhammad H. Ahsan, Kasi E. Russell-Lodrigue, Lara A. Doyle, Chad J. Roy, Peter J. Didier, James L. Blanchard, Jyothi Rengarajan, Andrew A. Lackner, Shabaana A. Khader and Smriti Mehra BCG, the only vaccine currently used against tuberculosis, confers only limited protection. Here the authors show that mucosal immunization of macaques with an attenuated strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis confers a high level of protection from a lethal challenge with the bacterium. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9533 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Medical research  Microbiology  Isotopic ordering in eggshells reflects body temperatures and suggests differing thermophysiology in two Cretaceous dinosaurs Robert A. Eagle, Marcus Enriquez, Gerald Grellet-Tinner, Alberto Pérez-Huerta, David Hu, Thomas Tütken, Shaena Montanari, Sean J. Loyd, Pedro Ramirez, Aradhna K. Tripati, Matthew J. Kohn, Thure E. Cerling, Luis M. Chiappe and John M. Eiler The evolutionary transitions leading to the modern endothermic state of birds and mammals is unclear. Here, the authors use isotopologues from eggshells to determine body temperatures of females during periods of ovulation, suggesting variability existed between sauropods and the more bird-like oviraptors. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9296 Earth Sciences  Evolution  Geology and geophysics  Palaeontology  Harnessing the landscape of microbial culture media to predict new organism–media pairings OPEN Matthew A. Oberhardt, Raphy Zarecki, Sabine Gronow, Elke Lang, Hans-Peter Klenk, Uri Gophna and Eytan Ruppin Culturing new microorganisms requires a great deal of experience, and trial and error. Here, the authors build a database of >3,300 culturing media recipes and >18,000 microbial species that allows the prediction of appropriate media recipes for the growth of new microbes based on their 16S rDNA sequences. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9493 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Microbiology  Neural dynamics of prediction and surprise in infants OPEN Sid Kouider, Bria Long, Lorna Le Stanc, Sylvain Charron, Anne-Caroline Fievet, Leonardo S. Barbosa and Sofie V. Gelskov Prior expectations shape neural processing in the brain and violations of these expectations can have a profound influence on learning. Here the authors demonstrate that such predictive coding mechanisms are already functional in the brains of 12-month-old infants. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9537 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Reconstructing the transport history of pebbles on Mars OPEN Tímea Szabó, Gábor Domokos, John P. Grotzinger and Douglas J. Jerolmack The discovery of rounded pebbles by Curiosity suggests sustained fluvial activity existed on Mars, but interpretations have been qualitative. Here, the authors show that transport distance can be calculated on the basis of pebble shape alone, suggesting they travelled 10 s of km by bed-load transport. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9366 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Planetary sciences  Outward- and inward-facing structures of a putative bacterial transition-metal transporter with homology to ferroportin OPEN Reiya Taniguchi, Hideaki E. Kato, Josep Font, Chandrika N. Deshpande, Miki Wada, Koichi Ito, Ryuichiro Ishitani, Mika Jormakka and Osamu Nureki Iron export from vertebrate cells is mediated by ferroportin, which is suppressed by the peptide hormone hepcidin. Taniguchi et al. present crystal structures of a putative bacterial ferroportin homologue in both outward- and inward-facing states, providing insight into its transport mechanism. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9545 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Antigen receptor-mediated depletion of FOXP3 in induced regulatory T-lymphocytes via PTPN2 and FOXO1 OPEN Evita Bothur, Hartmann Raifer, Claudia Haftmann, Anna-Barbara Stittrich, Anne Brüstle, Dirk Brenner, Nadine Bollig, Maria Bieringer, Chol-Ho Kang, Katharina Reinhard, Bärbel Camara, Magdalena Huber, Alexander Visekruna, Ulrich Steinhoff, Antje Repenning, Uta-Maria Bauer, Veronika Sexl, Andreas Radbruch, Tim Sparwasser, Mir-Farzin Mashreghi et al. Antigen stimulation in vivo can reprogram T regulatory cells to lose the expression of Foxp3 and become effector cells. Here the authors show that the mechanism involves dephosphorylation of STAT5 by PTPN2 and downregulation of Foxo1 by miR-182. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9576 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Molecular biology  Tamoxifen augments the innate immune function of neutrophils through modulation of intracellular ceramide Ross Corriden, Andrew Hollands, Joshua Olson, Jaclyn Derieux, Justine Lopez, John T. Chang, David J. Gonzalez and Victor Nizet Tamoxifen, widely used to modulate oestrogen receptor activity in breast cancer treatment, also regulates sphingolipid metabolism. Here the authors show that the latter activity of tamoxifen stimulates pro-inflammatory and antibacterial activities of human neutrophils. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9369 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Medical research  Uniaxial stress control of skyrmion phase OPEN Y. Nii, T. Nakajima, A. Kikkawa, Y. Yamasaki, K. Ohishi, J. Suzuki, Y. Taguchi, T. Arima, Y. Tokura and Y. Iwasa Chiral magnets can support particle-like magnetization textures called skyrmions which form in lattices and can be manipulated for potential device applications. Here, the authors demonstrate the controlled creation and annihilation of a skyrmion lattice in MnSi single crystals using mechanical stress. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9539 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Topologically protected surface states in a centrosymmetric superconductor β-PdBi2 OPEN M. Sakano, K. Okawa, M. Kanou, H. Sanjo, T. Okuda, T. Sasagawa and K Ishizaka Materials possessing topologically non-trivial electronic surface states are predicted to host exotic Majorana fermion excitations in the superconducting state. Here, the authors demonstrate the existence of topologically-protected surface states in the centrosymmetric layered superconductor β-PdBi2. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9595 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  The deuterium/hydrogen distribution in chondritic organic matter attests to early ionizing irradiation OPEN Boris Laurent, Mathieu Roskosz, Laurent Remusat, François Robert, Hugues Leroux, Hervé Vezin, Christophe Depecker, Nicolas Nuns and Jean-Marc Lefebvre The insoluble organic matter in primitive carbonaceous chondrites has a systematic large enrichment in deuterium and several hypotheses have been proposed to explain this. Here, the authors demonstrate that irradiation from the protosun could quantitatively explain the deuteration. