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Particle physics: A weighty mass difference
The neutron–proton mass difference, one of the most consequential parameters of physics, has now been calculated from fundamental theories. This landmark calculation portends revolutionary progress in nuclear physics.
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Cancer: An extravascular route for tumour cells
Molecular tracing of populations of breast-cancer cells in a primary tumour in mice reveals that two proteins, Serpine2 and Slpi, enable tumour cells to form vascular-like networks, facilitating perfusion and metastasis.
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Structural biology: Pain-sensing TRPA1 channel resolved
The TRPA1 ion channel activates pain pathways in response to noxious compounds. The structure of TRPA1 has now been solved, providing insight into how it functions.
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Ecology: Recovering the potential of coral reefs
An analysis of fish declines in coral reefs shows that simple fishing limits and implementation of marine protected areas can be enough to support recovery of coral ecosystem resilience.
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Crystal structures of the human adiponectin receptors
The crystal structures of the human adiponectin receptors AdipoR1 and AdipoR2 are solved at 2.9 and 2.4 Å resolution, respectively; the structural and functional information may aid the development and optimization of adiponectin receptor agonists for the treatment of obesity-related diseases.
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Structural basis for Na+ transport mechanism by a light-driven Na+ pump
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Structure of the TRPA1 ion channel suggests regulatory mechanisms
The high-resolution electron cryo-microscopy structure of the full-length human TRPA1 ion channel is presented; the structure reveals a unique ankyrin repeat domain arrangement, a tetrameric coiled-coil in the centre of the channel that acts as a binding site for inositol hexakisphosphate, an outer poor domain with two pore helices, and a new drug binding site, findings that collectively provide mechanistic insight into TRPA1 regulation.
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eIF3 targets cell-proliferation messenger RNAs for translational activation or repression
Eukaryotic initiation factor 3 (eIF3)—the deregulation of which has been linked with diverse cancers—is shown to bind to and direct the specialized translation of a subset of messenger RNAs, primarily involved in cell proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis, and can exert either translational activation or repression.
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Diverse coupling of neurons to populations in sensory cortex
Exploring the relationship between population coupling and neuronal
activity reveals that neighbouring neurons can differ in their coupling to the overall
firing rate of the population, the circuitry of which may potentially help to explain
the complex activity patterns in cortical populations.
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Niche-induced cell death and epithelial phagocytosis regulate hair follicle stem cell pool
Mouse hair follicles in the skin cycle between growth and regression, while maintaining a pool of stem cells for continued regeneration; here, live imaging is used to show that a combination of niche-induced stem cell apoptosis and epithelial phagocytosis underlies regression, regulating the stem cell pool.
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An ultrafast rechargeable aluminium-ion battery
An aluminium-ion battery is reported that can charge within one minute, and offers improved cycle life compared to previous devices; it operates through the electrochemical deposition and dissolution of aluminium at the anode, and the intercalation/de-intercalation of chloroaluminate anions into a novel graphitic-foam cathode.
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Tungsten isotopic evidence for disproportional late accretion to the Earth and Moon
Examination of three lunar samples reveals that the Moon’s mantle has an excess of the tungsten isotope 182W of about 20 parts per million relative to the present-day Earth’s mantle; this suggests that the two bodies had identical compositions immediately following the formation of the Moon, and that the compositions then diverged as a result of disproportional late accretion of chondritic material to the Earth and Moon.
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Recovery potential of the world's coral reef fishes
A study of the recovery potential of over 800 of the world's coral reefs shows that 83% of fished reefs are missing more than half their expected biomass, with severe consequences for key ecosystem functions; protection from fishing would allow full recovery in 35 years on average, but in 59 years for the most degraded reefs.
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Lunar tungsten isotopic evidence for the late veneer
Precise measurements of the tungsten isotopic composition of lunar rocks show that the Moon exhibits a well-resolved excess of 182W of about 27 parts per million over the present-day Earth’s mantle: this excess is consistent with the expected 182W difference resulting from a late veneer with a total mass and composition inferred from previously measured highly siderophile elements.
