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Graphene has great potential in various electronic devices, but obtaining large-area suspended graphene is problematic. Here, the authors use carbon nanotubes as supports for graphene, enabling large areas of strong and 90% electron transparent suspended graphene to be realized.
Phase separation in nickel-based superalloys is known to be complex and to determine the resulting microstructure and mechanical properties. Here, the authors use atom probe tomography to study phase development, finding that nickel concentration is critical in driving the formation of the γ phase from γ′.
Asthma is often characterized by Th2-mediated inflammatory responses, which are initiated by lung dendritic cells. Here, Williams et al.demonstrate that dendritic cell expression of transcription factor IRF4 drives Th2 differentiation through IL-33 and IL-10 activation.
Mdm2 controls the levels of the tumour suppressor p53 in cells and p53 is often mutated in cancer. Here, Zheng et al. show that a particular Mdm2 isoform that is altered in cancer leads to elevated levels of mutant p53 protein and enhanced gain-of-function of the protein.
Findings from ex vivo studies suggest that gap junctional coupling contributes to hormone release in neuroendocrine/endocrine tissues. Here, the authors provide in vivo evidence that direct communication between adrenal chromaffin cells viagap junctions contributes to catecholamine secretion.
DNA damage at stalled replication forks activates Chk1 kinase and poly(ADP-ribose) (PAR) polymerase 1. Min et al.find that retention of Chk1 to stalled replication forks depends on its direct interaction with PAR, and show that PAR chain length fine-tunes Chk1 and S-phase checkpoint activation.
Glioblastoma cancers contain brain tumour-initiating cells and targeting these specific cells is an attractive opportunity for therapy. In this study, the authors show that FOXG1 and Groucho/TLE transcription factors are important for glioblastoma growth and might be useful therapeutic targets.
The Hippo tumour suppressor pathway is inactivated in many cancer types, but how this occurs is unclear. Here, the authors show that integrin-linked kinase (ILK) has a role in inhibiting the Hippo pathway and pharmacological inhibition of ILK reduces the size of tumours in mice.
Cells secrete micro-RNAs by packaging them into exosomes; however, the mechanisms by which this packaging occurs are unclear. Here, the authors identify a sequence motif that confers exosomal targeting to micro-RNAs and identify a ribonucleoprotein complex that plays a role in this process.
The processes of earthquakes and plastic deformation are examples of systems which respond to slow external forces by avalanche dynamics. Here, the authors show how a fundamental fingerprint of such dynamics - the average shape of the avalanches - evolves with its universality class.
Human TCTP, a highly conserved protein linked to tumorigenesis, has been implicated in the cellular DNA damage response in an ATM kinase-dependent manner. Here, Hong et al. demonstrate in vivo that DrosophiladTCTP controls genome stability by enhancing dATM activity towards its substrate H2Av.
When endoplasmic reticulum calcium levels are low, STIM1 binds to and opens Orai1 channels in the plasma membrane to replenish calcium stores. Stathopulos et al.present solution structures of the STIM1 coiled-coil domain in the presence and absence of Orai1, revealing the structural basis for this interaction.
The Wnt receptor Frizzled binds its endogenous ligand via a cysteine-rich domain; however, the function of the equivalent domain in Smoothened, a mediator of Hedgehog signalling, is unknown. Rana et al.present the NMR solution structure of this domain, and characterize its interaction with the glucocorticoid budesonide.
Binding of the Tudor domain of the PHD finger protein PHF1 to H3K36me3 inhibits Polycomb PRC2 complex methyltransferase activity. Here, Musselman et al.characterize this interaction in the context of the full nucleosome and show dual binding of the PHF1 Tudor domain to H3K36me3 and double-stranded DNA.
Methods to improve protein stability are important in the biopharmaceutical industry. Here, the authors describe a high-throughput screen to increase protein thermostability and identify thermostable variants from a broad range of proteins.
Unconventional stop codons in the mitochondrial genome were thought to be recognized by the mitochondrial release factors mtRF1 and mtRF1a. Here, Lind et al.employ homology modelling and simulations to show that neither reads the putative stop codons AGA/AGG; instead, termination is due to their paralogue ICT1.
Africa is one of the fastest growing regions for the voluntary carbon market. Here, Greve et al.quantify the potential for aboveground C stocking across tropical Africa and assess the optimal placement of carbon-stocking projects when also taking co-benefits and feasibility into account.
Pressure-driven ultrafiltration membranes are important for industrial and environmental applications. Here, the authors describe nanochannelled graphene oxide membranes, fabricated via a copper hydroxide nanostrand templating approach and evaluate their performance in water purification processes.