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Effective adaptation to rising flood risk OPEN
Brenden Jongman
29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04396-1
Climate sciences  Hydrology  Natural hazards 

Are autonomous cities our urban future? OPEN
Barbara Norman
29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04505-0
Government  Sustainability 
 
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Design principles for electronic charge transport in solution-processed vertically stacked 2D perovskite quantum wells OPEN
Hsinhan Tsai, Reza Asadpour, Jean-Christophe Blancon, Constantinos C. Stoumpos, Jacky Even, Pulickel M. Ajayan, Mercouri G. Kanatzidis, Muhammad Ashraful Alam, Aditya D. Mohite & Wanyi Nie

Solution-processed two-dimensional perovskite quantum-well-based optoelectronic devices have attracted great research interest but their electrical transport is poorly understood. Tsai et al. reveal that the potential barriers of the quantum wells dominate the transport properties in solar cell devices.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04430-2
Electronic devices  Electronics, photonics and device physics 

Coherent transfer of electron spin correlations assisted by dephasing noise OPEN
Takashi Nakajima, Matthieu R. Delbecq, Tomohiro Otsuka, Shinichi Amaha, Jun Yoneda, Akito Noiri, Kenta Takeda, Giles Allison, Arne Ludwig, Andreas D. Wieck, Xuedong Hu, Franco Nori & Seigo Tarucha

Methods for coherently transferring quantum states are needed in order to develop larger scale quantum devices. Here the authors implement an adiabatic transfer protocol in a triple quantum dot and show that dephasing noise can accelerate the process while maintaining the coherence of the transferred state.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04544-7
Quantum dots  Quantum information  Qubits 

Tuning the interplay between nematicity and spin fluctuations in Na1−xLi x FeAs superconductors OPEN
S.-H. Baek, Dilip Bhoi, Woohyun Nam, Bumsung Lee, D. V. Efremov, B. Büchner & Kee Hoon Kim

Whether the spin, charge and orbital degrees of freedom could drive an iron-based superconductor to the nematic state remains elusive. Here, Baek et al. report the doping-temperature phase diagram of Na1−xLi x FeAs and show a subtle relationship between nematicity and spin fluctuations with respect to doping.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04471-7
Phase transitions and critical phenomena  Superconducting properties and materials 

Exploring patterns enriched in a dataset with contrastive principal component analysis OPEN
Abubakar Abid, Martin J. Zhang, Vivek K. Bagaria & James Zou

Dimensionality reduction and visualization methods lack a principled way of comparing multiple datasets. Here, Abid et al. introduce contrastive PCA, which identifies low-dimensional structures enriched in one dataset compared to another and enables visualization of dataset-specific patterns.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04608-8
Computational biology and bioinformatics  Machine learning  Statistics 

Precise synthesis of sulfur-containing polymers via cooperative dual organocatalysts with high activity OPEN
Cheng-Jian Zhang, Hai-Lin Wu, Yang Li, Jia-Liang Yang & Xing-Hong Zhang

Sulfur-containing polymers are useful commodities, but there is still a big challenge to produce such polymers in a controlled fashion. Here the authors show a metal-free living copolymerization between carbonyl sulfide and epoxides via cooperative catalysis.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04554-5
Green chemistry  Polymer synthesis  Chemical synthesis 

Crystal step edges can trap electrons on the surfaces of n-type organic semiconductors OPEN
Tao He, Yanfei Wu, Gabriele D’Avino, Elliot Schmidt, Matthias Stolte, Jérôme Cornil, David Beljonne, P. Paul Ruden, Frank Würthner & C. Daniel Frisbie

The microstructure of organic semiconductors affects their transport properties, but directly probing this relationship is challenging. He et al. show that step edges act as electron traps on the surfaces of n-type single crystals, resulting in a field effect transistor mobility that depends on step density.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04479-z
Electronic and spintronic devices  Electronic devices  Scanning probe microscopy 

Molecular polarizability anisotropy of liquid water revealed by terahertz-induced transient orientation OPEN
Peter Zalden, Liwei Song, Xiaojun Wu, Haoyu Huang, Frederike Ahr, Oliver D. Mücke, Joscha Reichert, Michael Thorwart, Pankaj Kr. Mishra, Ralph Welsch, Robin Santra, Franz X. Kärtner & Christian Bressler

The intermolecular dynamics of liquid water impact most biological processes. Here, the authors use intense terahertz electromagnetic pulses to generate a transient, out-of-equilibrium state of the water network to show that the molecules become oriented and probe the polarizability of this anisotropic state.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04481-5
Chemical physics  Electronic properties and materials  Terahertz optics 

Light storage for one second in room-temperature alkali vapor OPEN
Or Katz & Ofer Firstenberg

Storing quantum memories for a long time is important and challenging for quantum communication. Here the authors demonstrate a storage time of about 1 s using spin exchange relaxation free resonance in cesium vapor.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04458-4
Atomic and molecular collision processes  Atomic and molecular interactions with photons  Quantum information  Quantum metrology 

Distinct epigenomic patterns are associated with haploinsufficiency and predict risk genes of developmental disorders OPEN
Xinwei Han, Siying Chen, Elise Flynn, Shuang Wu, Dana Wintner & Yufeng Shen

Predicting haploinsufficient genes helps to understand the genetic risk underlying developmental disorders. Here, the authors develop a Random Forest-based method that uses epigenomic data to predict haploinsufficiency, Episcore, which is complementary to methods based on mutation intolerance scores.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04552-7
Data integration  Gene regulation  Medical genomics  Next-generation sequencing 

Introduced species that overcome life history tradeoffs can cause native extinctions OPEN
Jane A. Catford, Michael Bode & David Tilman

Introduced species may displace ecologically similar native species, but mechanisms are still to be established. Here, Catford et al. provide theoretical evidence of how human-mediated species invasions may overcome competition-colonisation tradeoffs, leading to the local extinction of native species.

30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04491-3
Biodiversity  Invasive species  Theoretical ecology 

High pCO2-induced exopolysaccharide-rich ballasted aggregates of planktonic cyanobacteria could explain Paleoproterozoic carbon burial OPEN
Nina A. Kamennaya, Marcin Zemla, Laura Mahoney, Liang Chen, Elizabeth Holman, Hoi-Ying Holman, Manfred Auer, Caroline M. Ajo-Franklin & Christer Jansson

A Paleoproterozoic carbon isotope anomaly is likely linked to burial of oceanic cyanobacteria, but it is not clear how burial occurred. Here, the authors find that, under Paleoproterozoic pCO2 conditions, planktonic cyanobacteria increase exopolysaccharide production and mineralization, leading to aggregation and faster sinking.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04588-9
Bacterial physiology  Carbon cycle  Microbial biooceanography 

Budding-like division of all-aqueous emulsion droplets modulated by networks of protein nanofibrils OPEN
Yang Song, Thomas C. T. Michaels, Qingming Ma, Zhou Liu, Hao Yuan, Shuichi Takayama, Tuomas P. J. Knowles & Ho Cheung Shum

