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Facelift for T. rex: analysis suggests teeth were covered by thin lips
Crocodiles and Komodo dragons provide evidence to support the idea of a scaly cover over the teeth of dinosaur Tyrannosaurus rex.
- Dyani Lewis
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Outline |
Video: Safeguarding the kidney
Physicians aim to find better ways to prevent, diagnose and treat acute kidney injury.
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Outline |
What is acute kidney injury? A visual guide
Early detection and prompt treatment could prevent long-term health effects of acute kidney injury, a condition that commonly arises while people are in hospital.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outline |
Preventing kidney injuries in hospital
Delayed diagnosis and limited treatment options leave people with acute kidney injury at risk of long-term health problems. Researchers are now looking for ways to act earlier and more effectively.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Research Briefing |
Genome-based scores predict thousands of molecular traits in humans
Genetic scores for predicting levels of several types of biomolecule have been developed and validated in people of diverse ancestries, and used to uncover insights into disease biology. An open resource to disseminate these scores, OmicsPred, will enable researchers to predict various molecular traits from genetic profiles in their own data sets.
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Article |
Ornithine aminotransferase supports polyamine synthesis in pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma cells show a specific dependency on ornithine aminotransferase-mediated ornithine synthesis from glutamine, providing an opportunity to develop targeted therapies with minimal toxicity for this cancer.
- Min-Sik Lee
- , Courtney Dennis
- & Nada Y. Kalaany
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Article |
Gut enterochromaffin cells drive visceral pain and anxiety
Visceral pain and anxiety in mice are found to be associated with gut enterochromaffin cells, and genetic models for eliciting visceral hypersensitivity and studying the sex bias of gut pain are proposed.
- James R. Bayrer
- , Joel Castro
- & David Julius
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Article |
Generation of functional oocytes from male mice in vitro
Mouse induced pluripotent stem cells derived from differentiated fibroblasts could be converted from male (XY) to female (XX), resulting in cells that could form oocytes and give rise to offspring after fertilization.
- Kenta Murakami
- , Nobuhiko Hamazaki
- & Katsuhiko Hayashi
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News & Views |
Mitochondrial molecule controls inflammation
Cellular organelles called mitochondria contain their own DNA and RNA. The molecule fumarate has now been found to trigger the release of these nucleic acids into the cytosol, aberrantly activating inflammation.
- Taylor A. Poor
- & Navdeep S. Chandel
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Diabetes and obesity are rising globally — but some nations are hit harder
Rates of type 2 diabetes and other conditions caused by disorders of the body’s energy-processing system are driven in part by changing food habits.
- Saima May Sidik
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News & Views |
How an anxious heart talks to the brain
During periods of anxiety, the brain affects the heart, but does a racing heart also talk to the brain to cause anxiety-related behaviour? Use of a light-stimulated pacemaker in mice shows that it does, and pinpoints a brain region involved.
- Yoni Couderc
- & Anna Beyeler
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Anxiety can be created by the body, mouse heart study suggests
Artificially raising a mouse’s heart rate leads to anxious behaviour.
- Sara Reardon
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Article
| Open AccessCardiogenic control of affective behavioural state
Direct elevation of heart rate using noninvasive optogenetics in mice influences anxiety-like behaviours in specific environmental contexts, and the posterior insular cortex is implicated in this integration of signals from the heart with environmental risk information.
- Brian Hsueh
- , Ritchie Chen
- & Karl Deisseroth
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News & Views |
Fatty acids prime the lung as a site for tumour spread
The mechanisms that enable the deadly spread of cancer are not fully understood. It emerges that tumours can signal to the lung to manipulate lipids and so prime the organ to support tumour cells that subsequently spread there.
- Laura V. Pinheiro
- & Kathryn E. Wellen
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Research Highlight |
The workouts that lead to higher aerosol emissions — and higher viral spread
Avoiding spin classes might be wise when COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses are rampant.
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News |
Sex, food or water? How mice decide
Neurons that regulate a mouse’s response to hunger and thirst also influence social interactions with the opposite sex.
