Nature Communications - 24 December 2014

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Weekly Content Alert 24 December 2014  Featured image: Edwards et al. study an eruption in far-eastern Russia and find that different lava types interact differently with the snow covering the volcano. Latest content: Review Articles Corrigenda Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement   Nature Outlook Melanoma   Melanoma - the deadliest form of skin cancer - is on the rise in many parts of the world. But new treatments, and efforts to tell people how to prevent it, could mean we will soon gain the upper hand on the disease.  Access the Outlook free online for six months.  Produced with support of a grant from: Bristol-Myers Squibb     Latest Review View all Reviews     Two-dimensional flexible nanoelectronics Deji Akinwande, Nicholas Petrone and James Hone The unique electrical, mechanical and physical properties of two-dimensional materials make them attractive candidates in flexible nanoelectronic systems. Here Akinwande et al. review the literature on two-dimensional materials in flexible nanoelectronics, and highlight barriers to their full implementation. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6678 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science        Latest Articles View all Articles     Dietary cholesterol directly induces acute inflammasome-dependent intestinal inflammation OPEN Fränze Progatzky, Navjyot J. Sangha, Nagisa Yoshida, Marie McBrien, Jackie Cheung, Alice Shia, James Scott, Julian R. Marchesi, Jonathan R. Lamb, Laurence Bugeon and Margaret J. Dallman Chronic consumption of a Western-type diet leads to systemic inflammation of undefined origin, which contributes to metabolic disease. Here Progatzky et al. identify an immediate early step in the process by showing that dietary cholesterol rapidly activates inflammasomes in the gut epithelium. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6864 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Pharmacological targeting of the mammalian clock regulates sleep architecture and emotional behaviour Subhashis Banerjee, Yongjun Wang, Laura A. Solt, Kristine Griffett, Melissa Kazantzis, Ariadna Amador, Bahaa M. El-Gendy, Salvador Huitron-Resendiz, Amanda J. Roberts, Youseung Shin, Theodore M. Kamenecka and Thomas P. Burris Synthetic compounds that alter circadian rhythms have been shown to modulate energy expenditure and systemic metabolism in rodents. Here, the authors study the psychological effects of such compounds, and find synthetic REV-ERB agonists increase wakefulness and reduce anxiety-like behaviour in mice. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6759 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Mineralized rods and cones suggest colour vision in a 300 Myr-old fossil fish Gengo Tanaka, Andrew R. Parker, Yoshikazu Hasegawa, David J. Siveter, Ryoichi Yamamoto, Kiyoshi Miyashita, Yuichi Takahashi, Shosuke Ito, Kazumasa Wakamatsu, Takao Mukuda, Marie Matsuura, Ko Tomikawa, Masumi Furutani, Kayo Suzuki and Haruyoshi Maeda The evolution of the visual system in vertebrates remains poorly understood. Here, the authors show well-preserved rod and cone photoreceptors in a Upper Carboniferous fossilized fish, suggesting that colour vision has evolved in fish at least 300?Myr ago. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6920 Biological Sciences  Palaeontology  European sea bass genome and its variation provide insights into adaptation to euryhalinity and speciation OPEN Mbaye Tine, Heiner Kuhl, Pierre-Alexandre Gagnaire, Bruno Louro, Erick Desmarais, Rute S.T. Martins, Jochen Hecht, Florian Knaust, Khalid Belkhir, Sven Klages, Roland Dieterich, Kurt Stueber, Francesc Piferrer, Bruno Guinand, Nicolas Bierne, Filip A. M. Volckaert, Luca Bargelloni, Deborah M. Power, François Bonhomme, Adelino V. M. Canario et al. The European sea bass is an economically important fish species, which is subject to intense selective breeding. Here, the authors sequence the genome of the European sea bass and highlight gene family expansions underlying adaptation to salinity change, as well as the genomic architecture of speciation between two divergent sea bass lineages. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6770 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Using ultrashort optical pulses to couple ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order in an oxide heterostructure Y. M. Sheu, S. A. Trugman, L. Yan, Q. X. Jia, A. J. Taylor and R. P. Prasankumar The interaction between ferroelectricity and magnetism is of interest for the use in magnetic information storage devices. Here, the authors achieve the coupling of ferroelectric and ferromagnetic order in an oxide heterostructure by ultrashort optical pulses, offering the optical control of these effects. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6832 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Sequential actions of ß-catenin and Bmp pattern the oral nerve net in Nematostella vectensis OPEN Hiroshi Watanabe, Anne Kuhn, Manami Fushiki, Kiyokazu Agata, Suat Özbek, Toshitaka Fujisawa and Thomas W. Holstein The bilaterian central nervous system is thought to have evolved from a cnidarian-like ancestor, but the mechanisms of neural induction in cnidarians are largely unknown. Here the authors study the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis and show that ß-catenin signalling is crucial for the early induction of its embryonic nervous system, suggesting evolutionary roots for this pathway. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6536 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Evolution  Neuroscience  Probing short-range protein Brownian motion in the cytoplasm of living cells OPEN Carmine Di Rienzo, Vincenzo Piazza, Enrico Gratton, Fabio Beltram and Francesco Cardarelli Models for protein diffusion in cells assume a large macromolecular crowding effect. Here Di Rienzo et al. visualize GFP diffusion at the millisecond timescale to observe unobstructed Brownian motion in mammalian cells for distances up to 100?nm, revealing minimal influence of macromolecular crowding. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6891 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Tunable ferroelectric polarization and its interplay with spin–orbit coupling in tin iodide perovskites Alessandro Stroppa, Domenico Di Sante, Paolo Barone, Menno Bokdam, Georg Kresse, Cesare Franchini, Myung-Hwan Whangbo and Silvia Picozzi Halide perovskites are widely studied as components in photovoltaic cells. Here, the authors show that these materials also possess a tunable ferroelectric polarization as well as relativistic spin-splitting effects suggesting additional functionalities, for example, as spintronic and optoelectronic devices. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6900 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  The HLA-DRß1 amino acid positions 11–13–26 explain the majority of SLE–MHC associations Kwangwoo Kim, So-Young Bang, Hye-Soon Lee, Yukinori Okada, Buhm Han, Woei-Yuh Saw, Yik-Ying Teo and Sang-Cheol Bae Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is an autoimmune disease with a complex genetic basis. Here the authors carry out a fine-mapping analysis of the major histocompatibility complex region and identify amino acids that have a causal role in SLE aetiology. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6902 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Immunology  Information flow through neural circuits for pheromone orientation Shigehiro Namiki, Satoshi Iwabuchi, Poonsup Pansopha Kono and Ryohei Kanzaki In silkmoths, pheromones are used to find food, to evade predators and to locate mating partners. In this study, Namiki et al. use anatomical and electrophysiological approaches to identify four neural circuits that contribute to a neural pathway for pheromone processing in the protocerebrum of silkmoths. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6919 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  COP1 E3 ligase protects HYL1 to retain microRNA biogenesis Seok Keun Cho, Samir Ben Chaabane, Pratik Shah, Christian Peter Poulsen and Seong Wook Yang Constitutive photomorphogenic 1 (COP1) plays a key role in photomorphogenesis by destabilizing transcription factors and photoreceptors. Here, Cho et al. show that COP1 also influences the global level of miRNAs in Arabidopsis by protecting the RNA-binding protein HYPONASTIC LEAVES 1 from proteolysis by an unknown protease. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6867 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Plant sciences  Mechanism of Ca2+-triggered ESCRT assembly and regulation of cell membrane repair Luana L. Scheffer, Sen Chandra Sreetama, Nimisha Sharma, Sushma Medikayala, Kristy J. Brown, Aurelia Defour and Jyoti K. Jaiswal Mechanical activity predisposes muscle cell membranes to damage, which is repaired by a poorly defined Ca2+-dependent mechanism. Scheffer et al. describe the machinery for Ca2+-induced assembly of ESCRT III membrane remodelling complex at damaged cell membranes, which facilitates repair. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6646 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Reduced IFN?4 activity is associated with improved HCV clearance and reduced expression of interferon-stimulated genes Ewa Terczynska-Dyla, Stephanie Bibert, Francois H. T. Duong, Ilona Krol, Sanne Jørgensen, Emilie Collinet, Zoltán Kutalik, Vincent Aubert, Andreas Cerny, Laurent Kaiser, Raffaele Malinverni, Alessandra Mangia, Darius Moradpour, Beat Müllhaupt, Francesco Negro, Rosanna Santoro, David Semela, Nasser Semmo, null null, Laura Rubbia-Brandt et al. Genetic variation in the IFN? locus has been associated with clearance of hepatitis C virus. Here, the authors show that a single amino-acid variant of IFN?4 affects its antiviral activity and that patients carrying the impaired variant have better viral clearance rates. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6699 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Immunology  Virology  DNA barcoding reveals diverse growth kinetics of human breast tumour subclones in serially passaged xenografts OPEN Long V. Nguyen, Claire L. Cox, Peter Eirew, David J. H. F. Knapp, Davide Pellacani, Nagarajan Kannan, Annaick Carles, Michelle Moksa, Sneha Balani, Sohrab Shah, Martin Hirst, Samuel Aparicio and Connie J. Eaves Cancer cells within the same tumour are heterogeneous in their tumorigenic potential, differentiation status and sensitivity to treatments. Here Nguyen et al. use a sensitive DNA barcoding method to characterize the diversity of clonal growth behaviour within human breast tumours. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6871 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Hour-glass magnetic excitations induced by nanoscopic phase separation in cobalt oxides OPEN Y. Drees, Z. W. Li, A. Ricci, M. Rotter, W. Schmidt, D. Lamago, O. Sobolev, U. Rütt, O. Gutowski, M. Sprung, A. Piovano, J. P. Castellan and A. C. Komarek High-temperature superconducting cuprates exhibit hour-glass shaped magnetic excitation spectra which are not well understood. Here, the authors show that the hour-glass shaped magnetic excitation spectra in an isostructural cobaltate arise from nanoscopic phase separation. 23 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6731 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Superconductivity and its mechanism in an ab initio model for electron-doped LaFeAsO Takahiro Misawa and Masatoshi Imada Understanding unconventional superconductivity is a challenge in condensed matter physics. Ab initio calculations by Takahiro Misawa and Masatoshi Imada reproduce many experimental features of the iron-based superconductor LaFeAsO, and suggest the mechanism is mediated by electron density fluctuations. 22 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6738 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Transcriptome meta-analysis of lung cancer reveals recurrent aberrations in NRG1 and Hippo pathway genes Saravana M. Dhanasekaran, O Alejandro Balbin, Guoan Chen, Ernest Nadal, Shanker Kalyana-Sundaram, Jincheng Pan, Brendan Veeneman, Xuhong Cao, Rohit Malik, Pankaj Vats, Rui Wang, Stephanie Huang, Jinjie Zhong, Xiaojun Jing, Matthew Iyer, Yi-Mi Wu, Paul W. Harms, Jules Lin, Rishindra Reddy, Christine Brennan et al. Targeted cancer therapy requires knowledge of driver aberrations. Here the authors perform large-scale transcriptome analysis, and show that gene fusions in NRG1, NF1 and Hippo pathway genes are recurrent mostly among lung cancers lacking known driver mutations. 22 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6893 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Critical role of histone demethylase Jmjd3 in the regulation of CD4+ T-cell differentiation Qingtian Li, Jia Zou, Mingjun Wang, Xilai Ding, Iouri Chepelev, Xikun Zhou, Wei Zhao, Gang Wei, Jun Cui, Keji Zhao, Helen Y. Wang and Rong-Fu Wang The histone demethylase Jmjd3 is involved in many biological processes. Here, the authors generate T cell-specific Jmjd3-deficient mice and show that Jmjd3 has a role in T-cell function and in the differentiation and interconversion of T-cell subsets in the intestine. 22 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6780 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Molecular basis of the alternative recruitment of GABAA versus glycine receptors through gephyrin Hans Michael Maric, Vikram Babu Kasaragod, Torben Johann Hausrat, Matthias Kneussel, Verena Tretter, Kristian Strømgaard and Hermann Schindelin Gephyrin is an adaptor molecule that binds to both GABAA receptors and glycine receptors. Here Maric et al. present the structure between gephyrin and a peptide from GABAA receptor and identify key residues dictating the preference of gephyrin for glycine receptor. 22 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6767 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Corals concentrate dissolved inorganic carbon to facilitate calcification Nicola Allison, Itay Cohen, Adrian A. Finch, Jonathan Erez and Alexander W. Tudhope Understanding how corals may react to ocean acidification is hampered due to a lack of insight into how corals source the inorganic carbon required to build their skeletons. Here, the authors show that corals are able to concentrate dissolved carbon and that bicarbonate contributes to the carbon pool used to build their skeletons. 