The cytoskeleton, a network of fibrils, controls how cells divide. Here, the authors show that synthetic protein fibrils added to an emulsion can control the division of droplets and that this method can be used to control the morphology of microparticles during biomaterial preparation.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04510-3
Deformation dynamics  Mitosis  Synthetic biology 

Transient modes of zeolite surface growth from 3D gel-like islands to 2D single layers OPEN
Manjesh Kumar, Madhuresh K. Choudhary & Jeffrey D. Rimer

While zeolites are industrially relevant as molecular sieves and catalysts, their growth mechanisms remain widely debated. Here, Rimer and colleagues probe the crystallization pathway of zeolite LTA with spatiotemporal resolution, identifying a distinctive nonclassical pathway, and demonstrating that growth is highly dependent on synthetic conditions.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04296-4
Materials chemistry  Porous materials  Scanning probe microscopy 

Intravital imaging by simultaneous label-free autofluorescence-multiharmonic microscopy OPEN
Sixian You, Haohua Tu, Eric J. Chaney, Yi Sun, Youbo Zhao, Andrew J. Bower, Yuan-Zhi Liu, Marina Marjanovic, Saurabh Sinha, Yang Pu & Stephen A. Boppart

Label-free and real-time visualization of the tumor microenvironment is attractive but challenging. Here the authors present an approach for simultaneous autofluorescence functional imaging and second/third harmonic generation imaging of structural features, using a single excitation source.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04470-8
Cancer imaging  Optical imaging 

Turbulent superstructures in Rayleigh-Bénard convection OPEN
Ambrish Pandey, Janet D. Scheel & Jörg Schumacher

Turbulent fluids in nature, counter-intuitively, can exhibit large-scale order that persists for long times. Pandey et al. numerically characterize the formation of these superstructures in turbulent convection by separating the fast motions at small-scales from those that gradually vary at large scales.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04478-0
Fluid dynamics  Statistical physics, thermodynamics and nonlinear dynamics 

Increased glutarate production by blocking the glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenation pathway and a catabolic pathway involving l-2-hydroxyglutarate OPEN
Manman Zhang, Chao Gao, Xiaoting Guo, Shiting Guo, Zhaoqi Kang, Dan Xiao, Jinxin Yan, Fei Tao, Wen Zhang, Wenyue Dong, Pan Liu, Chen Yang, Cuiqing Ma & Ping Xu

It is known that the five carbon platform chemical glutarate can be catabolized by the glutaryl-CoA dehydrogenation pathway. Here, the authors discover an additional glutarate catabolic pathway involving l-2-hydroxyglutarate and show increased glutarate production by blocking both catabolic pathways.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04513-0
Bacteria  Metabolic engineering  Metabolic pathways 

In situ redox reactions facilitate the assembly of a mixed-valence metal-organic nanocapsule OPEN
Asanka S. Rathnayake, Hector W. L. Fraser, Euan K. Brechin, Scott J. Dalgarno, Jakob E. Baumeister, Joshua White, Pokpong Rungthanaphatsophon, Justin R. Walensky, Charles L. Barnes, Simon J. Teat & Jerry L. Atwood

New approaches are required to access metal-organic assemblies with unusual structural properties. Here, the authors use an in situ redox reaction to obtain a mixed-valence, Mn(II)/Mn(III)-containing metal-organic nanocapsule with an odd number of metal ions.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04541-w
Molecular capsules  Self-assembly 

Study of 300,486 individuals identifies 148 independent genetic loci influencing general cognitive function OPEN
Gail Davies , Max Lam, Sarah E. Harris, Joey W. Trampush, Michelle Luciano, W. David Hill, Saskia P. Hagenaars, Stuart J. Ritchie, Riccardo E. Marioni, Chloe Fawns-Ritchie, David C. M. Liewald, Judith A. Okely, Ari V. Ahola-Olli, Catriona L. K. Barnes, Lars Bertram, Joshua C. Bis, Katherine E. Burdick, Andrea Christoforou, Pamela DeRosse, Srdjan Djurovic et al.

Cognitive function is associated with health and important life outcomes. Here, the authors perform a genome-wide association study for general cognitive function in 300,486 individuals and identify genetic loci that implicate neural and cell developmental pathways in this trait.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04362-x
Cognitive neuroscience  Genetics of the nervous system  Genome-wide association studies  Quantitative trait 

Chemically activating MoS2 via spontaneous atomic palladium interfacial doping towards efficient hydrogen evolution OPEN
Zhaoyan Luo, Yixin Ouyang, Hao Zhang, Meiling Xiao, Junjie Ge, Zheng Jiang, Jinlan Wang, Daiming Tang, Xinzhong Cao, Changpeng Liu & Wei Xing

While water reduction may provide a carbon-neutral means to produce hydrogen gas, there is a scarcity of efficient, earth-abundant electrocatalysts. Here, the authors add palladium into MoS2 materials to activate and stabilize the conductive basal plane to improve the electrocatalytic activity.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04501-4
Catalyst synthesis  Electrocatalysis  Two-dimensional materials 

Signal and noise extraction from analog memory elements for neuromorphic computing OPEN
N. Gong, T. Idé, S. Kim, I. Boybat, A. Sebastian, V. Narayanan & T. Ando

The application of resistive and phase-change memories in neuromorphic computation will require efficient methods to quantify device-to-device and switching variability. Here, the authors assess the impact of a broad range of device switching mechanisms using machine learning regression techniques.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04485-1
Materials science  Mathematics and computing  Nanoscience and technology 

Trapping an octahedral Ag6 kernel in a seven-fold symmetric Ag56 nanowheel OPEN
Zhi Wang, Hai-Feng Su, Mohamedally Kurmoo, Chen-Ho Tung, Di Sun & Lan-Sun Zheng

High-nuclearity silver clusters are appealing synthetic targets for their remarkable structures, but most are isolated serendipitously. Here, the authors describe the rational use of solvents to form cluster-in-cluster silver nanowheels, which comprise an octahedral Ag64+ core surrounded by a Ag56 cage of unusual seven-fold symmetry.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04499-9
Coordination chemistry  Inorganic chemistry  Chemical synthesis 

Superfluid motion and drag-force cancellation in a fluid of light OPEN
Claire Michel, Omar Boughdad, Mathias Albert, Pierre-Élie Larré & Matthieu Bellec

Superfluidity of light enables movement without friction or, in optical terms, diffraction. Here, Michel et al. report the detection of the transition to superfluidity in the flow of a fluid of light past an obstacle in a bulk nonlinear crystal and extract the drag force exerted by the fluid of light.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04534-9
Nonlinear optics  Optical physics  Quantum physics 

Uranium(III)-carbon multiple bonding supported by arene δ-bonding in mixed-valence hexauranium nanometre-scale rings OPEN
Ashley J. Wooles, David P. Mills, Floriana Tuna, Eric J. L. McInnes, Gareth T. W. Law, Adam J. Fuller, Felipe Kremer, Mark Ridgway, William Lewis, Laura Gagliardi, Bess Vlaisavljevich & Stephen T. Liddle

