Nature Communications - 04 May 2016

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See details Journal homepage Recommend to library Web feed   Advertisement Discovery and technology for human health  Now open for submissions Straddling the life sciences, the physical sciences and engineering, Nature Biomedical Engineering will publish — weekly and online-only — biological, medical and engineering advances that can directly inspire or lead to improvements in human health or healthcare.    Advertisement ESO, CNIO and NRCO Conference on FAMILIAL CANCER Presented by: European School of Oncology | Centro Nacional de Investigaciones Oncológicas | Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology May 19-20, 2016 | Madrid, Spain REGISTER NOW!       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     Experimental evolution reveals that high relatedness protects multicellular cooperation from cheaters OPEN Eric Bastiaans, Alfons J. M. Debets and Duur K. Aanen Maintenance of cooperation in multicellular organisms is hypothesized to depend on high relatedness among cells. Here, Bastiaans et al. provide empirical support for this hypothesis by directly comparing the evolutionary stability of multicellular cooperation in experimental lines of a fungus kept at either high or low relatedness. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11435 Biological Sciences  Evolution  Microbiology  Message in a molecule OPEN Tanmay Sarkar, Karuthapandi Selvakumar, Leila Motiei and David Margulies Although historically common chemicals were frequently used as secret inks, the ease of readout could not prevent unauthorized reading. Here, the authors report a multi-analyte sensor that can conceal and encrypt messages by responding to simple chemicals, demonstrating a chemical means to secure communication. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11374 Chemical Sciences  Analytical chemistry  Organic chemistry  Microglia protect against brain injury and their selective elimination dysregulates neuronal network activity after stroke OPEN Gergely Szalay, Bernadett Martinecz, Nikolett Lénárt, Zsuzsanna Környei, Barbara Orsolits, Linda Judák, Eszter Császár, Rebeka Fekete, Brian L. West, Gergely Katona, Balázs Rózsa and Ádám Dénes How microglia contribute to brain injury or repair is unclear. Here combining microglia manipulations and calcium imaging, the authors show that selective elimination of microglia leads to disrupted neuronal calcium dynamics and markedly increased brain injury after cerebral ischemia. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11499 Biological Sciences  Neuroscience  The Arabidopsis NPF3 protein is a GA transporter OPEN Iris Tal, Yi Zhang, Morten Egevang Jørgensen, Odelia Pisanty, Inês C. R. Barbosa, Melina Zourelidou, Thomas Regnault, Christoph Crocoll, Carl Erik Olsen, Roy Weinstain, Claus Schwechheimer, Barbara Ann Halkier, Hussam Hassan Nour-Eldin, Mark Estelle and Eilon Shani Transport of the plant hormone gibberellin is required for normal plant growth and development. Here, Tal et al. show that NPF3 is able to transport gibberellin in vitro, and provide evidence that it is required for normal gibberellin distribution and activity in plants. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11486 Biological Sciences  Plant sciences  Laminin regulates PDGFRβ+ cell stemness and muscle development OPEN Yao Yao, Erin H. Norris, Christopher E. Mason and Sidney Strickland Muscle PDGFRβ+ cells are interstitial stem/progenitor cells with myogenic potential. Here, Yao et al. show that PDGFRβ+ cell-derived laminin actively regulates their proliferation, differentiation and fate determination. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11415 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Medical research  Highly variable cancer subpopulations that exhibit enhanced transcriptome variability and metastatic fitness OPEN Alexander Nguyen, Mitsukuni Yoshida, Hani Goodarzi and Sohail F. Tavazoie Phenotypic and genetic intra-tumor heterogeneity have an important role in cancer progression and therapeutic resistance. Here, the authors show that phenotypically variable tumor subpopulations exhibit higher metastatic potential and display enhanced intra-clonal transcriptomic variability, likely promoted by deregulated spliceosome activity. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11246 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Cell biology  Semi-metallic Be5C2 monolayer global minimum with quasi-planar pentacoordinate carbons and negative Poisson’s ratio OPEN Yu Wang, Feng Li, Yafei Li and Zhongfang Chen There is tremendous research into new materials with interesting topological properties. Here, the authors use density functional theory to design a two dimensional material pseudo-planar material in which each carbon atom is bonded to five beryllium atoms forming a quasi-planar pentacoordinate carbon moiety. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11488 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Physical chemistry  Wnt pathway activation by ADP-ribosylation OPEN Eungi Yang, Ofelia Tacchelly-Benites, Zhenghan Wang, Michael P. Randall, Ai Tian, Hassina Benchabane, Sarah Freemantle, Claudio Pikielny, Nicholas S. Tolwinski, Ethan Lee and Yashi Ahmed Wnt/β-catenin signalling directs several developmental processes and is aberrantly activated in several cancers. Here the authors implicate Tankyrase—previously shown to target the scaffolding protein Axin for proteolysis—in early Wnt signalling by promoting the interaction between Axin and the Wnt co-receptor LRP6. 03 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11430 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  The topography of mutational processes in breast cancer genomes OPEN Sandro Morganella, Ludmil B. Alexandrov, Dominik Glodzik, Xueqing Zou, Helen Davies, Johan Staaf, Anieta M. Sieuwerts, Arie B. Brinkman, Sancha Martin, Manasa Ramakrishna, Adam Butler, Hyung-Yong Kim, Åke Borg, Christos Sotiriou, P. Andrew Futreal, Peter J. Campbell, Paul N. Span, Steven Van Laere, Sunil R. Lakhani, Jorunn E. Eyfjord et al. Mutational signatures provide evidence of the mechanism of action of a given mutagen and are found in cancer cells. Here, using 560 breast cancer genomes, the authors demonstrate that mutational signatures are frequently associated with genomic architecture including nucleosome positioning and replication timing. 02 May 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11383 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  Molecular biology  Clks 1, 2 and 4 prevent chromatin breakage by regulating the Aurora B-dependent abscission checkpoint OPEN Eleni Petsalaki and George Zachos Cells delay completion of cytokinesis when chromatin is trapped at the intercellular bridge. Here, Petsalaki and Zachos report that Cdc-like kinases (Clks) 1, 2 and 4 localize to the midbody and phosphorylate the mitotic kinase Aurora B, imposing the abscission checkpoint to prevent premature abscission and chromatin breakage. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11451 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Functionalization mediates heat transport in graphene nanoflakes OPEN Haoxue Han, Yong Zhang, Nan Wang, Majid Kabiri Samani, Yuxiang Ni, Zainelabideen Y. Mijbil, Michael Edwards, Shiyun Xiong, Kimmo Sääskilahti, Murali Murugesan, Yifeng Fu, Lilei Ye, Hatef Sadeghi, Steven Bailey, Yuriy A. Kosevich, Colin J. Lambert, Johan Liu and Sebastian Volz The high thermal conductivity of graphene is considerably reduced when the two-dimensional material is in contact with a substrate. Here, the authors show that thermal management of a micro heater is improved using graphene-based films covalently bonded by amino-silane molecules to graphene oxide. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11281 Physical Sciences  Applied physics  Materials science  Nanotechnology  Converging flow and anisotropy cause large-scale folding in Greenland's ice sheet OPEN Paul D. Bons, Daniela Jansen, Felicitas Mundel, Catherine C. Bauer, Tobias Binder, Olaf Eisen, Mark W. Jessell, Maria-Gema Llorens, Florian Steinbach, Daniel Steinhage and Ilka Weikusat A range of mechanisms has been proposed for large-scale folding in polar ice sheets. Here, using new three-dimensional reconstructions of such folds in the onset region of the Greenland Petermann Glacier, the authors show that these formed due to flow convergence and the high mechanical anisotropy of ice. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11427 Earth Sciences  Geology and geophysics  Expression of a functional oxygen-labile nitrogenase component in the mitochondrial matrix of aerobically grown yeast OPEN Gema López-Torrejón, Emilio Jiménez-Vicente, José María Buesa, Jose A. Hernandez, Hemant K. Verma and Luis M. Rubio The sensitivity of nitrogenase to oxygen is a major barrier to engineer biological nitrogen fixation into cereal crops by direct nif gene transfer. Here the authors use yeast to show that targeting nitrogenase Fe protein to the mitochondrial matrix overcomes the O2 sensitivity impediment. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11426 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Cell biology  Mode engineering for realistic quantum-enhanced interferometry OPEN Michał Jachura, Radosław Chrapkiewicz, Rafał Demkowicz-Dobrzański, Wojciech Wasilewski and Konrad Banaszek Quantum interferometry suffers from residual distinguishability between input photons. Here, the authors show theoretically and experimentally, in a two-photon measurement, how to overcome this by manipulating additional degrees of freedom. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11411 Physical Sciences  Optical physics  Theoretical physics  RhoA determines lineage fate of mesenchymal stem cells by modulating CTGF–VEGF complex in extracellular matrix OPEN Changjun Li, Gehua Zhen, Yu Chai, Liang Xie, Janet L. Crane, Emily Farber, Charles R. Farber, Xianghang Luo, Peisong Gao, Xu Cao and Mei Wan It is unclear what regulates the fate of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) in arterial repair following injury. Here, the authors show that MSC differentiation following injury is triggered by RhoA which in turn stimulates the release of connective tissue growth factor and vascular endothelial growth factor. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11455 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Ultraflexible organic amplifier with biocompatible gel electrodes OPEN Tsuyoshi Sekitani, Tomoyuki Yokota, Kazunori Kuribara, Martin Kaltenbrunner, Takanori Fukushima, Yusuke Inoue, Masaki Sekino, Takashi Isoyama, Yusuke Abe, Hiroshi Onodera and Takao Someya Flexible electronics promise the opportunity to monitor biological activity via implanted devices. Here, the authors develop a biocompatible conductive carbon nanotube/gel composite and couple it with an ultrathin flexible amplifier, enabling in vivo measurement of epicardial electrocardiogram signals. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11425 Biological Sciences  Materials science  Medicinal chemistry  Asparagine promotes cancer cell proliferation through use as an amino acid exchange factor OPEN Abigail S. Krall, Shili Xu, Thomas G. Graeber, Daniel Braas and Heather R. Christofk Cancer cells have been shown to be dependent upon glutamine for growth. Here, the authors show that intracellular asparagine, a glutamine-derived metabolite, is critical to cancer cell growth and can compensate glutamine deficiency by acting as an amino acid exchange factor. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11457 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Cancer  Molecular biology  Quantum Einstein-de Haas effect OPEN Marc Ganzhorn, Svetlana Klyatskaya, Mario Ruben and Wolfgang Wernsdorfer The Einstein-de Haas effect is a manifestation of the conservation of angular momentum, causing a magnetic object to rotate as its magnetization state is changed. Here, the authors demonstrate this effect at the single spin level for a molecular magnet suspended on a nanomechanical resonator. 29 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11443 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Imaging large-scale cellular activity in spinal cord of freely behaving mice OPEN Kohei J. Sekiguchi, Pavel Shekhtmeyster, Katharina Merten, Alexander Arena, Daniela Cook, Elizabeth Hoffman, Alexander Ngo and Axel Nimmerjahn Imaging cellular activity in mouse spinal cord has been historically difficult. Here the authors develop cellular resolution fluorescence imaging approaches in the spinal cord of behaving mice, and report distinct activity patterns of neurons and astrocytes in response to different sensory inputs. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11450 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Neuroscience  DNMT3B isoforms without catalytic activity stimulate gene body methylation as accessory proteins in somatic cells OPEN Christopher E. Duymich, Jessica Charlet, Xiaojing Yang, Peter A. Jones and Gangning Liang De novo DNA methylation is carried out by DNA methyltransferase DNMT3A/B, although DNMT3B isoforms without active catalytic domains are widely expressed. Here, the authors show that DNMT3B isoforms stimulate gene body methylation and re-methylation independently of the isoforms' catalytic activity. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11453 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Molecular biology  An essential malaria protein defines the architecture of blood-stage and transmission-stage parasites OPEN Sabrina Absalon, Jonathan A. Robbins and Jeffrey D. Dvorin Blood-stage malaria parasites replicate through a specialised type of cell division known as schizogony. Here, Absalon et al. identify a parasite protein that is essential during schizogony for cytokinesis and formation of the inner membrane complex, the structural scaffold of daughter parasites. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11449 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Microbiology  Trapping mammalian protein complexes in viral particles OPEN Sven Eyckerman, Kevin Titeca, Emmy Van Quickelberghe, Eva Cloots, Annick Verhee, Noortje Samyn, Leentje De Ceuninck, Evy Timmerman, Delphine De Sutter, Sam Lievens, Serge Van Calenbergh, Kris Gevaert and Jan Tavernier A large portion of the proteome carries out its cellular function as part of macromolecular complexes. Here the authors describe Virotrap, a novel lysis-free approach for the isolation and identification of biologically relevant protein-protein and small molecule-protein interactions. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11416 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Biotechnology  Polycomb repressive complex 2 structure with inhibitor reveals a mechanism of activation and drug resistance OPEN Alexei Brooun, Ketan S. Gajiwala, Ya-Li Deng, Wei Liu, Ben Bolaños, Patrick Bingham, You-Ai He, Wade Diehl, Nicole Grable, Pei-Pei Kung, Scott Sutton, Karen A. Maegley, Xiu Yu and Al E. Stewart Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) mediates gene silencing through chromatin reorganization by methylation of histone H3 lysine 27 (H3K27). Here, the authors present crystal structures of the inhibitor-bound wild-type and a mutant form of PRC2. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11384 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Molecular biology  Myoscape controls cardiac calcium cycling and contractility via regulation of L-type calcium channel surface expression OPEN Matthias Eden, Benjamin Meder, Mirko Völkers, Montatip Poomvanicha, Katrin Domes, M. Branchereau, P. Marck, Rainer Will, Alexander Bernt, Ashraf Rangrez, Matthias Busch, German Mouse Clinic Consortium, Thure Adler, Dirk H. Busch, Juan Antonio Aguilar-Pimentel, Markus Ollert, Alexander Götz, Holger Schulz, Cornelia Prehn, Jerzy Adamski et al. Heart failure is a major public health issue but due to our poor disease understanding the current therapies are symptomatic. Here the authors identify Myoscape as a novel cardiac protein regulating membrane localization of the L-type calcium channel and heart's contractile force, thus promising new therapeutic avenues for heart failure. 28 April 2016 | doi: 15.13155/ncomms11317 Cell biology  Medical research  Structural basis of oncogenic histone H3K27M inhibition of human polycomb repressive complex 2 OPEN Neil Justin, Ying Zhang, Cataldo Tarricone, Stephen R. Martin, Shuyang Chen, Elizabeth Underwood, Valeria De Marco, Lesley F. Haire, Philip A. Walker, Danny Reinberg, Jon R. Wilson and Steven J. Gamblin Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) silences gene expression through trimethylation of K27 of histone H3 (H3K27Me). Here, the authors report the structure of the human PRC2 complex bound to the oncogenic H3K27M mutant, and suggest a mechanism for its potency in childhood brain cancers. 28 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11316 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Molecular biology  Optical painting and fluorescence activated sorting of single adherent cells labelled with photoswitchable Pdots OPEN Chun-Ting Kuo, Alison M. Thompson, Maria Elena Gallina, Fangmao Ye, Eleanor S. Johnson, Wei Sun, Mengxia Zhao, Jiangbo Yu, I-Che Wu, Bryant Fujimoto, Christopher C. DuFort, Markus A. Carlson, Sunil R. Hingorani, Amy L. Paguirigan, Jerald P. Radich and Daniel T. Chiu Isolation of individual cells from mixed populations is desirable for many biomedical applications. Here the authors use photoswitchable Pdots to allow 'optical painting', where cells of interest are marked based on their visual characteristics, and can then be isolated by fluorescence activated cell sorting. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11468 Biological Sciences  Biotechnology  Exosomal microRNA miR-92a concentration in serum reflects human brown fat activity OPEN Yong Chen, Joschka J. Buyel, Mark J. W. Hanssen, Franziska Siegel, Ruping Pan, Jennifer Naumann, Michael Schell, Anouk van der Lans, Christian Schlein, Holger Froehlich, Joerg Heeren, Kirsi A. Virtanen, Wouter van Marken Lichtenbelt and Alexander Pfeifer Exosomes are RNA-containing lipid vesicles with roles in inter-tissue crosstalk. Here the authors show that exosome release from brown adipocytes is increased upon thermogenic activation, both in vitro and in vivo, and demonstrate that serum levels of exosomal miR-92 reflect brown fat activity in humans. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11420 Biological Sciences  Medical research  Epigenetic profiles signify cell fate plasticity in unipotent spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells OPEN Ying Liu, Eugenia G. Giannopoulou, Duancheng Wen, Ilaria Falciatori, Olivier Elemento, C. David Allis, Shahin Rafii and Marco Seandel Spermatogonial stem cells (SSCs) spontaneously convert to multipotent adult spermatogonial-derived stem cells (MASCs). Here, the authors reveal the dynamics of bivalent histone H3-lysine4 and -lysine27 methylation signatures at somatic gene promoters in SSCs and ESC-like promoter chromatin states in MASCs. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11275 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Molecular biology  Homotypic cell competition regulates proliferation and tiling of zebrafish pigment cells during colour pattern formation OPEN Brigitte Walderich, Ajeet Pratap Singh, Prateek Mahalwar and Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Melanophores, iridophores and xanthophores are pigment-cell types that interact to form the stripes in zebrafish. Here, the authors study the interaction between cells of the same kind and show that each pigment-cell type covers the skin by contact based competition. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11462 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Developmental biology  Sn-doped Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S bulk crystal topological insulator with excellent properties OPEN S. K. Kushwaha, I. Pletikosić, T. Liang, A. Gyenis, S. H. Lapidus, Yao Tian, He Zhao, K. S. Burch, Jingjing Lin, Wudi Wang, Huiwen Ji, A. V. Fedorov, Ali Yazdani, N. P. Ong, T. Valla and R. J. Cava An ideal topological insulator possesses an insulating bulk and a unique conducting surface however such behaviour is typically inhibited by bulk conduction due to defects. Here, the authors show that Sn-doped Bi1.1Sb0.9Te2S grown by the vertical Bridgman technique might overcome this hurdle. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11456 Physical Sciences  Condensed matter  Identification of four novel susceptibility loci for oestrogen receptor negative breast cancer OPEN Fergus J. Couch, Karoline B. Kuchenbaecker, Kyriaki Michailidou, Gustavo A. Mendoza-Fandino, Silje Nord, Janna Lilyquist, Curtis Olswold, Emily Hallberg, Simona Agata, Habibul Ahsan, Kristiina Aittomäki, Christine Ambrosone, Irene L. Andrulis, Hoda Anton-Culver, Volker Arndt, Banu K. Arun, Brita Arver, Monica Barile, Rosa B. Barkardottir, Daniel Barrowdale et al. Oestrogen negative breast cancer is associated with a poor prognosis. In this study, the authors perform a meta-analysis of 11 breast cancer genome-wide association studies and identify four new loci associated with oestrogen negative breast cancer risk. These findings may aid in stratifying patients in the clinic. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11375 Biological Sciences  Cancer  Genetics  A cell cycle kinase with tandem sensory PAS domains integrates cell fate cues OPEN Thomas H. Mann, W. Seth Childers, Jimmy A. Blair, Michael R. Eckart and Lucy Shapiro The membrane-bound kinase CckA controls the activity of the Caulobacter crescentus master regulator CtrA, which in turn coordinates asymmetric cell division. Here, the authors show that CckA contains two sensory domains that have distinct sensitivities to fluctuations in cyclic-di-GMP concentration and subcellular niche. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11454 Biological Sciences  Biochemistry  Developmental biology  Microbiology  NMDA receptors are selectively partitioned into complexes and supercomplexes during synapse maturation OPEN René A. W. Frank, Noboru H. Komiyama, Tomás J. Ryan, Fei Zhu, Thomas J. O’Dell and Seth G. N. Grant NMDARs and MAGUK proteins are capable of forming higher-order protein assemblies, however their organisation in the intact brain is unclear. Here, Frank et al. identify mouse and human supercomplexes and discover their mechanism of assembly using genetic tagging and affinity purification. 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11264 Biological Sciences  Cell biology  Neuroscience    Nature Communications JOBS of the week Postdoctoral Associate University of Minnesota Postdoctoral Research Assistant University of Dundee Assistant Professor University of Chicago Postdoctoral Training Fellow Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) Postdoc German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Project leader positions IECB Research Associate University College London (UCL) Faculty Positions Hunan University Scientist German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ). Postdoctoral Position UT Southwestern Medical Center More Science jobs from Nature Communications EVENT Horizons of Cancer Biology and Therapy Inaugural Symposium 07.09.16 Lausanne, Switzerland More science events from       Latest Corrigendum     Corrigendum: Growth of semiconducting single-wall carbon nanotubes with a narrow band-gap distribution OPEN Feng Zhang, Peng-Xiang Hou, Chang Liu, Bing-Wei Wang, Hua Jiang, Mao-Lin Chen, Dong-Ming Sun, Jin-Cheng Li, Hong-Tao Cong, Esko I. Kauppinen and Hui-Ming Cheng 27 April 2016 | doi: 10.1038/ncomms11563 Chemical Sciences  Materials science  Nanotechnology      Advertisement Nature Reviews Disease Primers is 1 year old! April marks the first year anniversary of Nature Reviews Disease Primers. 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