Search

The main components of the prokaryotic chemotaxis system, chemoreceptors, organize into a hexagonal (P6 symmetry) extended array. Here authors use cryo-ET and report an alternative symmetry (P2) of the chemotaxis apparatus that emerges from a strict linear organization of the histidine kinase CheA in Treponema denticola cells.

Anthony King savours a surreally varied show on food, from glowing sushi to 1,001 uses for a pig carcass.

The end of the green Sahara in the mid-Holocene was gradual, but punctuated by rapidly changing episodes of extreme drought and wetness, to which human societies were exposed and had to adapt to, as a lake record from southern Ethiopia suggests.

Bacterial chemosensory systems are grouped into 17 flagellar classes (F1-17). Here the authors employ electron cryotomography and comparative genomics to characterise the chemosensory arrays in γ-proteobacteria and identify a structural distinct form of F7 that was repurposed to a different biological role over the course of its evolution.

To enable a sensed RNA to activate diverse RNA effectors, the authors engineer a programmable dual-site ribozyme that, upon RNA trigger binding, self-cleaves to release an embedded RNA. It enables trigger-dependent release of diverse ncRNAs and controls CRISPR-Cas9 editing in zebrafish and human cells.

In mice, a SPOCD1–TPR-dependent ‘nowhere-to-hide’ mechanism is required for complete non-stochastic piRNA-directed LINE1 DNA methylation by preventing transposons from escaping surveillance within heterochromatin.

C. Keith Cassidy et al. use cryo-electron tomography and subtomogram averaging to examine the structure of the core-signalling units of E. coli chemotaxis arrays at subnanometer resolution. They find multiple distinct conformations of the critical CheA kinase domain, offering new insights into CheA signalling.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Some virulent strains of Campylobacter jejuni possess a putative chemotaxis receptor, Tlp11, of unknown function. Here the authors show that Tlp11 specifically interacts with galactose and is required for the chemotaxis response of C. jejunito galactose.

Kim, Wang, Clow and colleagues show that long-range chromatin loops bringing distal enhancers or super-enhancers together with promoters are cohesin dependent and cell type specific, whereas most short-range and promoter-centric transcriptional loops are cohesin independent and constitutive.

Empirical evidence that parasite-encoded tyrosine hydroxylases (TgTH), and hence parasite-produced dopamine, contribute to Toxoplasma gondii-associated behavioural alterations within the rat host.

A drying trend in East Africa between 200,000 and 60,000 year ago was followed by cycles of high millennial to centennial climate variability, and may have influenced the dispersal of human populations, suggests a multi-proxy palaeoclimate record from Chew Bahir, Ethiopia.

Hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) reversibly modifies low molecular weight and protein thiols to form persulfides (RSS⁻) and polysulfides (RS(S)nS⁻) for antioxidant defence and regulation of activity. Here, the authors report a sensitive LC-MS/MS procedure that separately traps and quantifies the sulfur atom of H₂S, the terminal sulfur atom of RSS and RS(S)nS-, and the internal sulfur atoms of RS(S)nS ⁻ as diagnostic products in biological samples.

Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria Syndrome is characterized by premature aging with cardiovascular disease being the main cause of death. Here the authors show that inhibition of the NAT10 enzyme enhances cardiac function and fitness, and reduces age-related phenotypes in a mouse model of premature aging.

In this Review, Armitage and colleagues describe how some bacterial species, as typified byRhodobacter sphaeroides, have evolved to contain complex chemotaxis signalling networks that integrate sensory information from the environment with metabolic information from within the cell to produce a balanced response at the flagellar motor.

Activity in the striatum is necessary for trial-to-trial improvements in learning sensory–motor tasks but not memory recall.

Bacterial chemoreceptors regulate the kinase CheA via ligand-induced conformational changes. Using long molecular dynamics simulations, Ortega et al.show that these changes are associated with flipping of the stacked aromatic rings of highly conserved phenylalanine residues within the kinase-activating domain.

The success of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation for the treatment of haematological cancers is limited by the morbidity and mortality associated with graft-versus-host disease (GVHD). Here the authors show that the microbial metabolite desaminotyrosine contributes to graft-versus-leukemia responses while protecting against GVHD and promoting mTORC1 and STING-dependent intestinal regeneration.

Deciphering body-brain communication pathways is key to a deeper understanding of brain physiology and pathology. Here, the authors define the astrocyte endfoot proteome and show dynamic vascular-to-astrocyte signaling relevant to human neuropathology.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a common cause of vision loss with a large genetic risk in older individuals. Here, for a high-risk AMD subtype, the authors identify an association with a chromosome 10 risk region containing a long non-coding RNA.

Scaffold-guided bone regeneration is a promising treatment strategy for segmental defects, but clinical translation has been hindered, partially by mechanical function limitations. Here, Clark et al. describes a permanent printed polymer with a resorbable stem cell laden ceramic core for reconstructing segmental mandibular defects, which is tested in an ovine model.

The extracellular secreted NS1 (sNS1) is a major factor contributing to dengue hemorrhagic fever. Here, Shu et al. report sNS1 exists in multiple oligomeric states and presents a tetrameric structure.

Combination immunotherapy approaches might be effective in inducing sustained control of HIV by slowing rebound and improving CD8⁺ T cell responses.

Here, using pre-HIV-infection and non-HIV samples in a multi-modal study of microbiomes and metabolomes, the authors develop a taxon-specific measure of DISruption in COrrelations (DISCO) revealing system-wide dysbiosis preceding HIV-1 infection in men who have sex with men.

The complex life cycle ofMyxococcus xanthusincludes predation, swarming, fruiting-body formation and sporulation. The large genome of this bacterium contains eight chemotaxis gene clusters that define eight two-component chemosensory pathways, most of which have dedicated functions in motility or development.

The combination of 5′ exonuclease, DNA polymerase and ligase with overlapping DNA fragments facilitates the in vitro assembly of large DNA constructs, including an entire bacterial genome.

d-arginine and d-lysine are chemorepellent molecules sensed by a novel chemotaxis receptor in Vibrio cholerae that trigger a run-away response under adverse conditions.

The complex patterns of activity in motor cortex that control movements such as reach and grasp are dependent on both upstream neuronal activity in the thalamus and the current state of the cortex.

Many diseases are caused by single-nucleotide polymorphisms. Here, the authors present CRISPR base editors that use the base excision machinery for single-base transversions.

The disease is often caught too late to affect a person’s prognosis — scientists are looking to change that.

High-tech tools are increasingly being consolidated into specialized centres. Running these technological wonderlands takes a unique blend of skills.

The authors present a public collection of 117 bacterial isolates from the pig gut, including the description of 38 novel taxa. Interesting functions discovered in these organisms include a new fucosyltransferease and sactipeptide-like molecules encoded by biosynthetic gene clusters.

DNA interstrand crosslinks induced by acetaldehyde are repaired by both the Fanconi anaemia pathway and by a second, excision-independent repair mechanism.