Articles

Impaired kidney function can lead to an increase of β₂-microglobulin (β₂m) serum levels, which can cause β₂m aggregation and amyloid fibril formation. Here the authors combine cryo-EM and magic angle spinning NMR measurements to determine the structure of a β₂m fibril and they also present the low resolution model of a β₂m fibril with a different morphology.

Tumours of different tissues can show similarities in genomic alterations. Here, the authors combine tumour transcriptome and protein interaction data in a network-based analysis of 11 tumours types, and identify clusters of tumours with specific signatures for multi-tumour drug targeting and survival prognosis.

The mechanisms underlying the transition from cardiac hypertrophy to heart failure following pressure overload are incompletely understood. Here the authors identify the gene programs encoding the morphological and functional characteristics of cardiomyocytes during the transition from early hypertrophy to heart failure via single-cell transcriptomics, establishing a key role for p53 signalling.

Exploration of high entropy alloy phases where little experimental data exists is still challenging. Here, the authors develop an approach where parameters from first principle simulations are incorporated into Monte Carlo simulations to reproduce phase evolution of aluminium-containing high entropy alloys.

Eradication of bacterial infections can be hindered by poor penetration of antibiotics through biofilms. Here, Teirlinck et al. show that laser-induced vapour nanobubbles formed around plasmonic nanoparticles can be used to locally disturb biofilm integrity and improve antibiotic diffusion.

Interleukin-17 (IL-17)-secreting CD4 T cells (Th17) are induced by the master transcription factor RORγt, and are important for anti-fungal immunity and inflammatory responses. Here the authors show that Ubc9-mediated SUMOylation of RORγt induces HDAC2 binding to IL-17 promoter for suppressing IL-17 production in Th17 cells.

Carbonate-based electrolytes can impart advantages in lithium sulfur batteries, but performance is often limited by incompatibility with sulfur-based cathodes. Here the authors elucidate a mechanism for conversion of sulfur to lithium sulfide and demonstrate improved performance in a Li-S cell.

The drivers of growth rate variability in bacteria are yet unknown. Here, the authors present a theory to predict the growth dynamics of individual cells and use a stochastic cell model integrating metabolism, gene expression and replication to identify the processes that underlie growth variation.

Free electron lasers are emerging as important tools for nonlinear spectroscopy in the X-ray regime. Here the authors demonstrate the second order coherence of a seeded FEL source that may be useful for measurements in quantum optics.

Red beds contain reduction spheroids that formed underground millions of years ago and whose origin remains poorly constrained. Here the authors use uranium isotopes to identify ancient fingerprints of bacteria in these features, confirming that they were produced by subsurface life in the geological past.

Proton pumping of mitochondrial complex I depends on the reduction of ubiquinone but the molecular mechanism of energy conversion is unclear. Here, the authors provide structural and biochemical evidence showing that movement of loop TMH1-2 in complex I subunit ND3 is required to drive proton pumping.

Humans often make sub-optimal decisions, choosing options that are less advantageous than available alternatives. Using computational modeling of behavior, the authors demonstrate that such irrational choices can arise from context dependence in reinforcement learning.

Studying the uterine lymphocyte pool is difficult due to its dynamic nature induced by various pregnancy-related factors. Here the authors provide, using transcriptome data from sorted mouse group 1 innate lymphoid cells (ILC), a molecular atlas of these cells, which implicates tissue-resident natural killer cells as a hub for uterine immune crosstalk.

Chiral assemblies have gained great interest for probing intracellular effects. Here, the authors report on the development of an upconversion nanoparticle-centred yolk-shell nanoparticle tetrahedron for the induction of autophagy and the monitoring of ATP levels both in living cells and in vivo.

The fungal pathogen Candida albicans is diploid, which hinders genome-wide studies. Here, Gao et al. present a piggyBac transposon-mediated mutagenesis system using stable haploid C. albicans strains, and use it to identify genes and mechanisms underlying azole resistance.

Solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance combined with quantum chemical shift predictions is limited by high computational cost. Here, the authors use machine learning based on local atomic environments to predict experimental chemical shifts in molecular solids with accuracy similar to density functional theory.

The potential optoelectronic applications of metal halide perovskites make exploration and tuning of their optical properties of great interest. Here the authors show that non-emitting zero-dimensional cesium lead halide perovskites become strongly fluorescent under high pressure, due to distortion-induced effects.

Demanding biological imaging applications require extremely fast detection methods. Here, the authors demonstrate Line Excitation Array Detection, their developed technique for performing fluorescence microscopy in 3D with 0.8 million frames per second, by applying it to flow cytometry and neuron detection.

Myoglobin bound to carbon monoxide undergoes an ultrafast light-induced reaction, which ends up in a photolyzed carbon monoxide and a spin transition of the iron center. Here, the authors employ quantum wavepacket dynamics to show that photolysis precedes the spin transition, a mechanism dominated by strong electron-nuclear couplings.

For various organisms, mRNA and protein copy numbers scale with cell volume. Here, the authors show that this result emerges naturally when ribosomes and RNAPs limit expression. Furthermore, the authors show that within their model this result breaks down for a sufficiently high volume/DNA ratio.