Owing to the propensity for uranium(III) compounds to undergo disproportionation, uranium-element multiple bonds involving uranium(III) oxidation states remain rare. Here the authors report hexauranium-methanediide rings that formally contain uranium(III)- and uranium(IV)-methanediides supported by alternating halide and arene bridges.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04560-7
Chemical bonding  Coordination chemistry  Inorganic chemistry 

Regulation of cortical activity and arousal by the matrix cells of the ventromedial thalamic nucleus OPEN
Sakiko Honjoh, Shuntaro Sasai, Shannon S Schiereck, Hirotaka Nagai, Giulio Tononi & Chiara Cirelli

The ventromedial thalamus (VM) is thought to control cortical arousal through its diffuse projections to cortex. Here the authors record and manipulate the activity of calbindin1-positive matrix cells in VM and show that they bidirectionally regulate the sleep-wake transition.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04497-x
Sleep  Slow-wave sleep  Wakefulness 

Amorphous topological superconductivity in a Shiba glass OPEN
Kim Pöyhönen, Isac Sahlberg, Alex Westström & Teemu Ojanen

Apart from the intensive efforts to explore topological properties in crystalline materials, the study of such properties in amorphous materials has been rare. Here, Pöyhönen et al. predict a topological superconducting phase in an ensemble of randomly distributed magnetic atoms on a superconducting surface.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04532-x
Superconducting properties and materials  Topological matter 

All-optical control of long-lived nuclear spins in rare-earth doped nanoparticles OPEN
D. Serrano, J. Karlsson, A. Fossati, A. Ferrier & P. Goldner

The long coherence time of rare-earth dopant spins in bulk crystals has made them attractive qubit candidates but creating nanoscale devices often introduce decoherence sources that reduce performance. Serrano et al. demonstrate all-optical control of rare earth doped nanoparticles with millisecond coherence times.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04509-w
Nanoparticles  Quantum information  Qubits 

The RPAP3-Cterminal domain identifies R2TP-like quaternary chaperones OPEN
Chloé Maurizy , Marc Quinternet, Yoann Abel, Céline Verheggen, Paulo E. Santo, Maxime Bourguet, Ana C.F. Paiva, Benoît Bragantini, Marie-Eve Chagot, Marie-Cécile Robert, Claire Abeza, Philippe Fabre, Philippe Fort, Franck Vandermoere, Pedro M.F. Sousa, Jean-Christophe Rain, Bruno Charpentier, Sarah Cianférani, Tiago M. Bandeiras, Bérengère Pradet-Balade et al.

R2TP is an HSP90 co-chaperone composed of an RPAP3-PIH1D1 heterodimer, which binds two essential AAA+ ATPases RUVBL1/RUVBL2. Here authors use a structural approach to study RPAP3 and find an RPAP3-like protein (SPAG1) which also forms a co-chaperone complex with PIH1D2 and RUVBL1/2 enriched in testis.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04431-1
Biochemistry  Cell biology  Molecular biology  Structural biology 

Manipulation of skyrmion motion by magnetic field gradients OPEN
S. L. Zhang, W. W. Wang, D. M. Burn, H. Peng, H. Berger, A. Bauer, C. Pfleiderer, G. van der Laan & T. Hesjedal

Manipulation of skyrmions is one of the keys to achieving the skyrmion based spintronic devices. Here the authors show the skyrmions in Cu2OSeO3 can be rotated collectively with fixed velocity–radius relationship under a static magnetic field gradient which enables a local, Joule heat-free control of skyrmions.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04563-4
Magnetic devices  Spintronics 

Observation of different reactivities of para and ortho-water towards trapped diazenylium ions OPEN
Ardita Kilaj, Hong Gao, Daniel Rösch, Uxia Rivero, Jochen Küpper & Stefan Willitsch

Water molecules exist as two distinct nuclear-spin isomers denoted ortho and para. Here, the authors separate these two isomers in the gas phase to show that they exhibit different reactivities in a prototypical proton-transfer reaction.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04483-3
Chemical physics  Reaction kinetics and dynamics 

Inharmonic speech reveals the role of harmonicity in the cocktail party problem OPEN
Sara Popham, Dana Boebinger, Dan P. W. Ellis, Hideki Kawahara & Josh H. McDermott

Harmonicity is associated with a single sound source and may be a useful cue with which to segregate the speech of multiple talkers. Here the authors introduce a method for perturbing the constituent frequencies of speech and show that violating harmonicity degrades intelligibility of speech mixtures.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04551-8
Auditory system  Human behaviour  Sensory processing 

Conformation and dynamics of soluble repetitive domain elucidates the initial β-sheet formation of spider silk OPEN
Nur Alia Oktaviani, Akimasa Matsugami, Ali D. Malay, Fumiaki Hayashi, David L. Kaplan & Keiji Numata

β-sheet structure underlies the mechanical properties of spider silk but the mechanism to form β-sheet from soluble silk protein during transition into insoluble fibers has not been elucidated. Here the authors unravel the mechanism of β-sheet formation using NMR and circular dichroism spectroscopy.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04570-5
Biomaterials – proteins  NMR spectroscopy  Self-assembly 

Interfacial photochemistry at the ocean surface is a global source of organic vapors and aerosols OPEN
Martin Brüggemann, Nathalie Hayeck & Christian George

Volatile organic compounds are photochemically produced in the ocean surface microlayer, but estimates are missing. Here the authors combine experiments and observations to quantify photochemical emissions of volatile organic compounds and show that they are comparable to biological production.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04528-7
Atmospheric chemistry  Environmental impact 

Quantum Monte Carlo simulations of a giant {Ni21Gd20} cage with a S = 91 spin ground state OPEN
Wei-Peng Chen, Jared Singleton, Lei Qin, Agustín Camón, Larry Engelhardt, Fernando Luis, Richard E. P. Winpenny & Yan-Zhen Zheng

Paramagnetic metal clusters with large ground spin states often possess attractive magnetic behaviors for information storage or solid-state cooling applications. Here, the authors design a giant {Ni21Gd20} cage, which using quantum monte carlo simulations they predict to possess a spin ground state approaching S=91.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04547-4
Computational chemistry  Inorganic chemistry  Magnetic properties and materials  Quantum chemistry 

Dominant-negative STAT5B mutations cause growth hormone insensitivity with short stature and mild immune dysregulation OPEN
Jürgen Klammt, David Neumann, Evelien F. Gevers, Shayne F. Andrew, I. David Schwartz, Denise Rockstroh, Roberto Colombo, Marco A. Sanchez, Doris Vokurkova, Julia Kowalczyk, Louise A. Metherell, Ron G. Rosenfeld, Roland Pfäffle, Mehul T. Dattani, Andrew Dauber & Vivian Hwa

