Featured
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Nature Podcast |
A new hydrogel can be directly injected into muscle to help it regenerate
A soft and conductive material shows promise for muscle rehabilitation, and why starfishes have such strange body plans.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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Article
| Open AccessVagal sensory neurons mediate the Bezold–Jarisch reflex and induce syncope
The molecular mechanisms underlying the Bezold–Jarisch reflex and syncope (fainting) involve vagal sensory neurons that express neuropeptide Y receptor Y2, the deletion of which in animal models abolishes the Bezold–Jarisch reflex.
- Jonathan W. Lovelace
- , Jingrui Ma
- & Vineet Augustine
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Article
| Open AccessStructure of the native myosin filament in the relaxed cardiac sarcomere
A cryo-electron tomography study reports the structure of thick myosin filaments of mouse cardiac muscle in the relaxed state in situ and the MyBP-C links that connect them with the surrounding thin actin filaments.
- Davide Tamborrini
- , Zhexin Wang
- & Stefan Raunser
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Article |
CHIT1-positive microglia drive motor neuron ageing in the primate spinal cord
Motor neuron senescence and neuroinflammation with microglial hyperactivation are intertwined hallmarks of spinal cord ageing.
- Shuhui Sun
- , Jiaming Li
- & Guang-Hui Liu
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News Explainer |
Is CRISPR safe? Genome editing gets its first FDA scrutiny
Advisers to the US regulatory agency will examine the safety profile of a CRISPR-based treatment for sickle-cell disease.
- Heidi Ledford
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News |
Menopausal chimpanzees deepen the mystery of why women stop reproducing
Some chimpanzees have been found to experience menopause. But are they the exception or the rule?
- Dyani Lewis
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Article
| Open AccessStructure and electromechanical coupling of a voltage-gated Na+/H+ exchanger
Upon hyperpolarization, the S4 voltage-sensing segment of sea urchin SLC9C1 moves down, removing inhibition caused by an intracellular helix and enabling Na+/H+ exchange, leading to pH-dependent activation of sAC and sperm chemotaxis.
- Hyunku Yeo
- , Ved Mehta
- & David Drew
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News Explainer |
Anti-obesity drugs’ side effects: what we know so far
Recent studies evaluate risks associated with drugs such as Wegovy and Mounjaro.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Monkey survives for two years after gene-edited pig-kidney transplant
Survival time is one of the longest for any interspecies transplant — and moves pig organs closer to human use.
- Max Kozlov
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Book Review |
A ‘user’s manual for the female mammal’ — how women’s bodies evolved
The female perspective is often missed in evolutionary tales, but it is at the centre of what makes us human.
- Josie Glausiusz
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News |
Pioneers of mRNA COVID vaccines win medicine Nobel
Katalin Karikó and Drew Weissman laid the groundwork for immunizations that were rolled out during the pandemic at record-breaking speed.
- Ewen Callaway
- & Miryam Naddaf
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News & Views |
Coordinating the first heartbeat
An impressive combination of computational modelling and experimental techniques in live zebrafish embryos reveals how the heart initiates its organized and rhythmic beating.
- Joshua Bloomekatz
- & Neil C. Chi
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Research Briefing |
A trilobite’s last meal reveals feeding behaviour and physiology
The gut contents of a fossilized trilobite, Bohemolichas incola, from the Ordovician period (about 465 million years ago), were imaged by a technique called synchrotron microtomography and fully itemized. The results indicate that the animal fed indiscriminately on small shelly invertebrates and that its gut had a neutral to alkaline pH.
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Article |
A bioelectrical phase transition patterns the first vertebrate heartbeats
The first heartbeat of a zebrafish was captured, and development of cardiac excitability and conduction around this singular event were analysed, showing how development of single-cell properties produces a transition from quiescence to coordinated beating.
- Bill Z. Jia
- , Yitong Qi
- & Adam E. Cohen
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Article
| Open AccessInhibition of fatty acid oxidation enables heart regeneration in adult mice
Inhibition of the fatty acid oxidation metabolic pathway through inactivation of Cpt1b enhances cardiomyocyte survival and proliferation and allows heart regeneration in adult mice.
- Xiang Li
- , Fan Wu
- & Thomas Braun
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Article |
Neural circuitry for maternal oxytocin release induced by infant cries
Experiments in mice identify a neural circuit that relays information about infant cries from the maternal auditory thalamus to hypothalamic oxytocin neurons to induce the release of oxytocin and modulate maternal behaviour.
