Articles in 2019

There is increasing evidence that the seismicity of large Himalayan earthquakes can be bimodal, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors present a model and show that the bimodal seismicity results from a relatively higher friction and a non-planar geometry of the Himalayan megathrust.

Phenylalanine is mostly synthesized in plant plastids, but cytosolic transamination of phenylpyruvate also contributes. Here the authors show that a cytosolic chorismate mutase and a prephenate dehydratase encoded by an isoform of the plastidial ADT3 enzyme, produce phenylpyruvate in the cytosol.

Protein methyltransferases (PMTs) are epigenetic regulatory enzymes with significant therapeutic relevance. Here the authors describe a collection of chemical inhibitors and antagonists to modulate most of the key methylation marks on histones H3 and H4, and use the collection to study of the role of PMTs in mouse and human T cell differentiation.

Brain-specific angiogenesis inhibitor (BAI) is an adhesion G protein-coupled receptor that acts through the ELMO/DOCK/Rac signaling pathway. Here the authors provide molecular insights into BAI/ELMO interactions by solving the crystal structure of the C-terminal cytoplasmic tail of BAI bound to the RAE tandem domains of ELMO2.

The wave nature of light and particles is of interest to the fundamental quantum mechanics. Here the authors show the double-slit interference effect in the strong-field ionization of neon dimers by employing COLTRIMS method to record the momentum distribution of the photoelectrons in the molecular frame

In late 2016, there was a sudden and subsequently sustained decrease of Antarctic sea ice extent. Analyses of observations and a model simulation trace the causes to teleconnections from the tropics on the interannual timescale combined with decadal-timescale warming in the upper Southern Ocean.

Core/shell semiconductor nanocrystals have advantageous optoelectronic properties, which depend on the shell architecture. Here the authors show that by reducing the growth rate of ZnS shells on ZnSe nanorods the shell morphology can be tuned from flat to islands-like to helical

The potential of organic phototransistors to surpass silicon-based devices is limited by the low carrier mobility of organic photoresponsive materials. Here, Ji et al. report high performance organic phototransistors featuring vacuum-deposited small-molecule films with band-like charge transport.

Antarctic sea ice extent declined dramatically in austral spring 2016. This study shows the decline was initially driven by tropical convection resulting in a wave-3 circulation pattern, followed by weakened circumpolar surface westerlies initialised in the polar stratospheric vortex.

Climate change will affect both the demand for electrical power and the generating capabilities of hydropower plants. Here the authors investigated the combined impact of these effects in the US Pacific Northwest by considering the dynamics of the regional  power grid, where they reveal a profound impact of climate change on power shortfall risk by the year 2035.

Previous research on visual memory often relies on image recognition as a test, and the exact nature of memory when freely recalling information is not clear. Here, Bainbridge and colleagues develop a drawing-based memory recall task, and show detailed-rich, quantifiable information diagnostic of previously encountered visual scenes.

Parasitic nematodes causing onchocerciasis and lymphatic filariasis rely on a bacterial endosymbiont, Wolbachia, which is a validated therapeutic target. Here, Clare et al. perform a high-throughput screen of 1.3 million compounds and identify 5 chemotypes with faster kill rates than existing anti-Wolbachia drugs.

Due to various structural and sequence complexities, the human Y chromosome is challenging to sequence and characterize. Here, the authors develop a strategy to sequence native, unamplified flow sorted Y chromosomes with a nanopore sequencing platform, and report the first assembly of a human Y chromosome of African origin.

The role of innate T cell subsets in the pathogenesis of spondyloarthritis (SpA) is not well understood. Here, the authors examine the role of invariant natural killer T (iNKT) and γδ-T cells in SpA and show that disease-derived iNKT and γδ-T cells have unique and Th17-skewed phenotype and gene expression profiles within inflamed joints.

Genetic variants might exert their functional effects via influencing molecular interaction. Here, the authors present a resource featuring almost 28,000 annotations describing the effect of small sequence changes on physical protein interactions, curated by IMEx Consortium curators.

The influence of 'fake news’, spread via social media, has been much discussed in the context of the 2016 US presidential election. Here, the authors use data on 30 million tweets to show how content classified as fake news diffused on Twitter before the election.

Ultrathin nanopore membranes have the potential for detecting topological variation in DNA. Here the authors use barcoded DNA to characterise the translocation profiles of DNA with single strand gaps.

The PI3K/Akt/mTOR pathway has been previously implicated in fibrosis and a pan-PI3K/mTOR inhibitor is currently under clinical evaluation for the treatment of IPF. Here the authors show that the mTORC1/4E-BP1 axis is critical for TGF-β1-induced fibrogenesis in in vitro and ex vivo models and that canonical PI3K/Akt signalling is dispensable.