Severe growth hormone insensitivity syndrome (GHIS) with immunodeficiency is caused by autosomal recessive mutations in STAT5B. Here the authors report heterozygous STAT5B mutations with dominant-negative effects, causing mild GHIS without immune defects.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04521-0
Genetics research  Growth disorders  Growth factor signalling 

A fluorescence anisotropy assay to discover and characterize ligands targeting the maytansine site of tubulin OPEN
Grégory Menchon, Andrea E. Prota, Daniel Lucena-Agell, Pascal Bucher, Rolf Jansen, Herbert Irschik, Rolf Müller, Ian Paterson, J. Fernando Díaz, Karl-Heinz Altmann & Michel O. Steinmetz

Microtubule-targeting agents are used successfully as anticancer therapeutics. Here authors develop a fluorescence-anisotropy-based assay to identify and characterize ligands for the maytansine site of tubulin and provide crystal structures of identified ligands in complex with tubulin.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04535-8
Proteins  Sensors and probes  Small molecules  X-ray crystallography 

The Holocene retreat dynamics and stability of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland OPEN
Martin Jakobsson, Kelly A. Hogan, Larry A. Mayer, Alan Mix, Anne Jennings, Joe Stoner, Björn Eriksson, Kevin Jerram, Rezwan Mohammad, Christof Pearce, Brendan Reilly & Christian Stranne

Submarine glacial landforms are used to reconstruct the Holocene retreat dynamics and stability of Petermann Glacier in northwest Greenland. Here, a large grounding-zone wedge at the mouth of Petermann fjord indicates a period of glacier stability, with final retreat likely driven by marine ice cliff instability.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04573-2
Cryospheric science  Geomorphology 

Nonlinear optical components for all-optical probabilistic graphical model OPEN
Masoud Babaeian, Pierre-A. Blanche, Robert A. Norwood, Tommi Kaplas, Patrick Keiffer, Yuri Svirko, Taylor G. Allen, Vincent W. Chen, San-Hui Chi, Joseph W. Perry, Seth R. Marder, Mark A. Neifeld & N. Peyghambarian

To circumvent the limitations of electronic computers, moving to hybrid optical-electronic or all-optical devices may be useful. Here, Babaeian et al. present an all-optical implementation of the probabilistic graphical model using nonlinear optics in thin films to implement mathematical functions.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04578-x
Integrated optics  Optoelectronic devices and components 

Structural basis for recognition of 53BP1 tandem Tudor domain by TIRR OPEN
Yaxin Dai, Aili Zhang, Shan Shan, Zihua Gong & Zheng Zhou

The p53-binding protein 1 (53BP1) regulates the choice of the DNA double-strand break repair pathway. Here the authors present the crystal structure of Tudor-interacting repair regulator (TIRR) bound to the 53BP1 tandem Tudor domain, which reveals how TIRR blocks H4K20me2 binding to 53BP1 Tudor and functionally differs from its paralog Nudt16.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04557-2
Double-strand DNA breaks  Histone post-translational modifications  X-ray crystallography 

The hepcidin-ferroportin axis controls the iron content of Salmonella-containing vacuoles in macrophages OPEN
Daejin Lim, Kwang Soo Kim, Jae-Ho Jeong, Oriana Marques, Hyun-Ju kim, Miryoung Song, Tae-Hoon Lee, Jae Il Kim, Hueng-Sik Choi, Jung-Joon Min, Dirk Bumann, Martina U. Muckenthaler & Hyon E. Choy

The effects of iron on vacuole-resident Salmonella in macrophages are unclear. Here the authors show that the bacteria are not subject to nutritional inhibition by iron deprivation, but that iron depletion in the vacuole, via the hepcidin-ferroportin axis, inhibits the bactericidal effect of oxidative burst.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04446-8
Infection  Pathogens 

The histone demethylase Phf2 acts as a molecular checkpoint to prevent NAFLD progression during obesity OPEN
Julien Bricambert, Marie-Clotilde Alves-Guerra, Pauline Esteves, Carina Prip-Buus, Justine Bertrand-Michel, Hervé Guillou, Christopher J. Chang, Mark N. Vander Wal, François Canonne-Hergaux, Philippe Mathurin, Violeta Raverdy, François Pattou, Jean Girard, Catherine Postic & Renaud Dentin

Steatosis is characterized by initial accumulation of lipids, followed by inflammation and ultimately fibrosis. Here the authors show that the histone demethylase Plant Homeodomain Finger 2 protects liver form steatosis progression by acting as a co-activator of ChREBP, thus, favouring lipid accumulation without inflammation.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04361-y
Epigenetics  Liver fibrosis  Metabolic syndrome  Methylation  Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease 

Trends in flood losses in Europe over the past 150 years OPEN
Dominik Paprotny, Antonia Sebastian, Oswaldo Morales-Nápoles & Sebastiaan N. Jonkman

Flooding may cause loss of life and economic damage, therefore temporal changes need assessment. Here, the authors show that since 1870 there has been an increase in area inundated by floods in Europe, but a reduction in fatalities and economic losses, although caution that smaller floods remain underreported.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04253-1
Climate-change impacts  Hydrology  Natural hazards 

Induction of anergic or regulatory tumor-specific CD4+ T cells in the tumor-draining lymph node OPEN
Ruby Alonso, Héloïse Flament, Sébastien Lemoine, Christine Sedlik, Emanuel Bottasso, Isabel Péguillet, Virginie Prémel, Jordan Denizeau, Marion Salou, Aurélie Darbois, Nicolás Gonzalo Núñez, Benoit Salomon, David Gross, Eliane Piaggio & Olivier Lantz

Tumor neoantigens can be drained to the lymph nodes, but the nature and the significance of the induced immune responses are still unclear. Here the authors use a mouse genetic tumor model to show that tumor-specific CD4 T cells can become anergic or suppressive in the draining lymph node to modulate tumor immunity.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04524-x
Lymph node  Lymphocyte activation  Regulatory T cells  Tumour immunology 

Pharmacologic inhibition of protein phosphatase-2A achieves durable immune-mediated antitumor activity when combined with PD-1 blockade OPEN
Winson S. Ho, Herui Wang, Dominic Maggio, John S. Kovach, Qi Zhang, Qi Song, Francesco M. Marincola, John D. Heiss, Mark R. Gilbert, Rongze Lu & Zhengping Zhuang

Protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) has been proposed as a target for cancer immunotherapy. Here the authors show that pharmacological inhibition of PP2A with a clinically-relevant inhibitor enhances response to immune checkpoint blockade in pre-clinical models of cancer, resulting in long lasting immunity.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04425-z
Cancer immunotherapy  Tumour immunology 

mTOR coordinates transcriptional programs and mitochondrial metabolism of activated Treg subsets to protect tissue homeostasis OPEN
Nicole M. Chapman, Hu Zeng, Thanh-Long M. Nguyen, Yanyan Wang, Peter Vogel, Yogesh Dhungana, Xiaojing Liu, Geoffrey Neale, Jason W. Locasale & Hongbo Chi

The authors previously showed that mTOR controls the function of regulatory T cells. Here they show how this mTOR signaling orchestrates homeostasis of Treg-cell subsets and prevents fatal autoimmunity.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04392-5
Autoimmunity  Peripheral tolerance  Regulatory T cells 

Male germ cells support long-term propagation of Zika virus OPEN
Christopher L. Robinson , Angie C. N. Chong, Alison W. Ashbrook, Ginnie Jeng, Julia Jin, Haiqi Chen, Elizabeth I. Tang, Laura A. Martin, Rosa S. Kim, Reyn M. Kenyon, Eileen Do, Joseph M. Luna, Mohsan Saeed, Lori Zeltser, Harold Ralph, Vanessa L. Dudley, Marc Goldstein, Charles M. Rice, C. Yan Cheng, Marco Seandel et al.

