Articles in 2019

Metal halide perovskites show excellent optoelectronic properties but the understanding on their thermoelectric properties has been limited. Here Liu et al. develop a strategy for controlled doping and achieve a high figure of merit ZT value of 0.14 via careful composition engineering.

The retina is a heterogeneous tissue composed of multiple cell types. Via single-nuclei RNA sequencing on human neural retinal tissue, the authors characterise the transcriptome profile for individual cell types in the human retina.

Here, the authors propose a new principle to achieve super-resolution for a wide class of targets. If an object is heated up by a beam, electromagnetic or acoustic, they show that the super-linearity of the induced thermal radiation leads to an arbitrarily high spatial compression factor relative to diffraction-limited beam profile.

The precise cell dynamics of early development have not yet been visualized. Here, the authors use custom 4-lens light sheet microscopy to image and analyze the dynamics of all three fluorescently labeled germlayers, yielding a comprehensive, pan-embryo description of early zebrafish gastrulation.

The enzyme SpoT is important for accumulation of the alarmone (p)ppGpp, which triggers the stringent response in E. coli. Here, Germain et al. show that the protein YtfK promotes SpoT-dependent accumulation of (p)ppGpp and is required for activation of the stringent response during phosphate and fatty acid starvation.

Pacing tools that support small animals and can serve as models for pathogenesis of cardiovascular diseases are currently not available. Here, the authors report a miniaturized wireless battery-free implantable multimodal and multisite pacemaker that provides unlimited stimulation to test subjects.

Mutations in Ftkn cause Fukuyama muscular dystrophy, and heart failure is the main cause of death in thes patients. Here the authors show that acute elimination of Fktn in adult mice causes early mortality, and this is associated with myocyte dysfunction, with disorganised Golg-microtubule networks, and that the pathology can be ameliorated with colchicine treatment.

It is known that estrogens can affect the immune response to cancer. Here, the authors show that estrogen depletion through ovariectomy reduces the extent of liver metastasis and that this is accompanied by a decrease in the number and function of immunosuppressive cells in the metastatic microenvironment.

ATAD2 AAA+ ATPases are a family of histone chaperones that regulate nucleosome density and chromatin dynamics. Here, authors find that the fission yeast ATAD2 homolog Abo1 deposits histone H3–H4 onto DNA in an ATP-hydrolysis-dependent manner, and present the cryo-EM structure of an ATAD2 family ATPase to reveal the structural basis of nucleosome assembly by Abo1.

Existing methods to detect ethylene in plant tissue typically require gas chromatography or use ethylene-dependent gene expression as a proxy. Here Vong et al. show that an artificial metalloenzyme-based ethylene probe can be used to detect ethylene in plants with improved spatiotemporal resolution.

Quantum technology concepts rely on efficient control of the system state, such as the electron spin. Here the authors present a mechanism for spin and orbital manipulation based on hybridizing quantum dot states at two points inside InAs nanowires, resulting in tunable quantum rings with giant controllable g-factors.

Conversion of CO₂ into value-added chemicals by use of renewable energy is promising to achieve a carbon-neutral energy cycle. Here, the authors show that AgP₂ is a stable, selective and efficient syngas catalyst for solar-to-fuel conversion with a 3-fold lower overpotential compared to the benchmark Ag catalyst.

Lung cancer etiology has largely been studied in homogenous populations of European descent. Here, targeted sequencing in African American lung adenocarcinomas finds significantly higher prevalence of PTPRTand JAK2 mutations, validated independently by whole exome sequencing, highlighting potentially clinically actionable mutations in this population.

Toll-like receptor TLR5 recognizes a domain, D1, that is present in flagellins of several pathogenic bacteria but not in Helicobacter pylori. Here, the authors show that TLR5 can be activated independently of flagellin by a component of the H. pylori type IV secretion system that contains a D1-like motif.

Exciton condensation may emerge at room temperature in topological materials with strong Coulomb interactions and vanishing electron effective mass. Here, Hou et al. report the formation of excitons in Bi_2-xSb_xSe₃ nanoribbons, which can transport over hundreds of micrometres before recombination up to 40 K, further implying exciton condensation.

The normal state of hole-doped, high-temperature superconductors is a currently-unexplained "strange metal" with exotic electronic behaviour. Here, the authors show that a doping-dependent power law ansatz for the electronic scattering phenomenologically captures ARPES, transport and optics observations.

In C. elegans the chaperone hsp-16.2 predicts the penetrance of mutations and lifespan after heat shock, but it is not known why cells express different amounts of hsp-16.2. Here the authors show hsp-16.2 tracks differences in global gene expression capacity, rather than differences in signaling or intrinsic noise in adult intestine cells.

Four genome-wide associated loci are currently known for malaria susceptibility. Here, the authors expand on earlier work by combining data from 11 malaria-endemic countries and additional population sequencing informing an African-enriched imputation reference panel, with findings including a previously unreported association on chromosome 6.

Riboswitches are conserved RNA domains located in the non-coding region of mRNA that recognize cellular metabolites and, in turn, regulate gene expression. Here the authors report the structure of the recently identified SAM-VI riboswitch and provide insight into its mechanism of ligand discrimination.

In analogy to the coupling of atoms into molecules, the authors fuse colloidal semiconductor nanocrystals into quantum dot dimers. These nanocrystal ‘molecules’ exhibit significant quantum coupling effects, making them promising for applications in devices and potential quantum technologies.