- Heidi Ledford
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Research Highlight |
Genome editor tackles disease that can cause sudden death
Scientists repair a mutation that causes heart-muscle abnormalities and can kill without warning.
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Research Highlight |
Exercise triggers fat breakdown at some times of day and not others
Adipose tissue in mice dumps fat during early workouts rather than late ones.
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Research Briefing |
Thrifty energy metabolism in solid tumours
The activity of two energy-producing metabolic pathways was recorded in different types of healthy tissue and solid-tumour tissue in mice. Comparisons of these measurements revealed that solid tumours make and use energy more slowly than do most healthy tissues, even though tumours grow and show cell division.
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News & Views |
Serine deficiency causes complications in diabetes
Impaired sensory-nerve function is a common complication of diabetes. Evidence in mice indicates that deficiency of the amino acid serine causes these complications — and suggests that supplements could help to treat them.
- Thorsten Hornemann
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Research Briefing |
A census of complexes formed by mitochondrial proteins
Mitochondria are intracellular organelles that contain a large set of proteins to help them produce energy, among other functions. A systematic analysis reveals how mitochondrial proteins are organized into complexes and assemblies, facilitating the identification of the molecular mechanisms and pathways that underlie the organelle’s many functions.
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Nature Podcast |
Amino acid slows nerve damage from diabetes, in mouse study
Experiments show the role that serine may play in a common diabetes complication.
- Nick Petrić Howe
- & Shamini Bundell
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Article
| Open AccessInsulin-regulated serine and lipid metabolism drive peripheral neuropathy
Serine deficiency can increase small fibre neuropathy in wild-type mice and serine replacement in diabetic mice alleviates diabetic neuropathy, directly linking amino acid metabolism to peripheral nerve disorders.
- Michal K. Handzlik
- , Jivani M. Gengatharan
- & Christian M. Metallo
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News & Views |
Metabolism dictates the pace of development across species
Mouse and human embryos undergo similar developmental steps, but the exact timings differ. An analysis reveals that differences in metabolic activity set the timing of one such step on the road to formation of the vertebrae.
- Katharina Sonnen
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News |
How sports science is neglecting female athletes
Imbalance impedes progress in prevention and treatment of injuries among female players.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Article |
A microbiome-dependent gut–brain pathway regulates motivation for exercise
It is demonstrated that the brain circuitry involved in regulating the motivation for physical activity is not strictly central nervous system autonomous but is shaped by peripheral influences that originate in the intestinal microbial community.
- Lenka Dohnalová
- , Patrick Lundgren
- & Christoph A. Thaiss
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Research Highlight |
Why does fat return after dieting? The microbiome might have a hand
Experiments on mice suggest that gut bacteria contribute to the post-diet rebound of fat tissue.
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Research Briefing |
Plant-cell machinery for making metabolites transferred to mammalian cells
Supplies of the crucial molecules ATP and NADPH are lacking in many human diseases, but restoring them requires tight control. Using light-powered thylakoid structures from plants to carefully deliver these molecules to the joints of arthritic mice slowed degeneration.
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Article |
CLSTN3β enforces adipocyte multilocularity to facilitate lipid utilization
An adipocyte-selective product of the Clstn3 locus (CLSTN3β) facilitates the use of stored triglyceride by limiting lipid droplet (LD) expansion, defining a molecular mechanism that regulates LD form and function to facilitate lipid utilization in thermogenic adipocytes.
- Kevin Qian
- , Marcus J. Tol
- & Peter Tontonoz
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Research Highlight |
‘Good’ cholesterol readings can lead to bad results for Black people
Low levels of one type of cholesterol predict heart-disease risk in white people only.
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News Feature |
Will pigs solve the organ crisis? The future of animal-to-human transplants
This year, surgeons transplanted the first pig organs into human recipients. Researchers are keen to launch more human trials.
- Sara Reardon
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News Explainer |
How will World Cup footballers cope with Qatar heat?