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9567 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Planetary sciences  Electrically tunable multiple Dirac cones in thin films of the (LaO)2(SbSe2)2 family of materials Xiao-Yu Dong, Jian-Feng Wang, Rui-Xing Zhang, Wen-Hui Duan, Bang-Fen Zhu, Jorge O. Sofo and Chao-Xing Liu The ability to electrically control Dirac cones is essential for exploring the physics and applications of Dirac materials. Here, the authors combine ab initio calculations and analytical models to predict that (LaO)2(SbSe2)2 is a Dirac material with multiple electrically-tunable Dirac cones. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9517 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Theoretical physics  Direct optical activation of skeletal muscle fibres efficiently controls muscle contraction and attenuates denervation atrophy OPEN Philippe Magown, Basavaraj Shettar, Ying Zhang and Victor F. Rafuse Nerve damage can lead to skeletal muscle paralysis and atrophy. Here, the authors show that localized photostimulation of mouse calf muscle expressing the light-sensitive channel Channelrhodopsin-2 generates contraction in the absence of neural impulses and prove that this strategy can be used to prevent muscle atrophy. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9506 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Medical research  Reactivation of IgG-switched memory B cells by BCR-intrinsic signal amplification promotes IgG antibody production OPEN Johannes Lutz, Kai Dittmann, Michael R Bösl, Thomas H Winkler, Jürgen Wienands and Niklas Engels Antigen receptors on memory B cells enhance their signaling strength by recruiting the cytosolic Grb2 adaptor to their ITT phosphorylation motifs. Here the authors show that inactivating the ITT motif of mouse mIgG1 impairs IgG1 production and T-cell independent reactivation of memory B cells. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9575 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Direct observation and temperature control of the surface Dirac gap in a topological crystalline insulator OPEN B. M. Wojek, M. H. Berntsen, V. Jonsson, A. Szczerbakow, P. Dziawa, B. J. Kowalski, T. Story and O. Tjernberg The opening of a Dirac point gap in topologically non-trivial materials is key to potential applications. Here, the authors use photoelectron spectroscopy to study gap formation and carrier mass acquisition in a topological crystalline insulator as a function of composition and temperature. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9463 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Neuronal uptake and propagation of a rare phosphorylated high-molecular-weight tau derived from Alzheimer’s disease brain OPEN Shuko Takeda, Susanne Wegmann, Hansang Cho, Sarah L. DeVos, Caitlin Commins, Allyson D. Roe, Samantha B. Nicholls, George A. Carlson, Rose Pitstick, Chloe K. Nobuhara, Isabel Costantino, Matthew P. Frosch, Daniel J. Müller, Daniel Irimia and Bradley T. Hyman In Alzheimer's disease, tau spreads throughout the brain, however the nature of the tau species propagating from one neuron to another is not known. Here, Takeda et al. identify a rare, high-molecular-weight tau as the primary species taken up and transferred between synaptically connected neurons. 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9490 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience  Bayesian integration of genetics and epigenetics detects causal regulatory SNPs underlying expression variability OPEN Avinash Das, Michael Morley, Christine S. Moravec, W. H. W. Tang, Hakon Hakonarson, null null, Euan A. Ashley, Jeffrey Brandimarto, Ray Hu, Mingyao Li, Hongzhe Li, Yichuan Liu, Liming Qu, Pablo Sanchez, Kenneth B. Margulies, Thomas P. Cappola, Shane Jensen and Sridhar Hannenhalli Das et al. present a novel Bayesian approach called expression Quantitative Trait enhancer Loci (eQTeL), which effectively integrates genetic and epigenetic information to identify combination of regulatory genomic variants underlying expression variance. Using various functional data, the authors show the variants identified by eQTeL are likely to be causal. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9555 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Genetics  Migration of germline progenitor cells is directed by sphingosine-1-phosphate signalling in a basal chordate OPEN Susannah H. Kassmer, Delany Rodriguez, Adam D. Langenbacher, Connor Bui and Anthony W. De Tomaso The regulation of germ cell migration in the colonial ascidian Botryllus schlosseri is poorly understood. In this chordate, Kassmer et al. identify sphingosine-1-phosphate as regulating germ cell migration in vitro and homing of cells to newly developing bodies in live organisms. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9565 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Single Abrikosov vortices as quantized information bits OPEN T. Golod, A. Iovan and V. M. Krasnov Superconductors can be used in future supercomputers because they can greatly reduce power consumption and facilitate nonvolatile quantized states that are ideal for Boolean logics. Here, the authors provide a proof-of-concept RAM memory based on a single Abrikosov vortex as bit. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9628 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Theoretical physics  Nano-guided cell networks as conveyors of molecular communication OPEN Jessica L. Terrell, Hsuan-Chen Wu, Chen-Yu Tsao, Nathan B. Barber, Matthew D. Servinsky, Gregory F. Payne and William E. Bentley Living cells have to interpret and react to changes in local environmental conditions. Here the authors exploit that by combining magnetic nanoparticles and bacterial quorum sensing to investigate and convey alterations in the molecular landscape. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9500 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Molecular biology  FR171456 is a specific inhibitor of mammalian NSDHL and yeast Erg26p OPEN Stephen B. Helliwell, Shantanu Karkare, Marc Bergdoll, Alain Rahier, Juliet R. Leighton-Davis, Celine Fioretto, Thomas Aust, Ireos Filipuzzi, Mathias Frederiksen, John Gounarides, Dominic Hoepfner, Andreas Hofmann, Pierre-Eloi Imbert, Rolf Jeker, Richard Knochenmuss, Philipp Krastel, Anais Margerit, Klaus Memmert, Charlotte V. Miault, N. Rao Movva et al. FR171456 is a bioactive chemical produced by some microorganisms. Here, the authors identify the enzyme NSDHL of the sterol synthesis pathway as the molecular target of FR171456, rendering it the first compound to specifically target this class of enzyme in yeast and mammalian cells. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9613 Biological Sciences  Chemical biology  Magnetic dipolar interaction between correlated triplets created by singlet fission in tetracene crystals OPEN Rui Wang, Chunfeng Zhang, Bo Zhang, Yunlong Liu, Xiaoyong Wang and Min Xiao The exact mechanism of singlet fission remains unresolved. Here, Wang et al. report a quantitative measurement of the interaction between singlet-fission-induced correlated triplets in tetracene crystals with quantum beat spectroscopy, indicating the role played by exciton delocalization in singlet fission. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9602 Physical Sciences  Optical physics  Physical chemistry  A biosynthetic model of cytochrome c oxidase as an electrocatalyst for oxygen reduction OPEN Sohini Mukherjee, Arnab Mukherjee, Ambika Bhagi-Damodaran, Manjistha Mukherjee, Yi Lu and Abhishek Dey An artificial functional mimic of cytochrome c oxidase is a long term research goal for the development of oxygen reduction electrocatalysts. Here, the authors use site directed mutants of myoglobin to develop an electrocatalyst for reducing oxygen to water under ambient conditions. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9467 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Chemical biology  Inorganic chemistry  The thiostrepton A tryptophan methyltransferase TsrM catalyses a cob(II)alamin-dependent methyl transfer reaction OPEN Alhosna Benjdia, Stéphane Pierre, Carmen Gherasim, Alain Guillot, Manon Carmona, Patricia Amara, Ruma Banerjee and Olivier Berteau Cobalamin-dependent radical SAM enzymes are proposed as methyltransferases in many biosynthetic pathways. Here, the authors study a pathway involving the methylation of tryptophan, showing that methylcob(III)alamin is the most likely cofactor and propose a radical-based C-methylation mechanism. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9377 Chemical Sciences  Biochemistry  Catalysis  Chemical biology  MAP3K8/TPL-2/COT is a potential predictive marker for MEK inhibitor treatment in high-grade serous ovarian carcinomas OPEN Tina Gruosso, Camille Garnier, Sophie Abelanet, Yann Kieffer, Vincent Lemesre, Dorine Bellanger, Ivan Bieche, Elisabetta Marangoni, Xavier Sastre-Garau, Virginie Mieulet and Fatima Mechta-Grigoriou The identification of pharmaceutically targetable biomarkers is essential for improving therapeutic options for cancer patients. In this study, the authors identify MAP3K8 as a potential predictive marker for MEK inhibitor treatment in patients with aggressive ovarian cancer. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9583 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Probing molecular dynamics at the nanoscale via an individual paramagnetic centre OPEN T. Staudacher, N. Raatz, S. Pezzagna, J. Meijer, F. Reinhard, C. A. Meriles and J. Wrachtrup Nitrogen vacancy centres in diamond form spin-1 defects which may be exploited as sensitive probes of nanoscale magnetic phenomena. Here, the authors use individual nitrogen vacancies to perform nuclear magnetic resonance measurements of the 1H spins of adsorbed organic molecules. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9527 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Wall mechanics and exocytosis define the shape of growth domains in fission yeast OPEN Juan F. Abenza, Etienne Couturier, James Dodgson, Johanna Dickmann, Anatole Chessel, Jacques Dumais and Rafael E. Carazo Salas Cell shape is determined by a combination of biochemical regulation and mechanical forces. By imaging the dynamic behaviour of growth regulatory proteins in fission yeast and integrating these data within a mechanical model, Abenza et al. find that exocytosis plays a dominant role in shaping growth domains. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9400 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Cell biology  Ape parasite origins of human malaria virulence genes OPEN Daniel B. Larremore, Sesh A. Sundararaman, Weimin Liu, William R. Proto, Aaron Clauset, Dorothy E. Loy, Sheri Speede, Lindsey J. Plenderleith, Paul M. Sharp, Beatrice H. Hahn, Julian C. Rayner and Caroline O. Buckee Antigens encoded by var genes are major virulence factors of the human malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. Here, Larremore et al. identify var-like genes in distantly related Plasmodium species infecting African apes, indicating that these genes already existed in an ancestral ape parasite many millions of years ago. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9368 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Microbiology  Transcriptional repression by the HDAC4–RelB–p52 complex regulates multiple myeloma survival and growth Subrahmanya D. Vallabhapurapu, Sunil K. Noothi, Derek A. Pullum, Charles H. Lawrie, Rachel Pallapati, Veena Potluri, Christian Kuntzen, Sohaib Khan, David R. Plas, Robert Z. Orlowski, Marta Chesi, W. Michael Kuehl, P. Leif Bergsagel, Michael Karin and Sivakumar Vallabhapurapu NF-κB has largely been known as a transcriptional activator. Here the authors show that a transcriptionally repressive NF-κB complex, HDAC4–RelB–p52, maintains repressive chromatin at proapoptotic genes Bim and BMF, and regulates multiple myeloma survival and growth in an ERK1 dependent manner. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9428 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Molecular biology  Cobalt-centred boron molecular drums with the highest coordination number in the CoB16− cluster OPEN Ivan A. Popov, Tian Jian, Gary V. Lopez, Alexander I. Boldyrev and Lai-Sheng Wang Boron is known to form a wide variety of molecular structures. Here, the authors observe the highly symmetric cobalt-centered boron drum-like structure of CoB16 −, characterized by photoelectron spectroscopy and ab initio calculations, in which the cobalt atom is sixteen-coordinate. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9654 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Physical chemistry  Structural diversity of supercoiled DNA OPEN Rossitza N. Irobalieva, Jonathan M. Fogg, Daniel J. Catanese, Thana Sutthibutpong, Muyuan Chen, Anna K. Barker, Steven J. Ludtke, Sarah A. Harris, Michael F. Schmid, Wah Chiu and Lynn Zechiedrich DNA supercoiling strongly affects its metabolism. By electron cryo-tomography, biochemical assays and molecular dynamics simulations, here the authors show that supercoiled DNA minicircles adopt unique and wide distributions of three-dimensional conformations, many with disrupted base pairs. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9440 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Biophysics  Ribozyme-enhanced single-stranded Ago2-processed interfering RNA triggers efficient gene silencing with fewer off-target effects OPEN Renfu Shang, Fengjuan Zhang, Beiying Xu, Hairui Xi, Xue Zhang, Weihua Wang and Ligang Wu Short hairpin RNAs are widely used to produce small interfering RNAs (siRNAs) for gene silencing. Here, the authors show that an alternative siRNA precursor in the presence of a self-cleaving ribozyme has enhanced silencing activity and reduced off-target effects, providing a potential RNAi tool. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9430 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Molecular biology  Reversible amorphization and the catalytically active state of crystalline Co3O4 during oxygen evolution OPEN Arno Bergmann, Elias Martinez-Moreno, Detre Teschner, Petko Chernev, Manuel Gliech, Jorge Ferreira de Araújo, Tobias Reier, Holger Dau and Peter Strasser Understanding of catalyst structure and reactivity is important for the development of water splitting catalysts. Here, the authors report reversible structural transformation of the near-surface of crystalline Co3O4 electrocatalysts to an amorphous CoOx(OH)y during oxygen evolution. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9625 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Theta oscillations regulate the speed of locomotion via a hippocampus to lateral septum pathway OPEN Franziska Bender, Maria Gorbati, Marta Carus Cadavieco, Natalia Denisova, Xiaojie Gao, Constance Holman, Tatiana Korotkova and Alexey Ponomarenko Hippocampal theta oscillations support encoding of spatial information during navigation, yet their role in locomotion is poorly understood. Here the authors demonstrate that hippocampal theta oscillations regulate the speed of locomotion in rodents through a hippocampo-lateral septal-hypothalamic pathway. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9521 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Open–closed switching of synthetic tubular pores OPEN Yongju Kim, Jiheong Kang, Bowen Shen, Yanqiu Wang, Ying He and Myongsoo Lee Synthetic switchable nanopores may be useful for mimicking biological processes. Here, the authors report dynamic tubular pores that undergo rapid switching between open and closed states in response to a thermal signal in water and which can mediate a controlled water-pumping catalytic action. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9650 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Replication stress caused by low MCM expression limits fetal erythropoiesis and hematopoietic stem cell functionality OPEN Silvia Alvarez, Marcos Díaz, Johanna Flach, Sara Rodriguez-Acebes, Andrés J. López-Contreras, Dolores Martínez, Marta Cañamero, Oscar Fernández-Capetillo, Joan Isern, Emmanuelle Passegué and Juan Méndez What causes hematopoietic stem cell loss of functionality? Here, Alvarez et al. show that loss of origin licensing factor MCM3 induces replicative stress (RS), causing aberrant erythrocyte maturation, but mice strains with higher tolerance to RS can overcome this defect. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9548 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Molecular biology  Quantum engineering of spin and anisotropy in magnetic molecular junctions OPEN Peter Jacobson, Tobias Herden, Matthias Muenks, Gennadii Laskin, Oleg Brovko, Valeri Stepanyuk, Markus Ternes and Klaus Kern The spins of single molecules and defect centres possess properties which can be strongly influenced by their material contacts in electrical junctions. Here, the authors study the coupling between cobalt hydride complexes and a Rh(111) contact, mediated through a hexagonal boron nitride layer. 12 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9536 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Large cooperativity and microkelvin cooling with a three-dimensional optomechanical cavity OPEN Mingyun Yuan, Vibhor Singh, Yaroslav M. Blanter and Gary A. Steele Optomechanics is the use of light to control the motion of a mechanical resonator, potentially cooling it to the quantum ground state. Here, the authors cool a millimetre-scale silicon nitride membrane to an effective temperature of 34 microkelvin by coupling it to a three-dimensional microwave cavity. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9491 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Optical physics  Immunological biomarkers predict HIV-1 viral rebound after treatment interruption OPEN Jacob Hurst, Matthias Hoffmann, Matthew Pace, James P. Williams, John Thornhill, Elizabeth Hamlyn, Jodi Meyerowitz, Chris Willberg, Kersten K. Koelsch, Nicola Robinson, Helen Brown, Martin Fisher, Sabine Kinloch, David A. Cooper, Mauro Schechter, Giuseppe Tambussi, Sarah Fidler, Abdel Babiker, Jonathan Weber, Anthony D. Kelleher et al. In some HIV-1-infected individuals, viraemia remains undetectable after antiretroviral treatment, but which of these patients will experience viral rebound is difficult to predict. Here the authors show that T cell exhaustion markers before treatment are predictive of shorter time to viral rebound. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9495 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Medical research  Virology  Subglacial lake drainage detected beneath the Greenland ice sheet OPEN Steven Palmer, Malcolm McMillan and Mathieu Morlighem How the Greenland ice sheet responds to the drainage of water below the ice remains uncertain. Here, the authors combine digital elevation models and Landsat optical imagery to map subglacial drainage pathways and investigate the ice sheet surface response to a periodically draining subglacial lake. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9408 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Genetic sharing and heritability of paediatric age of onset autoimmune diseases OPEN Yun R. Li, Sihai D. Zhao, Jin Li, Jonathan P. Bradfield, Maede Mohebnasab, Laura Steel, Julie Kobie, Debra J. Abrams, Frank D. Mentch, Joseph T. Glessner, Yiran Guo, Zhi Wei, John J. Connolly, Christopher J. Cardinale, Marina Bakay, Dong Li, S. Melkorka Maggadottir, Kelly A. Thomas, Haijun Qui, Rosetta M. Chiavacci et al. Autoimmune diseases are genetically complex disorders that affect up to 10% of the Western population. Here Li et al. quantify the heritability of a range of autoimmune diseases in the largest paediatric cohort examined to date, illustrating that genetic and non-genetic components variably contribute to the susceptibility of each disease. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9442 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Immunology  Selective hydrogenation of 1,3-butadiene on platinum–copper alloys at the single-atom limit OPEN Felicia R. Lucci, Jilei Liu, Matthew D. Marcinkowski, Ming Yang, Lawrence F. Allard, Maria Flytzani-Stephanopoulos and E. Charles H. Sykes Reducing the platinum content of industrial catalysts is an important research target. Here, the authors present a nanocatalyst containing less than 1% platinum, where the isolated platinum atoms contribute to both the catalyst activity and selectivity for butadiene hydrogenation. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9550 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Substrate specificity and transport mechanism of amino-acid transceptor Slimfast from Aedes aegypti OPEN Dmitri Y. Boudko, Hitoshi Tsujimoto, Stacy D. Rodriguez, Ella A. Meleshkevitch, David P. Price, Lisa L. Drake and Immo A. Hansen Anautogenous mosquitoes need to obtain essential amino acids from a blood meal for reproduction. Here, the authors examine the amino acid transporter Slimfast from the yellow-fever mosquito and describe both its specificity and mechanism of action. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9546 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Virology  High-intensity power-resolved radiation imaging of an operational nuclear reactor OPEN Jonathan S. Beaumont, Matthew P. Mellor, Mario Villa and Malcolm J. Joyce Monitoring the activity of nuclear reactors requires measuring the neutron distribution in the core efficiently and in real time. Here, the authors present an imaging approach for neutrons and gamma-rays that thanks to a slit-pupil-like design, enables radiations to be visualized directly in operative reactors. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9592 Physical Sciences  Atomic and molecular physics  Flexible, highly efficient all-polymer solar cells OPEN Taesu Kim, Jae-Han Kim, Tae Eui Kang, Changyeon Lee, Hyunbum Kang, Minkwan Shin, Cheng Wang, Biwu Ma, Unyong Jeong, Taek-Soo Kim and Bumjoon J. Kim All-polymer solar cells have advantages over fullerene-based solar cells due to improved stability and tunable chemical and electronic properties. Here, Kim et al. develop highly efficient and robust solar cells based on PBDTTTPD and P(NDI2HD-T), highlighting their potential in flexible and portable electronics. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9547 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Calving rates at tidewater glaciers vary strongly with ocean temperature OPEN Adrian Luckman, Douglas I. Benn, Finlo Cottier, Suzanne Bevan, Frank Nilsen and Mark Inall Tidewater glacier calving is assumed to be dependent on ice dynamics, but direct evidence is lacking. Here, Luckman et al. use satellite data to derive frontal ablation rates for dynamically contrasting Svalbard glaciers, and show that frontal ablation rate varies primarily with sub-surface ocean temperature. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9566 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Oceanography  KCNJ15/Kir4.2 couples with polyamines to sense weak extracellular electric fields in galvanotaxis OPEN Ken-ichi Nakajima, Kan Zhu, Yao-Hui Sun, Bence Hegyi, Qunli Zeng, Christopher J. Murphy, J. Victor Small, Ye Chen-Izu, Yoshihiro Izumiya, Josef M. Penninger and Min Zhao Directed cell migration in weak electric fields is known as galvanotaxis, but the cellular sensor and mechanism is not known. Here Nakajima et al. identify inwardly rectifying K+ channel Kir4.2 as an important mediator of galvanotaxis, that depends on the cytoplasmic distribution of intracellular polyamines. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9532 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Loess Plateau storage of Northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived Yellow River sediment OPEN Junsheng Nie, Thomas Stevens, Martin Rittner, Daniel Stockli, Eduardo Garzanti, Mara Limonta, Anna Bird, Sergio Andò, Pieter Vermeesch, Joel Saylor, Huayu Lu, Daniel Breecker, Xiaofei Hu, Shanpin Liu, Alberto Resentini, Giovanni Vezzoli, Wenbin Peng, Andrew Carter, Shunchuan Ji and Baotian Pan et al. Theories of Cenozoic mountain uplift and associated global cooling assume that eroded mountain sediments are stored in marine basins. Here, based on detailed provenance data, Nie et al. show that Northeast Tibetan sediments are in fact stored inland, in the Chinese Loess Plateau and Mu Us desert. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9511 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Geology and geophysics  Learning of anticipatory responses in single neurons of the human medial temporal lobe OPEN Leila Reddy, Marlene Poncet, Matthew W. Self, Judith C. Peters, Linda Douw, Edwin van Dellen, Steven Claus, Jaap C. Reijneveld, Johannes C. Baayen and Pieter R. Roelfsema The medial temporal lobe (MTL) in the primate brain is known to alter its response when learning new information. Here, Reddy et al. record the activity of single neurons from human subjects, and show that learning a sequence of events can increase MTL neuronal firing rates in anticipation of the upcoming events. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9556 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Structure and density of basaltic melts at mantle conditions from first-principles simulations OPEN Suraj Bajgain, Dipta B. Ghosh and Bijaya B. Karki Our understanding of the origin and stability of deep-mantle melts depends on our knowledge of the component silicate liquids. Here, the authors model the effects of iron and water on melt structure and density, with results that support potential water enrichment of deep-mantle melts and an early magma ocean. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9578 Earth Sciences  Condensed matter  Geology and geophysics  The external domains of the HIV-1 envelope are a mutational cold spot OPEN Ron Geller, Pilar Domingo-Calap, José M. Cuevas, Paola Rossolillo, Matteo Negroni and Rafael Sanjuán Mutations allow RNA virus to adapt fast but also entail fitness costs. Geller et al. show that, in HIV-1, mutations occur three times less often in the most external domains of the envelope, and that this is due to changes in RNA sequence context and structure, which control viral and host-encoded mutational mechanisms. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9571 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology  Virology  Hyperpolarized nanodiamond with long spin-relaxation times OPEN Ewa Rej, Torsten Gaebel, Thomas Boele, David E.J. Waddington and David J. Reilly Hyperpolarized carbon nuclei are promising contrast agents for magnetic resonance imaging, but typically possess relaxation times below one minute. Here, the authors demonstrate cryogenic and room temperature hyperpolarization of 13C in synthetic nanodiamonds with relaxation times exceeding one hour. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9459 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Wafer-scale growth of VO2 thin films using a combinatorial approach OPEN Hai-Tian Zhang, Lei Zhang, Debangshu Mukherjee, Yuan-Xia Zheng, Ryan C. Haislmaier, Nasim Alem and Roman Engel-Herbert Precise valence state control to avoid performance deterioration in transition metal oxide films has proved challenging. Here, the authors establish a combinatorial approach to create a valence state library of VO2, allowing for the growth of wafer size VO2 thin films. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9475 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Large-area synthesis of high-quality and uniform monolayer WS2 on reusable Au foils OPEN Yang Gao, Zhibo Liu, Dong-Ming Sun, Le Huang, Lai-Peng Ma, Li-Chang Yin, Teng Ma, Zhiyong Zhang, Xiu-Liang Ma, Lian-Mao Peng, Hui-Ming Cheng and Wencai Ren WS2 is a promising material for application in next-generation electronics, yet current methods of fabrication can only yield micrometre-sized domains. Here, via ambient-pressure CVD, the authors report the growth of high-quality, uniform monolayer WS2 single crystals of the order of millimetres. 09 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9569 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Realization of ground-state artificial skyrmion lattices at room temperature OPEN Dustin A. Gilbert, Brian B. Maranville, Andrew L. Balk, Brian J. Kirby, Peter Fischer, Daniel T. Pierce, John Unguris, Julie A. Borchers and Kai Liu Magnetic skyrmions are particle-like magnetization textures which may be manipulated in thin-film device applications. Here, the authors demonstrate the formation and control of room-temperature artificial skyrmion lattices in Co/Pd multilayers, defined by local ion irradiation and an array of magnetic vortex discs. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9462 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  Planar carbon nanotube–graphene hybrid films for high-performance broadband photodetectors OPEN Yuanda Liu, Fengqiu Wang, Xiaomu Wang, Xizhang Wang, Emmanuel Flahaut, Xiaolong Liu, Yao Li, Xinran Wang, Yongbing Xu, Yi Shi and Rong Zhang Graphene has excellent electronic properties but its photoresponsivity is limited by low absorption and the ultrafast recombination of photoexcited carriers. Here, the authors demonstrate fast, high responsivity and broadband photodetectors by combining graphene with single-wall carbon nanotubes. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9589 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  Strongly enhanced oxygen ion transport through samarium-doped CeO2 nanopillars in nanocomposite films OPEN Sang Mo Yang, Shinbuhm Lee, Jie Jian, Wenrui Zhang, Ping Lu, Quanxi Jia, Haiyan Wang, Tae Won Noh, Sergei V. Kalinin and Judith L. MacManus‐Driscoll Vertical nanocomposite films can exhibit a significant enhancement in oxygen ion conductivity, which is useful for oxide-based electrochemical devices such as fuel cells. Here, the authors directly probe this effect in high crystalline nanopillars using scanning probe microscopy. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9588 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Structure of Ljungan virus provides insight into genome packaging of this picornavirus OPEN Ling Zhu, Xiangxi Wang, Jingshan Ren, Claudine Porta, Hannah Wenham, Jens-Ola Ekström, Anusha Panjwani, Nick J. Knowles, Abhay Kotecha, C. Alistair Siebert, A. Michael Lindberg, Elizabeth E. Fry, Zihe Rao, Tobias J. Tuthill and David I. Stuart The Ljungan virus is a picornavirus that lacks the internal coat protein VP4, and the packaging of its RNA genome is poorly understood. Here, the authors use cryo-electron microscopy to visualize this virus and suggest that it uses a different mechanism to other viruses for encapsidation of its genome. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9316 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Virology  Detyrosinated microtubules modulate mechanotransduction in heart and skeletal muscle OPEN Jaclyn P. Kerr, Patrick Robison, Guoli Shi, Alexey I. Bogush, Aaron M. Kempema, Joseph K. Hexum, Natalia Becerra, Daniel A. Harki, Stuart S. Martin, Roberto Raiteri, Benjamin L. Prosser and Christopher W. Ward Microtubules are transducers of mechanical energy in muscle cells. Here, the authors show that mechanotransduction is regulated by post-translational detyrosination of microtubules in mouse heart and skeletal muscle, and that reducing detyrosination ameliorates symptoms in a model of Duchenne muscular dystrophy. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9526 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Medical research  Edge-mediated skyrmion chain and its collective dynamics in a confined geometry OPEN Haifeng Du, Renchao Che, Lingyao Kong, Xuebing Zhao, Chiming Jin, Chao Wang, Jiyong Yang, Wei Ning, Runwei Li, Changqing Jin, Xianhui Chen, Jiadong Zang, Yuheng Zhang and Mingliang Tian The recent experimental creation of magnetic skyrmions, topologically protected particle-like spin textures, has inspired proposals for their application in nanodevices. Here, the authors use Lorentz transmission electron microscopy to demonstrate edge-mediated skyrmion chain formation in FeGe nanostripes. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9504 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter  The alternative splicing factor Nova2 regulates vascular development and lumen formation OPEN Costanza Giampietro, Gianluca Deflorian, Stefania Gallo, Anna Di Matteo, Davide Pradella, Serena Bonomi, Elisa Belloni, Daniel Nyqvist, Valeria Quaranta, Stefano Confalonieri, Giovanni Bertalot, Fabrizio Orsenigo, Federica Pisati, Elisabetta Ferrero, Giuseppe Biamonti, Evelien Fredrickx, Carla Taveggia, Chris D. R. Wyatt, Manuel Irimia, Pier Paolo Di Fiore et al. The alternative splicing factor Nova2 is best known for its pivotal function in the brain. Giampietro et al. reveal an important role for Nova2 in the regulation of alternative splicing of transcripts in the vascular endothelium that are crucial for the maintenance of endothelial cell polarity and vessel lumen formation in zebrafish. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9479 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Exciton–polaritons in van der Waals heterostructures embedded in tunable microcavities OPEN S. Dufferwiel, S. Schwarz, F. Withers, A. A. P. Trichet, F. Li, M. Sich, O. Del Pozo-Zamudio, C. Clark, A. Nalitov, D. D. Solnyshkov, G. Malpuech, K. S. Novoselov, J. M. Smith, M. S. Skolnick, D. N. Krizhanovskii and A. I. Tartakovskii Polaritons are exciton–photon hybrid particles that are created when the interaction between light and matter is strong enough. Here, the authors create polaritons in molybdenum diselenide/boron nitride quantum wells by enhancing the light–matter coupling using a tunable optical cavity. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9579 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Optical physics  LRF maintains genome integrity by regulating the non-homologous end joining pathway of DNA repair OPEN Xue-Song Liu, Gurushankar Chandramouly, Emilie Rass, Yinghua Guan, Guocan Wang, Robin M. Hobbs, Anbazhagan Rajendran, Anyong Xie, Jagesh V. Shah, Anthony J. Davis, Ralph Scully, Andrea Lunardi and Pier Paolo Pandolfi Leukemia/lymphoma-related factor (LRF), a transcriptional repressor, plays key roles in cell fate decision and tumorigenesis. Here, Liu et al. show that LRF loss results in defective classical non-homologous end joining, genomic instability and hypersensitivity to ionizing radiation, revealing a transcription-independent regulation of DNA-PK complex. 08 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9325 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Molecular biology  PKA antagonizes CLASP-dependent microtubule stabilization to re-localize Pom1 and buffer cell size upon glucose limitation OPEN Manasi Kelkar and Sophie G. Martin In fission yeast, cell growth is co-ordinated with division by the cell tip-localized DYRK kinase Pom1, which inhibits the medially placed mitotic activator Cdr2. Here, Kelkar and Martin show that, upon glucose starvation, microtubules are destabilized in a PKA-dependent manner, leading to the deposition of Pom1 at cell sides where it delays mitosis. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9445 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Development of potent in vivo mutagenesis plasmids with broad mutational spectra OPEN Ahmed H. Badran and David R. Liu Random DNA mutagenesis provides genetic diversity both in nature and the laboratory. Here, Badran and Liu present a potent, inducible, broad-spectrum and vector-based mutagenesis system in E. coli that surpasses the mutational efficiency and spectra of the most widely used in vivo and in vitro mutagenesis methods. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9425 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Molecular biology  Cardiovascular and pharmacological implications of haem-deficient NO-unresponsive soluble guanylate cyclase knock-in mice OPEN Robrecht Thoonen, Anje Cauwels, Kelly Decaluwe, Sandra Geschka, Robert E. Tainsh, Joris Delanghe, Tino Hochepied, Lode De Cauwer, Elke Rogge, Sofie Voet, Patrick Sips, Richard H. Karas, Kenneth D. Bloch, Marnik Vuylsteke, Johannes-Peter Stasch, Johan Van de Voorde, Emmanuel S. Buys and Peter Brouckaert Haem-free, NO-insensitive soluble guanylate cyclase (apo-sGC) generated during oxidative stress contributes to cardiovascular pathology. By generating and characterizing apo-sGC knock-in mice, Thoonen et al. provide a scientific ground for the therapeutic concept of sGC activators, and dissect the relevance of the NO-sGC axis. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9482 Biological Sciences  Medical research  A splicing variant of Merlin promotes metastasis in hepatocellular carcinoma OPEN Zai-Li Luo, Shu-Qun Cheng, Jie Shi, Hui-Lu Zhang, Cun-Zhen Zhang, Hai-Yang Chen, Bi-Jun Qiu, Liang Tang, Cong-Li Hu, Hong-Yang Wang and Zhong Li Merlin plays a crucial role as a tumour suppressor in liver tumorigenesis. Here, the authors show that a splicing variant of Merlin that lacks exons 2,3 and 4 (Δ2–4Merlin) is highly expressed in hepatocarcinoma and promotes tumour metastasis by interfering with the binding of wild-type Merlin to ß-catenin. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9457 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Detoxification of hostplant’s chemical defence rather than its anti-predator co-option drives β-glucosidase-mediated lepidopteran counteradaptation OPEN Spoorthi Poreddy, Sirsha Mitra, Matthias Schöttner, Jima Chandran, Bernd Schneider, Ian T. Baldwin, Pavan Kumar and Sagar S. Pandit During herbivory, deglycosylation of glycosylated phytochemicals may release aglycones which can be toxic when ingested. Here, Poreddy et al. show that ß-glucosidase in the tobacco hornworm midgut converts a toxic glycoside to a non-toxic form, a process which is crucial for larval development. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9525 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Ecology  Plant sciences  A PI3K p110β–Rac signalling loop mediates Pten-loss-induced perturbation of haematopoiesis and leukaemogenesis OPEN Haluk Yuzugullu, Lukas Baitsch, Thanh Von, Allison Steiner, Haoxuan Tong, Jing Ni, Linda K. Clayton, Roderick Bronson, Thomas M. Roberts, Kira Gritsman and Jean J. Zhao The tumor suppressor PTEN antagonizes the PI3K signalling pathway and is frequently inactivated in haematological malignancies. Here, the authors unravel the main contribution of the PI3K isoform p110ß to leukemic transformation driven by PTEN-loss. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9501 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Patched bimetallic surfaces are active catalysts for ammonia decomposition OPEN Wei Guo and Dionisios G. Vlachos Core-shell catalysts display high activity but experimental characterization of active sites is challenging. Here, multiscale simulations of ammonia decomposition on various nickel-platinum catalysts show that the high activity can be attributed to dual nickel active sites with different catalytic roles. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9619 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Membrane stiffening by STOML3 facilitates mechanosensation in sensory neurons OPEN Yanmei Qi, Laura Andolfi, Flavia Frattini, Florian Mayer, Marco Lazzarino and Jing Hu To maintain viability, cells must be able to sense and respond to mechanical stimuli. Here, Qi et al. show that the STOML3 protein acts in mechanosensation by binding cholesterol and regulating membrane stiffness which can in turn regulate ion flux through mechanosensitive channels. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9512 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience  Mesenchymal stem cells use extracellular vesicles to outsource mitophagy and shuttle microRNAs OPEN Donald G. Phinney, Michelangelo Di Giuseppe, Joel Njah, Ernest Sala, Sruti Shiva, Claudette M. St Croix, Donna B. Stolz, Simon C. Watkins, Y. Peter Di, George D. Leikauf, Jay Kolls, David W. H. Riches, Giuseppe Deiuliis, Naftali Kaminski, Siddaraju V. Boregowda, David H. McKenna and Luis A. Ortiz The physiological role of crosstalk between mesenchymal stem cells (MSC) and macrophages is unclear. Here, Phinney et al. show that MSCs transfer mitochondria to macrophages under oxidative stress, and desensitize macrophages to mitochondria by using microvesicles to repress Toll receptor signalling. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9472 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Immunology  An LSC epigenetic signature is largely mutation independent and implicates the HOXA cluster in AML pathogenesis OPEN Namyoung Jung, Bo Dai, Andrew J. Gentles, Ravindra Majeti and Andrew P. Feinberg Leukaemic stem cells are prevalent in acute myeloid leukemia. Here, Jung and colleagues derive a signature of 71 methylated genes that characterise these stem cells and find multiple HOXA genes within the signature. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9489 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Molecular biology  Large-scale association analysis in Asians identifies new susceptibility loci for prostate cancer OPEN Meilin Wang, Atsushi Takahashi, Fang Liu, Dingwei Ye, Qiang Ding, Chao Qin, Changjun Yin, Zhengdong Zhang, Koichi Matsuda, Michiaki Kubo, Rong Na, Xiaoling Lin, Haowen Jiang, Shancheng Ren, Jielin Sun, S. Lilly Zheng, Loic Le Marchand, William B. Isaacs, Zengnan Mo, Christopher A. Haiman et al. Genetic variations influence the risk of prostate cancer. Here, the authors use a meta-analysis of Genome-wide association studies from Asian populations and uncover new susceptibility loci at 11p15.4 and 14q23.2. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9469 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Metastable orientational order of colloidal discoids OPEN Lilian C. Hsiao, Benjamin A. Schultz, Jens Glaser, Michael Engel, Megan E. Szakasits, Sharon C. Glotzer and Michael J. Solomon The pathways available for self-assembly are affected by the shape anisotropy of the building blocks, but the details are still unclear. Here, Hsiao et al. show that colloidal discoids self-assemble into metastable states with orientational order when kinetic trapping is incorporated as a design principle. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9507 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Identifying causal gateways and mediators in complex spatio-temporal systems OPEN Jakob Runge, Vladimir Petoukhov, Jonathan F. Donges, Jaroslav Hlinka, Nikola Jajcay, Martin Vejmelka, David Hartman, Norbert Marwan, Milan Paluš and Jürgen Kurths Identifying regions important for spreading and mediating perturbations is crucial to assess the susceptibilities of complex systems such as the Earth’s climate. Here the authors introduce a data-driven approach that identifies causal pathways, and apply it to a global atmospheric data set. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9502 Physical Sciences  Climate science  Theoretical physics  Understanding catalysis in a multiphasic two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide OPEN Stanley S. Chou, Na Sai, Ping Lu, Eric N. Coker, Sheng Liu, Kateryna Artyushkova, Ting S. Luk, Bryan Kaehr and C. Jeffrey Brinker Establishing structure–property relationships for catalytic materials is essential for optimization of performance. Here, the authors solve the structure of molybdenum disulfide monolayers, and probe the role of lithium intercalation and the subsequent effects on catalytic hydrogen activation. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9311 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Fermi states and anisotropy of Brillouin zone scattering in the decagonal Al–Ni–Co quasicrystal OPEN V. A. Rogalev, O. Gröning, R. Widmer, J. H. Dil, F. Bisti, L. L. Lev, T. Schmitt and V. N. Strocov Quasicrystals show long-range order but lack the symmetry of conventional crystals. Here, the authors study the bulk electronic structure of quasicrystals and their three-dimensional Fermi surface topology, providing links to the structural stability of these materials. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9607 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Energetics of proton release on the first oxidation step in the water-oxidizing enzyme OPEN Keisuke Saito, A. William Rutherford and Hiroshi Ishikita The availability of crystal structures of photosystem II opens up the possibility of gaining insights into its mechanism. Here, the authors use a computational approach and propose a deprotonation event at O4 followed by long-range proton-transfer along a chain of strongly bonded water molecules. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9488 Chemical Sciences  Biochemistry  Biophysics  Formation of oligopeptides in high yield under simple programmable conditions OPEN Marc Rodriguez-Garcia, Andrew J. Surman, Geoffrey J.T. Cooper, Irene Suárez-Marina, Zied Hosni, Michael P. Lee and Leroy Cronin Typically, in order to form large peptides, complex procedures or activating agents are required. Here, the authors show that simple aqueous conditions with dehydration-hydration cycles are sufficient for the oligomerization of amino acids into peptides (up to 20 amino acids long) in yields of up to 50%. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9385 Chemical Sciences  Organic chemistry  Physical chemistry  Metal-to-insulator switching in quantum anomalous Hall states OPEN Xufeng Kou, Lei Pan, Jing Wang, Yabin Fan, Eun Sang Choi, Wei-Li Lee, Tianxiao Nie, Koichi Murata, Qiming Shao, Shou-Cheng Zhang and Kang L. Wang The quantum anomalous Hall effect is a recently demonstrated chiral transport phenomenon arising in magnetically doped topological insulators. Here, the authors study the Hall plateau switching and universal phase diagram of the quantum anomalous Hall effect in thin films of two-dimensional Cr-doped (BiSb)2Te3. 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9474 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Condensed matter    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Marie Curie ESR Fellowships (ETN - PhD) (Fixed Term) University of Cambridge Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Edinburgh Post-Doctoral Associate University of Miami PhD Studentship MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research Post-doctoral Fellow Thomas Jefferson Univesrity 12 PhD student positions Universitatsklinikum Hamburg-Eppendorf Staff Clinician National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Research Associate University College London (UCL) Beamline Scientist Paul Scherrer Institut (PSI) Postdoctoral Position The University of Sheffield More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT Applied Bioinformatics in Life Sciences 17.03.16 Leuven, Belgium More science events from       Latest Errata     Ultrafast visualization of crystallization and grain growth in shock-compressed SiO2 OPEN A. E. Gleason, C. A. Bolme, H. J. Lee, B. Nagler, E. Galtier, D. Milathianaki, J. Hawreliak, R. G. Kraus, J. H. Eggert, D. E. Fratanduono, G. W. Collins, R. Sandberg, W. Yang and W. L. Mao 13 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9709 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Geology and geophysics  Materials science      Erratum: Nanometre-scale probing of spin waves using single electron spins OPEN Toeno van der Sar, Francesco Casola, Ronald Walsworth and Amir Yacoby 07 October 2015 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms9426 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Nanotechnology      Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. 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