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SHMT2 drives glioma cell survival in ischaemia but imposes a dependence on glycine clearance
Tumours are a low-oxygen environment, in this study glioblastoma cells are found to overexpress the serine hydroxymethyltransferase SHMT2; SHMT acts to reduce oxygen consumption, which confers the tumour cells with a survival advantage.
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A model of breast cancer heterogeneity reveals vascular mimicry as a driver of metastasis
Different clones of a mammary tumour cell line possess differential abilities to contribute to the formation of metastasis; the expression of Serpine2 and Slp1 proteins drives vascular mimicry and metastasis to the lung, with similar associations observed in human data sets, and these proteins also function as anticoagulants, thus further promoting extravasation of tumour cells.
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Viraemia suppressed in HIV-1-infected humans by broadly neutralizing antibody 3BNC117
A phase I study of passive immunization with a CD4 binding-site-directed broadly neutralizing antibody shows that it transiently reduces HIV-1 viral loads in humans.
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Single-dose attenuated Vesiculovax vaccines protect primates against Ebola Makona virus
Two second-generation attenuated Ebola virus vaccines based on recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus protect macaques against infection with a recent Ebola virus isolate from Guinea.The N1 and N4 rVSV vectors described in this manuscript are the subject of patents licensed to Profectus BioSciences, Inc. Opinions, interpretations, conclusions, and recommendations are those of the authors and are not necessarily endorsed by the University of Texas Medical Branch.
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Climate change and the permafrost carbon feedback
A large amount of organic carbon stored in frozen Arctic soils (permafrost) could be released as carbon dioxide and methane in a warming climate, which would accelerate the pace of climate change; this review suggests that release of greenhouse gas emissions will be gradual but prolonged.
E. A. G. Schuur, A. D. McGuire, C. Schädel et al. |
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In vivo genome editing using Staphylococcus aureus Cas9
The physical size of the commonly used Cas9 from Streptococcus pyogenes poses challenges for CRISPR-Cas genome editing systems that use the adeno-associated virus as a delivery vehicle; here, smaller Cas9 orthologues are characterized, and Cas9 from Staphylococcus aureus allowed targeting of the cholesterol regulatory gene Pcsk9 in the mouse liver.
F. Ann Ran, Le Cong, Winston X. Yan et al. |
Branch-specific dendritic Ca2+ spikes cause persistent synaptic plasticity
Ca2+ spikes are generated on different dendritic branches in the primary motor cortex of mice performing different motor learning tasks, causing long-lasting potentiation of postsynaptic dendritic spines; inactivation of a population of interneurons disrupts the spatial separation of Ca2+ spikes and persistent dendritic spine potentiation, suggesting that the generation of Ca2+ spikes on different dendritic branches is crucial for storing information in individual neurons.
Joseph Cichon, Wen-Biao Gan |
Fatty acid carbon is essential for dNTP synthesis in endothelial cells
This study identifies a crucial role for fatty acid oxidation (FAO) in endothelial cells during angiogenesis, and reveals that fatty-acid-derived carbons are used for the de novo synthesis of nucleotides, and hence FAO stimulates vessel sprouting by increasing endothelial cell proliferation.
Sandra Schoors, Ulrike Bruning, Rindert Missiaen et al. |
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Distinct relationships of parietal and prefrontal cortices to evidence accumulation
A method to measure the precise relationship between neuronal firing rates and the representation of accumulated evidence is described; results in the parietal and prefrontal cortex of rats, together with transient optogenetic inactivation of the prefrontal cortex, challenge the prevailing view that the prefrontal cortex is part of the neural circuit for accumulating evidence, and suggest that neurons in parietal and prefrontal areas have distinct relationships to evidence accumulation in decision-making.
Timothy D. Hanks, Charles D. Kopec, Bingni W. Brunton et al. |
The comet-like composition of a protoplanetary disk as revealed by complex cyanides
The detection of complex cyanides in the protoplanetary disk around the young star MWC 480, and the similarity of their abundance ratios to those found in comets, implies that the rich organic chemistry of our solar nebula was not unique.
