Research articles

Tao et al. showed that stigmasterol-induced cardiac fibrosis rather than cholesterol-driven atherosclerosis determines the pathological outcomes in a preclinical model of phytosterolemia. These findings suggest that elevated concentration of phytosterols represents an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Yi Shen et al. report two classes of genetically encoded fluorescent potassium indicators, based on FRET (KIRIN1 and KIRIN1-GR) or single-wavelength fluorescence change (GINKO1). These K⁺ indicators enable imaging of intracellular K⁺ dynamics in live cells with a multiplexing potential.

Giovanni Quinones-Valdez et al. examined the role of over 200 RNA-binding proteins in mediating A-to-I RNA editing. They identified several RNA-binding proteins that regulate ADAR1 expression, interaction, or binding with Alu elements in a cell type-specific manner.

Akiko Okita et al. demonstrate that heterochromatin suppresses gross chromosomal rearrangements by repressing Tfs1/TFIIS-dependent transcription of repetitive sequences. This study underscores the role of heterochromatin for maintaining chromosome stability.

Huang et al. show in Drosophila that amyloid beta (Aβ) toxicity is mediated by increased insulin signaling. A competition between insulin-like peptides and Aβ for the activity of insulin-degrading enzyme may explain why many Alzheimer’s disease patients also suffer from diabetes.

Julia Baaske et al. present an optogenetically-regulated membrane receptor-ligand pair that enables light-inducible and light-reversible cell-matrix interaction and controlled activation of downstream mechanosensory signalling pathways. They show that optogenetics can be used to control receptor activation using light.

Jeremy Adler et al. simulate simple diffusion on non-flat, including cell, surfaces and introduce the shortest within surface distance. They show that ignoring topography understates the diffusion rate and can cause simple diffusion to appear as anomalous diffusion, a remedy is proposed.

Hirofumi Nishizumi et al. examined dendrite connections in olfactory bulb mitral cells of mice with perturbed glomerular formation. Their findings support the model that mitral cells connect primary dendrites to neighboring glomeruli.

Kris Wyckhuys et al. show how introduction of the host-specific natural enemy Anagyrus lopezi reduced outbreaks of an invasive insect pest and helped slow deforestation by 31–95% across Southeast Asia. This study illustrates the environmental benefits of ecologically-based crop protection in agricultural settings.

Yuri Kono et al. show that drought-induced tree death is caused by initial hydraulic failure followed by carbon starvation. They find that the loss of the carbon sink-source balance in stem bases due to phloem transport failure is the key factor governing wilting, providing insight to developing adaptive measures to prevent forest die-offs under global warming conditions.

Cristina-Maria Valcu et al. present the proteomes of the blue tit egg albumen and yolk. They find that laying order and female age drive variation in overall egg composition but that the proteomes specifically are dependent on laying order, suggesting maternal effects on egg composition are a result of both passive and active mechanisms.

Brameyer et al. identify a diffusion-and-capture mechanism responsible for the localization of the membrane integrated receptor and transcriptional activator CadC in E. coli. They find that external stress activates CadC, resulting in DNA-binding and cluster formation in the cytoplasmic membrane.

Makiko Kawaguchi et al. developed an inducible Spint2 knockout mouse model which exhibited extensive damage to the intestinal epithelium and resulted in death six days after tamoxifen-induced gene ablation. The extreme phenotype observed in this inducible line suggests an important role for Spint2 in maintenance of healthy intestinal epithelium.

Platonov et al. performed intracerebral recordings from twenty-four drug-resistant epilepsy patients during a discrimination task aimed at discerning actions or gender-related information. They showed that the anterior temporal lobe was specifically activated for 100 ms when patients discriminated the gender of the actor on the static frame presented before the videos.

Uyen Thi Tran and Toshimori Kitami show that niclosamide activates the NLRP3 inflammasome through a modest intracellular acidification or ATP loss while an excessive decline of intracellular pH or ATP suppresses it. This study uncovers a biphasic immune response that accommodates cellular energy level.

Heyes et al. report that the conformational changes of a full-length Synechocystis phytochrome from the red- to the far-red-absorbing states extend to the seconds timescale. Interestingly, while the rapid structural changes are independent of the output domain the slower changes are not, providing useful insights on photosensory-region dynamics.

Keigo Araki and colleagues show that E2F3d, a previously unidentified isoform of transcription factor E2F3, mediates hypoxia-induced mitophagy in cancer cells. This study discovers another mitophagy receptor that regulates mitochondrial quality control.