Zika virus (ZIKV) can persist for months in semen and sperm. Here, the authors show that germ cells, compared to other cell types in the reproductive tract, are most susceptible to ZIKV and produce high levels of progeny virus, which coincides with decreased expression of the interferon-stimulated gene Ifi44l.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04444-w
Drug discovery  Germ cells  Viral reservoirs  Virus–host interactions 

Tumour-associated missense mutations in the dMi-2 ATPase alters nucleosome remodelling properties in a mutation-specific manner OPEN
Kristina Kovač, Anja Sauer, Igor Mačinković, Stephan Awe, Florian Finkernagel, Helen Hoffmeister, Andreas Fuchs, Rolf Müller, Christina Rathke, Gernot Längst & Alexander Brehm

ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers are often found mutated in human cancers. Here, the authors characterize the nucleosome remodelling properties of cancer-associated mutants of the Drosophila Chd4 homolog dMi-2.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04503-2
Chromatin remodelling  Enzyme mechanisms 

STEF/TIAM2-mediated Rac1 activity at the nuclear envelope regulates the perinuclear actin cap OPEN
Anna Woroniuk, Andrew Porter, Gavin White, Daniel T. Newman, Zoi Diamantopoulou, Thomas Waring, Claire Rooney, Douglas Strathdee, Daniel J. Marston, Klaus M. Hahn, Owen J. Sansom, Tobias Zech & Angeliki Malliri

The perinuclear actin cap determines nuclear morphology but its regulation is currently poorly understood. Here, the authors find that an activator of the Rac1 GTPase, STEF/TIAM2, localises to the nuclear envelope and contributes to perinuclear actin and myosin tension, which in turn regulates the actin cap.

29 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04404-4
Cell polarity  Nuclear envelope  RHO signalling 

Fibrotic microtissue array to predict anti-fibrosis drug efficacy OPEN
Mohammadnabi Asmani, Sanjana Velumani, Yan Li, Nicole Wawrzyniak, Isaac Hsia, Zhaowei Chen, Boris Hinz & Ruogang Zhao

A bottleneck in developing new anti-fibrosis therapies is the absence of suitable in vitro models that recapitulate key features of fibrogenesis. Here the authors develop a tissue-on-a-chip model of lung fibrosis and test the therapeutic efficacy of two recent FDA-approved drugs.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04336-z
Biomedical engineering  Experimental models of disease  Lab-on-a-chip  Phenotypic screening  Tissue engineering 

Molecular basis of dimer formation during the biosynthesis of benzofluorene-containing atypical angucyclines OPEN
Chunshuai Huang, Chunfang Yang, Wenjun Zhang, Liping Zhang, Bidhan Chandra De, Yiguang Zhu, Xiaodong Jiang, Chunyan Fang, Qingbo Zhang, Cheng-Shan Yuan, Hung-wen Liu & Changsheng Zhang

Benzofluorene-containing angucyclines, bacterial natural compounds with potential use as therapeutics/antibiotics, occur as dimers. Here, the authors elucidated the dimerization mechanism which turned out to work spontaneously, without enzymatic catalysis.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04487-z
Biosynthesis  Hydrolases 

Integrin beta3 regulates clonality and fate of smooth muscle-derived atherosclerotic plaque cells OPEN
Ashish Misra, Zhonghui Feng, Rachana R. Chandran, Inamul Kabir, Noemi Rotllan, Binod Aryal, Abdul Q. Sheikh, Ling Ding, Lingfeng Qin, Carlos Fernández-Hernando, George Tellides & Daniel M. Greif

Smooth muscle cells (SMCs) invade atherosclerotic lesions and expand, contributing to plaque progression. Here Misra et al. show that SMC-derived plaque cells come from a single SMC and integrin β3 in SMCs and macrophages regulate the fate, expansion and migration of SMCs during plaque formation.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04447-7
Atherosclerosis  Cell lineage  Integrin signalling 

Absence of dynamic strain aging in an additively manufactured nickel-base superalloy OPEN
Allison M. Beese, Zhuqing Wang, Alexandru D. Stoica & Dong Ma

Detrimental serrated plastic flow via dynamic strain aging (DSA) in conventionally processed nickel superalloys usually occurs during high temperature deformation. Here, the authors suppress DSA via a unique microstructure obtained using additive manufacturing and propose a new dislocation-arrest model in nickel superalloys.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04473-5
Mechanical properties  Metals and alloys  Structural materials 

Stark control of electrons along nanojunctions OPEN
Liping Chen, Yu Zhang, GuanHua Chen & Ignacio Franco

Strong non-resonant few-cycle laser pulses can be used to induce ultrafast phase-controllable currents along nanojunctions but the microscopic origin is unclear. Here, the authors present time-dependent quantum transport simulations that recover the experimental observations and offer an intuitive picture of the effect.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04393-4
Electronic devices  Electronics, photonics and device physics  Ultrafast photonics 

Identification of a unique Ca2+-binding site in rat acid-sensing ion channel 3 OPEN
Zhicheng Zuo, Rachel N. Smith, Zhenglan Chen, Amruta S. Agharkar, Heather D. Snell, Renqi Huang, Jin Liu & Eric B. Gonzales

Acid-sensing ion channels (ASICs) sense changes in extracellular acidity with Ca2+ as an allosteric modulator and channel blocker. Here authors use electrophysiology and molecular dynamics simulation to identify the residue in ASIC3 which modulates proton sensitivity and contributes to the Ca2+ block.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04424-0
Ion transport  Molecular modelling 

Quantum simulation of ultrafast dynamics using trapped ultracold atoms OPEN
Ruwan Senaratne, Shankari V. Rajagopal, Toshihiko Shimasaki, Peter E. Dotti, Kurt M. Fujiwara, Kevin Singh, Zachary A. Geiger & David M. Weld

There is a close theoretical correspondence between the ultrafast dynamics of bound electrons and the slow dynamics of trapped ultracold atoms. Here the authors exploit this mapping to experimentally simulate ultrafast phenomena with a large temporal magnification factor.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04556-3
Attosecond science  Quantum simulation  Ultracold gases 

Self-activated surface dynamics in gold catalysts under reaction environments OPEN
Naoto Kamiuchi, Keju Sun, Ryotaro Aso, Masakazu Tane, Takehiro Tamaoka, Hideto Yoshida & Seiji Takeda

