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Ageing: Tools to
eliminate senescent cells
Ageing and many
diseases are partly driven by the accumulation of
damaged cells that no longer divide. It emerges that
these senescent cells can be eradicated in mice using a
drug that interferes with the activity of the protein
FOXO4. |
Cancer: Tumours build
their niche
It emerges that
tumour cells can give rise to non-dividing cells that
form part of the supporting microenvironment known as
the niche. These niche cells secrete proteins that drive
tumour growth and progression. |
Selectivity
determinants of GPCR–G-protein binding
The
identification of the positions and patterns of amino
acids that form the selectivity determinants for the
entire human G-protein and G-protein-coupled receptor
signalling system. |
Endothelial TLR4 and
the microbiome drive cerebral cavernous
malformations
Lipopolysaccharide
derived from gut bacteria can accelerate the formation
of cerebral cavernous malformations by activating TLR4
on endothelial cells, and polymorphisms that increase
expression of the genes encoding TLR4 or its co-receptor
CD14 are associated with higher CCM lesion burden in
humans. |
Discovery of
nitrate–CPK–NLP signalling in central nutrient–growth
networks
In response to
nitrate, Ca2+-sensor protein kinases
(CPKs) act as master regulators to coordinate downstream
signalling responses that are essential for shoot growth
and root establishment in
Arabidopsis. |
Predictive compound
accumulation rules yield a broad-spectrum
antibiotic
The authors use
computational modelling and a set of chemically
synthesized compounds to define the physicochemical
properties required for small-molecule accumulation in
Gram-negative bacteria. |
| Common genetic
variation drives molecular heterogeneity in human
iPSCs |
Continental crust
formation on early Earth controlled by intrusive
magmatism
Modelling of two
modes of continental crust formation suggests that
before plate tectonics began operating, the Archean
early Earth’s tectonic regime was governed by intrusive
magmatism. |
Intratumoural
heterogeneity generated by Notch signalling promotes
small-cell lung cancer
In a mouse model
of small-cell lung cancer and in human tumours,
activation of the Notch pathway can lead to a cell fate
switch of neuroendocrine cells to less proliferative
non-neuroendocrine cells, generating intratumoural
heterogeneity. |
A rhodopsin in the
brain functions in circadian photoentrainment in
Drosophila
The
Drosophila rhodopsin Rh7 works with cryptochrome
to mediate circadian light entrainment by pacemaker
neurons. |
A Wnt-producing niche
drives proliferative potential and progression in lung
adenocarcinoma
A subset of Kras
and p53 mutant cancer cells acts as a Wnt-producing
niche for another cancer cell subset, and porcupine
inhibition disrupts Wnt secretion in this niche, thereby
suppressing proliferative potential and leading to
therapeutic benefit. |
TRAF2 and OTUD7B
govern a ubiquitin-dependent switch that regulates
mTORC2 signalling
Ubiquitination
of the GβL subunit, a component of both mTORC1 and
mTORC2, acts as a regulatory switching mechanism to
balance levels of mTORC1 and mTORC2; the failure of this
mechanism in some cancers leads to elevated mTORC2
formation and tumorigenesis. |
Whole-brain
serial-section electron microscopy in larval
zebrafish
A complete
larval zebrafish brain is examined and its myelinated
axons reconstructed using serial-section electron
microscopy, revealing remarkable symmetry and providing
a valuable resource. |
| Corrigendum: The
genome of Chenopodium quinoa |
| Corrigendum: Earth’s
first stable continents did not form by
subduction | |
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npj Climate and Atmospheric
Science: open for submissions
An open access, online-only journal
providing researchers, policy makers and the
public with the latest research on weather and
climate, publishing high-quality papers that
focus on topics including climate dynamics,
climate variability, weather and climate
prediction, climate change, weather extremes,
atmospheric composition including aerosols, the
hydrological cycle and atmosphere-ocean
interactions.
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Asia’s glaciers are a
regionally important buffer against drought
Glaciers in the
high mountains of Asia provide a uniquely
drought-resilient source of water, supplying summer
meltwater sufficient for the basic needs of 136 million
people.
Hamish
D. Pritchard |
Visualization and
targeting of LGR5+ human colon cancer stem
cells
LGR5+
cells in human colorectal cancer tissue xenografted into
mice act as cancer stem cells, and differentiated cancer
cells can revert to cancer stem cells and express LGR5
after ablation of existing LGR5+
cells.
Mariko
Shimokawa, Yuki Ohta, Shingo Nishikori et
al. |
Whole-genome
landscapes of major melanoma subtypes
The
first large, high-coverage whole-genome sequencing study
of melanomas from cutaneous, acral and mucosal
sites.
