Nature Communications - 24 February 2016

Advertisement Key Advances in Medicine eBook from Nature Reviews - FREE to download!  This essential resource summarizes the groundbreaking clinical and biomedical discoveries of 2015 and highlights the trends to watch out for in 2016, making it a must read eBook for anyone with an interest in medical science.  Download for free       Weekly Content Alert Nature Communications is now fully open access. Read more. 24 February 2016  Featured image: Valencia-Expósito et al. show how a myosin regulatory protein drives oscillating contractions of cells leading to Drosophila egg chamber elongation. Latest content: Articles Corrigenda Errata Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement A new open access journal dedicated to publishing the most important scientific advances in all aspects of genomics and its application in the practice of medicine. Part of the Nature Partner Journals series, the journal is published in partnership with the Center of Excellence in Genomic Medicine Research.  Open for submissions       Nature Communications - now fully open access All new submissions, if accepted, will be published open access and an article processing charge (APC) will apply. For more information visit the website. Visit our open access funding page or contact openaccess@nature.com to learn more about APC funding.       Latest Articles View all Articles     Opposing roles of LTB4 and PGE2 in regulating the inflammasome-dependent scorpion venom-induced mortality OPEN Karina F. Zoccal, Carlos A. Sorgi, Juliana I. Hori, Francisco W. G. Paula-Silva, Eliane C. Arantes, Carlos H. Serezani, Dario S. Zamboni and Lúcia H. Faccioli Scorpion venom causes thousands of deaths worldwide. Here the authors show that the envenomation acts via prostaglandin E2 leading to inflammasome activation and lung pathology, counterbalanced by inflammation-limiting LTB4, and that COX inhibitors or exogenous LTB4 rescue the venom-induced mortality in mice. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10760 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Medical research  The exposure of the Great Barrier Reef to ocean acidification OPEN Mathieu Mongin, Mark E. Baird, Bronte Tilbrook, Richard J. Matear, Andrew Lenton, Mike Herzfeld, Karen Wild-Allen, Jenny Skerratt, Nugzar Margvelashvili, Barbara J. Robson, Carlos M. Duarte, Malin S. M. Gustafsson, Peter J. Ralph and Andrew D. L. Steven As the oceans become acidic, corals reefs are threatened, generating a need to understand the driving forces controlling the chemical state of the Great Barrier Reef. Here, the authors show a greater spatial variability than previously reported, created by the interaction of reef processes and ocean circulation. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10732 Earth Sciences  Biogeochemistry  Oceanography  Fear of large carnivores causes a trophic cascade OPEN Justin P. Suraci, Michael Clinchy, Lawrence M. Dill, Devin Roberts and Liana Y. Zanette Top predators may indirectly influence ecological processes through fear-induced behavioural changes in their prey. By experimentally manipulating this ‘landscape of fear’, Suraci et al. show that fear of large carnivores in a mesopredator can cause cascading effects down the food web that benefit its prey. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10698 Biological Sciences  Ecology  Vector-free transmission and persistence of Japanese encephalitis virus in pigs OPEN Meret E. Ricklin, Obdulio García-Nicolás, Daniel Brechbühl, Sylvie Python, Beatrice Zumkehr, Antoine Nougairede, Remi N. Charrel, Horst Posthaus, Anna Oevermann and Artur Summerfield Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) is primarily transmitted between mosquitoes and birds but can also infect pigs. Here the authors demonstrate that JEV, which was thought to be spread exclusively by mosquitoes, can be transmitted between pigs through a direct contact. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10832 Biological Sciences  Virology  Graphene oxide/metal nanocrystal multilaminates as the atomic limit for safe and selective hydrogen storage OPEN Eun Seon Cho, Anne M. Ruminski, Shaul Aloni, Yi-Sheng Liu, Jinghua Guo and Jeffrey J. Urban Hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles are poised to transform the automotive industry, but the lack of safe, high density solid state hydrogen storage solutions is stifling progress. Here, the authors develop a graphene oxide/magnesium nanocomposite which appears to overcome many of the existing challenges. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10804 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Repositioning tolcapone as a potent inhibitor of transthyretin amyloidogenesis and associated cellular toxicity OPEN Ricardo Sant'Anna, Pablo Gallego, Lei Z. Robinson, Alda Pereira-Henriques, Nelson Ferreira, Francisca Pinheiro, Sebastian Esperante, Irantzu Pallares, Oscar Huertas, Maria Rosário Almeida, Natàlia Reixach, Raul Insa, Adrian Velazquez-Campoy, David Reverter, Núria Reig and Salvador Ventura Misfolding of transthyretin can cause amyloid aggregation disorders that can be treated by stabilizing the tetrameric form with tafamidis. Here the authors show that tolcapone, a drug already FDA-approved for Parkinson disease, has strong transthyretin stabilizing function and might be a superior therapeutic option for CNS amyloidosis as it can cross the blood brain barrier. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10787 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Medicinal chemistry  Localized soft elasticity in liquid crystal elastomers OPEN Taylor H. Ware, John S. Biggins, Andreas F. Shick, Mark Warner and Timothy J. White Ruggedized stretchable electronic devices motivate the development of globally stretchable yet locally stiff materials. Here, Ware et al. programme the self-organization of liquid crystal elastomers to yield stretchable materials of homogenous composition but with spatial variation in mechanical properties. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10781 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Switchable friction enabled by nanoscale self-assembly on graphene OPEN Patrick Gallagher, Menyoung Lee, Francois Amet, Petro Maksymovych, Jun Wang, Shuopei Wang, Xiaobo Lu, Guangyu Zhang, Kenji Watanabe, Takashi Taniguchi and David Goldhaber-Gordon Graphene can exhibit pronounced frictional anisotropy, which was thought to arise because of nanoscale ripples. Here, the authors provide evidence that this effect could instead be a result of adsorbates that self-assemble into a highly regular superlattice of stripes with a period of four to six nanometres. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10745 Physical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Flow invariant droplet formation for stable parallel microreactors OPEN Carson T. Riche, Emily J. Roberts, Malancha Gupta, Richard L. Brutchey and Noah Malmstadt Microfluidic reactors offer cheap and simple solutions for nanoparticle synthesis, but suffer from the variation in particle size due to flow fluctuations. Riche et al. fabricate a device that is robust over a large range of flow rates and enables consistent particle synthesis in parallel operation. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10780 Physical Sciences  Fluids and plasma physics  Nanotechnology  Stimulated Raman adiabatic passage in a three-level superconducting circuit OPEN K. S. Kumar, A. Vepsäläinen, S. Danilin and G. S. Paraoanu The precise control and manipulation of the states of a multi-level quantum system are fundamental for quantum information processing. Here, the authors demonstrate the robust adiabatic manipulation of the quantum states of a superconducting circuit via stimulated Raman adiabatic passage. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10628 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in Dirac semimetal Cd3As2 nanowires OPEN Li-Xian Wang, Cai-Zhen Li, Da-Peng Yu and Zhi-Min Liao Dirac semimetals are a three-dimensional analogue of graphene that can support massless Dirac fermions in their bulk and Fermi-arc surface states. Here, the authors observe Aharonov–Bohm oscillations in transport measurements on Cd3As2 nanowires, revealing these exotic surface states. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10769 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Nanotechnology  Tailoring the chiral magnetic interaction between two individual atoms OPEN A. A. Khajetoorians, M. Steinbrecher, M. Ternes, M. Bouhassoune, M. dos Santos Dias, S. Lounis, J. Wiebe and R. Wiesendanger The Dzyaloshinskii-Moriya exchange interaction arises in magnetic systems with broken inversion symmetry and promotes chiral magnetic order which may be exploited in spintronic devices. Here, the authors demonstrate how such an interaction between magnetic atoms on a metallic surface may be tuned by their separation. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10620 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  An interactive web-based application for Comprehensive Analysis of RNAi-screen Data OPEN Bhaskar Dutta, Alaleh Azhir, Louis-Henri Merino, Yongjian Guo, Swetha Revanur, Piyush B. Madhamshettiwar, Ronald N. Germain, Jennifer A. Smith, Kaylene J. Simpson, Scott E. Martin, Eugen Beuhler and Iain D. C. Fraser Analysis of RNAi screens is a multi-step process requiring the sequential use of several unrelated resources. Here the authors generate an online resource integrating RNAi analytic tools and filters into a seamless workflow, which improves the specificity, selectivity and reproducibility of the results. 23 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10578 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Systems biology  Direct single-shot phase retrieval from the diffraction pattern of separated objects OPEN Ben Leshem, Rui Xu, Yehonatan Dallal, Jianwei Miao, Boaz Nadler, Dan Oron, Nirit Dudovich and Oren Raz Short X-ray pulses from free-electron lasers enable coherent diffractive imaging of noncrystalline objects such as single molecules. Here, the authors reconstructing full image information from a single-shot diffraction pattern by using two sufficiently separated objects to act as references for each other. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10820 Physical Sciences  Optical physics  MSI2 is required for maintaining activated myelodysplastic syndrome stem cells OPEN James Taggart, Tzu-Chieh Ho, Elianna Amin, Haiming Xu, Trevor S. Barlowe, Alexendar R. Perez, Benjamin H. Durham, Patrick Tivnan, Rachel Okabe, Arthur Chow, Ly Vu, Sun Mi Park, Camila Prieto, Christopher Famulare, Minal Patel, Christopher J. Lengner, Amit Verma, Gail Roboz, Monica Guzman, Virginia M. Klimek et al. Several studies have recently demonstrated the role of the MSI2 RNA binding protein in normal and malignant haematopoietc stem cells. In this study, the authors show that MSI2 is required for maintaining myelodysplastic syndrome stem cells in mice and that MSI2 expression predicts poor prognosis in patients affected by this disease. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10739 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  Frequency comb transferred by surface plasmon resonance OPEN Xiao Tao Geng, Byung Jae Chun, Ji Hoon Seo, Kwanyong Seo, Hana Yoon, Dong-Eon Kim, Young-Jin Kim and Seungchul Kim Combining frequency combs and plasmonics promises highly precise timing and frequency standards in nanoscale devices. Here, the authors experimentally transfer a frequency comb to surface plasmons and then return it to its original comb form with little degradation. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10685 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Nanotechnology  Optical physics  Establishment of human iPSC-based models for the study and targeting of glioma initiating cells OPEN Ignacio Sancho-Martinez, Emmanuel Nivet, Yun Xia, Tomoaki Hishida, Aitor Aguirre, Alejandro Ocampo, Li Ma, Robert Morey, Marie N. Krause, Andreas Zembrzycki, Olaf Ansorge, Eric Vazquez-Ferrer, Ilir Dubova, Pradeep Reddy, David Lam, Yuriko Hishida, Min-Zu Wu, Concepcion Rodriguez Esteban, Dennis O’Leary, Geoffrey M. Wahl et al. Glioma can originate from the transformation of neural progenitor cells into glioma initiating cells. Here, the authors demonstrate the use of induced pluripotent stem cells as a suitable model for generating neural progenitor cells, which can be subsequently transformed to glioma initiating cells that are able to the generate human glioma-like tumours in mice. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10743 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  Ice stream motion facilitated by a shallow-deforming and accreting bed OPEN Matteo Spagnolo, Emrys Phillips, Jan A. Piotrowski, Brice R. Rea, Chris D. Clark, Chris R. Stokes, Simon J. Carr, Jeremy C. Ely, Adriano Ribolini, Wojciech Wysota and Izabela Szuman Ice streams are fundamental to ice sheet dynamics, but the mechanisms controlling their flow remain elusive. Here, the authors perform macro- and microscale analyses of mega-scale glacial lineations, which indicate a continuously accreting, shallow-deforming bed during ice stream flow. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10723 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  The REGγ-proteasome forms a regulatory circuit with IκBɛ and NFκB in experimental colitis OPEN Jinjin Xu, Lei Zhou, Lei Ji, Fengyuan Chen, Karen Fortmann, Kun Zhang, Qingwu Liu, Ke Li, Weicang Wang, Hao Wang, Wei Xie, Qingwei Wang, Jiang Liu, Biao Zheng, Pei Zhang, Shixia Huang, Tieliu Shi, Biaohong Zhang, Yongyan Dang, Jiwu Chen et al. REGγ is a component of ubiquitin-independent 20S proteasome that targets many regulatory proteins for degradation. Here the authors show that REGγ is induced in DSS colitis and promotes degradation of IκBɛ, and that REGγ-deficient mice have less NFκB activation and are more resistant to the disease. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10761 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Immunology  Rapid and continuous activity-dependent plasticity of olfactory sensory input OPEN Claire E. J. Cheetham, Una Park and Leonardo Belluscio New olfactory sensory neurons (OSNs) wire into olfactory bulb circuits throughout life. Here, the authors show that newly generated OSNs form highly dynamics synapses and can elicit functional responses in OB neurons, while mature OSNs retain a high level of activity-dependent synaptic reorganisation. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10729 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  TOM1L1 drives membrane delivery of MT1-MMP to promote ERBB2-induced breast cancer cell invasion OPEN Clément Chevalier, Guillaume Collin, Simon Descamps, Heiani Touaitahuata, Valérie Simon, Nicolas Reymond, Laurent Fernandez, Pierre-Emmanuel Milhiet, Virginie Georget, Serge Urbach, Laurence Lasorsa, Béatrice Orsetti, Florence Boissière-Michot, Evelyne Lopez-Crapez, Charles Theillet, Serge Roche and Christine Benistant ERBB2 overexpression in human breast cancer leads to invasion and metastasis. Here the authors report that ERBB2 induces indirect phosphorylation of TOM1L1 that promotes trafficking of the metalloprotease MT1-MMP to invadopodia, which leads to tumour cell invasion. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10765 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  Genome analysis of three Pneumocystis species reveals adaptation mechanisms to life exclusively in mammalian hosts OPEN Liang Ma, Zehua Chen, Da Wei Huang, Geetha Kutty, Mayumi Ishihara, Honghui Wang, Amr Abouelleil, Lisa Bishop, Emma Davey, Rebecca Deng, Xilong Deng, Lin Fan, Giovanna Fantoni, Michael Fitzgerald, Emile Gogineni, Jonathan M. Goldberg, Grace Handley, Xiaojun Hu, Charles Huber, Xiaoli Jiao et al. Pneumocystis jirovecii is a fungus that can cause life-threatening pneumonia in immunocompromised patients. Here, the authors sequence the genomes of P. jirovecii and two other Pneumocystis species, and show the unexpected absence of chitin (a near universal fungal cell wall component). 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10740 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Microbiology  Wavefront shaping through emulated curved space in waveguide settings OPEN Chong Sheng, Rivka Bekenstein, Hui Liu, Shining Zhu and Mordechai Segev Wavefront shaping is typically carried out outside the medium within which the beam is propagating. Sheng et al. exploit concepts inspired by General Relativity for wavefront shaping within optical waveguide settings, constructing narrow collimated beams and shape-preserving beams accelerating on arbitrary trajectories 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10747 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Optical physics  Reducing dynamic disorder in small-molecule organic semiconductors by suppressing large-amplitude thermal motions OPEN Steffen Illig, Alexander S. Eggeman, Alessandro Troisi, Lang Jiang, Chris Warwick, Mark Nikolka, Guillaume Schweicher, Stephen G. Yeates, Yves Henri Geerts, John E. Anthony and Henning Sirringhaus Thermal vibration is harmful to charge transport in molecular semiconductors, which hinders the use of these materials in flexible electronics. Here, Illig et al. show that the vibration is suppressed when molecular side chains are attached to the long axis of conjugated cores. 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10736 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Functional dissociation in sweet taste receptor neurons between and within taste organs of Drosophila OPEN Vladimiros Thoma, Stephan Knapek, Shogo Arai, Marion Hartl, Hiroshi Kohsaka, Pudith Sirigrivatanawong, Ayako Abe, Koichi Hashimoto and Hiromu Tanimoto Locating food sources is essential for the survival of animals. Here, the authors identify two functionally and anatomically distinct classes of sweet taste receptor neurons in Drosophila legs, involved in feeding initiation and sugar-dependent suppression of locomotion. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10678 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Monitoring eruption activity using temporal stress changes at Mount Ontake volcano OPEN Toshiko Terakawa, Aitaro Kato, Yoshiko Yamanaka, Yuta Maeda, Shinichiro Horikawa, Kenjiro Matsuhiro and Takashi Okuda Volcanic activity is often accompanied by small earthquakes, with focal mechanisms indicating stress state beneath volcanoes. Here, the authors demonstrate that quantitative evaluation of temporal stress changes is an effective tool for eruption monitoring. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10797 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Unfolding the physics of URu2Si2 through silicon to phosphorus substitution OPEN A. Gallagher, K.-W. Chen, C. M. Moir, S. K. Cary, F. Kametani, N. Kikugawa, D. Graf, T. E. Albrecht-Schmitt, S. C. Riggs, A. Shekhter and R. E. Baumbach The heavy fermion compound URu2Si2 displays a hidden order phase and superconductivity at low temperatures. Here, the authors perform substitution studies—partially replacing silicon with phosphorus—and study the effects on hidden order and superconductivity. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10712 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Inorganic chemistry  Materials science  Selective labelling and eradication of antibiotic-tolerant bacterial populations in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms OPEN Song Lin Chua, Joey Kuok Hoong Yam, Piliang Hao, Sunil S. Adav, May Margarette Salido, Yang Liu, Michael Givskov, Siu Kwan Sze, Tim Tolker-Nielsen and Liang Yang Pathogenic bacteria can aggregate to form biofilms and develop tolerance to antibiotics. Here, the authors use a proteomics approach to study the development of tolerance to the antibiotic colistin in Pseudomonas aeruginosa biofilms, and show that co-treatment with a second compound kills the tolerant cells. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10750 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Chemical biology  Microbiology  A competitive and reversible deactivation approach to catalysis-based quantitative assays OPEN Kazunori Koide, Matthew P. Tracey, Xiaodong Bu, Junyong Jo, Michael J. Williams and Christopher J. Welch Assays for catalytic systems—particularly ones with simple colorimetric readouts—are useful for the rapid evaluation of performance. Here, the authors report an assay based on a concurrent colour-forming reaction working across a wide range that can be stopped to allow measurements and subsequently restarted. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10691 Chemical Sciences  Analytical chemistry  Biochemistry  Organic chemistry  A highly active and stable hydrogen evolution catalyst based on pyrite-structured cobalt phosphosulfide OPEN Wen Liu, Enyuan Hu, Hong Jiang, Yingjie Xiang, Zhe Weng, Min Li, Qi Fan, Xiqian Yu, Eric I. Altman and Hailiang Wang Rational design and synthesis are important for the development of materials for energy applications. Here, the authors sequentially synthesize pyrite structured cobalt phosphosulfide nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes, probing the role of phosphorous substitution on catalyst stability and durability. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10771 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Dissolution and ionization of sodium superoxide in sodium–oxygen batteries OPEN Jinsoo Kim, Hyeokjun Park, Byungju Lee, Won Mo Seong, Hee-Dae Lim, Youngjoon Bae, Haegyeom Kim, Won Keun Kim, Kyoung Han Ryu and Kisuk Kang Sodium-oxygen batteries are promising energy storage devices but the nature of their discharge products remains unresolved. Here, the authors reveal that the dissolution and ionization of sodium superoxide leads to the formation of other phases, which increases the charge overpotential of the cell. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10670 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Diverse drug-resistance mechanisms can emerge from drug-tolerant cancer persister cells OPEN Michael Ramirez, Satwik Rajaram, Robert J. Steininger, Daria Osipchuk, Maike A. Roth, Leanna S. Morinishi, Louise Evans, Weiyue Ji, Chien-Hsiang Hsu, Kevin Thurley, Shuguang Wei, Anwu Zhou, Prasad R. Koduru, Bruce A. Posner, Lani F. Wu and Steven J. Altschuler Cancer cells that survive initial drug treatment can persist in the presence of drugs. Here, the authors generate persister cells that are resistant to the EGFR tyrosine kinase inhibitor erlotinib and show by single cell analysis that multiple mechanism give rise to the drug-resistant persister state. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10690 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Whole-genome mutational burden analysis of three pluripotency induction methods OPEN Kunal Bhutani, Kristopher L. Nazor, Roy Williams, Ha Tran, Heng Dai, Željko Džakula, Edward H. Cho, Andy W. C. Pang, Mahendra Rao, Han Cao, Nicholas J. Schork and Jeanne F. Loring It is feared that reprogramming may introduce DNA mutations. Here Bhutani et al. take three different reprogramming methods and using comparative whole genome analyses do identify nucleotide variations that are different in reprogrammed cells from the original fibroblasts, but none convey oncogenic potential. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10536 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  YY1 inhibits differentiation and function of regulatory T cells by blocking Foxp3 expression and activity OPEN Soo Seok Hwang, Sung Woong Jang, Min Kyung Kim, Lark Kyun Kim, Bong-Sung Kim, Hyeong Su Kim, Kiwan Kim, Wonyong Lee, Richard A. Flavell and Gap Ryol Lee Treg control the magnitude of immune responses, but how these cells are controlled is less understood. Here the authors show that a transcriptional repressor YY1 inhibits Foxp3, the master regulator of Treg, by repressing its transcription, and by directly interacting with Foxp3 and its target gene promoters. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10789 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Molecular biology  ALDH1A1 provides a source of meiosis-inducing retinoic acid in mouse fetal ovaries OPEN Josephine Bowles, Chun-Wei Feng, Kim Miles, Jessica Ineson, Cassy Spiller and Peter Koopman Recent findings have challenged the established concept that retinoic acid (RA) induces foetal germ cells to enter meiosis. Here, Bowles et al. identify the enzyme ALDH1A1 as a source of ovarian RA that may induce meiosis even when other RA-synthetic enzymes are deleted. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10845 Biological Sciences  Developmental biology  Genetics  Gene expression in human brain implicates sexually dimorphic pathways in autism spectrum disorders OPEN Donna M. Werling, Neelroop N. Parikshak and Daniel H. Geschwind Autism spectrum disorder is approximately 4.5 times more likely to occur in boys than girls. Here, Werling, Geschwind and Parikshak characterized sexually dimorphic gene expression in the non-diseased, post-mortem, adult and prenatal human brain, and show genes expressed at higher levels in males are significantly enriched for genes upregulated in autistic brain. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10717 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Neuroscience  Nonmagnetic band gap at the Dirac point of the magnetic topological insulator (Bi1−xMnx)2Se3 OPEN J. Sánchez-Barriga, A. Varykhalov, G. Springholz, H. Steiner, R. Kirchschlager, G. Bauer, O. Caha, E. Schierle, E. Weschke, A. A. Ünal, S. Valencia, M. Dunst, J. Braun, H. Ebert, J. Minár, E. Golias, L. V. Yashina, A. Ney, V. Holý and O. Rader et al. Doping a topological insulator with magnetic impurities is expected to induce ferromagnetism and open a band gap in its surface states. Here, the authors study Mn-doped Bi2Se3, finding a mechanism for band gap opening in topologically-protected surface states which is not of magnetic origin. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10559 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Antibody-based PET imaging of amyloid beta in mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease OPEN Dag Sehlin, Xiaotian T. Fang, Linda Cato, Gunnar Antoni, Lars Lannfelt and Stina Syvänen Imaging tools for evaluating progression of Alzheimer’s disease have been lacking. Here the authors develop a blood brain barrier-permeable Aß probe based on a radiolabelled, anti-Aß antibody, and report age-dependent brain uptake visualized in vivo with PET in mouse models of the disease. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10759 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  Influenza A virus targets a cGAS-independent STING pathway that controls enveloped RNA viruses OPEN Christian K. Holm, Stine H. Rahbek, Hans Henrik Gad, Rasmus O. Bak, Martin R. Jakobsen, Zhaozaho Jiang, Anne Louise Hansen, Simon K. Jensen, Chenglong Sun, Martin K. Thomsen, Anders Laustsen, Camilla G. Nielsen, Kasper Severinsen, Yingluo Xiong, Dara L. Burdette, Veit Hornung, Robert Jan Lebbink, Mogens Duch, Katherine A. Fitzgerald, Shervin Bahrami et al. Stimulator of interferon genes (STING) is known to be involved in defence against DNA viruses, but its role in the control of RNA viruses remains poorly explored. Here the authors show that STING participates in an innate immune response to RNA virus infection in a cGAS-independent manner. 19 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10680 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Virology  Design principles for rapid folding of knotted DNA nanostructures OPEN Vid Kočar, John S. Schreck, Slavko Čeru, Helena Gradišar, Nino Bašić, Tomaž Pisanski, Jonathan P. K. Doye and Roman Jerala Driven by complementary base pairing, artificial single-chain DNA is capable of forming complex 3D architectures if an appropriate folding pathway can be realised. Here, the authors describe the design principles for rapidly folding structures, exemplified through fabrication of a nanosized square pyramid. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10803 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Bioengineering  Biotechnology  Spectral phase measurement of a Fano resonance using tunable attosecond pulses OPEN M. Kotur, D. Guénot, Á Jiménez-Galán, D. Kroon, E. W. Larsen, M. Louisy, S. Bengtsson, M. Miranda, J. Mauritsson, C. L. Arnold, S. E. Canton, M. Gisselbrecht, T. Carette, J. M. Dahlström, E. Lindroth, A. Maquet, L. Argenti, F. Martín and A. L’Huillier Resonant absorption of light in atoms can lead to autoionization, whose probability exhibits a Fano intensity profile. Here, the authors use attosecond pulses and weak infrared radiation to study the phase variation of the photoionization amplitude across an autoionization resonance in argon. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10566 Physical Sciences  Atomic and molecular physics  Mutations in the nuclear bile acid receptor FXR cause progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis OPEN Natalia Gomez-Ospina, Carol J. Potter, Rui Xiao, Kandamurugu Manickam, Mi-Sun Kim, Kang Ho Kim, Benjamin L. Shneider, Jennifer L. Picarsic, Theodora A. Jacobson, Jing Zhang, Weimin He, Pengfei Liu, A. S. Knisely, Milton J. Finegold, Donna M. Muzny, Eric Boerwinkle, James R. Lupski, Sharon E. Plon, Richard A. Gibbs, Christine M. Eng et al. Neonatal cholestasis is a result of elevated bile acid levels, and is associated with mutations in genes regulating bile acid homeostasis. Here the authors identify mutations in the bile acid sensing farnesoid X receptor in four individuals with neonatal cholestasis from two unrelated families. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10713 Biological Sciences  Genetics  Medical research  Cryo-EM structures of the eukaryotic replicative helicase bound to a translocation substrate OPEN Ferdos Abid Ali, Ludovic Renault, Julian Gannon, Hailey L. Gahlon, Abhay Kotecha, Jin Chuan Zhou, David Rueda and Alessandro Costa The Cdc45-MCM-GINS (CMG) helicase unwinds DNA during replication, a process that requires the ATPase-dependent activity of the MCM complex. Using cryo-EM reconstructions of the CMG complex in different conformations, the authors propose a model where the N-terminal and AAA+ domains of MCM work in concert to translocate along DNA. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10708 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Biophysics  Accurate prediction of cellular co-translational folding indicates proteins can switch from post- to co-translational folding OPEN Daniel A. Nissley, Ajeet K. Sharma, Nabeel Ahmed, Ulrike A. Friedrich, Günter Kramer, Bernd Bukau and Edward P. O’Brien The folding of protein domains can occur concomitant with their synthesis, and the rates at which individual codons are translated by the ribosome can affect the folding process. Here the authors present a kinetic model that accurately predicts the probability that a nascent protein domain will co-translationally fold in vivo. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10341 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Biophysics  Molecular biology  Three-dimensional porous hollow fibre copper electrodes for efficient and high-rate electrochemical carbon dioxide reduction OPEN Recep Kas, Khalid Khazzal Hummadi, Ruud Kortlever, Patrick de Wit, Alexander Milbrat, Mieke W. J. Luiten-Olieman, Nieck E. Benes, Marc T. M. Koper and Guido Mul Aqueous phase electrochemical reduction of CO2 requires an active electrocatalyst and efficient mass transport. Here, the authors report a hollow fibre copper electrode displaying compact 3D geometry, with a large area, three phase boundary for gas-liquid reactions, and subsequently enhanced performance. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10748 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Materials science  Myosin light-chain phosphatase regulates basal actomyosin oscillations during morphogenesis OPEN Andrea Valencia-Expósito, Inna Grosheva, David G. Míguez, Acaimo González-Reyes and María D. Martín-Bermudo Actomyosin contractility is regulated by phosphorylation of myosin regulatory light chain; much of the work in this area has focused on the kinase. Here the authors use Drosophila follicle cells and modelling to show that the phosphatase subunit Flapwing controls the initiation and dynamics of actomyosin oscillations. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10746 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Differential Rac1 signalling by guanine nucleotide exchange factors implicates FLII in regulating Rac1-driven cell migration OPEN Hadir Marei, Alejandro Carpy, Anna Woroniuk, Claire Vennin, Gavin White, Paul Timpson, Boris Macek and Angeliki Malliri The small GTPase Rac1 regulates various cellular processes, including cell migration. However, Rac1 can have opposing migratory effects. Here the authors show that two guanine nucleotide exchange factors, Tiam1 and P-Rex1, differentially regulate the Rac1 interactome to determine the downstream phenotype. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10664 Biological Sciences  Bioinformatics  Cell biology  Manipulating the interfacial structure of nanomaterials to achieve a unique combination of strength and ductility OPEN Amirhossein Khalajhedayati, Zhiliang Pan and Timothy J. Rupert Nanocrystalline metals often exhibit high strength yet suffer from poor ductility. Here, the authors employ grain boundary engineering to overcome this problem by introducing amorphous intergranular films, which enables superior mechanical properties in copper-zirconium alloys. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10802 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Voltage collapse in complex power grids OPEN John W. Simpson-Porco, Florian Dörfler and Francesco Bullo A power grid is constrained by both its nonlinear physics and network structure, and violations of these constraints may lead to voltage collapse blackouts, which have been studied mostly numerically. Here the authors derive a closed-form condition to provide an analytic test for voltage collapse. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10790 Physical Sciences  Theoretical physics  In-line three-dimensional holography of nanocrystalline objects at atomic resolution OPEN F.-R. Chen, D. Van Dyck and C. Kisielowski The resolution of transmission electron microscopes allows the imaging of single atoms and determination of their locations in a plane. Here, the authors present a tomographic method to recover the three-dimensional shape of a crystalline particle without the need for sample rotation. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10603 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Thermodynamics of deposition flux-dependent intrinsic film stress OPEN Amirmehdi Saedi and Marcel J. Rost Vapour deposition on polycrystalline films can lead to unexpectedly high and reversible compressive stress, the origin of which remains unclear. Here, the authors show, using thermodynamic arguments, that entropic effects in the extremely dilute adatom gas on the surface play a major role. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10733 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Materials science  Physical chemistry  Non-invasive detection of iron deficiency by fluorescence measurement of erythrocyte zinc protoporphyrin in the lip OPEN Georg Hennig, Christian Homann, Ilknur Teksan, Uwe Hasbargen, Stephan Hasmüller, Lesca M. Holdt, Nadia Khaled, Ronald Sroka, Thomas Stauch, Herbert Stepp, Michael Vogeser and Gary M. Brittenham Iron deficiency, the most common health problem in the world, has required a blood test for diagnosis. Here, the authors show that iron deficiency can be detected non-invasively and quickly by measuring the fluorescence of red blood cell zinc protoporphyrin in the microcirculation of the lip. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10776 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Medical research  Nanotwin-governed toughening mechanism in hierarchically structured biological materials OPEN Yoon Ah Shin, Sheng Yin, Xiaoyan Li, Subin Lee, Sungmin Moon, Jiwon Jeong, Minhyug Kwon, Seung Jo Yoo, Young-Min Kim, Teng Zhang, Huajian Gao and Sang Ho Oh As a natural biocomposite, Strombus gigas, commonly known as the giant pink queen conch shell, exhibits outstanding mechanical properties such as fracture toughness. Here, the authors show that these properties can be partially attributed to nanoscale twin boundaries in the basic building block of the shell. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10772 Physical Sciences  Materials science  A four-coordinate cobalt(II) single-ion magnet with coercivity and a very high energy barrier OPEN Yvonne Rechkemmer, Frauke D. Breitgoff, Margarethe van der Meer, Mihail Atanasov, Michael Hakl, Milan Orlita, Petr Neugebauer, Frank Neese, Biprajit Sarkar and Joris van Slageren Bistable single-molecule magnets potentially allow information storage at extremely high densities. Here, the authors study an air- and moisture-stable mononuclear tetrahedral cobalt(II) complex, elucidating the origin of its pronounced magnetic bistability. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10467 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Gpr176 is a Gz-linked orphan G-protein-coupled receptor that sets the pace of circadian behaviour OPEN Masao Doi, Iori Murai, Sumihiro Kunisue, Genzui Setsu, Naohiro Uchio, Rina Tanaka, Sakurako Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Shimatani, Hida Hayashi, Hsu-Wen Chao, Yuuki Nakagawa, Yukari Takahashi, Yunhong Hotta, Jun-ichirou Yasunaga, Masao Matsuoka, Michael H. Hastings, Hiroshi Kiyonari and Hitoshi Okamura The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) is the central regulator of circadian rhythms. Here the authors identify mouse Gpr176 as a pace modulator of this circadian clock and characterize its mode of action as coupling to Gz rather than Gi subunits. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10583 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience  Hepatocyte TRAF3 promotes liver steatosis and systemic insulin resistance through targeting TAK1-dependent signalling OPEN Pi-Xiao Wang, Xiao-Jing Zhang, Pengcheng Luo, Xi Jiang, Peng Zhang, Junhong Guo, Guang-Nian Zhao, Xueyong Zhu, Yan Zhang, Sijun Yang and Hongliang Li TRAF family proteins regulate immune signalling cascades. Here, the authors show that TRAF3 is upregulated in the liver in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease, promoting insulin resistance, inflammation and hepatic steatosis via its interaction with the kinase TAK1. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10592 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Deciphering the importance of the palindromic architecture of the immunoglobulin heavy-chain 3’ regulatory region OPEN Alexis Saintamand, Christelle Vincent-Fabert, Armand Garot, Pauline Rouaud, Zeliha Oruc, Virginie Magnone, Michel Cogné and Yves Denizot The IgH 3’ regulatory region contains an evolutionarily conserved palindromic sequence flanking important enhancer elements. Here the authors show that the palindrome is required for generating antibody diversity. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10730 Biological Sciences  Immunology  Molecular biology  Adaptive resistance to therapeutic PD-1 blockade is associated with upregulation of alternative immune checkpoints OPEN Shohei Koyama, Esra A. Akbay, Yvonne Y. Li, Grit S. Herter-Sprie, Kevin A. Buczkowski, William G. Richards, Leena Gandhi, Amanda J. Redig, Scott J. Rodig, Hajime Asahina, Robert E. Jones, Meghana M. Kulkarni, Mari Kuraguchi, Sangeetha Palakurthi, Peter E. Fecci, Bruce E. Johnson, Pasi A. Janne, Jeffrey A. Engelman, Sidharta P. Gangadharan, Daniel B. Costa et al. Blocking immune checkpoints is a promising strategy to treat lung cancer, but patients often become resistant to the therapy. Here, the authors analyse resistance in mouse models of lung cancer and show in mice and two patients, an increase in the expression of TIM3, which is also involved in the immune response to cancer. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10501 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Immunology  Medical research  Electron-lattice interactions strongly renormalize the charge-transfer energy in the spin-chain cuprate Li2CuO2 OPEN Steve Johnston, Claude Monney, Valentina Bisogni, Ke-Jin Zhou, Roberto Kraus, Günter Behr, Vladimir N. Strocov, Jiři Málek, Stefan-Ludwig Drechsler, Jochen Geck, Thorsten Schmitt and Jeroen van den Brink In transition metal oxides, an insulating band gap is found when the energy scales related to ionic charge excitations dominate over electronic itinerancy. Here, the authors demonstrate strong electron-phonon interactions in Li2CuO2 and their effect on the insulating band gap. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10563 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Intraoperative intravital microscopy permits the study of human tumour vessels OPEN Daniel T. Fisher, Jason B. Muhitch, Minhyung Kim, Kurt C. Doyen, Paul N. Bogner, Sharon S. Evans and Joseph J. Skitzki Intravital microscopy has been used in laboratory animals to visualise the blood vessels in tumours. Here, the authors use this technique in melanoma patients undergoing surgery and show that vessels in situ have a larger diameter than excised tissue 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10684 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Medical research  Deciphering the origin of giant magnetic anisotropy and fast quantum tunnelling in Rhenium(IV) single-molecule magnets OPEN Saurabh Kumar Singh and Gopalan Rajaraman Rhenium(IV) complexes are magnetically anisotropic although the origin of this anisotropy is poorly explored compared to 3d transition metals and lanthanides. Here, the authors computationally examine the effects of ligand donor ability and structural distortion on magnetic anisotropy for a series of rhenium(IV) complexes. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10669 Chemical Sciences  Inorganic chemistry  Nanotechnology  A single generation of domestication heritably alters the expression of hundreds of genes OPEN Mark R. Christie, Melanie L. Marine, Samuel E. Fox, Rod A. French and Michael S. Blouin Little is known about the genetic underpinnings of the earliest stages of plant and animal domestication. Here, the authors show that steelhead trout respond to a single generation of domestication selection with large, heritable changes in expression of genes regulating immunity and metabolism. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10676 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Luminescent platinum(II) complexes with functionalized N-heterocyclic carbene or diphosphine selectively probe mismatched and abasic DNA OPEN Sin Ki Fung, Taotao Zou, Bei Cao, Tianfeng Chen, Wai-Pong To, Chen Yang, Chun-Nam Lok and Chi-Ming Che DNA pairing defects such as mismatched and abasic DNA are prevalent in cancer cells. Here, the authors present luminescent platinum based probes capable of preferentially binding to mismatched and abasic DNA, and reporting this by a significant luminescence enhancement 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10655 Chemical Sciences  Chemical biology  Organic chemistry  Two distinctive energy migration pathways of monolayer molecules on metal nanoparticle surfaces OPEN Jiebo Li, Huifeng Qian, Hailong Chen, Zhun Zhao, Kaijun Yuan, Guangxu Chen, Andrea Miranda, Xunmin Guo, Yajing Chen, Nanfeng Zheng, Michael S. Wong and Junrong Zheng Energy migrations at metal nanomaterial surfaces are fundamentally important to heterogeneous reactions. Here, the authors employ ultrafast vibrational spectroscopy to show two distinctive energy migration pathways of monolayer adsorbate molecules on differently sized metal nanoparticle surfaces. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10749 Chemical Sciences  Catalysis  Physical chemistry  Universality of slip avalanches in flowing granular matter OPEN D. V. Denisov, K. A. Lörincz, J. T. Uhl, K. A. Dahmen and P. Schall Whether the deformation of amorphous materials is governed by universal scaling, a characteristic feature of the critical phenomena, is currently under debate. Here, Denisov et al. provide experimental evidence by linking the internal strains at microscales to the fluctuations in the applied force. 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10641 Physical Sciences  Materials science    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Fellow University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine Research Associate University College London (UCL) Postdoctoral Fellow Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute Postdoctoral Fellow The University of Tennessee Health Science Center Research Associate Position University of Zurich Research Fellow - Data Scientist University of Bristol Postdoctoral Researcher Charité - University Medicine Berlin Research Associate in Medical Statistics University of Bristol Future Leaders of 4-Year Groups (G4) Institut Pasteur Postdoctoral Research Associate University of Edinburgh More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT AACR'S Ninth Annual Cancer and Biomedical Research Career Fair 10.02.16 New Orleans, USA More science events from       Latest Corrigenda     Corrigendum: Delivery of crop pollination services is an insufficient argument for wild pollinator conservation OPEN David Kleijn, Rachael Winfree, Ignasi Bartomeus, Luísa G Carvalheiro, Mickaël Henry, Rufus Isaacs, Alexandra-Maria Klein, Claire Kremen, Leithen K. M’Gonigle, Romina Rader, Taylor H. Ricketts, Neal M. Williams, Nancy Lee Adamson, John S. Ascher, András Báldi, Péter Batáry, Faye Benjamin, Jacobus C. Biesmeijer, Eleanor J. Blitzer, Riccardo Bommarco et al. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10841 Biological Sciences  Ecology      Corrigendum: Loess Plateau storage of Northeastern Tibetan Plateau-derived Yellow River sediment OPEN Junsheng Nie, Thomas Stevens, Martin Rittner, Daniel Stockli, Eduardo Garzanti, Mara Limonta, Anna Bird, Sergio Andò, Pieter Vermeesch, Joel Saylor, Huayu Lu, Daniel Breecker, Xiaofei Hu, Shanpin Liu, Alberto Resentini, Giovanni Vezzoli, Wenbin Peng, Andrew Carter, Shunchuan Ji and Baotian Pan et al. 18 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10831 Earth Sciences  Climate science  Geology and geophysics        Latest Errata     Erratum: Nanoscale visualization of functional adhesion/excitability nodes at the intercalated disc OPEN Alejandra Leo-Macias, Esperanza Agullo-Pascual, Jose L Sanchez-Alonso, Sarah Keegan, Xianming Lin, Tatiana Arcos, Feng-Xia-Liang, Yuri E Korchev, Julia Gorelik, David Fenyö, Eli Rothenberg and Mario Delmar 22 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10919 Biological Sciences  Medical research      Erratum: Inhibition of stationary phase respiration impairs persister formation in E. coli OPEN Mehmet A. Orman and Mark P. Brynildsen 17 February 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms10756 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Microbiology      Natureevents is a fully searchable, multi-disciplinary database designed to maximise exposure for events organisers. The contents of the Natureevents Directory are now live. The digital version is available here. Find the latest scientific conferences, courses, meetings and symposia on natureevents.com. For event advertising opportunities across the Nature Publishing Group portfolio please contact natureevents@nature.com  More Nature Events You have been sent this Table of Contents Alert because you have opted in to receive it. 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