Karin I. Öberg, Viviana V. Guzmán, Kenji Furuya et al. |
Measurement of the first ionization potential of lawrencium, element 103
Lawrencium, with atomic number 103, has an isotope with a half-life of 27 seconds; even so, its first ionization potential has now been measured on an atom-at-a-time scale and agrees well with state-of-the-art theoretical calculations that include relativistic effects.
T. K. Sato, M. Asai, A. Borschevsky et al. |
A primordial origin for the compositional similarity between the Earth and the Moon
The Moon is thought to have formed mainly from a giant impactor striking the Earth but it has seemed odd that the Earth and its impactor (and hence the Moon) had such similar compositions; here simulations of planetary accretion show that although the different planets have distinct compositions, the composition of each giant impactor is indeed often very similar to that of the planet it strikes.
Alessandra Mastrobuono-Battisti, Hagai B. Perets, Sean N. Raymond |
Levantine cranium from Manot Cave (Israel) foreshadows the first European modern humans
A partial skull from northern Israel dated to be from around 55,000 years ago sheds light on a crucial but little-known period of prehistory: the spread of anatomically modern humans from Africa.
Israel Hershkovitz, Ofer Marder, Avner Ayalon et al. |
The maternal-age-associated risk of congenital heart disease is modifiable
Increased maternal age is known to increase the risk of congenital heart disease in offspring; here, this link is investigated by transplanting ovaries between young and old mice, revealing that the maternal-age-associated risk is independent of the age of the ovaries but depends on the age of the mother, and that this risk can be mitigated by maternal genetic background or exercise.
Claire E. Schulkey, Suk D. Regmi, Rachel A. Magnan et al. |
Repeated ER–endosome contacts promote endosome translocation and neurite outgrowth
Repeated contacts between the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and a subset of endosomes called late endosomes (LEs) is shown to promote microtubule-dependent translocation of LEs to the cell periphery and their subsequent fusion with the plasma membrane to induce outgrowth of neuronal protrusions.
Camilla Raiborg, Eva M. Wenzel, Nina M. Pedersen et al. |
The Paf1 complex represses small-RNA-mediated epigenetic gene silencing
The fission yeast is shown to have a mechanism to prevent small RNAs from inducing heterochromatin and epigenetic gene silencing; this protective model involves the highly conserved Paf1 complex, which is known to promote transcription and processing of pre-mRNA, and protects protein-coding genes from unwanted silencing by spurious transcripts.
Katarzyna Maria Kowalik, Yukiko Shimada, Valentin Flury et al. |
Saturn’s fast spin determined from its gravitational field and oblateness
Saturn’s rotation period is difficult to determine directly; here an optimization approach using its gravitational field yields a value of 10 h 32 min 45 s ± 46 s.
Ravit Helled, Eli Galanti, Yohai Kaspi |
Four-wave mixing experiments with extreme ultraviolet transient gratings
Four-wave mixing processes are achieved at suboptical wavelengths by using a free-electron laser as a source to generate extreme ultraviolet pulses that produce transient gratings.
F. Bencivenga, R. Cucini, F. Capotondi et al. |
Common genetic variants influence human subcortical brain structures
Genome-wide association studies are used to identify common genetic variants that affect the structure of selected subcortical regions of the human brain; their identification provides insight into the causes of variability in brain development and may help to determine mechanisms of neuropsychiatric dysfunction.
Derrek P. Hibar, Jason L. Stein, Miguel E. Renteria et al. |
Genomic profiling of DNA methyltransferases reveals a role for DNMT3B in genic methylation
Genome-wide localization and activity analysis of the de novo DNA methyltransferases DNMT3A and DNMT3B in mouse embryonic stem cells identifies overlapping and individual targeting preferences to the genome, including a role for DNMT3B in gene body methylation.
Tuncay Baubec, Daniele F. Colombo, Christiane Wirbelauer et al. |
EZH2 inhibition sensitizes BRG1 and EGFR mutant lung tumours to TopoII inhibitors
A subset of lung cancer cells with EGFR or BRG1 mutations shows selective sensitivity to a combination of EZH2 inhibitors with topoisomerase II inhibitors such as the commonly used chemotherapeutic drug etoposide.
Christine M. Fillmore, Chunxiao Xu, Pooja T. Desai et al. |
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