Nicholas
K. Hayward, James S. Wilmott, Nicola Waddell et
al. |
Maintenance of
persistent activity in a frontal thalamocortical
loop
Thalamic neurons
show selective persistent activity that predicts
movement direction, and their photoinhibition decreases
activity in the anterior lateral motor cortex, and vice
versa, suggesting that persistent activity requires
reciprocal excitation in a thalamocortical
loop.
Zengcai
V. Guo, Hidehiko K. Inagaki, Kayvon Daie et
al. |
Protein–phospholipid
interplay revealed with crystals of a calcium
pump
Solvent contrast
modulation reveals how the lipid bilayer actively
participates in the conformational switches of
Ca2+-ATPase through the actions of
tryptophan, arginine and lysine residues, which function
as membrane floats and anchors.
Yoshiyuki
Norimatsu, Kazuya Hasegawa, Nobutaka Shimizu et
al. | |
Multi-phase volcanic
resurfacing at Loki Patera on Io
Interferometric
telescope observations of the Jovian moon Io reveal that
the floor of the Loki Patera volcano has been resurfaced
in two waves, with different starting times and
velocities.
K.
de Kleer, M. Skrutskie, J. Leisenring et
al. |
Preparation and
coherent manipulation of pure quantum states of a single
molecular ion
By exploiting a
co-trapped Ca+ ion, a single CaH+
ion is prepared in pure quantum states, which are
coherently manipulated, using a protocol that could
easily be extended to other molecular ion
species.
Chin-wen
Chou, Christoph Kurz, David B. Hume et
al. |
The effect of
illumination on the formation of metal halide perovskite
films
Films of metal
halide perovskite are used as the absorber material in
solar cells, and light irradiation during their
formation is shown to affect their crystallization,
morphology and photovoltaic performance.
Amita
Ummadisingu, Ludmilla Steier, Ji-Youn Seo et
al. |
Decarboxylative
alkenylation
Starting with
alkyl carboxylic acids, a simple olefin synthesis using
any substitution pattern or geometry, based on
amide-bond synthesis with nickel- or iron-based
catalysis, is described.
Jacob
T. Edwards, Rohan R. Merchant, Kyle S. McClymont et
al. |
Thalamic amplification
of cortical connectivity sustains attentional
control
The mediodorsal
nucleus of the thalamus amplifies the functional
connectivity of the prefrontal cortex, thereby
sustaining cortical representations of rule sets without
relaying categorical information.
L.
Ian Schmitt, Ralf D. Wimmer, Miho Nakajima et
al. |
FGF-dependent
metabolic control of vascular development
Fibroblast
growth factor receptor (FGFR) signalling is a crucial
regulator of endothelial metabolism and vascular
development.
Pengchun
Yu, Kerstin Wilhelm, Alexandre Dubrac et
al. |
Human pluripotent stem
cells recurrently acquire and expand dominant negative
P53 mutations
The authors
surveyed whole-exome and RNA-sequencing data from 252
unique pluripotent stem cell lines, some of which are in
the pipeline for clinical use, and found that
approximately 5% of cell lines had acquired mutations in
the TP53 gene that allow mutant cells to rapidly
outcompete non-mutant cells, but do not prevent
differentiation.
Florian
T. Merkle, Sulagna Ghosh, Nolan Kamitaki et
al. |
Surrogate Wnt agonists
that phenocopy canonical Wnt and β-catenin
signalling
The authors
describe water-soluble surrogate Wnt agonists, with
specificity towards some frizzled (FZD) receptors, which
can maintain human intestinal organoid cultures and have
effects on the mouse liver in
vivo.
Claudia
Y. Janda, Luke T. Dang, Changjiang You et
al. |
Non-equivalence of Wnt
and R-spondin ligands during Lgr5+ intestinal
stem-cell self-renewal
R-spondin and
Wnt ligand families act non-redundantly and
cooperatively within the same molecular pathway in the
intestinal stem-cell niche to maintain stem-cell
competency and drive stem-cell
expansion.
Kelley
S. Yan, Claudia Y. Janda, Junlei Chang et
al. |
Dominant protection
from HLA-linked autoimmunity by antigen-specific
regulatory T cells
The molecular
mechanism of Goodpasture disease is modelled to
mechanistically determine how a human leukocyte antigen
(HLA) allele can exert its dominant protective effect in
autoimmune disease.
Joshua
D. Ooi, Jan Petersen, Yu H. Tan et
al. |
Core Mediator
structure at 3.4 Å extends model of transcription
initiation complex
The 3.4 Å
crystal structure of the 15-subunit core Mediator
complex in yeast.
Kayo
Nozawa, Thomas R. Schneider, Patrick
Cramer | |
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