- Silvana Valtcheva
- , Habon A. Issa
- & Robert C. Froemke
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Article
| Open AccessComplete human day 14 post-implantation embryo models from naive ES cells
The culture of genetically unmodified human naive embryonic stem cells in specific growth conditions gives rise to structures that recapitulate those of post-implantation human embryos up to 13–14 days after fertilization.
- Bernardo Oldak
- , Emilie Wildschutz
- & Jacob H. Hanna
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News & Views |
Previously unknown pathway for lipid biosynthesis discovered
The pathway used by mammalian cells to make triglyceride lipids when supplies of fat molecules are high has long been known. A route that works when fat supplies are low has now been discovered.
- Jean E. Schaffer
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Article
| Open AccessAn orexigenic subnetwork within the human hippocampus
An appetite-regulating subnetwork in humans involving the lateral hypothalamus and the dorsolateral hippocampus is implicated in obesity and related eating disorders.
- Daniel A. N. Barbosa
- , Sandra Gattas
- & Casey H. Halpern
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Article |
A high-performance neuroprosthesis for speech decoding and avatar control
A study using high-density surface recordings of the speech cortex in a person with limb and vocal paralysis demonstrates real-time decoding of brain activity into text, speech sounds and orofacial movements.
- Sean L. Metzger
- , Kaylo T. Littlejohn
- & Edward F. Chang
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Research Highlight |
Brain mitochondria predict a mouse’s stress level
The number and DNA content of power-producing organelles in the brain account for part of the behavioural variation among mice.
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Article
| Open AccessXiphoid nucleus of the midline thalamus controls cold-induced food seeking
Through leverage of whole-brain screening, in vivo calcium imaging and chemo- and optogenetic manipulations, it is demonstrated that the xiphoid nucleus serves as a key brain region in the promotion of cold-induced food-seeking behaviours.
- Neeraj K. Lal
- , Phuong Le
- & Li Ye
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News Explainer |
Anti-obesity drug also protects against heart disease — what happens next?
Clinical-trial data suggest that semaglutide, sold under the name Wegovy, slashes risk of heart attacks and other cardiovascular incidents.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News Feature |
Four key questions on the new wave of anti-obesity drugs
Scientists want to know who will benefit most, what the long-term effects might be and whether the treatments will change views on obesity.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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News |
Could this ancient whale be the heaviest animal ever?
Massive vertebrae and other fossilized remains found in Peru point to an Eocene-epoch beast of colossal proportions.
- Emma Marris
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Research Briefing |
A neural circuit to support survival in the face of starvation
Starvation causes levels of stress hormones called glucocorticoids to rise in the blood. The surge is driven by neuronal cells that produce a peptide called AgRP. These neurons do not excite glucocorticoid-regulating neurons directly, but instead silence neurons that usually constrain the activity of the body’s stress-response system.
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Article |
Neural basis for fasting activation of the hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis
Fasting-activated hypothalamic AgRP-expressing neurons trigger fasting-induced hypothalamic–pituitary–adrenal axis activation through projections to the paraventricular hypothalamus, where they activate CRH neurons by presynaptically inhibiting the terminals of tonically active GABAergic afferents from the bed nucleus of the stria terminalis.
- Amelia M. Douglass
- , Jon M. Resch
- & Bradford B. Lowell
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News |
Short arms and lanky legs: the genetic basis of walking on two legs
Genome-wide map reveals regions associated with skeletal changes that enabled humans to walk upright.
- Dyani Lewis
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News |
Cell ‘atlases’ offer unprecedented view of placenta, intestines and kidneys
Organ mapping studies show how kidney cells become diseased, and how cells from a fetus invade and remodel blood vessels in the lining of the uterus.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article
| Open AccessA spatially resolved timeline of the human maternal–fetal interface
A multiomics approach is used to produce a spatiotemporal atlas of the human maternal–fetal interface in the first half of pregnancy, revealing relationships among gestational age, extravillous trophoblasts and spiral artery remodelling.
- Shirley Greenbaum
- , Inna Averbukh
- & Michael Angelo
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News |
Even moderate heat strains the human heart
People can experience cardiovascular strain — a progressive increase in heart rate — before their internal temperatures are affected.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Research Briefing |
Energy burn in muscle boosted by a hormonal signalling axis
Restricting dietary calories leads to weight loss, but with time these effects diminish because the body’s metabolism slows down. A hormone called GDF15 is now shown to maintain weight loss during dieting by promoting energy expenditure through the activation of pathways that affect calcium levels in skeletal muscle.
