Browse Articles

Magneto-electric nanoparticles may facilitate the low-energy and dissipation-free field-triggered release of drugs across the blood–brain barrier. Here, the authors demonstrate the a.c. field-triggered release of anti-HIV drugs and confirm the in vitrodrug integrity after release.

Before antigen exposure, T cell survival is dependent on signalling stimulated by IL-7. Koenen et al. show that upon encountering specific antigen, T cell receptor signalling initiates a different set of survival pathways, which actively suppress those that sustain naive T cells.

TGF-β signalling through SMAD transcription factors has been implicated in embryonic mesendoderm development. Liu and colleagues reveal that the Ras-regulated kinase Raf prevents excessive mesendoderm formation by phosphorylating and promoting the degradation of SMAD2.

Malaria parasites exit erythrocytes by triggering permeabilization and rupture of the host plasma membrane. Here, the authors identify a perforin-like protein that is secreted by the parasite in a calcium-dependent manner and mediates permeabilization through its insertion into the host membrane.

Directly comparing patterns of gene expression in matched normal and cancerous tissues provides a powerful tool to identify drivers of tumour progression. Here the authors discover genes that are recruited into mitotic signalling networks in lung adenocarcinoma.

Calmodulin regulation of Ca²⁺ channels is an important Ca²⁺-feedback system. The structural underpinnings of this modulation are unclear, but this study reports the molecular states underlying channel regulation.

Titanium dioxide nanowires are used as photoanodes in photoelectrochemical water splitting. Here Zheng et al. demonstrate that doping these nanowires with tungsten and carbon atom pairs considerably enhances their performance.

Methane is an important greenhouse gas but its capture presents a challenge due to its weak interactions with most materials. Here the authors perform a systematic screening of liquid solvents and nanoporous zeolites, and identify zeolite structures with good potential for methane uptake and separation.

Intercalation materials are of interest for batteries because of their capability of accommodating ions in their layered structures. Mashtalir et al. develop a new battery electrode material using two-dimensional intercalated carbides, which exhibit high lithium-ion conductivity and capacity.

Seamounts that have subducted beneath a mantle wedge allow the study of trace element recycling and mantle flow in subduction zones. Here, a geochemical analysis of central Tonga–Kermadec arc lavas suggests primarily trench-normal mantle flow in the mantle wedge beneath the central Tonga–Kermadec arc.

Many living organisms use materials that are capable of changing their shape in response to changes in the environment. Erb et al. demonstrate an approach to synthesizing artificial shape-changing composites that replicate such behaviour.

Ribosomal protein synthesis is driven by the hydrolysis of GTP. Wallin and colleagues employ molecular dynamics and computer simulations to show that a universally conserved histidine promotes GTP hydrolysis in its protonated form, and is driven into the active conformation by interactions with the ribosome.

Near-term climate prediction is an information tool used in climate adaptation services. This study analyses the quality of the predictions, showing that near-term climate forecasts have good skill in predicting temperature at regional scales, where most of the skill is attributed to atmospheric composition changes.

Although polymers are widely used in electric and photonic devices, the mechanism of charge transport across polymer chains is still not well understood. Here de Leeuw and colleagues propose a model that unifies experimental observations at high carrier densities.

Chemokines promote breast cancer metastasis by stimulating re-organization of the actin cytoskeleton. Li et al. identify the human engulfment and cell motility protein ELMO1 as an intermediary between chemokine-dependent Gαi2 signalling and small GTPase signalling mediated by Rac.

The abrupt ending of the Younger Dryas cooling episode marked the onset of the present interglacial and was the most prominent climate change in the Earth’s recent history. This study shows evidence for a sequence of events with a leading role of the ocean at the transition into the present day warm Holocene epoch.

Creating new materials requires novel approaches to design and synthesize small building particles. Sacanna et al. develop a versatile synthetic strategy to design and mass-produce colloidal building blocks starting from two different colloids that leads to selectively functionalized surface areas.

Extreme pressure can induce significant changes in a material’s mechanical response, but characterizing the evolution of these changes as they take place is challenging. Yang et al. demonstrate the use of coherent X-ray diffraction imaging to follow changes in the three-dimensional shape and strain fields within gold particles under pressure.

Calcareous nannofossils were important marine primary producers in Jurassic and Cretaceous oceans at low latitudes. Here, North Sea sediment records reveal that favourable conditions for nannoconids existed also at high latitudes, and nannoconids faced global decline at the onset of greenhouse conditions.

When a topological insulator is coupled with a superconductor, supercurrents arise that—if fully understood—may allow the detection of long-sought Majorana fermions. Here the nature of these supercurrents is further elucidated as they are characterized as non-symmetric and carried by surface states.