22 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6741 Earth Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Zoology  A microscopic steam engine implemented in an optical tweezer Pedro A. Quinto-Su Heat engines are widely used in our daily life, hence there is interest in miniaturized versions. Here, Quinto-Su demonstrates a micrometer-sized piston steam engine in an optical tweezer, whereby a single colloidal particle is periodically driven by microscopic vapour explosions and optical forces. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6889 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Optical physics  Charge order and its connection with Fermi-liquid charge transport in a pristine high-Tc cuprate W. Tabis, Y. Li, M. Le Tacon, L. Braicovich, A. Kreyssig, M. Minola, G. Dellea, E. Weschke, M. J. Veit, M. Ramazanoglu, A. I. Goldman, T. Schmitt, G. Ghiringhelli, N. Barišic, M. K. Chan, C. J. Dorow, G. Yu, X. Zhao, B. Keimer and M. Greven et al. Charge–density–wave correlations, quantum oscillations and Fermi-liquid charge transport are at the centre of a heated debate in cuprate superconductivity. Using resonant X-ray scattering, Tabis et al. investigate the charge order and its link to the electronic transport properties in HgBa2CuO4+d . 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6875 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Photonic quasi-crystal terahertz lasers OPEN Miriam Serena Vitiello, Michele Nobile, Alberto Ronzani, Alessandro Tredicucci, Fabrizio Castellano, Valerio Talora, Lianhe Li, Edmund H. Linfield and A. Giles Davies Various vertical surface emitting, terahertz quantum-cascade lasers have been proposed recently but these suffer from power cancellations in the far-field and limited extraction efficiencies. Here, Vitiello et al. circumvent these issues using two-dimensional photonic quasi-crystalline resonators. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6884 Physical Sciences  Nanotechnology  Bottom-up formation of endohedral mono-metallofullerenes is directed by charge transfer Paul W. Dunk, Marc Mulet-Gas, Yusuke Nakanishi, Nathan K. Kaiser, Antonio Rodríguez-Fortea, Hisanori Shinohara, Josep M. Poblet, Alan G. Marshall and Harold W. Kroto An understanding of the formation mechanism of endohedral metallofullerenes may pave the way towards targeted synthesis of these nanomaterials. Here, the authors investigate their bottom-up synthesis and determine that charge transfer plays a key role in their formation. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6844 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  The Escherichia coli effector EspJ blocks Src kinase activity via amidation and ADP ribosylation OPEN Joanna C. Young, Abigail Clements, Alexander E. Lang, James A. Garnett, Diana Munera, Ana Arbeloa, Jaclyn Pearson, Elizabeth L. Hartland, Stephen J. Matthews, Aurelie Mousnier, David J. Barry, Michael Way, Andreas Schlosser, Klaus Aktories and Gad Frankel Non-receptor tyrosine kinases such as Src play fundamental roles in host–pathogen interactions and phagocytosis. Here, Young et al. show that an enteropathogenic Escherichia coli (EPEC) protein, EspJ, inhibits Src activity by simultaneous amidation and ADP ribosylation of a conserved residue on the kinase. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6887 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Microbiology  Small molecule-mediated stabilization of vesicle-associated helical a-synuclein inhibits pathogenic misfolding and aggregation Luis Fonseca-Ornelas, Sybille E. Eisbach, Maria Paulat, Karin Giller, Claudio O. Fernández, Tiago F. Outeiro, Stefan Becker and Markus Zweckstetter Small molecules that inhibit a-synuclein misfolding may have potential in the treatment of Parkinson’s disease. Fonseca-Ornelas et al. show that several of these molecules fail to block misfolding in the presence of membrane vesicles, and reveal how phtalocyanine tetrasulfonate, in contrast, overcomes this effect. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6857 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Neuroscience  High electron mobility in thin films formed via supersonic impact deposition of nanocrystals synthesized in nonthermal plasmas Elijah Thimsen, Melissa Johnson, Xin Zhang, Andrew J. Wagner, K. Andre Mkhoyan, Uwe R. Kortshagen and Eray S. Aydil Surface defects in nanomaterials can trap electrons and thereby limit the performance of electronic devices. Thimsen et al. show that the conductivity of films comprising ZnO nanocrystals can be increased by coating with Al2O3. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6822 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Arabidopsis ERF109 mediates cross-talk between jasmonic acid and auxin biosynthesis during lateral root formation Xiao-Teng Cai, Ping Xu, Ping-Xia Zhao, Rui Liu, Lin-Hui Yu and Cheng-Bin Xiang Jasmonic acid induces lateral root formation in Arabidopsis by promoting auxin biosynthesis. Here, Cai et al. identify a jasmonate-induced transcription factor that regulates the expression of two auxin biosynthetic enzymes revealing a molecular mechanism for hormonal cross-talk in the root. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6833 Biological Sciences  Plant sciences  Modulator-free quadrature amplitude modulation signal synthesis OPEN Zhixin Liu, Joseph Kakande, Brian Kelly, John O’Carroll, Richard Phelan, David J. Richardson and Radan Slavík Quadrature amplitude modulation signalling is currently enabling rapid data transfer capacity growth, but it still has associated drawbacks. Here, Liu et al. use optical injection locking to generate complex modulation format signals with reduced consumption, small footprint and easy integration. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6911 Physical Sciences  Optical physics  Reduction of carbon dioxide to oxalate by a binuclear copper complex Uttam R. Pokharel, Frank R. Fronczek and Andrew W. Maverick Although value-added organics are traditionally synthesized from fossil feedstocks, the conversion of carbon dioxide is an attractive alternative route. Here, the authors report a cyclic copper complex capable of converting carbon dioxide to oxalate in a simple redox process under mild conditions. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6883 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Inorganic chemistry  Genome-wide analysis of the human p53 transcriptional network unveils a lncRNA tumour suppressor signature OPEN Yolanda Sánchez, Victor Segura, Oskar Marín-Béjar, Alejandro Athie, Francesco P. Marchese, Jovanna González, Luis Bujanda, Shuling Guo, Ander Matheu and Maite Huarte Several studies have shown that p53 regulates the expression of some long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) implicated in apoptosis and proliferation. Here, by integrating RNA-seq and ChIP-seq analyses, the authors identify p53-regulated lncRNAs in the HCT116 colorectal cancer cell line. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6812 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Molecular biology  Interstitial modification of palladium nanoparticles with boron atoms as a green catalyst for selective hydrogenation Chun Wong Aaron Chan, Abdul Hanif Mahadi, Molly Meng-Jung Li, Elena Cristina Corbos, Chiu Tang, Glenn Jones, Winson Chun Hsin Kuo, James Cookson, Christopher Michael Brown, Peter Trenton Bishop and Shik Chi Edman Tsang Lindlar catalysts are widely used for partial hydrogenation of alkynes, however they can be somewhat limited by toxicity of lead and low selectivity. Here, the authors report that the modification of palladium nanoparticles with boron atoms in the interstitial sites yields selective hydrogenation catalysts. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6787 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  A strain-absorbing design for tissue–machine interfaces using a tunable adhesive gel Sungwon Lee, Yusuke Inoue, Dongmin Kim, Amir Reuveny, Kazunori Kuribara, Tomoyuki Yokota, Jonathan Reeder, Masaki Sekino, Tsuyoshi Sekitani, Yusuke Abe and Takao Someya Biocompatibility is a limiting factor in the use of electronic sensors in physiological applications. Here, the authors present a flexible and conductive polymer gel as an adhesive interface material for electronic biosensors, also demonstrating in vivo heart attachment and monitoring. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6898 Biological Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Decelerated genome evolution in modern vertebrates revealed by analysis of multiple lancelet genomes OPEN Shengfeng Huang, Zelin Chen, Xinyu Yan, Ting Yu, Guangrui Huang, Qingyu Yan, Pierre Antoine Pontarotti, Hongchen Zhao, Jie Li, Ping Yang, Ruihua Wang, Rui Li, Xin Tao, Ting Deng, Yiquan Wang, Guang Li, Qiujin Zhang, Sisi Zhou, Leiming You, Shaochun Yuan et al. The lancelet, or amphioxus, is an extant basal chordate that diverged from other chordate lineages about 550 million years ago. Here the authors sequence and assemble the diploid genome of a male adult of the Chinese lancelet, B. belcheri, and highlight genomic features that may have played an important role in the origin and evolution of vertebrates. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6896 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Equivalence of wave–particle duality to entropic uncertainty Patrick J. Coles, Jedrzej Kaniewski and Stephanie Wehner A long-standing debate on the foundation of quantum mechanics is whether wave–particle duality and the uncertainty principle are equivalent. Here Coles et al. show that the wave–particle duality relation corresponds to a formulation of the uncertainty principle in terms of min- and max-entropies. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6814 Physical Sciences  Atomic and molecular physics  Theoretical physics  Observation of decoherence in a carbon nanotube mechanical resonator Ben H. Schneider, Vibhor Singh, Warner J. Venstra, Harold B. Meerwaldt and Gary A. Steele Mechanical resonators lose energy over time due to both dissipative and dephasing processes. Schneider et al. now use a fast time-domain technique to separate the influence of these two types of mechanism, and demonstrate that at high driving power, dephasing becomes the dominant factor. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6819 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Anomalous low-temperature Coulomb drag in graphene-GaAs heterostructures A. Gamucci, D. Spirito, M. Carrega, B. Karmakar, A. Lombardo, M. Bruna, L. N. Pfeiffer, K. W. West, A. C. Ferrari, M. Polini and V. Pellegrini Ultrathin layers that can confine electron motion to just two dimensions exhibit a wide range of unusual electronic properties. Gamucci et al. combine two very different examples of such systems—graphene and a gallium arsenide quantum well—and demonstrate interlayer coupling effects. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6824 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Co-option of alternate sperm activation programs in the evolution of self-fertile nematodes Qing Wei, Yanmei Zhao, Yiqing Guo, Julie Stomel, Ryan Stires and Ronald E. Ellis Self-fertility evolved independently in three species of Caenorhabditis nematodes. Here, the authors show that different species of Caenorhabditis hermaphrodites use either of two different pathways to activate sperm and that these pathways were redundant in ancestral males. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6888 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Genetics  Microwave gain medium with negative refractive index Dexin Ye, Kihun Chang, Lixin Ran and Hao Xin Negative index metamaterials have been proposed for super-lensing and electromagnetic invisibility but real applications have been hindered by their high losses. Here, Ye et al. demonstrate an effective gain medium that overcompensates the loss of a passive metamaterial while keeping its negative index. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6841 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  A non-conserved miRNA regulates lysosomal function and impacts on a human lysosomal storage disorder Lisa B. Frankel, Chiara Di Malta, Jiayu Wen, Eeva-Liisa Eskelinen, Andrea Ballabio and Anders H. Lund Multiple sulfatase deficiency is a lysosomal storage disorder arising from mutations in the sulfatase modifying factor 1 (SUMF1) gene. Here Frankel et al. show that targeting a microRNA, miR-95, can increase residual SUMF1 expression and restore sulfatase activity in patient cells. 19 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6840 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Competition between items in working memory leads to forgetting OPEN Jarrod A. Lewis-Peacock and Kenneth A. Norman Rapidly switching the focus of attention is believed to impair memory, but it is unclear how. Lewis-Peacock and Norman use brain imaging and multivariate analysis to show that when two memories briefly and closely compete in the brain, there is a lasting impairment in the ability to remember these thoughts. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6768 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Paternal heterochromatin formation in human embryos is H3K9/HP1 directed and primed by sperm-derived histone modifications OPEN Christine van de Werken, Godfried W. van der Heijden, Cindy Eleveld, Miriam Teeuwssen, Mareike Albert, Willy M. Baarends, Joop S. E. Laven, Antoine H. F. M. Peters and Esther B. Baart Following fertilization, the oocyte and sperm lose their distinct chromatin signature to form a functional embryonic genome. Here the authors find that, in human embryos, the paternal constitutive heterochromatin is inherited in the canonical configuration from the sperm and is propagated by the H3K9/HP1 pathway. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6868 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Anisotropic softening of magnetic excitations along the nodal direction in superconducting cuprates M. Guarise, B. Dalla Piazza, H. Berger, E. Giannini, T. Schmitt, H. M. Rønnow, G. A. Sawatzky, J. van den Brink, D. Altenfeld, I. Eremin and M. Grioni The nature of the relationship between the spin-ordered and superconducting states of the cuprates is a longstanding puzzle. X-ray measurements conducted by Guarise et al. suggest that a continuum model rather than overdamped magnon model provides a more complete picture of the spin spectrum of Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+d . 