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 In the Virgo galaxy cluster, we identified a continuum of objects that maps the morphological transition between nucleated dwarf galaxies and ultra-compact dwarf galaxies (UCDs), providing evidence for the formation of UCDs through tidal stripping of ancient dwarf galaxies.

Mesenchymal stem cells derived from dental pulp (DP-MSCs) differ in oncogenesic and developmental potential compared to those from bone marrow. Here, the authors show that decreased DNA methylation and histone H3K9Me2 enrichment along with higher PTEN activation in DP-MSCs promotes osteogenesis and reduces oncogenesis.

The results obtained by seventy different teams analysing the same functional magnetic resonance imaging dataset show substantial variation, highlighting the influence of analytical choices and the importance of sharing workflows publicly and performing multiple analyses.

A study of genetic associations identifies 46 new loci associated with alcohol consumption. By assessing their function and potential pleiotropy, the authors suggest genetic mechanisms that are shared with neuropsychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia.

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) expression is increased in white adipose tissue and liver of obese and diabetic mice, Nnmt knockdown protects against diet-induced obesity by altering the availability of adipose S-adenosylmethionine and NAD⁺, rendering Nnmt a novel target for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes.

The determination of skin temperature is an important factor to consider in medical and physiological research. Here, the authors fabricate a thermochromic liquid crystal sensor for the determination of skin temperature and thermal properties.

Cryogenic electron microscopy analyses reveal a new, compact structure of telomeric chromatin, providing mechanistic insight into telomere maintenance and function.

Hydrous conditions extend across the 660 km discontinuity between Earth’s mantle transition zone and lower mantle, according to analysis of a polyphase mineral inclusion in a gem diamond from the Karowe mine, Botswana

The Microarray Quality Control consortium pitted 36 teams against each other to evaluate methods for creating genomic classifiers, computational tools for interpreting gene expression profiles. The performance of the classifiers on blinded validation data—and metadata on the analytic methods—reveal the challenges facing the field.

Girdhar et al. constructed chromosomal domains from prefrontal histone acetylation and methylation maps and discovered, in a large cohort of schizophrenia and bipolar brains, converging alignment by genetic risk, neuronal function and three-dimensional genomics.

Phase boundary engineering through chemical alloying and phase control is a traditional approach to enhancing piezoelectric properties. Here, the authors design a strategy in alkali niobate films, utilizing alkali vacancies without alloying to form nanopillars enclosed.

The Sequencing Quality Control (SEQC) consortium shows that junction discovery and differential gene expression profiling with RNA-seq can be robust but transcript-level and absolute measurements remain challenging.

The molecular basis of the basal tone generated by internal anal sphincters (IAS) is largely unknown. Here, the authors show that the tone arises from a global rise in intracellular Ca²⁺ in smooth muscle cells via a Ryanodine receptor-TMEM16A-L-type Ca²⁺channel-MLC kinase pathway, suggesting a potential therapy for IAS motility disorders.

Crystal structures of the ABC transporter MsbA in complex with two selective small-molecule antagonists reveal an unprecedented allosteric mechanism of inhibition.

Controlling the dispersion of femtosecond light pulses remains a key challenge for their application. Here, the authors report dispersion-engineered transmissive nanocoatings for ultrashort laser pulse compression in the vis-NIR spectral region.

Including participants from 45 countries, Bago et al. find that the situational factors that affect moral reasoning are shared across countries, with diminished observed cultural variation.

The transcription factor Foxp3 is essential for the function of regulatory T cells (T_reg cells). Rudensky and colleagues show binding of Foxp3 poises target genes for repression and, after activation of T_reg cells, recruits the histone methyltransferase Ezh2.

Tan et al. use a multiplex screening method to systematically evaluate ∼500,000 drug pairs assembled from a collection of 1,000 FDA-approved or clinically tested compounds, and identify drugs that synergize to inhibit HIV replication.

Genomic imprinting — the monoallelic expression of genes based on their parent of origin — may have evolved due to an intragenomic conflict between maternal and paternal genomes within an individual, with differential interests regarding the level of parental caregiving. Here, the authors review the influence of genomic imprinting on parenting behaviour in mammals, with a focus on studies in mice.

Brillouin scattering microscopy is prone to artefacts and inconsistencies. This Consensus statement provides recommendations for measuring and reporting relevant parameters with the aim of standardizing protocols and improving the comparability of studies.

Using the lifespan brain chart and two large-scale cross-cultural consortia (ABIDE and CABIC), we disentangle the heterogeneity of brain morphology in ASD into two structural impairment pathways that could disrupt sensory to association functions.

A new color vision optomotor response assay was evaluated for assessing red cone ablation in transgenic zebrafish. The results suggest that the assay can be useful for evaluating visual function and color vision in zebrafish with visual disorders.

Time of reproduction may be altered as the climate changes. For seabirds, it is shown that there has not been an adjustment in timing as the climate changes and the sea surface warms. This lack of plasticity could result in a mismatch with food resources.

Combined analysis of proton-proton collision data from the Large Hadron Collider at CERN by the CMS and LHCb collaborations leads to the observation of the extremely rare decay of the strange B meson into muons; the result is compatible with the standard model of particle physics, and does not show any signs of new physics, such as supersymmetry.

MitoNEET is an iron-sulfur protein found in the outer mitochondrial membrane and implicated in several metabolic disorders. Here the crystal structure of mitoNEET with a bound sulfonamide ligand is reported and used to design new mitoNEET ligands.

We introduce a major scientific endeavour called π-HuB (proteomic navigator of the human body), its aim being to generate and harness multimodality proteomic datasets to enhance our understanding of human biology.

H3K36me2 targets DNMT3A to intergenic regions and this process, together with H3K36me3-mediated recruitment of DNMT3B, has a key role in establishing and maintaining genomic DNA methylation landscapes.

Li et al. identify the top-performing methods to improve cross-site differential gene expression analysis with RNA-seq.

Super enhancers regulate oncogenes and other molecular targets in ependymomas, and identification of these genes provides potential therapeutic targets.

Swapan Nath, Sang-Cheol Bae and colleagues report the results of a large-scale association study of systemic lupus erythematosus in individuals of Asian ancestry. They identify several new susceptibility loci and find enrichment for signals near genes implicated in B cell and T cell function.

The Gossypium genus is used to investigate emergent consequences of polyploidy in cotton species; comparative genomic analyses reveal a complex evolutionary history including interactions among subgenomes that result in genetic novelty in elite cottons and provide insight into the evolution of spinnable fibres.

Two small-molecule disruptors of the glucokinase–glucokinase-regulatory-protein complex, AMG-1694 and AMG-3969, are identified that decrease blood glucose levels in various models of hyperglycaemic rodents.