Browse Articles

Tumour cells may undergo a dramatic metabolic shift in which glycolysis is favoured despite the presence of oxygen. By solving its crystal structure, Hitosugi et al. reveal how phosphorylation of the enzyme phosphoglycerate mutase 1 regulates glycolytic flux in cancer cells.

Protein S1, a subunit of the Qß phage RNA-directed RNA polymerase, was thought to only initiate copying of the phage RNA plus strand. Here, the authors show that S1 stimulates replication of any cognate template by promoting release of the newly synthesized product strand.

The adaptive significance of predation on conspecifics in non-carnivorous species is unclear. Here Vijendravarma et al. show that predatory cannibalism in Drosophila larvae has hallmarks of a functional behaviour, is genetically variable, and is favoured during experimental evolution under nutritional stress.

Aluminium-activated malate transporters are exclusive to plants, regulating the transport of ions across the membranes on which they are expressed. De Angeli and colleagues show that AtALMT9 acts as a vacuolar chloride channel that is activated by cytosolic malate, and that this regulates stomata aperture.

The high-speed, large-area printing of aligned semiconducting nanowires is vital for practical device applications. Here, the authors use a high-speed printing technique to print semiconducting nanowire arrays onto device substrates with precise nanowire control, and high field-effect mobilities are observed.

Centrosome duplication during cell division is controlled by the polo-like kinase PLK4. Nakamura et al. reveal how stress-activated protein kinase and the tumour suppressor p53 act together to regulate PLK4, and show that their combined loss in cancer cells leads to the appearance of supernumerary centrosomes.

One intriguing question about antimatter that is yet to be directly answered is whether or not it behaves exactly the same as matter under gravity. Here, a direct experimental method is presented to measure the ratio of inertial to gravitational mass for antihydrogen under free-fall conditions.

Only two types of neutral homo-calix compounds, including analogues, have been reported. Chun et al. now describe a new class of positively charged calix[n]imidazolium, which is synthesized in one pot and is able to recognize anions and fullerenes in aqueous media.

Subglacial volcanoes host passage zones that can be used to define high stands of englacial lakes and paleo-ice thickness. This study identifies a pyroclastic passage zone in a subglacial volcano, which may help calculate transient paleolake levels and improve estimates of paleo-ice thickness.

Stress causes cortisol release and this is associated with the development of pathophysiology. Plant and colleagues use a computational model to reproduce the interaction of cortisol with its two nuclear receptors, and reveal how feed-forward and feed-back loops coordinate adaptation to repeated stress.

Cancer-associated fibroblasts promote tumour growth and metastasis by secreting signalling molecules. Jung and colleagues show that prostate cancer cells secrete CXC chemokine ligand 16, which recruits mesenchymal stem cells and converts them into cancer-associated fibroblasts.

When physicists study the characteristics of quantum conductors they usually take great pains to limit the resistance of other elements in the system. But Jezouin et al. show that when a single quantum channel is measured in series with a resistor, it exhibits analogous characteristics to a Tomonaga–Luttinger liquid.

Early neural development is regulated by the neurotransmitter GABA acting through ionotropic GABA_A receptors; however, the function of metabotropic GABA_B receptors in this context is less clear. Here the authors show that GABA_Breceptors promote neuronal migration and maturation by activating cAMP signalling.

Optical tweezers based on focused laser beams are widely used for biophysical measurements of single molecules in vitro. Here Zhong et al. use infrared optical tweezers to trap and manipulate red blood cells within subdermal capillaries in living mice.

Microglia are specialized immune cells in the brain. Here Åkerblom and colleagues use a microRNA-9-regulated lentiviral vector for the targeted genetic modification of microglia in the rodent brain, presenting a tool that may facilitate functional studies of resident microglia.

It is difficult to observe the edge-bulk correspondence in two-dimensional electron systems, which display the quantum Hall effect. Here Li et al. follow the spatial evolution of Landau levels towards an edge of graphene by scanning tunnelling studies, revealing that the edge-bulk correspondence can be preserved.

Nitrogen-vacancy centres in diamond are a promising route for solid-state quantum information processing and magnetometry, but longer coherence times are needed to optimize protocols. Here, Bar-Gill et al. suppress decoherence to realize nitrogen-vacancy spin coherence times approaching one second.

One approach to build a scalable quantum computer is to connect many smaller cells into a larger whole, but for realistic systems this quickly becomes prone to errors. Nickerson et al. present a noisy network protocol that can withstand high error rates within each cell but still perform stable purification.

By reflecting light from a relativistically moving mirror, its frequency can be changed, which could create X-rays from visible light. Kiefer et al. make such a mirror from relativistic electrons formed by an intense laser striking a nanofoil, and shift a laser pulse from the infrared to the extreme ultraviolet.