Nanoporous gold (NPG) has gained significant attention, but its catalytically active structure has not yet been clarified. Here, the authors identify the catalytically active and dynamic structure in NPG by combining atomic-scale and microsecond-resolution environmental transmission electron microscopy with ab initio calculations.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04412-4
Catalytic mechanisms  Heterogeneous catalysis  Porous materials  Transmission electron microscopy 

Testosterone is an endogenous regulator of BAFF and splenic B cell number OPEN
Anna S. Wilhelmson , Marta Lantero Rodriguez, Alexandra Stubelius, Per Fogelstrand, Inger Johansson, Matthew B. Buechler, Steve Lianoglou, Varun N. Kapoor, Maria E. Johansson, Johan B. Fagman, Amanda Duhlin, Prabhanshu Tripathi, Alessandro Camponeschi, Bo T. Porse, Antonius G. Rolink, Hans Nissbrandt, Shannon J. Turley, Hans Carlsten, Inga-Lill Mårtensson, Mikael C. I. Karlsson et al.

Testosterone deficiency is associated with autoimmunity and increased B cell numbers, but the underlying mechanism is unclear. Here the authors show that testosterone may modulate the production of B cell survival factor BAFF by fibroblastic reticular cells via regulation of splenic neurotransmitter levels.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04408-0
Autoimmune diseases  B-2 cells  Endocrinology  Neuroimmunology 

Zinc ion flux during mammalian sperm capacitation OPEN
Karl Kerns, Michal Zigo, Erma Z. Drobnis, Miriam Sutovsky & Peter Sutovsky

During sperm capacitation physiological changes occur that are required for fertilization. Here, the authors describe four sperm zinc signatures during invitro capacitation that are indicative of sperm quality and capacity to fertilize.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04523-y
Cell biology  Cellular imaging 

Metamaterials with index ellipsoids at arbitrary k-points OPEN
Wen-Jie Chen, Bo Hou, Zhao-Qing Zhang, John B. Pendry & C. T. Chan

Ordinary materials have their index ellipsoids centered at zero momentum. The authors propose a metamaterial of interpenetrating wire meshes whose connectivity can be used to control the number and position of index ellipsoids at arbitrary nonzero k-points. This could provide a new platform for broadband functionality.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04490-4
Metamaterials  Microwave photonics 

Fossilized skin reveals coevolution with feathers and metabolism in feathered dinosaurs and early birds OPEN
Maria E. McNamara, Fucheng Zhang, Stuart L. Kearns, Patrick J. Orr, André Toulouse, Tara Foley, David W. E. Hone, Chris S. Rogers, Michael J. Benton, Diane Johnson, Xing Xu & Zhonghe Zhou

In addition to the evolutionary innovation of feathers, bird skin has complex adaptations. Here, McNamara and colleagues examine exceptionally preserved skin from feathered dinosaurs and ancient birds from the Cretaceous and show the early acquisition of many skin attributes seen in modern species.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04443-x
Palaeontology 

The genomic landscape of TERT promoter wildtype-IDH wildtype glioblastoma OPEN
Bill H. Diplas , Xujun He, Jacqueline A. Brosnan-Cashman, Heng Liu, Lee H. Chen, Zhaohui Wang, Casey J. Moure, Patrick J. Killela, Daniel B. Loriaux, Eric S. Lipp, Paula K. Greer, Rui Yang, Anthony J. Rizzo, Fausto J. Rodriguez, Allan H. Friedman, Henry S. Friedman, Sizhen Wang, Yiping He, Roger E. McLendon, Darell D. Bigner et al.

Glioblastoma can be classified based on IDH and TERT promoter mutations, but ~20% of glioblastoma do not have these mutations (TERTpWT-IDHWT glioblastoma). Here, the authors present a genetic landscape of TERTpWT-IDHWT glioblastoma, identifying a telomerase-positive subgroup driven by TERT-structural rearrangements and an ALT-positive subgroup with mutations in ATRX or SMARCAL1.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04448-6
Cancer genomics  CNS cancer  Telomeres  Tumour biomarkers  Tumour-suppressor proteins 

Robust nonfullerene solar cells approaching unity external quantum efficiency enabled by suppression of geminate recombination OPEN
Derya Baran, Nicola Gasparini, Andrew Wadsworth, Ching Hong Tan, Nimer Wehbe, Xin Song, Zeinab Hamid, Weimin Zhang, Marios Neophytou, Thomas Kirchartz, Christoph J. Brabec, James R. Durrant & Iain McCulloch

The nonfullerene-based small molecules start to attract more attention for solar cell research than the fullerene acceptors due to their wider tunability. Here Baran et al. demonstrate nonfullerene-based solar cells with high power conversion efficiency of 12% and quantum efficiencies approaching 100%.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04502-3
Electronic devices  Solar cells 

Live-cell single-molecule dynamics of PcG proteins imposed by the DIPG H3.3K27M mutation OPEN
Roubina Tatavosian, Huy Nguyen Duc, Thao Ngoc Huynh, Dong Fang, Benjamin Schmitt, Xiaodong Shi, Yiming Deng, Christopher Phiel, Tingting Yao, Zhiguo Zhang, Haobin Wang & Xiaojun Ren

Diffuse intrinsic pontine gliomas exhibit a characteristic mutation of lysine 27 to methionine (K27M) in genes encoding histone H3.3. Here the authors show that the H3.3K27M mutation imposes a specific pattern of H3.3K27 methylation by altering the target search dynamics of PcG proteins.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04455-7
Histone post-translational modifications  Histone variants  Paediatric cancer  Single-molecule biophysics 

Cultural hitchhiking and competition between patrilineal kin groups explain the post-Neolithic Y-chromosome bottleneck OPEN
Tian Chen Zeng, Alan J. Aw & Marcus W. Feldman

A population bottleneck 5000-7000 years ago in human males, but not females, has been inferred across several African, European and Asian populations. Here, Zeng and colleagues synthesize theory and data to suggest that competition among patrilineal kin groups produced the bottleneck pattern.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04375-6
Anthropology  Evolutionary genetics  Evolutionary theory 

Genome-scale identification of transcription factors that mediate an inflammatory network during breast cellular transformation OPEN
Zhe Ji, Lizhi He, Asaf Rotem, Andreas Janzer, Christine S. Cheng, Aviv Regev & Kevin Struhl

Systematic analysis of the control of dynamic cellular processes remains a challenge. Here the authors introduce a pipeline enabling them to identify TFs involved in Src-induced cellular transformation, and find that a large number of TFs with diverse DNA binding specificities orchestrate the process.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04406-2
Gene expression profiling  Oncogenes 

Coil-globule transitions drive discontinuous volume conserving deformation in locally restrained gels OPEN
Tetsuya Yamamoto, Yuichi Masubuchi & Masao Doi

