Articles in 2019

The same protein abundance can be achieved by many combinations of transcription, translation and degradation rates. Here, the authors find that genes combining high transcription with low translation rate are rare due to a trade-off between the cost of transcription and expression noise.

While human lifespan is only moderately heritable, “getting old” runs in families. Here, van den Berg et al. study mortality data from three-generation cohorts to define a threshold for longevity and find that individuals have an increasing survival advantage with each additional relative in the top 10% survivors of their birth cohort.

Mn-based layered oxides are promising cathode materials for next generation sodium ion batteries. To address two existing issues facing the system, here the authors show that a simple zinc doping can suppress both Jahn–Teller distortion and phase separation, enabling enhanced cycling performance.

Volatile exchange between the Earth’s interior and surface layers is one of the central issues in mantle geochemistry. Here the authors present evidence that chlorine is transferred from the surface to the deep mantle by subducted oceanic crust, forming a chlorine-rich mantle reservoir.

Microscopic transition mechanisms impact many biophysical systems. In this work, the authors explore transition path times between thermodynamic states experimentally, and show symmetry breaking in the transition times under an external force that drives the system out of equilibrium.

The potential links between infections and neurodegenerative disorders are unclear. Here, Wu et al. present a mouse model of low-grade candidemia characterized by highly localized cerebritis, accumulation of amyloid precursor protein and beta peptides, and mild memory impairment that resolves with fungal clearance.

The electrochemical behaviour of redox-active metal cations foremost depends on the metal centre’s inner-sphere coordination environment. Here the authors show that electrolyte cations unexpectedly stabilize higher-oxidation-state neptunium dioxocations in water through extended-coordination sphere interactions.

CD1 proteins present lipid antigens to T cells via the T cell receptor. Here the authors describe T cell reactivity to human membrane lipid moieties and provide structural data to define a molecular mechanism of promiscuous recognition of self-derived phospholipids.

The upstream pathways regulating leukemic transcriptional plasticity for differentiation arrest and resistance to therapy are unclear. Here the authors show that aPKC λ/ι-controls leukemic B-cell precursor differentiation arrest trough RAC/MEK/ERK/SATB2 epigenetic repression

Halogen bonding can be exploited for the design of functional supramolecular materials, but heavier elements that are known to accept a halogen bond remain limited. Here, the authors demonstrate the formation of two-component cocrystals based on halogen bonds with phosphorus, arsenic and antimony.

In Ciona, cardiopharyngeal progenitors migrate as polarized pairs of cells between the epidermis and the endoderm. Here the authors show that the endoderm secretes a particular collagen, which promotes Discoidin domain receptor activity to control cell-matrix adhesion and collective polarity.

Copper-catalyzed allylic desymmetrizations are, so far, limited to carbocyclic products with two tertiary stereocenters. Here, the authors report a highly enantioselective Cu-catalyzed desymmetrization of meso carbo- and hetero-cyclic bisphosphates to give products with up to three contiguous stereocenters.

The nature of the vibrational modes of amorphous solids is of fundamental interest, but assessing them is challenging due to very long equilibrium times involved. Wang et al. numerically model the localized low-frequency vibrational modes in glasses and show the sensitivity of their populations to glass stability.

The frontal cortex is involved in cognitive control, e.g. cognitive flexibility and behavioral inhibition, but the roles of frontal subdivisions are unclear. Here, the authors used computational modelling of cognitive control task performance to map lesions responsible for impairments in specific cognitive operations.

Temsavir, a compound that inhibits HIV entry by binding envelope (Env), is currently in clinical development. Here, Lai et al. identify a more than 10-fold improved compound and, using lattice engineering, obtain crystal structures that give insights into improved inhibition between small molecules and Env.

Protective antibody responses depend critically on proper B cell development and differentiation at multiple stages. Here the authors show that a protein arginine methyltransferase, Prmt5 uses multiples pathways to prevent death of immature B cells, yet modulates, in p53-independent manners, the survival and differentiation of mature B cells.

Gene editing strategies are typically designed to correct mutant genes, but most neurodegenerative diseases are sporadic. Here the authors describe a strategy to selectively edit the C-terminus of APP and attenuate amyloid-β production, while upregulating neuroprotective α-cleavage.

Transition metal dichalcogenide (TMD) quantum dots (QDs) have promising electronic properties which might be further tailorable by defect engineering. Here the authors describe a room temperature aqueous based synthesis of TMD QDs with controlled defect concentration, and demonstrate the correlation between defect concentration and biomedical activity.

Singlet exciton fission – the separation of photoexcited singlet states into two triplet states – holds promise for enhancing photocurrents in photovoltaic technologies. Krishnapriya et al. characterize how electron delocalization over the bridges in a series of pentacene dimers controls this process.

Motor learning is thought to be mostly procedural, but recent work has suggested that there is a strong cognitive component to it. Here, the authors show that humans use dissociable cognitive strategies, either caching successful responses or using a rule-based strategy, to solve a visuomotor learning task.