Articles

New potential therapies for inflammatory bowel disease are needed as not all patients respond to or maintain a response to conventional therapies. Here the authors report that mannose supplementation ameliorates experimental colitis in male mice, potentially via effects on intestinal epithelium lysosomal integrity.

Communities of microbes play important roles in natural environments and hold great potential for deploying division-of-labor strategies in synthetic biology and bioproduction. Here, in a community of two competing E. coli strains, the authors show that the relative abundances of the strains can be stabilized and steered dynamically with remarkable precision by coupling the cells to an automated computer-controlled feedback-loop.

The high solar reflectance needed by radiative cooling is easily dampened by environmental aging. Here, authors describe durable cooling performance against heavy soiling and long-term ultraviolet exposure of paint-based coatings, enhancing the potential of radiative cooling for real-world applications.

There is a real need to create materials capable of plastic recycling and upcycling. Here, the authors report a heterogeneous carbon nitride photocatalyst which efficiently converts polystyrene plastics into aromatic oxygenates, such as benzoic acid.

Conformational isomerization of organic molecules can be guided by noncovalent interactions. Here, the authors report the synthesis of chiral sulfoxides catalyzed by N-heterocyclic carbenes; intramolecular chalcogen bonding interactions are key for conformational locking.

The global net land sink is relatively well constrained. However, the responsible drivers and above/below-ground partitioning are highly uncertain. Model issues regarding turnover of individual plant and soil components are responsible.

Vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV) is the most widely studied prototype for negative-sense RNA viruses. Structure determination of VSV particles is particularly challenging because they are polymorphic with different helical symmetries. Here, Jenni et al. apply computational classification approaches to sort different morphologies, and obtain CryoEM reconstructions at 3.5–4.1 A resolution. They show that the matrix protein (M) is present in the virion in two layers, of which the inner layer associates with N protein of vRNPs.

Social experiences influence future decision making. The authors here establish a method for quantifying this phenomenon in mice and identify an amygdalo-frontal-striatal circuit controlling how social context shapes decisions.

Inhibition of DLC1 RhoGAP by p120RasGAP allows for crosstalk between the Rho and Ras pathways. Here, Chau et al. present the co-crystal structure of DLC1 RhoGAP domain and p120RasGAP SH3 domain and probe the interaction with biochemical studies.

Conventional models propose multiple fault systems across a diffuse deformation zone absorbing plate convergence in the western Mediterranean. Here the authors show new data supporting the active development of a single plate boundary fault system, representing an underappreciated seismic and tsunami hazard.

HK022 put is an RNA element that inhibits transcription termination without aids from protein factors. Here, authors solved cryo-EM structures of put-associated RNA polymerase and showed the structure of putRNA and its binding to the RNA polymerase.

Although spontaneous brain activity is complex and clinically relevant, it is still unclear whether transitions in resting brain activity follow an underlying arrangement or whether they are unpredictable. In this work, the authors revealed a transition state of the brain that acts like a switch between states and forms the basis for the continuous evolution of brain activity patterns at rest.

Genetic factors have been found to be associated with severe COVID-19. Here, the authors integrated genomic, proteomic, and single-cell data to identify ELF5 as a candidate risk gene with a possible role in respiratory epithelial cells, which are targeted by SARS-CoV-2.

Dislocations in high-entropy alloys encounter pinning during glide resulting in jerky motion. Here the authors demonstrate that the density of high local Peierls force is proportional to the critical stress required for their glide and mobility.

Phenotypic plasticity is an important response for organisms experiencing climate change. Here, Drury et al. show that stress-hardening can produce durable improvements in coral thermal tolerance, masking substantial variation between individuals.

3D printing is prone to errors and continuous monitoring and real-time correction during processing remains a significant challenge limiting its applied potential. Here, authors train a neural network to detect and correct diverse errors in real time across many geometries, materials and even printing setups.

Understanding how order emerges in active matter may facilitate macroscopic control of microscopic objects. Here, Williams et al. show how to control the transport of passive microscopic particles in presence of motile algae in conjunction with boundary-induced accumulation of microswimmers.

Quiescent cancer stem cells have been particularly associated to chemoresistance. Here, the authors show that a slowcycling subpopulation in high-grade glioma patients can invade the brain to promote tumourigenesis.

How and when Earth acquired its major volatiles N-C-H-S remains unclear. Here the authors show that Earth may have acquired its major volatiles from both reduced and oxidized impactors before and during the Moon-forming giant impact.

Small variations in the density of dopants change the physical properties of complex oxides. Here, the authors resolve doping levels in three dimension, imaging the atomic sites that donors occupy in the small band gap semiconductor Er(Mn,Ti)O₃.