Composite polymer gels with embedded nanosheets deform discontinuously without volume expansion during temperature changes, but the reason behind it is unknown. Here the authors predict theoretically that the deformation results from restrictions which the nanosheets set on the polymer gel.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04533-w
Computational methods  Gels and hydrogels  Polymers 

The CaMKII/NMDA receptor complex controls hippocampal synaptic transmission by kinase-dependent and independent mechanisms OPEN
Salvatore Incontro, Javier Díaz-Alonso, Jillian Iafrati, Marta Vieira, Cedric S. Asensio, Vikaas S. Sohal, Katherine W. Roche, Kevin J. Bender & Roger A. Nicoll

Calcium-calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) is well known for its roles in synaptic plasticity. Using a series of molecular replacement experiments, the authors show that the kinase function of CaMKII is required for long-term plasticity and basal AMPA receptor-mediated transmission.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04439-7
CRISPR-Cas9 genome editing  Cellular neuroscience 

Demonstration of Ru as the 4th ferromagnetic element at room temperature OPEN
P. Quarterman, Congli Sun, Javier Garcia-Barriocanal, Mahendra DC, Yang Lv, Sasikanth Manipatruni, Dmitri E. Nikonov, Ian A. Young, Paul M. Voyles & Jian-Ping Wang

Until now, there have been three choices for a room temperature (RT) single element ferromagnetic material in fundamental studies and applications. Here the authors achieved body-centered tetragonal phase ruthenium thin films by epitaxial growth, which is the 4th RT ferromagnetic single element material.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04512-1
Ferromagnetism  Magnetic properties and materials  Surfaces, interfaces and thin films 

Identification of rare de novo epigenetic variations in congenital disorders OPEN
Mafalda Barbosa , Ricky S. Joshi, Paras Garg, Alejandro Martin-Trujillo, Nihir Patel, Bharati Jadhav, Corey T. Watson, William Gibson, Kelsey Chetnik, Chloe Tessereau, Hui Mei, Silvia De Rubeis, Jennifer Reichert, Fatima Lopes, Lisenka E. L. M. Vissers, Tjitske Kleefstra, Dorothy E. Grice, Lisa Edelmann, Gabriela Soares, Patricia Maciel et al.

A proportion of neurodevelopmental disorder and congenital anomaly cases remain without a genetic diagnosis. Here, the authors study aberrations of DNA methylation in such cases and find that epivariations might provide an explanation for some of these undiagnosed patients.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04540-x
DNA methylation  Epigenomics  Medical genomics  Mutation 

High temperature deformability of ductile flash-sintered ceramics via in-situ compression OPEN
Jaehun Cho, Qiang Li, Han Wang, Zhe Fan, Jin Li, Sichuang Xue, K. S. N. Vikrant, Haiyan Wang, Troy B. Holland, Amiya K. Mukherjee, R. Edwin García & Xinghang Zhang

Flash sintering allows for rapid ceramic processing, but the mechanical behavior of such ceramics remains poorly understood. Here, the authors compress micropillars of yttria stabilized zirconia to show flash sintering promotes outstanding plasticity.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04333-2
Ceramics  Mechanical engineering  Mechanical properties 

ON-OFF receptive fields in auditory cortex diverge during development and contribute to directional sweep selectivity OPEN
Joseph Sollini, Gaëlle A. Chapuis, Claudia Clopath & Paul Chadderton

Auditory cortex neurons exhibit distinct frequency tuning to sound onset and offset. Here the authors demonstrate that during development ON-OFF receptive fields diverge to occupy adjacent frequency ranges that may underlie their direction selective responses to frequency modulated sweeps.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04548-3
Cortex  Network models  Synaptic plasticity 

In vivo reprogramming drives Kras-induced cancer development OPEN
Hirofumi Shibata, Shingo Komura, Yosuke Yamada, Nao Sankoda, Akito Tanaka, Tomoyo Ukai, Mio Kabata, Satoko Sakurai, Bunya Kuze, Knut Woltjen, Hironori Haga, Yatsuji Ito, Yoshiya Kawaguchi, Takuya Yamamoto & Yasuhiro Yamada

Cellular reprogramming and cancer development share properties. Here, the authors examine the impact of in vivo reprogramming on Kras-induced cancer and show reprogramming-mediated repression of somatic cell enhancers in conjunction with Kras mutation results in rapid PDAC development.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04449-5
Cancer models  Induced pluripotent stem cells 

The development of human social learning across seven societies OPEN
Edwin J. C. van Leeuwen, Emma Cohen, Emma Collier-Baker, Christian J. Rapold, Marie Schäfer, Sebastian Schütte & Daniel B. M. Haun

Social learning is a crucial human ability. Here, the authors examined children in 7 cultures and show that children’s reliance on social information and their preference to follow the majority vary across societies. However, the ontogeny of majority preference follows the same, U-shaped pattern across all societies.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04468-2
Anthropology  Cultural evolution  Human behaviour 

Human single neuron activity precedes emergence of conscious perception OPEN
Hagar Gelbard-Sagiv, Liad Mudrik, Michael R. Hill, Christof Koch & Itzhak Fried

The neuronal basis of spontaneous changes in conscious experience is unclear. Here, authors report nonselective medial frontal activity starting two seconds before a spontaneous change in visual perception, followed by selective medial temporal lobe activity, one second before the change.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-03749-0
Consciousness  Perception 

Photonic force optical coherence elastography for three-dimensional mechanical microscopy OPEN
Nichaluk Leartprapun, Rishyashring R. Iyer, Gavrielle R. Untracht, Jeffrey A. Mulligan & Steven G. Adie

Optical tweezers, while well suited for micro-manipulation, are difficult to apply to volumetric microrheology. Here, Leartprapun et al. combine low-NA optical radiation-pressure forces with sensitive interferometric detection to enable volumetric microrheology with promising applications in biological systems.

25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04357-8
Interference microscopy  Optical manipulation and tweezers 

Rhodopsin-cyclases for photocontrol of cGMP/cAMP and 2.3 Å structure of the adenylyl cyclase domain OPEN
Ulrike Scheib, Matthias Broser, Oana M. Constantin, Shang Yang, Shiqiang Gao, Shatanik Mukherjee, Katja Stehfest, Georg Nagel, Christine E. Gee & Peter Hegemann

Cyclic AMP and cGMP orchestrate a variety of cellular responses. Here, authors characterize the cGMP producing rhodopsin-guanylyl cyclase from C. anguillulae and derived adenylyl cyclase by a biochemical and structural approach which demonstrates the usability of these cyclases for optogenetic applications.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04428-w
Enzymes  Molecular biophysics  Molecular neuroscience  X-ray crystallography 

In situ edge engineering in two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides OPEN
Xiahan Sang, Xufan Li, Wen Zhao, Jichen Dong, Christopher M. Rouleau, David B. Geohegan, Feng Ding, Kai Xiao & Raymond R. Unocic

The unique properties of 2D materials are affected by the discontinuities posed by the structure’s edge. Here, using atomic-resolution scanning transmission electron microscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics simulations, the authors image and explain the formation of specific edge structures on Mo1 x W x Se2 monolayers under different chemical conditions.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04435-x
Atomistic models  Electronic structure  Transmission electron microscopy  Two-dimensional materials 

Whole-genome sequencing reveals genomic signatures associated with the inflammatory microenvironments in Chinese NSCLC patients OPEN
Cheng Wang , Rong Yin, Juncheng Dai, Yayun Gu, Shaohua Cui, Hongxia Ma, Zhihong Zhang, Jiaqi Huang, Na Qin, Tao Jiang, Liguo Geng, Meng Zhu, Zhening Pu, Fangzhi Du, Yuzhuo Wang, Jianshui Yang, Liang Chen, Qianghu Wang, Yue Jiang, Lili Dong et al.

