Articles

Functional salivary glands have not been generated from embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to date. Here the authors demonstrate directed in vitro differentiation of mESCs to oral ectoderm and salivary gland rudiments that form mature, functional salivary glands after orthotopic transplantation.

Skatole is a bacterial metabolite responsible for boar taint and the objectionable smell of manure. Here, the authors elucidate the final step of skatole biosynthesis, describing the discovery and biochemical characterization of the enzyme catalysing the conversion of indoleacetate into skatole.

Plasma membrane tension is an important factor that regulates many key cellular processes. Here authors show that a specific dynamin-independent endocytic pathway is modulated by changes in tension via the mechano-transducer vinculin.

Characterizing plant membrane transporters via genetic methods is complicated by functional redundancy among multi-gene transporter families. Here Zhang et al. use an artificial microRNA-based screen to overcome this issue and show that ABCB6 and ABCB20 act redundantly to regulate auxin transport.

Singlet fission results in the formation of a pair of triplets, known as a quintet. Here, the authors identify long-lived quintets in dilute pentacene films at room temperature, with lifetimes influenced by intermolecular geometry having implications for the design of triplet-harvesting films.

Ice sublimation is a common, yet little-studied, heat and mass transfer problem with climatic and industrial implications. Here, the authors show that the sublimation of ice crystals is purely diffusive and is unaffected by the underlying crystalline lattice.

Pancreatic cancer risk increases in obese and diabetic people. In this manuscript, the authors show that Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery (RYGB) decreases the impact of pancreatic cancer in a mouse model; this effect seems independent of weight loss or decreased hyperglycemia pointing to an involvement of mTOR pathway.

Although there are many reports on the development of devices for terahertz signal processing, the possibility of electrical control of the functionality remains elusive. Here, the authors use electrically actuated liquid metal components incorporated into terahertz waveguides for controlling power flow and for frequency filtering.

With the rapid development of quantum computers, quantum machine learning approaches are emerging as powerful tools to perform electronic structure calculations. Here, the authors develop a quantum machine learning algorithm, which demonstrates significant improvements in solving quantum many-body problems.

miR-34 is known to regulate age-related gene expression in the Drosophila brain, and miR-34 overexpression can attenuate neurodegeneration induced by polyQ-expanded proteins. Here, Kennerdell and colleagues show that miR-34 confers longevity and neuroprotection via an epigenetic regulator Polycomb Repressive Complex 2 and molecular chaperone expression.

Transient receptor potential mucolipin 1 (TRPML1) is a lysosomal channel which maintains the low pH and calcium levels for lysosomal function. Here authors use structural biology and electrophysiology to show how lipids bind and allosterically activate TRPML1.

The role of the genome structure in the establishment of the embryonic and trophoblast lineages is still not well understood. Here the authors perform promoter capture Hi-C in mouse trophoblast and embryonic stem cells and find divergent networks of repressive and active chromatin interactions between the two lineages.

Infection of mice with Citrobacter rodentium is a common model of infection with attaching-and-effacing pathogens. Here, Connolly et al. analyse the transcriptome of C. rodentium during mouse infection, showing host-induced coordinated upregulation of virulence factors and 1,2-propanediol metabolism.

Gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) is a major inhibitory neurotransmitter in neuronal systems, but the potential role for such neurotransmitters on the immune system are emerging. Here the authors show GABA signaling is linked to autophagy, enhancing the host response against intracellular bacteria.

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM)/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) is a non-Hodgkin-type B cell lymphoma. Here, the authors identify two risk loci for WM/LPL in a two-stage GWAS involving a family-oversampling approach and provide evidence for a functional role of the non-coding SNP rs116446171.

TRPV5 is a kidney specific transient receptor potential (TRP) channel with an important role in calcium reabsorption. Here the authors provide mechanistic insights into TRPV5 modulation by determining the phosphatidylinositol 4,5-bisphosphate and calmodulin bound TRPV5 cryo-EM structures.

Complement, while serving to remove pathogens in the circulation, is also important for synergizing with inflammasomes to modulate CD4 T cell activation. Here the authors show that CD46, a complement receptor expressed only in humans, is essential for inducing optimal activation and effector functions of human CD8 T cells.

The onset of mammalian puberty is sensitive to metabolic changes and nutritional status, but the mechanisms underlying this phenomenon are poorly understood. Here the authors show that the epigenetic regulator of transcription, SIRT1, mediates the effects of under and overnutrition on pubertal timing by controlling the expression of Kiss1 in hypothalamic neurons.

The hot carriers in halide perovskite nanocrystals cool much slower than those in conventional semiconductor nanocrystals due to the phonon bottleneck. Here, Li et al. demonstrate enhanced multiple exciton generation with lower threshold in intermediate-confined perovskite nanocrystals based on this effect.

Experimental determination of the contact angle of a two-dimensional film is crucial to understand its wettability characteristics. Here, the authors use the captive bubble method to estimate a contact angle value of 42° ± 3° for a monolayer graphene film.