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Ziveri et al find calcifying phytoplankton dominate pelagic CaCO₃ production, but a large portion of this CaCO₃ dissolves in the photic zone - they suggest the processes driving shallow CaCO₃ dissolution are key to understanding the role of planktonic calcifiers in regulating atmospheric CO₂.

The gut bacterium Clostridium sporogenes uses reductive Stickland reactions for energy and consequently produces metabolites that circulate in the host.

The biosynthetic pathway for the phosphonate natural product dehydrofosmidomycin differs from that of the related compound FR-900098, involving rearrangement of a two-carbon phosphonate precursor catalyzed by a 2-oxoglutarate-dependent dioxygenase.

Recent studies of the early secretory pathway have analysed cargo selection and transport-carrier formation by components of the endoplasmic-reticulum-associated coat protein complex-II (COPII). Results are indicative of a unifying model of cage and coat function in vesicle and tubule formation as well as fission in endomembrane traffic.

The trafficking defect associated with the cystic fibrosis disease-linked allele of the CFTR chloride channel is alleviated by inhibitors of histone deacetylases, suggesting that altering the transcription of genes associated with protein misfolding can ameliorate disease.

Pei et al. applied Gaussian process-based machine learning to capture dynamic spatial covariance relationships managed by proteostasis to mediate cooperative folding on a residue basis as a standard model for precision disease management.

How epigenetics coordinate with genetics to impact protein fitness is unknown. Here, using a Variation Spatial Profiling strategy and machine learning, the authors map HDAC impact on a full set of Niemann pick C1 disease variants to quantitate an unanticipated plasticity in central dogma.

Low-k dielectric materials are essential to allow continued electronics miniaturization, but their low thermal conductivity limits performance. Here, two-dimensional covalent organic frameworks are shown to combine high thermal conductivity with a low dielectric constant.

Protein folding is a high-stakes process, with cell dysfunction and death being the unforgiving penalties for failure. Work in bacteria hints that organisms manage this process beyond the boundaries of the cytoplasm — and even the cell.

A new deep proteomic analysis method is used to identify proteins that interact with wild-type cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) and its mutant version that is the major cause of cystic fibrosis.

A pathway for the production of aromatic amino acid metabolites in Clostridium sporogenes is described; modulation of serum levels of these metabolites in gnotobiotic mice affects intestinal permeability and systemic immunity.

Randomised controlled experiments are the gold standard for scientific inference, but environmental and social scientists often rely on different study designs. Here the authors analyse the use of six common study designs in the fields of biodiversity conservation and social intervention, and quantify the biases in their estimates.

New, bioactive marine sponge compounds that function as inhibitors of the poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase family of proteins have now been identified to promote the correction of cystic fibrosis. Poly (ADP-ribose) polymerase inhibitors may be managers of proteostasis biology, consistent with their role (or roles) in remediation of inflammatory states.

The F508 deletion (F508del) in the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) is the most common CF causing mutation. Here the authors show that cytosolic chaperones shift the F508del channel conformation to the native fold by kinetic and thermodynamic remodelling of the gating energetics towards that of wild-type CTFR.

Screens of large compound libraries identify new small–molecule proteostasis regulators that, by enhancing the activity of the heat shock response factor HSF–1 and by activating other components of the proteostasis network, such as the antioxidant response or the unfolded protein response pathways, restore protein folding in multiple models of protein conformational diseases.

GWAS have enhanced our understanding for the genetic basis of breast cancer, but the majority of them were performed for European ancestry populations. Here, the authors use a cross-ancestry approach and report seven new variants associated with breast cancer risk among women of African ancestry.

All three domains of life – Bacteria, Archaea and Eukarya – have a proteostasis network that modulates protein folding in response to changes in the environment and to genetic variation. This proteostasis network has co-evolved with the proteome and is thought to play a part in driving evolution.

Cytoplasmic compartments containing misfolded proteins targeted for degradation, named Q-bodies, have been identified. Q-body formation is a dynamic process that actively manages the metastable state of the protein fold through small heat shock proteins and the Hsp70–Hsp90–Hsp110 proteostasis system to promote cellular fitness under both physiological and stress conditions.

The authors found that, across tissues and in multiple datasets, aging is accompanied by a length-associated transcriptome imbalance. In most cases, a decrease in the relative abundance of long transcripts was observed and could be reversed by interventions targeting aging.

Some of the proteins that are involved in membrane fusion also belong to the so-called AAA-type family of ATPases. Many of these ATPases have accessory molecules, which may act as ‘adaptors’ to mediate the binding of the ATPase to a membrane-bound receptor. Now, rat p97 — an AAA-type ATPase — has been found to have an accessory factor called p47. Moreover, it is the p97/p47 complex, rather than p97 alone, that is required for membrane assembly.

Cdc42 is a small GTPase that interacts with various downstream targets to regulate many cellular processes. The latest target to be identified is a subunit of a complex involved in vesicle formation. Surprisingly, this subunit may be required for Cdc42 to induce cells to switch to malignant growth.

Eukaryotic cells are specialized, interdependent functional units of complex tissues that are composed of metabolically integrated systems defined by chemically distinct organelles that operate as reaction vessels. It is now clear that the small-molecule and polymer-based composition of these organelles plays a crucial role in generating and maintaining protein folds and functions through the systems chemistry of the local environments.

A synthesis of recent research shows that the effects of human actions have already altered the regional hydrology and energy balance of parts of the Amazon basin, and that interactions between deforestation, fire and climate change are likely to further alter carbon storage, precipitation patterns and river discharge.

Spatial covariance analysis shows how each residue in the critical fold region of chloride channel CFTR, defective in cystic fibrosis patients, contributes to CFTR’s export from the endoplasmic reticulum and function in the cell.