The distinct genomic and epidemiological features of Chinese lung cancer patients suggest the presence of alternative causal mechanisms. Here, the authors present the genomic landscape of 149 Chinese NSCLC patients and reveal distinct mutational signatures associated with inflammatory microenvironments.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04492-2
Cancer genomics  Cancer microenvironment  Non-small-cell lung cancer 

Oxygen and Pt(II) self-generating conjugate for synergistic photo-chemo therapy of hypoxic tumor OPEN
Shuting Xu, Xinyuan Zhu, Chuan Zhang, Wei Huang, Yongfeng Zhou & Deyue Yan

Photodynamic therapy has attracted interest in treating cancer but it is limited in hypoxic tumors due to a lack of oxygen. Here, the authors describe a nano-composite capable of generating oxygen under near-infrared light for improved photodynamic and chemotherapy for treating cancer.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04318-1
Cancer microenvironment  Chemotherapy  Drug delivery  Targeted therapies 

Dual origin of relapses in retinoic-acid resistant acute promyelocytic leukemia OPEN
Jacqueline Lehmann-Che, Cécile Bally, Eric Letouzé, Caroline Berthier, Hao Yuan, Florence Jollivet, Lionel Ades, Bruno Cassinat, Pierre Hirsch, Arnaud Pigneux, Marie-Joelle Mozziconacci, Scott Kogan, Pierre Fenaux & Hugues de Thé

Historical acute promyelocytic leukemia patients treated with retinoic acid and chemotherapy sometimes did relapse. Here the authors performed exome sequencing on 64 patient's samples from diagnosis/relapse/remission and show relapse associates either with cooperating oncogenes at diagnosis, or with unexpected persistence of ancestral pre-leukemic clones.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04384-5
Cancer genetics  Cancer genomics 

Cell surface flip-flop of phosphatidylserine is critical for PIEZO1-mediated myotube formation OPEN
Masaki Tsuchiya , Yuji Hara, Masaki Okuda, Karin Itoh, Ryotaro Nishioka, Akifumi Shiomi, Kohjiro Nagao, Masayuki Mori, Yasuo Mori, Junichi Ikenouchi, Ryo Suzuki, Motomu Tanaka, Tomohiko Ohwada, Junken Aoki, Motoi Kanagawa, Tatsushi Toda, Yosuke Nagata, Ryoichi Matsuda, Yasunori Takayama, Makoto Tominaga et al.

Myotube formation by fusion of myoblasts is essential for skeletal muscle formation, but which molecules regulate this process remains elusive. Here authors identify the mechanosensitive PIEZO1 channel as a key element, whose activity is regulated by phosphatidylserine during myotube formation.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04436-w
Calcium signalling  Phospholipids 

Soft Coulomb gap and asymmetric scaling towards metal-insulator quantum criticality in multilayer MoS2 OPEN
Byoung Hee Moon, Jung Jun Bae, Min-Kyu Joo, Homin Choi, Gang Hee Han, Hanjo Lim & Young Hee Lee

The interplay between strong interactions and presence of disorder makes atomically thin transition metal dichalcogenides an ideal platform to study phase transitions and critical phenomena. Here, the authors observe asymmetric critical exponents around the metal-insulator-transition of multilayer MoS2.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04474-4
Electronic properties and materials  Phase transitions and critical phenomena 

An antibacterial platform based on capacitive carbon-doped TiO2 nanotubes after direct or alternating current charging OPEN
Guomin Wang, Hongqing Feng, Liangsheng Hu, Weihong Jin, Qi Hao, Ang Gao, Xiang Peng, Wan Li, Kwok-Yin Wong, Huaiyu Wang, Zhou Li & Paul K. Chu

Bacteria are known to be sensitive to electrical interactions with the environment. Here, the authors report on a study into how the antibacterial properties of carbon-doped titania nanotubes are affected by capacitance after charging with direct and alternating currents.

24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04317-2
Bacteria  Bioinspired materials  Biomedical materials  Nanoscale materials 
 
  Latest Author Corrections    
 
Author Correction: Oxidative rearrangement of (+)-sesamin by CYP92B14 co-generates twin dietary lignans in sesame OPEN
Jun Murata, Eiichiro Ono, Seigo Yoroizuka, Hiromi Toyonaga, Akira Shiraishi, Shoko Mori, Masayuki Tera, Toshiaki Azuma, Atsushi J. Nagano, Masaru Nakayasu, Masaharu Mizutani, Tatsuya Wakasugi, Masayuki P. Yamamoto & Manabu Horikawa
25 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04596-9
Enzyme mechanisms  Oxidoreductases  Secondary metabolism 

Author Correction: Time-dependent memory transformation along the hippocampal anterior–posterior axis OPEN
Lisa C. Dandolo & Lars Schwabe
24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04516-x
Hippocampus  Learning and memory  Psychology 

Author Correction: Smac mimetics and oncolytic viruses synergize in driving anticancer T-cell responses through complementary mechanisms OPEN
Dae-Sun Kim, Himika Dastidar, Chunfen Zhang, Franz J. Zemp, Keith Lau, Matthias Ernst, Andrea Rakic, Saif Sikdar, Jahanara Rajwani, Victor Naumenko, Dale R. Balce, Ben W. Ewanchuk, Pankaj Tailor, Robin M. Yates, Craig Jenne, Chris Gafuik & Douglas J. Mahoney
24 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04597-8
Cancer immunotherapy  Tumour immunology 
 
  Latest Publisher Correction    
 
Publisher Correction: Re-analysis of public genetic data reveals a rare X-chromosomal variant associated with type 2 diabetes OPEN
Sílvia Bonàs-Guarch , Marta Guindo-Martínez, Irene Miguel-Escalada, Niels Grarup, David Sebastian, Elias Rodriguez-Fos, Friman Sánchez, Mercè Planas-Fèlix, Paula Cortes-Sánchez, Santi González, Pascal Timshel, Tune H. Pers, Claire C. Morgan, Ignasi Moran, Goutham Atla, Juan R. González, Montserrat Puiggros, Jonathan Martí, Ehm A. Andersson, Carlos Díaz et al.
30 May 2018 | doi: 10.1038/s41467-018-04170-3
Diabetes  Genome-wide association studies 
 
 

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