The question of how to preserve athletic performance amid extreme heat is pressing as climate change bites.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Research Highlight |
A single day on a fatty diet gives the gut a makeover
A mouse’s intestines undergo changes in gene activity and cellular proliferation within 24 hours of starting on high-fat food.
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Article |
Extreme escalation of heat failure rates in ectotherms with global warming
Within the stressful temperature range, heat failure rate increases by more than 100% per degree Celsius across a broad range of ectotherm taxa.
- Lisa Bjerregaard Jørgensen
- , Michael Ørsted
- & Johannes Overgaard
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News & Views |
From the archive: a plague in frogs, and oxygen consumption after running
Snippets from Nature’s past.
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News & Views |
Early gills exchanged ions before hosting gas transfer
During evolution, key physiological changes enabled vertebrates to achieve a more active lifestyle. A comparison between living animals challenges current ideas on the timing of one such change in our ancestors.
- Dorit Hockman
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Research Briefing |
A protein that mobilizes the cofactor molecule haem for use in cells
Haem, the molecule that gives blood its red colour, is crucial for nearly all life on Earth, but it can be toxic to cells. A protein called HRG-9 has a previously unrecognized role, in various species, in trafficking haem safely from sites where it is synthesized or stored to places where it can be used.
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HRG-9 homologues regulate haem trafficking from haem-enriched compartments
HRG-9 (also known as TANGO2) is an evolutionarily conserved haem chaperone that traffics haem from sites of storage or synthesis in eukaryotic cells.
- Fengxiu Sun
- , Zhenzhen Zhao
- & Caiyong Chen
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Article
| Open AccessNuclear-embedded mitochondrial DNA sequences in 66,083 human genomes
A study examining DNA transfer from mitochondria to the nucleus using whole-genome sequences from 66,083 people shows that this is an ongoing dynamic process in normal cells with distinct roles in different types of cancer.
- Wei Wei
- , Katherine R. Schon
- & Patrick F. Chinnery
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Research Highlight |
‘Bionic pancreas’ tames diabetes blood-sugar spikes
The algorithms in a wearable device mean better blood-sugar control and less fuss for people with type 1 diabetes.
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Article
| Open AccessDistinguishing externally from saccade-induced motion in visual cortex
Distinct activity patterns in the primary visual cortex distinguish movement in the environment from motion caused by eye movements.
- Satoru K. Miura
- & Massimo Scanziani
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Research Highlight |
A sugary diet wrecks gut microbes — and their anti-obesity efforts
A high-sugar diet unbalances the microbiome, so the body makes fewer of the gut immune cells that help to prevent metabolic disorders.
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Research Briefing |
Sensory nerves regulate fat functions
Investigation of sensory neuronal cells in structures called dorsal root ganglia reveals that these cells project into fat tissue, and act as brakes on the effects of the sympathetic nervous system. Thus, the sympathetic nervous system and sensory neurons work together to control the function of fat.
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Article
| Open AccessThe role of somatosensory innervation of adipose tissues
Beige-fat-innervating sensory neurons modulate adipocyte function by acting as a brake on the sympathetic system.
- Yu Wang
- , Verina H. Leung
- & Li Ye
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Research Highlight |
A heartbeat’s machinery becomes visible to the eye
Scientists devise a molecule to illuminate the cardiac cells behind the organ’s reliable rhythm.
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Outlook |
Can resetting the body clock help with depression?
Disrupted sleep patterns affect mental health, and researchers now hope that repairing circadian rhythms could ease symptoms.
- Sarah DeWeerdt
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Outlook |
The vicious cycle of depression and obesity
Is it time for obesity to be treated as a mental-health concern?
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
The hormonal keys to depression
Science is only now uncovering the complex interaction between hormones, neurosteroids and mood disorders.
- Bianca Nogrady
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Outlook |
Why depression in women is so misunderstood
Menopausal depression takes a huge toll, but is underfunded and under-researched — that needs to change.
- Jayashri Kulkarni