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6760 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Telomerase expression confers cardioprotection in the adult mouse heart after acute myocardial infarction Christian Bär, Bruno Bernardes de Jesus, Rosa Serrano, Agueda Tejera, Eduard Ayuso, Veronica Jimenez, Ivan Formentini, Maria Bobadilla, Jacques Mizrahi, Alba de Martino, Gonzalo Gomez, David Pisano, Francisca Mulero, Kai C. Wollert, Fatima Bosch and Maria A. Blasco Short telomeres are risk factors for age-associated diseases such as cardiopathies. Here the authors show that cardiac reactivation of telomerase, the telomere-elongating enzyme whose expression is normally silenced postnatally, mitigates the consequences of myocardial infarction in adult mice. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6863 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Medical research  The tumour suppressor DLC2 ensures mitotic fidelity by coordinating spindle positioning and cell–cell adhesion OPEN Elisa Vitiello, Jorge G. Ferreira, Helder Maiato, Maria S. Balda and Karl Matter Epithelial cells must position their mitotic spindle correctly to maintain cell–cell adhesion. Here Vitiello et al. show that the tumour suppressor DLC2 and the mitotic kinesin Kif1b coordinate microtubule–actin interactions upstream of mDia3, guiding spindle positioning and mitotic fidelity. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6826 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Image-guided radiotherapy platform using single nodule conditional lung cancer mouse models Grit S. Herter-Sprie, Houari Korideck, Camilla L. Christensen, Jan M. Herter, Kevin Rhee, Ross I. Berbeco, David G. Bennett, Esra A. Akbay, David Kozono, Raymond H. Mak, G. Mike Makrigiorgos, Alec C. Kimmelman and Kwok-Kin Wong Current genetic mouse models of lung cancer develop multifocal tumours in all lobes, which limits their applicability to model radiotherapy of human disease. Here Herter-Sprie et al develop a method to induce single lung tumours in these models, allowing precise evaluation of radiation regiment efficacy. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6870 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Live-cell multiplane three-dimensional super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging OPEN Stefan Geissbuehler, Azat Sharipov, Aurélien Godinat, Noelia L. Bocchio, Patrick A. Sandoz, Anja Huss, Nickels A. Jensen, Stefan Jakobs, Jörg Enderlein, F. Gisou van der Goot, Elena A. Dubikovskaya, Theo Lasser and Marcel Leutenegger Super-resolution optical fluctuation imaging provides 3D images of biological specimens via blinking fluorophores. Geissbuehler et al. present a multiplexed version of this method that captures images at multiple focal planes simultaneously, reducing the acquisition time compared with standard approaches. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6830 Biological Sciences  Applied physics  Biotechnology  Optical physics  Epigenetic regulation of Atrophin1 by lysine-specific demethylase 1 is required for cortical progenitor maintenance OPEN Feng Zhang, Dan Xu, Ling Yuan, Yiming Sun and Zhiheng Xu Histone modification is critical for gene expression regulation during development. Here, the authors show that the demethylase LSD1 and its target gene ATN1 are responsible for maintenance of neural progenitor cells during mouse cortical development. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6815 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Neuroscience  Atomic and electronic structures of an extremely fragile liquid OPEN Shinji Kohara, Jaakko Akola, Leonid Patrikeev, Matti Ropo, Koji Ohara, Masayoshi Itou, Akihiko Fujiwara, Jumpei Yahiro, Junpei T. Okada, Takehiko Ishikawa, Akitoshi Mizuno, Atsunobu Masuno, Yasuhiro Watanabe and Takeshi Usuki ZrO2 is known to be a very poor glass former, namely an extremely fragile liquid, while its high melting temperature impedes a mechanistic understanding. Here, Kohara et al. show the absence of intermediate-range ordering beyond the correlation between oxide polyhedron units in ZrO2 upon melting. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6892 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Mitochondrial protein sorting as a therapeutic target for ATP synthase disorders OPEN Raeka S. Aiyar, Maria Bohnert, Stéphane Duvezin-Caubet, Cécile Voisset, Julien Gagneur, Emilie S. Fritsch, Elodie Couplan, Karina von der Malsburg, Charlotta Funaya, Flavie Soubigou, Florence Courtin, Sundari Suresh, Roza Kucharczyk, Justine Evrard, Claude Antony, Robert P. St.Onge, Marc Blondel, Jean-Paul di Rago, Martin van der Laan and Lars M. Steinmetz et al. Effective treatment options for mitochondrial diseases are scarce. Here, Aiyar et al. identify the TIM23 mitochondrial protein sorting machinery as a potential intervention point for mitochondrial ATP synthase disorders. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6585 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Solution-processed multilayer small-molecule light-emitting devices with high-efficiency white-light emission Naoya Aizawa, Yong-Jin Pu, Michitake Watanabe, Takayuki Chiba, Kazushige Ideta, Naoki Toyota, Masahiro Igarashi, Yoshiyuki Suzuri, Hisahiro Sasabe and Junji Kido High-efficiency organic light-emitting devices usually require the growth of many layers of different materials by vapour deposition in vacuum. Naoya Aizawa et al. demonstrate the fabrication of high-efficiency multilayer organic LEDs from solution. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6756 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Optical physics  Functionally reciprocal mutations of the prolactin signalling pathway define hairy and slick cattle OPEN Mathew D. Littlejohn, Kristen M. Henty, Kathryn Tiplady, Thomas Johnson, Chad Harland, Thomas Lopdell, Richard G. Sherlock, Wanbo Li, Steven D. Lukefahr, Bruce C. Shanks, Dorian J. Garrick, Russell G. Snell, Richard J. Spelman and Stephen R. Davis The hormone prolactin is a known modulator of mammalian lactation and hair growth. Here, the authors describe two dominant mutations in bovine prolactin and its receptor, demonstrating antagonistic effects on these traits and highlighting a role for this pathway in sweat gland function and thermoregulation. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6861 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Dirac Cones in two-dimensional conjugated polymer networks Jean-Joseph Adjizian, Patrick Briddon, Bernard Humbert, Jean-Luc Duvail, Philipp Wagner, Coline Adda and Christopher Ewels Graphene is famous for its Dirac cone electronic structure, which leads to peculiar charge transport properties. Here, Adjizian et al. search for its counterparts in organic materials and propose a family of two-dimensional networks of conjugated polymers that are ready to be tested in experiments. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6842 Chemical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Slow unloading leads to DNA-bound ß2-sliding clamp accumulation in live Escherichia coli cells OPEN M. Charl Moolman, Sriram Tiruvadi Krishnan, Jacob W. J. Kerssemakers, Aafke van den Berg, Pawel Tulinski, Martin Depken, Rodrigo Reyes-Lamothe, David J. Sherratt and Nynke H. Dekker DNA replication is accomplished by the replisome, a multi-protein complex that comprises the sliding clamp. Here, Moolman et al. present quantitative and dynamic measurements of the number of ß 2-sliding clamps at the single-cell level in live E. coli cells to shed light on key aspects of DNA replication. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6820 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Molecular biology  Coherent two-dimensional photocurrent spectroscopy in a PbS quantum dot photocell Khadga J. Karki, Julia R. Widom, Joachim Seibt, Ian Moody, Mark C. Lonergan, Tõnu Pullerits and Andrew H. Marcus Two-dimensional photocurrent spectroscopy can identify coherent electronic dynamics and offers promise for studies of numerous material systems. Karki et al. now show that the method can be used to study ultrafast carrier processes in lead sulphide quantum dots, such as multiple exciton generation. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6869 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Optical physics  Histone acetylation mediated by Brd1 is crucial for Cd8 gene activation during early thymocyte development Yuta Mishima, Changshan Wang, Satoru Miyagi, Atsunori Saraya, Hiroyuki Hosokawa, Makiko Mochizuki-Kashio, Yaeko Nakajima-Takagi, Shuhei Koide, Masamitsu Negishi, Goro Sashida, Taku Naito, Tomoyuki Ishikura, Atsushi Onodera, Toshinori Nakayama, Daniel G. Tenen, Naoto Yamaguchi, Haruhiko Koseki, Ichiro Taniuchi and Atsushi Iwama Regulation of CD4 and CD8 expression during thymic development is a classical model to study control of lineage determination. Here the authors show that Brd1 epigenetically marks CD8 enhancer for activation by mediating H3K14 acetylation, which is necessary for establishing the CD8 T-cell lineage. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6872 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Distinct aspects of frontal lobe structure mediate age-related differences in fluid intelligence and multitasking OPEN Rogier A. Kievit, Simon W. Davis, Daniel J. Mitchell, Jason R. Taylor, John Duncan, null null, Lorraine K. Tyler, Carol Brayne, Ed Bullmore, Andrew Calder, Rhodri Cusack, Tim Dalgleish, Fiona Matthews, William Marslen-Wilson, James Rowe, Meredith Shafto, Karen Campbell, Teresa Cheung, Linda Geerligs, Anna McCarrey et al. Executive functions are affected by ageing but it is unclear how. Kievit et al. use brain imaging and modelling approaches to show how multifactorial explanations outperform single-factor models when relating age-related differences in grey and white matter to differences in fluid intelligence and multitasking. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6658 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  231Pa/230Th evidence for a weakened but persistent Atlantic meridional overturning circulation during Heinrich Stadial 1 Louisa I. Bradtmiller, Jerry F. McManus and Laura F. Robinson Marine sedimentary 231Pa/230Th ratios are considered a promising tool for the investigation of past modes of ocean circulation. Here, the authors present a compilation of new and existing Atlantic sedimentary 231Pa/230Th ratios and interpret these data in the context of abrupt cooling during Heinrich Stadial 1. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6817 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Oceanography  Measurement and control of quasiparticle dynamics in a superconducting qubit C. Wang, Y. Y. Gao, I. M. Pop, U. Vool, C. Axline, T. Brecht, R. W. Heeres, L. Frunzio, M. H. Devoret, G. Catelani, L. I. Glazman and R. J. Schoelkopf Superconducting circuits are one possible way of realizing qubits, but the time for which they can maintain their quantum state is limited by single-electron-like excitations. Wang et al. now demonstrate a technique for controlling these so-called quasiparticles and improving qubit lifetime. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6836 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Conformational activation of talin by RIAM triggers integrin-mediated cell adhesion Jun Yang, Liang Zhu, Hao Zhang, Jamila Hirbawi, Koichi Fukuda, Pallavi Dwivedi, Jianmin Liu, Tatiana Byzova, Edward F. Plow, Jinhua Wu and Jun Qin Integrins are activated by binding to the cytoskeletal adaptor talin, but the mechanisms guiding activation are unclear. Here Yang et al. show that the Rap1 effector RIAM binds to the integrin-binding head of talin to promote integrin activation, perhaps by sterically interfering with talin autoinhibition. 18 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6880 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Cell biology  A molecular toggle after exocytosis sequesters the presynaptic syntaxin1a molecules involved in prior vesicle fusion OPEN Deirdre M. Kavanagh, Annya M. Smyth, Kirsty J. Martin, Alison Dun, Euan R. Brown, Sarah Gordon, Karen J. Smillie, Luke H. Chamberlain, Rhodri S. Wilson, Lei Yang, Weiping Lu, Michael A. Cousin, Colin Rickman and Rory R. Duncan Synaptic vesicle fusion involves a multi-protein assembly called the SNARE complex that is tightly regulated both spatially and temporally. Here Kavanagh et al. show that after vesicle fusion and SNARE complex disassembly in the synapse, the SNARE protein syntaxin1a is sequestered in a monomeric form by munc18-1, preventing ectopic SNARE complex assembly. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6774 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Ultrafast cooling reveals microsecond-scale biomolecular dynamics Mark E. Polinkovsky, Yann Gambin, Priya R. Banerjee, Michael J. Erickstad, Alex Groisman and Ashok A. Deniz Temperature jump technique is widely used to probe the fast dynamics of protein and DNA folding, but constrained to modest temperature control. Here, the authors use a microfluidic device combined with an infrared laser to heat or cool DNA hairpins up to 70?°C on a microsecond time scale. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6737 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Biotechnology  Targeting ß-catenin signaling for therapeutic intervention in MEN1-deficient pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours OPEN Xiuli Jiang, Yanan Cao, Feng Li, Yutong Su, Yanli Li, Ying Peng, Yulong Cheng, Changxian Zhang, Weiqing Wang and Guang Ning MEN1 gene encodes menin, a nuclear scaffold protein that regulates transcription and is often inactivated in pancreatic neuroendocrine tumours (PNETs). Here Jiang et al. show that MEN1-driven PNET development involves activation of ß-catenin, and that ß-catenin deletion ameliorates the disease. