Articles in 2020

Cyclophilin A (CypA) is a peptidylprolyl isomerase that also has chaperone activity and interacts with the intrinsically disordered protein α-Synuclein (aSyn). Here, the authors combine NMR measurements and biochemical experiments to characterise the interplay between the catalysis of proline isomerization and molecular chaperone activity of CypA and find that both activities have opposing effects on aSyn and further show that the that cis/trans isomerization outpowers the holding activity of CypA.

Defect-free crystals showing the glassy trend of low thermal conductivity with a monotonic increase with temperature are desirable but rare. Here, the authors observe atomic tunneling associated with low and glass-like thermal conductivity in a hexagonal perovskite chalcogenide single-crystal BaTiS₃.

Multidimensional electronic spectroscopy techniques still have many limitations. Here, the authors introduce a 2D electronic spectroscopy technique that uses broadband, synchronized mode-locked lasers to study dynamics on a wide range of timescales.

Ex vivo engineering of antigen-specific T cells has shown therapeutic efficacy but can be costly and scarce. Here the authors show that in vitro-transcribed antigen receptor mRNA packaged in nanocarriers can directly induce, in vivo, transient their expression in circulating T cells to provide therapeutic effects in mouse models of cancer or viral infection.

MicroRNAs are potentially powerful biomarkers, though clinical use requires rapid and reliable profiling. Here the authors report amplification-free multicolour single-molecule imaging with single base mismatch sensitivity.

The recent observation of superconductivity in nickelate thin films has attracted a lot of attentions. Here, authors report single particle tunneling spectra on the superconducting nickelate thin films revealing two types of gap feature with one V-shape and the other a full gap.

Sorghum is a source of lignocellulosic biomass for the production of renewable fuels. Here the authors characterise the sorghum secondary cell wall using multi-dimensional magic angle spinning solid-state NMR and present a model dominated by interactions between three-fold screw xylan and amorphous cellulose.

Gdx-Clo is a bacterial transporter from the small multidrug resistance (SMR) family. Here, the authors use solid supported membrane electrophysiology to characterize Gdx-Clo functionally and report crystal structures of Gdx-Clo which confirm the dual topology architecture and offer insight into substrate binding and transport mechanism.

Haque et al. demonstrate that the episodic memory of a single visual scene is sufficient for humans to recognize if a visual scene has subsequently changed. A prediction error signal first arises in the visual association cortex when individuals recognize these changes.

Terms such as ‘climate change’ and ‘climate crisis’ need to be evaluated for their effectiveness for public perception. In this study of a sample of the Taiwanese public reactions to the terms were largely the same, however, in specific subgroups the term ‘climate crisis’ faced some backlash.

Understanding antibody responses to Sars-CoV-2 proteins over time is complicated by many variables. Here the authors survey IgM and IgG antibodies against S protein, RBD and nucleoprotein in a large cohort of infected and recovering severe vs. moderate COVID-19 patients, comparing against clinical parameters and immunological readouts.

Here, Fahlberg et al. describe the cellular immune response during acute, resolving or progressive COVID-19 in SARS-CoV-2 infected non-human primates. The study identifies associations of monocytes and macrophage subtypes in lungs with disease outcome, IL-6 and IL-10 ratio in plasma, and viral replication in bronchial brushes.

Large-scale sequencing efforts have uncovered a large number of secondary metabolic pathways, but the chemicals they synthesise remain unknown. Here the authors present PRISM 4, which predicts the chemical structures encoded by microbial genome sequences, including all classes of bacterial antibiotics in clinical use.

Pathogenic IgA1 metalloproteases block the initial host immune response by cleaving host IgA1. Using cryoEM, the authors here provide structural insights into the substrate recognition mechanism of Streptococcus pneumoniae IgA1 protease, and develop a protease-inhibiting antibody.

21-nucleotide phased secondary siRNAs are expressed in the developing rice anthers during meiosis. Here, the authors show that phasiRNAs can cleave target mRNA and act to ensure the progression of meiosis and fertility in rice.

Cas9 fused to DNA damage repair proteins can improve rates of gene knock-in but the chimeric protein is often large. Here the authors fuse Cas9 to a minimal Brex27 motif from BRCA2 consisting of thirty-six amino acids to enhance the efficacy and safety of gene editing.

It is unclear whether terrestrial herbivores are able to consume the extra plant biomass produced under nutrient enrichment. Here the authors test this in grasslands using a globally distributed network of coordinated field experiments, finding that wild herbivore control on grassland production declines under eutrophication.

Zooplankton biomass in the dark ocean is thought to be low and weakly coupled to epipelagic primary production, but recent evidence suggests otherwise. Here the authors analyse data from the Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition and published data to estimate bathypelagic zooplankton biomass and assess its relationship to primary production, currently not well accounted for in oceanic C budget.

Hollow core fibers have low light attenuation because the light travels through air rather than glass, but other sources of loss have limited the performance so far. Here the authors design and demonstrate a Nested Antiresonant Nodeless hollow core fiber that has losses competitive with standard solid-core fiber at several important wavelengths.

Gaining control over crystallization processes is challenging. Herein, the authors describe a protocol for the controlled growth of DNA nanotubes by feedback regulation: the coupling of a reversible bimolecular monomer buffering reaction delivers the optimal monomer concentration and leads to reliable crystal growth in a simple manner.