| | Biomedicine: Visionary stem-cell therapies
Stem-cell engineering has allowed successful cornea transplantations in rabbits and the regeneration of transparent lens tissue in children, demonstrating the therapeutic potential of this approach. | Behavioural economics: Corruption corrupts
A cross-cultural experiment involving thousands of people worldwide shows that the prevalence of rule violations in a society, such as tax evasion and fraudulent politics, is detrimental to individuals' intrinsic honesty. | Respiratory disorders: Ironing out smoking-related airway disease
Lack of the protein IRP2 in mice prevents organelles called mitochondria from accumulating toxic levels of iron in response to smoke exposure. This discovery links environmental and genetic risk factors for a chronic lung disease. | Observing cellulose biosynthesis and membrane translocation in crystallo
Here the authors use in crystallo enzymology to obtain structural snapshots of a complete cellulose biosynthesis cycle and reveal the mechanism by which the bacterial cellulose synthase BcsA–BcsB translocates the nascent cellulose polymer. | Lens regeneration using endogenous stem cells with gain of visual function
A new procedure for cataract removal that preserves lens epithelial progenitor cells in mammals, which require Pax6 and Bmi1 for their self-renewal, achieves lens regeneration in rabbits, macaques and in infants with cataracts. | Crystal structures of the M1 and M4 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors
X-ray crystal structures of the M1 and M4 muscarinic acetylcholine receptors, revealing differences in the orthosteric and allosteric binding sites that help to explain the subtype selectivity of drugs targeting this family of receptors. | Soft surfaces of nanomaterials enable strong phonon interactions
A combined experimental and theoretical investigation of phononic properties in nanocrystal-based semiconductors reveals that unusually strong coupling between phonons and electrons originates from the mechanical softness of the surfaces of the nanocrystalline domains and sheds new light on their recombination in nanocrystal-based devices. | Impact of meat and Lower Palaeolithic food processing techniques on chewing in humans
The genus Homo had considerably smaller cheek teeth, chewing muscles and jaws than earlier hominins; here, the introduction of raw but processed meat, from which energy could more easily be extracted, is shown to have possibly been responsible for this change. | Co-ordinated ocular development from human iPS cells and recovery of corneal function
A protocol has been developed to use human induced pluripotent stem cells to obtain a self-formed ectodermal autonomous multizone, which includes distinct cell lineages of the eye, including the ocular surface ectoderm, lens, neuro-retina, and retinal pigment epithelium that can be expanded to form a functional corneal epithelium when transplanted to an animal model of corneal visual impairment. | Three-dimensional control of the helical axis of a chiral nematic liquid crystal by light
Chiral nematic liquid crystals are self-organized helical superstructures in which the helices can stand or lie, and lie in either a uniform or a random way; here, the helices are reversibly driven from a standing arrangement to a uniform lying arrangement and then rotated in-plane—solely by light. | Sequence-dependent but not sequence-specific piRNA adhesion traps mRNAs to the germ plasm
Maternal mRNAs are tethered within the Drosophila germ plasm via base-pairing interactions between mRNAs and piRNPs containing the Aub Piwi protein; the preference for certain mRNAs to be tethered appears to be related to their longer length, which provides more potential piRNP-binding sites, and the results suggest a new role for piRNAs in germ-cell specification independent of their role in transposon silencing. | Intrinsic honesty and the prevalence of rule violations across societies
To test whether there is a relationship between the level of national corruption and the intrinsic honesty of individuals, a behavioural test of the honesty of people from 23 countries was conducted; the authors found that high national scores on an index of rule-breaking are linked with reduced personal honesty. | Crystal structure of a substrate-engaged SecY protein-translocation channel
The crystal structure of a substrate-engaged SecY channel and the SecA ATPase, which provides molecular insight into the process of protein translocation across membranes. | Sensory experience regulates cortical inhibition by inducing IGF1 in VIP neurons
Igf1 is identified in mice as an experience-induced gene that functions cell-autonomously to increase inhibitory input onto a disinhibitory subtype of GABAergic neurons in the cortex, affecting the downstream excitation–inhibition balance within circuits that regulate visual acuity, and providing a novel example of experience modulating neural plasticity. | | Corrigendum: Signalling thresholds and negative B-cell selection in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia | | | Brief Communications Arising | | | | | | 
EPIK™ miRNA Panel and Select Assays use miRNA-specific primers at both the RT and qPCR steps, in combination with SensiSMART™ mix and SYBR® Green, to deliver improved sensitivity, specificity and speed to the detection of miRNAs. | | | | | | | | | | | A hippocampal network for spatial coding during immobility and sleep
In the mammalian navigational system, neurons have been identified in the CA2 region of the hippocampus that keep track of position when an animal is not moving.
Kenneth Kay, Marielena Sosa, Jason E. Chung et al. | Failure of RQC machinery causes protein aggregation and proteotoxic stress
Defects in the ribosome quality control (RQC) complex, which clears proteins that stalled during translation, can cause neurodegeneration; here it is shown that in RQC-defective cells a peptide tail added by the RQC subunit 2 to stalled polypeptides promotes their aggregation and the sequestration of chaperones in these aggregates, affecting normal protein quality control processes.
Young-Jun Choe, Sae-Hun Park, Timm Hassemer et al. | Structure of the voltage-gated two-pore channel TPC1 from Arabidopsis thaliana
The X-ray crystal structure of a two-pore channel from Arabidopsis thaliana reveals the structure and the mechanism of voltage gating of this class of ubiquitous cation-selective ion channels.