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Nature Podcast |
Do octopuses dream? Neural activity resembles human sleep stages
Brain probes reveal complexities of octopus sleep, and a hormone that could help make calorie-restricted diets more effective.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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Article
| Open AccessGDF15 promotes weight loss by enhancing energy expenditure in muscle
GDF15 treatment in mice counteracts compensatory reductions in energy expenditure, resulting in greater weight loss and reductions in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease compared to caloric restriction alone.
- Dongdong Wang
- , Logan K. Townsend
- & Gregory R. Steinberg
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News |
Beyond Ozempic: brand-new obesity drugs will be cheaper and more effective
Hormone mimics offer advantages even beyond those of the potent weight-loss jabs on the market now.
- Saima Sidik
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News |
Taurine supplement makes animals live longer — what it means for people is unclear
The energy-drink ingredient offers striking health benefits in mice, monkeys and worms. But more work is needed to investigate its link with ageing.
- Myriam Vidal Valero
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News |
Have a high-pitched voice? It might be in your genes
Survey of nearly 13,000 Icelanders pinpoints for the first time a genetic variant that shapes whether a person’s voice sounds high.
- Freda Kreier
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News & Views |
Molecule in mothers’ milk nurses pups’ heart cells to maturity
A fatty acid in the milk of nursing mice has been found to trigger a transformation in the metabolic pathways that are active in pups’ heart muscle cells, enabling the cells to rapidly mature after birth.
- Pingzhu Zhou
- & William T. Pu
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Outlook |
Revealing vascular roadblocks in the brain
High-resolution imaging quickly identifies blood clots before they inflict major damage.
- Michael Eisenstein
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News |
Mother’s milk helps baby mouse hearts to develop
A component of the milk consumed by newborn mice triggers a crucial shift in heart cells’ metabolism.
- Elissa Welle
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Article |
γ-Linolenic acid in maternal milk drives cardiac metabolic maturation
The switch from glucose- to fatty acid-dependent metabolism in cardiomyocytes of newborn mice is governed by γ-linolenic acid in maternal milk, which binds to retinoid X receptors, thereby causing a transcription-dependent metabolic transition.
- Ana Paredes
- , Raquel Justo-Méndez
- & Mercedes Ricote
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News |
Game-changing obesity drugs go mainstream: what scientists are learning
Studies tackle who’s most likely to lose weight on the new generation of anti-obesity medications.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Menopause therapy: Brain-based treatment for hot flushes approved by FDA
Investigations into the impact of menopause on the brain have yielded a potential way to treat troublesome symptoms without hormones.
- Heidi Ledford
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News & Views |
Phosphate-storing organelle discovered in fruit flies
Inorganic phosphate is an essential mineral for cellular metabolism and signalling. It emerges that a fruit-fly organelle can store this chemical in the form of phospholipids, releasing it in times of need.
- Emily Strachan
- & Irene Miguel-Aliaga
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Article |
Testosterone histories from tusks reveal woolly mammoth musth episodes
Comparisons of steroid hormone concentrations in dentin samples from fossil mammoth tusks with those from a modern elephant tusk provide evidence of periodic increases in testosterone in the male mammoth characteristic of musth episodes.
- Michael D. Cherney
- , Daniel C. Fisher
- & Alexei N. Tikhonov
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News & Views |
Yo-yoing stem cells defy dogma to maintain hair colour
The observation that melanocyte stem cells migrate up and down the hair follicle, differentiating into melanocytes and then returning to a stem-cell identity, calls into question long-held assumptions about adult stem cells.
- Carlos Galvan
- & William E. Lowry
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News & Views |
Learning the metabolic language of cancer
The conversion of dietary sugar to the molecule lactate is a hallmark of many cancers. The discovery of a new binding partner of lactate provides insight into how cells link nutrient metabolism to the decision to divide.
- Minervo Perez
- & Jordan L. Meier
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Article |
Clonal haematopoiesis and risk of chronic liver disease
A study shows that clonal haematopoiesis of indeterminate potential is associated with an increased risk of chronic liver disease specifically through the promotion of liver inflammation and injury.
- Waihay J. Wong
- , Connor Emdin
- & Pradeep Natarajan
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Article |
Sensory specializations drive octopus and squid behaviour
Octopus and squid use cephalopod-specific chemotactile receptors to sense their respective marine environments, but structural adaptations in these receptors support the sensation of specific molecules suited to distinct physiological roles.
- Guipeun Kang
- , Corey A. H. Allard
- & Ryan E. Hibbs