Search

Polymer ionogels have potential in a number of applications, but those based on interchain sacrificial bonds typically have trade-offs with different mechanical properties. Here, the authors report an ionogel with favorable properties as a result of slide-ring effects.

Place cells and grid cells are known to encode spatial information about an animal’s location relative to the surrounding environment. Here, the authors show that place cells predominantly encode environmental sensory inputs, while grid cell activity reflects a greater influence of physical motion.

Humans are able to throw projectiles with high speed and accuracy largely as a result of anatomical features that enable elastic energy storage and release at the shoulder; features that first appear together approximately 2 million years ago in Homo erectus, possibly as a means to hunt.

During the antigen-dependent phase of B cell development, clones expressing high-affinity B cell receptors are transferred from light zones to dark zones of germinal centers, while transforming their energy metabolism. Here authors show that in the light zones, the hypoxic microenvironment promotes growth arrest and apoptosis in B cells, while miR-155 protects the high-affinity clones via inducing a switch in energy utilization.

Cytokinin regulates gene expression by activation of ARR transcription factors. Here, the authors use ChIP-seq to show how three type B-ARRs mediate cytokinin response in Arabidopsis and provide evidence that cytokinin regulates meristem development by promoting B-ARR binding to WUSCHEL.

The LHCb experiment at CERN has observed significant asymmetries between the decay rates of the beauty baryon and its CP-conjugated antibaryon, thus demonstrating CP violation in baryon decays.

Assembling random networks on a surface is an intriguing — and potentially useful — phenomenon, but partial order is difficult to control. Researchers have now altered two-dimensional tetracarboxylic acid networks through only small chemical changes. This phase behaviour reveals that entropy, alongside energy, plays a crucial role in the order–disorder balance.

A detailed description of the pectoral fin of the Devonian fish Tiktaalik roseae — a transitional form between fishes and tetrapods — gives an insight into the origins of the tetrapod limb.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Multiplexed error-robust fluorescence in situ hybridization (MERFISH) together with deep-learning-based nucleus segmentation enabled the construction of a highly detailed and informative spatially resolved single-cell atlas of human fetal cortical development.

The presence of the gene encoding the solute binding protein TphC has been shown to permit the uptake of terephthalate (TPA), which is the breakdown product of Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic. Here the authors present a structural characterization of TphC in both open and TPA-bound closed conformations.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Combining degron-based depletion with live-cell transcription imaging and single-particle tracking, Szczurek et al. show that Polycomb keeps promoters in an OFF state by restricting the formation of the pre-initiation complex.

The archaeological site Shinfa-Metema 1 in the lowlands of northwest Ethiopia provides early evidence of intensive riverine-based foraging aided by the likely adoption of the bow and arrow.

Marine woodborers can digest woody biomass without the help of gut microbiota but the mechanism has remained unclear. Here, the authors provide evidence that the woodborer’s respiratory protein hemocyanin plays a central role in wood digestion and may offer a route toward biorefining of woody plant biomass.

Genetic and testing data from England show that the SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern B.1.1.7 has a transmission advantage over other lineages.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

By performing experiments under upper tropospheric conditions, nitric acid, sulfuric acid and ammonia can form particles synergistically, at rates orders of magnitude faster than any two of the three components.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

Behavioural and transcriptomic analyses show that chronic social isolation of Drosophila causes perturbed sleep and increased feeding, and induces a starvation-like brain state.

A method for design of polymer membranes uses strategically placed pendant groups with specific hydrophobicity to precisely tailor hydrated pore size, with applications in ion-conducting membranes for redox flow batteries.

Although Hippo signaling restricts regeneration in many mammalian organs, the pharmaceutical tools available to modulate the pathway have been limited. Here, the authors report a small molecule that may inhibit a key element in the Hippo cascade and may activate regenerative responses in several mammalian tissues.

Three-dimensional structures for the INK4 proteins should reveal how the plethora of p16INK4a mutations found in human tumors might alter its function as a cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor.

In this work, using a combination of Cryo-EM, in-cell experiments and biophysical analysis, the authors decoded the aggregation propensity of tau, revealing 5 central hot spots in its primary sequence and identify PAM4 as short segment that determines both the structure, as well as the cellular propagation of tau aggregates extracted from Alzheimer’s disease, corticobasal degeneration, and progressive supranuclear palsy patients.

Transcriptome-wide m⁶A RNA methylation profile in 162 primary prostate tumors identifies m⁶A association with prognostic clinical features and disease aggression.

Deep reefs and their inhabitants are diverse, but environmental change, in particular warming, will cause these reefs found along southeastern Australia to tropicalize with different responses across functional groups, resulting in novel communities by the 2060s.

Porous molecular crystals are easy to fabricate but thought to have limited stability as they are bound by non-covalent interactions. Here, a porous crystal composed of C₆₀ and phthalocyanine is demonstrated with stability to heat, acid, base and high pressures.

Cell therapy requires the targeting of cells to specific sites in the body. Here Muthana et al.use a standard MRI scanner to direct oncolytic macrophages, labelled with magnetic nanoparticles, to primary and metastatic tumour sites in mice, and demonstrate that this leads to reduced tumour growth.

It is known that exercise influences many human traits, but not which tissues and genes are most important. This study connects transcriptome data collected across 15 tissues during exercise training in rats as part of the Molecular Transducers of Physical Activity Consortium with human data to identify traits with similar tissue specific gene expression signatures to exercise.

The magnitude of greenhouse gas emissions from land use change on tropical peatlands is unclear. Here, the authors measure greenhouse gas fluxes throughout the conversion from peat swamp forest to oil palm plantation, and estimate the contribution to regional and global emissions.

An atlas of the substrate specificities for the human tyrosine kinome reveals diversity of motif specificities and enables identification of kinase–substrate relationships and kinase regulation in phosphoproteomics experiments.

Children with type 1 diabetes (T1D) are at risk for reduced cognitive ability and atypical brain development. This study shows that brain and cognitive measures can be improved in adolescents with T1D using a semi-automated insulin delivery system.

Many rare high-impact variants have been associated with disease, but the origins and functional impact are not always explored. Here, the authors trace the ancestry of a rare high impact atrial fibrillation allele in KCNQ1, and use iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes to characterize the effect of the allele.

The β-barrel assembly machinery (BAM complex) is a key mediator of outer membrane protein biogenesis in Gram-negative bacteria. Here the authors report a cryo-EM structure of the intact BAM complex that suggests that lateral gate opening is a necessary part of the BAM functional cycle.

One of the oldest unsolved problems in mathematics appears to have been settled. On 9 August, Thomas C. Hales announced that he had proved Kepler's assertion of 1611 that no packing of spheres can be denser than a face-centred-cubic lattice.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

Using a high-throughput experimental design and statistical modelling, the authors show how jurors and lawyers weigh different types of crime and evidence when assessing the guilt of someone accused of a crime.

Supramolecular gels show promise in diverse areas, including healthcare and energy technologies, owing to tunable properties that arise directly from the organization of their building blocks. Researchers have now been able to control this behaviour by combining enzymatic catalysis with molecular self-assembly. Although it seems counter-intuitive, gels that assembled faster showed fewer defects.

Germline cells transfer genetic information to offspring, and in zebrafish, drive sex determination. Here the authors report that, unlike mammals, the germline of zebrafish does not undergo genome-wide DNA methylation erasure, while amplifying and demethylating sex-linked rDNA during feminisation.

Temporal multi-omic analysis of tissues from rats undergoing up to eight weeks of endurance exercise training reveals widespread shared, tissue-specific and sex-specific changes, including immune, metabolic, stress response and mitochondrial pathways.