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6809 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Structural reorganization of cylindrical nanoparticles triggered by polylactide stereocomplexation OPEN Liang Sun, Anaïs Pitto-Barry, Nigel Kirby, Tara L. Schiller, Ana M. Sanchez, M. Adam Dyson, Jeremy Sloan, Neil R. Wilson, Rachel K. O’Reilly and Andrew P. Dove A polymer stereocomplex can possess quite different properties to its constituent homopolymers. Here, the authors prepare stereocomplex micelles of amphiphilic block-copolymers via crystallization-driven self-assembly, and observe a change from cylindrical to mixed spherical micelle morphology. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6746 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Activated astrocytes enhance the dopaminergic differentiation of stem cells and promote brain repair through bFGF OPEN Fan Yang, Yunhui Liu, Jie Tu, Jun Wan, Jie Zhang, Bifeng Wu, Shanping Chen, Jiawei Zhou, Yangling Mu and Liping Wang In the adult brain, the neurotrophic factor basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) is predominantly secreted by astrocytes. Here the authors use optogenetics to activate astrocytes, leading to release of bFGF, inducing enhanced dopaminergic differentiation of neural progenitors and promoting brain repair in a mouse Parkinson’s disease model. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6627 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Activation of RidA chaperone function by N-chlorination OPEN Alexandra Müller, Sina Langklotz, Nataliya Lupilova, Katja Kuhlmann, Julia Elisabeth Bandow and Lars Ingo Ole Leichert Hypochlorous acid generated by neutrophils acts as a potent antibacterial agent. Müller et al. now show that this oxidant directly activates a protective counter-response in E. coli by N-chlorinating the protein RidA and converting it into an effective protein chaperone. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6804 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Microbiology  Ferrets exclusively synthesize Neu5Ac and express naturally humanized influenza A virus receptors OPEN Preston S.K. Ng, Raphael Böhm, Lauren E. Hartley-Tassell, Jason A. Steen, Hui Wang, Samuel W. Lukowski, Paula L. Hawthorne, Ann E.O. Trezise, Peter J. Coloe, Sean M. Grimmond, Thomas Haselhorst, Mark von Itzstein, Adrienne W. Paton, James C. Paton and Michael P. Jennings Ferrets constitute a useful model for influenza research because they are susceptible to human-adapted flu viruses. Here, the authors show that ferrets, like humans, lack a functional CMAH enzyme and synthesize a single type of sialic acid (Neu5Ac), resulting in naturally humanized influenza virus receptors. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6750 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Microbiology  Virology  Somatic mutations in arachidonic acid metabolism pathway genes enhance oral cancer post-treatment disease-free survival Nidhan K. Biswas, Subrata Das, Arindam Maitra, Rajiv Sarin and Partha P. Majumder Chemical inhibitors of the tumour-progression promoting arachidonic acid metabolism pathway prolong post-treatment survival of cancer patients. Here the authors analyse sequence variation in oral cancer patients and show that loss-of-function mutations in this pathway prolong survival. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6835 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Hydrogen bond rotations as a uniform structural tool for analyzing protein architecture Robert C. Penner, Ebbe S. Andersen, Jens L. Jensen, Adriana K. Kantcheva, Maike Bublitz, Poul Nissen, Anton M. H. Rasmussen, Katrine L. Svane, Bjørk Hammer, Reza Rezazadegan, Niels Chr. Nielsen, Jakob T. Nielsen and Jørgen E. Andersen Ramachandran plots are a convenient means of describing protein backbone conformation by depicting the distribution of Ca bond rotations. Here, the authors devise an alternative descriptor based on hydrogen bond rotations, and apply it to describe protein structures using a vocabulary of 30 hydrogen-bonding motifs. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6803 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Biophysics  Translocation between PI(4,5)P2-poor and PI(4,5)P2-rich microdomains during store depletion determines STIM1 conformation and Orai1 gating Jozsef Maléth, Seok Choi, Shmuel Muallem and Malini Ahuja The Orai1 Ca2+ channel is activated by STIM1 in response to Ca2+ release from the ER. Here Maléth et al. show that Orai1 inactivation occurs by translocation to PI(4,5)P2-rich plasma membrane microdomains, which facilitates recruitment of SARAF, a negative regulator of STIM1 function. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6843 Biological Sciences  Biophysics  Cell biology  The switching role of ß-adrenergic receptor signalling in cell survival or death decision of cardiomyocytes OPEN Sung-Young Shin, Taeyong Kim, Ho-Sung Lee, Jun Hyuk Kang, Ji Young Lee, Kwang-Hyun Cho and Do Han Kim The contribution of signal strength on cell fate decisions is often not reflected in signalling networks. By combining mathematical simulation and biochemical experiments in cultured adult cardiomyocytes, Shin et al. show that the concentration of a ß-adrenergic receptor agonist affects the expression of Bcl-2, influencing the balance between cell survival and death. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6777 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Systems biology  Cell transcriptional state alters genomic patterns of DNA double-strand break repair in human astrocytes Raymund L. Yong, Chunzhang Yang, Jie Lu, Huaien Wang, Cody D. Schlaff, Anita Tandle, Christian A. Graves, Abdel G. Elkahloun, Xiaoyuan Chen, Zhengping Zhuang and Russell R. Lonser Misrepair of DNA double-strand breaks can lead to chromosomal rearrangements, which can promote carcinogenesis. Here, the authors show in cultured human astrocytes that transcriptional activation impacts on DNA double-strand break formation and repair upon ionizing radiation in a site-specific manner. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6799 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Molecular biology  Ion transport controlled by nanoparticle-functionalized membranes Edward Barry, Sean P. McBride, Heinrich M. Jaeger and Xiao-Min Lin The regulated passage of ions through a porous membrane is a process applicable to various research disciplines. Here, the authors present a method for the control of porous membrane ion transport, using a deposited layer of ligand-functionalized nanoparticles. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6847 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Experimental realization of photonic topological insulator in a uniaxial metacrystal waveguide Wen-Jie Chen, Shao-Ji Jiang, Xiao-Dong Chen, Baocheng Zhu, Lei Zhou, Jian-Wen Dong and C. T. Chan Photonic topological insulators have been theoretically predicted but their experimental demonstration has proven challenging. Here, Chen et al. experimentally realize a photonic topological insulator by embedding a non-bianisotropic and a non-resonant metacrystal into a waveguide. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6782 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Optical physics  Hydrophobic handoff for direct delivery of peroxisome tail-anchored proteins Yinxiao Chen, Laurent Pieuchot, Rachel Ann Loh, Jing Yang, Teuku Mahfuzh Aufar Kari, Jie Yun Wong and Gregory Jedd Delivery and insertion of tail-anchored proteins into peroxisomal membranes requires the chaperone PEX19 and its receptor PEX3. Chen et al. reconstitute this process in a cell-free reaction and show that distinct hydrophobic moieties in PEX19 are required at three separable import steps. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6790 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Cell biology  Competition between heavy fermion and Kondo interaction in isoelectronic A-site-ordered perovskites D. Meyers, S. Middey, J.-G. Cheng, Swarnakamal Mukherjee, B. A. Gray, Yanwei Cao, J.-S. Zhou, J.B. Goodenough, Yongseong Choi, D. Haskel, J. W. Freeland, T. Saha-Dasgupta and J. Chakhalian Understanding the physics of transition metal oxides that move beyond the commonly studied 3d orbital state is important for future studies. Taking the (CaCu3)B4O12 family as an example, Meyers et al. examine the electronic and magnetic structure as the B-site changes from Co to Rh and Ir. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6818 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Independent recruitment of Igh alleles in V(D)J recombination OPEN Clara F. Alves-Pereira, Raquel de Freitas, Telma Lopes, Rui Gardner, Filipa Marta, Paulo Vieira and Vasco M. Barreto B cells rearrange the immunoglobulin heavy chain genes to produce a functional B cell receptor, but how it is decided that one allele rearranges first is not clear. Here the authors provide evidence that in the majority of common lymphoid precursor clones, the two alleles have a similar probability of rearranging first. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6623 Biological Sciences  Immunology  High-quality genome (re)assembly using chromosomal contact data OPEN Hervé Marie-Nelly, Martial Marbouty, Axel Cournac, Jean-François Flot, Gianni Liti, Dante Poggi Parodi, Sylvie Syan, Nancy Guillén, Antoine Margeot, Christophe Zimmer and Romain Koszul The correct assembly of genomes from sequencing data remains a challenge due to difficulties in correctly assigning the location of repeated DNA elements. Here the authors describe GRAAL, an algorithm that utilizes genome-wide chromosome contact data within a probabilistic framework to produce accurate genome assemblies. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6695 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Biotechnology  Genetics  An artificial PPR scaffold for programmable RNA recognition Sandrine Coquille, Aleksandra Filipovska, Tiongsun Chia, Lional Rajappa, James P. Lingford, Muhammad F.M. Razif, Stéphane Thore and Oliver Rackham Pentatricopeptide repeat (PPR) proteins bind RNA and control diverse aspects of RNA metabolism in eukaryotic cells. Here, Coquille et al. present the crystal structures of several engineered PPR domains, elucidate their RNA binding mode and suggest paths to the design of modular, sequence-specific PPR domains. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6729 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Molecular biology  A unifying model for Neoproterozoic–Palaeozoic exceptional fossil preservation through pyritization and carbonaceous compression James D. Schiffbauer, Shuhai Xiao, Yaoping Cai, Adam F. Wallace, Hong Hua, Jerry Hunter, Huifang Xu, Yongbo Peng and Alan J. Kaufman The preservation of soft tissues during fossilization is the outcome of a race between decay and mineralization. Here the authors show that differential preservation of the Gaojiashan fossil Conotubus hemiannulatus was influenced by the duration of tissue degradation through bacterial sulfate reduction. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6754 Biological Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Palaeontology  Stochastic formation of magnetic vortex structures in asymmetric disks triggered by chaotic dynamics Mi-Young Im, Ki-Suk Lee, Andreas Vogel, Jung-Il Hong, Guido Meier and Peter Fischer The formation of magnetic vortices such as skyrmions is hampered by the stochastic nature of thermal fluctuations. Here, the authors demonstrate that ultrafast dynamics in the initial stages of vortex formation can dominate the stochastic behaviour observed in the steady state. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6620 Condensed matter  Materials science  Prediction of antibiotic resistance by gene expression profiles OPEN Shingo Suzuki, Takaaki Horinouchi and Chikara Furusawa The relationship between mutations and phenotypic changes associated with drug resistance in bacteria remains unclear. Here, the authors use antibiotic-resistant E. coli strains, obtained by laboratory evolution, to show that resistance profiles can be predicted by changes in expression of a few genes. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6792 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Microbiology  Partial melting of deeply subducted eclogite from the Sulu orogen in China OPEN Lu Wang, Timothy M. Kusky, Ali Polat, Songjie Wang, Xingfu Jiang, Keqing Zong, Junpeng Wang, Hao Deng and Jianmin Fu Natural examples of eclogite-derived migmatite were previously unknown. Here, the authors show evidence of high-pressure melting of eclogite in the Sulu orogen of China, and suggest the melts represent an exhumed example of flow channels in the lower crust, possibly a source of syn-exhumation magmas. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6604 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Research Associate King's College London Research Technician Position Helmholtz Center for Infection Research Post-doctoral scientist University of Pennsylvania Postdoctoral Scholar University of Chicago Postdoc University of Houston Research Associate University of Cambridge Postdoctoral Research Associate The University of Sheffield Senior Research Associate University of East Anglia (UEA) More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT AACR Annual Meeting 2015! 18.04.15 Philadelphia, USA More science events from       Latest Corrigenda     Corrigendum: Phosphoregulation of Ire1 RNase splicing activity Filippo Prischi, Piotr R. Nowak, Marta Carrara and Maruf M.U. Ali 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms5996 Biological Sciences  Molecular biology      Corrigendum: Genome-wide association study identifies new susceptibility loci for epithelial ovarian cancer in Han Chinese women Kexin Chen, Hongxia Ma, Lian Li, Rongyu Zang, Cheng Wang, Fengju Song, Tingyan Shi, Dianke Yu, Ming Yang, Wenqiong Xue, Juncheng Dai, Shuang Li, Hong Zheng, Chen Wu, Ying Zhang, Xiaohua Wu, Dake Li, Fengxia Xue, Haixin Li, Zhi Jiang et al. 17 December 2014 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms6828 Biological Sciences  Genetics      Advertisement   A new online, open access, multi- and cross- disciplinary journal dedicated to publishing the finest research on systems biology and all its approaches. Published by Nature Publishing Group in partnership with the Systems Biology Institute (SBI). Learn more at http://www.nature.com/npjsba   Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. 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