Jiangtao Guo, Weizhong Zeng, Qingfeng Chen et al. | | A repeating fast radio burst
Observations of repeated fast radio bursts, having dispersion measures and sky positions consistent with those of FRB 121102, show that the signals do not originate in a single cataclysmic event and may come from a young, highly magnetized, extragalactic neutron star.
L. G. Spitler, P. Scholz, J. W. T. Hessels et al. | Exponential protection of zero modes in Majorana islands
The splitting of zero-energy Majorana modes in a tunnel-coupled InAs nanowire with epitaxial aluminium is exponentially suppressed as the wire length is increased, resulting in protection of these modes; this result helps to establish the robust presence of Majorana modes and quantifies exponential protection in nanowire devices.
S. M. Albrecht, A. P. Higginbotham, M. Madsen et al. | Change of carrier density at the pseudogap critical point of a cuprate superconductor
Low-temperature measurements of the Hall effect in cuprate materials in which superconductivity is suppressed by high magnetic fields show that the pseudogap is not related to the charge ordering that has been seen at intermediate doping levels, but is instead linked to the antiferromagnetic Mott insulator at low doping.
S. Badoux, W. Tabis, F. Laliberté et al. | Carbon dioxide utilization via carbonate-promoted C–H carboxylation
Molten salts at intermediate temperatures enable efficient carbonate-promoted carboxylation of very weakly acidic C–H bonds, revealing a new way to transform inedible biomass and carbon dioxide into valuable feedstock chemicals.
Aanindeeta Banerjee, Graham R. Dick, Tatsuhiko Yoshino et al. | Palladium-catalysed transannular C–H functionalization of alicyclic amines
An approach to selectively manipulate the C–H bonds of alicyclic amines at sites remote to nitrogen is demonstrated by the synthesis of new derivatives of several bioactive molecules, including varenicline, a drug used to treat nicotine addiction.
Joseph J. Topczewski, Pablo J. Cabrera, Noam I. Saper et al. | The terrestrial biosphere as a net source of greenhouse gases to the atmosphere
The net balance of terrestrial biogenic greenhouse gases produced as a result of human activities and the climatic impact of this balance are uncertain; here the net cumulative impact of the three greenhouse gases, methane, nitrous oxide and carbon dioxide, on the planetary energy budget from 2001 to 2010 is a warming of the planet.
Hanqin Tian, Chaoqun Lu, Philippe Ciais et al. | Sensitivity of global terrestrial ecosystems to climate variability
Using satellite data and a novel analytical approach, a new index of the sensitivity of vegetation to climate variability is developed, revealing areas of high sensitivity that include tundra, boreal forest, tropical forest and temperate grasslands.
Alistair W. R. Seddon, Marc Macias-Fauria, Peter R. Long et al. | Sex speeds adaptation by altering the dynamics of molecular evolution
In a comparison between replicate sexual and asexual populations of Saccharomyces cerevisiae, sexual reproduction increases fitness by reducing clonal interference and alters the type of mutations that get fixed by natural selection.
Michael J. McDonald, Daniel P. Rice, Michael M. Desai | MARCKS-like protein is an initiating molecule in axolotl appendage regeneration
The salamander, or axolotl, is well known to be able to regenerate missing body parts, but the signals that drive the initial proliferative response were unclear; now, a secreted protein has been identified that induces the initial cell cycle response after injury.
Takuji Sugiura, Heng Wang, Rico Barsacchi et al. | A receptor heteromer mediates the male perception of female attractants in plants
A male cell-surface receptor-like kinase that responds to the female chemoattractant LURE1 on the pollen tube of Arabidopsis thaliana is identified; LURE1 triggers dimerization of the receptor components and activation of the kinase activity, and the transformation of a component of the A. thaliana receptor to the Capsella rubella species partially breaks down the reproductive isolation barrier.
Tong Wang, Liang Liang, Yong Xue et al. | Tip-localized receptors control pollen tube growth and LURE sensing in Arabidopsis
Pollen-specific receptor-like kinase 6 (PRK6), which signals through the guanine nucleotide-exchange factors ROPGEFs, is required for sensing of the LURE1 attractant peptide in Arabidopsis thaliana, and functions together with other PRK family kinases; when introduced into the pollen tubes of the related species Capsella rubella, PRK6 could confer responsiveness to AtLURE1.
Hidenori Takeuchi, Tetsuya Higashiyama | MIMIVIRE is a defence system in mimivirus that confers resistance to virophage
MIMIVIRE is a novel nucleic-acid-based immune system against virophage infection in the giant virus mimivirus.
Anthony Levasseur, Meriem Bekliz, Eric Chabrière et al. | NAFLD causes selective CD4+ T lymphocyte loss and promotes hepatocarcinogenesis
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is shown to promote hepatocellular carcinoma through the generation of linoleic acid, disruption of mitochondrial function and selective loss of CD4+ T cells, leading to impaired anti-tumour immunity.
Chi Ma, Aparna H. Kesarwala, Tobias Eggert et al. | Structure, inhibition and regulation of two-pore channel TPC1 from Arabidopsis thaliana
The X-ray crystal structure of a two-pore channel from Arabidopsis thaliana is reported, revealing the mechanisms of ion permeation, inhibition channel activation, and location of regulatory sites and voltage-sensing domains.
Alexander F. Kintzer, Robert M. Stroud | | | | |
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