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Mars likely evolved from a warmer, wetter early state to the cold, arid current climate, but this evolution is not reflected in recent observations and measurements. Here, the authors derive quantitative constraints on the atmospheric pressure through time, identifying a mechanism that explains the carbon data.

A 4.8σ exomoon candidate is found around gas giant Kepler-1708 b, which orbits at 1.6 au around its star. It is the only candidate from a dedicated survey that analysed 70 cool giant exoplanets discovered by Kepler. Kepler-1708 b-i has a radius of 2.6 Earth radii and orbits its planet at 12 planetary radii.

The authors measure numerous ecosystem functions across an elevational gradient on Mt Kilimanjaro and find that species richness impacts function more than species turnover across sites. They also show that variation in species richness impacts ecosystem functioning more strongly at the landscape scale than at the local scale.

Active somatosensory perception requires the integration of signals arising from both external stimuli and motor activity. The authors found a population of neurons in rat somatosensory cortex that responded to touch only when contact occurred at a specific phase in the whisk cycle, providing information about the position of the object relative to the rat's face.

Understanding mechanisms of cardiac remodeling, with the goal of developing therapies to stop or reverse its progression, has become a major objective for investigators of heart failure. In this Review, Dr Koitabashi and Professor Kass discuss the evidence for 'reverse remodeling' by existing therapies, and review novel approaches that are currently moving from preclinical to clinical trials.

During the last Ebola virus outbreak in West Africa, a large amount of viral genomic data was obtained. Here, Dellicour et al. use phylodynamic approaches to assess effect of intervention strategies such as border closures.

A phylogenetic tree of 5,284 fungal species is used to infer patterns of extinction, diversification and morphological innovation in mushroom-forming fungi.

Patients with the Long QT Syndrome type 2 have abnormal cardiac electrical activity, which is diagnosed by an electrocardiogram (ECG) that shows a prolonged QT interval and a notched T wave. Here the authors uncover the origins of this signature ECG phenotype by using a multi-scale cardiac modelling.

Numerous drugs have been invented to counteract heart failure, but some have not lived up to their initial promise. As David Kass explains, the development of drugs to increase cardiac contractility has been particularly frustrating—but failure is also leading to new biological insights and new experimental approaches. Mark Anderson and Peter Mohler explore new ways of targeting calcium-mediated signaling in the heart—with a focus on combating heart failure by targeting 'local' forms of signaling in heart muscle.

Youssef et al. study epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) programs in breast cancer and identify two interdependent trajectories coexisting within tumors, with EMT transcription factors such as PRRX1 at their nexus.

Carboxyl terminus of Hsc70-interacting protein (CHIP) is proteostasis regulator. Here the authors show that CHIP-mediated protein turnover is enhanced by PKG-mediated phosphorylation, which results in attenuated cardiac ischemic proteotoxicity.

The inhibition, in mice, of the phosphodiesterase PDE9A, which specifically regulates natriuretic-peptide-coupled cGMP signalling, is independent of nitric oxide and is upregulated in failing human hearts, and can reverse pre-established stress-induced heart disease.

In this study the authors identify a possible link between the gene FAM222A and brain atrophy. The protein it encodes is found to accumulate in plaques seen in Alzheimer’s disease, and functional analysis suggests it interacts with amyloid-beta.

This study presents a global map of predicted insect mitochondrial genetic diversity from cytochrome c oxidase subunit 1 sequences. From over 2 million mtDNA sequences, they find a negative quadratic latitudinal gradient in genetic diversity evenness, peaking in the subtropics and correlating with hot, stable environments.

X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, structural modelling, biochemistry, cell biology, and evolutionary analysis enable characterization of ORF2p, the reverse transcriptase of the ancient ‘parasitic’ LINE-1 retrotransposon that has written around one-third of the human genome.

Neuroinflammation is observed in Alzheimer’s disease. Here the authors show that 15 proteins related to inflammation found in CSF can potentially be used as a prognostic biomarker.

Hypertrophy of heart cells stimulated by pathological stress from cardiovascular disease increases the risk of morbidity and mortality, and inhibition of such hypertrophy is attracting increasing attention as a therapeutic strategy. McKinsey and Kass provide a comprehensive summary of small-molecule inhibitors of cardiac hypertrophy and intracellular signalling pathways that offer further promising therapeutic targets.

Cardiomyocyte maturation and the acquisition of phenotypes is poorly understood at the single cell level. Here, the authors analyse the transcriptome of single cells from neonatal to adult heart and reveal that peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor coactivator-1 mediates the phenotypic shift.

Therapeutic interference with the immune response after myocardial infarction holds the potential to close a clinically relevant gap. Here, the authors show that inhibition of a cardiomyocyte-specific ADAM10 / CX3CL1 axis improves post infarction survival and cardiac function by attenuating neutrophil-mediated myocardial damage.

Boyer et al. created genetic mouse models of muscular dystrophy in which satellite cells were selectively depleted. The depletion of satellite cells at select times was protective. Myofibers no longer had plasma membrane instability leading to tissue wasting in the muscular dystrophies.

The molecular and cellular causes of glaucoma are not well understood. Here, the authors integrate GWAS with genetic regulation and single cell expression from multiple eye tissues to identify genes and key cell types that affect glaucoma pathogenesis.

Gq proteins are one of four major classes of G proteins; optogenetic receptors for selective and repetitive activation of Gq proteins with fast kinetics are lacking. Here the authors report UV light-dependent Gq signalling using human Neuropsin (hOPN5) and demonstrate its potential as an optogenetic tool.

iNOS-driven dysregulation of the IRE1α–XBP1 pathway leads to cardiomyocyte dysfunction in mice and recapitulates the systemic and cardiovascular features of human heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.

Heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF) affects half of all patients with heart failure worldwide. In this Review, Mishra and Kass and provide a roadmap of the signalling pathways and mechanisms of HFpEF that are being characterized and which might lead to more patient-specific therapies and improved clinical outcomes.

Nine years ago, the compound kynurenine was reported to be responsible for the dilation of blood vessels during a potentially fatal inflammatory condition. New evidence has now identified the true culprit.

Although heart failure with preserved ejection fraction has a normal-looking contraction, under an electron microscope the muscle looks abnormal, with disrupted contracting proteins and mitochondria and excess fat, particularly in the most obese patients.

Wong et al. identify Slc6a2 as a marker of pulmonary venous endothelial cells and demonstrate that these cells differentiate into capillary endothelial cells during vascular regeneration after lung injury.