Research articles

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  • The relationship between the coral animal and symbiotic algae is essential to coral health, and researchers are turning to Exaiptasia, a model cnidarian system, to study this relationship mechanistically. Here the authors find that endosymbiotic algae become limited by nitrogen at high population densities and provide the host with high levels of fixed carbon.

    • Tingting Xiang
    • Erik Lehnert
    • Arthur R. Grossman
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Antimicrobial peptide LL37 can bind nucleic acids and potentiate their sensing by endosomal TLRs. Here the authors show that LL37 binds to RNA from neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which amplifies inflammation and production of more LL37 and NETs via TLR8/13, suggesting that LL37 contribution to psoriasis may be fueled by NET-associated RNA.

    • Franziska Herster
    • Zsofia Bittner
    • Alexander N. R. Weber
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Magneto-optical effects in magnets are commonly attributed to the interplay between exchange splitting and spin-orbit coupling. Here, Feng et al. report a topological magneto-optical effect in non-coplanar antiferromagnets due to finite scalar spin chirality, without any reference to exchange splitting or spin-orbit coupling.

    • Wanxiang Feng
    • Jan-Philipp Hanke
    • Yugui Yao
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Although transcription factor (TF) cooperativity is widespread, a global mechanistic understanding of the role of TF cooperativity is still lacking. Here the authors introduce a statistical learning framework that provides structural insight into TF cooperativity and its functional consequences based on next generation sequencing data and provide mechanistic insights into TF cooperativity and its impact on protein-phenotype interactions.

    • Ignacio L. Ibarra
    • Nele M. Hollmann
    • Judith B. Zaugg
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Elevated expression of ULK1 is known to be inversely correlated with breast cancer metastasis. Here, the authors report Exo70 as a substrate of ULK1 that suppresses cancer metastasis, and show that ERK1/2 mediated phosphorylation of Exo70 leads to opposing effects on tumour cell invasion.

    • Liyuan Mao
    • Yan-yan Zhan
    • Tianhui Hu
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Immunoglobulin E (IgE) plays a central role in allergic responses, yet therapeutic targeting of IgE with antibodies such as omalizumab is met with various limitations. Here the authors characterize the molecular properties and crystal structure of a new anti-IgE antibody, ligelizumab, for mechanistic insights related to its enhanced suppression activity.

    • Pascal Gasser
    • Svetlana S. Tarchevskaya
    • Alexander Eggel
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Mobile group II introns function as ribozymes to splice and reinsert themselves into DNA, thereby colonizing new genomic regions. Here the authors use single-molecule FRET and molecular dynamics simulations to reveal a structural link between metal ion induced kinetic heterogeneity and the sugar puckers at the exon-intron binding interface.

    • Fabio D. Steffen
    • Mokrane Khier
    • Roland K. O. Sigel
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Acetylcholine regulates intestinal epithelial secretion via muscarinic Gq-coupled receptors but its role in cell differentiation is unclear. Here, the authors show that Prox1-positive endocrine cells are sensors for the cholinergic intestinal niche and can trigger increased differentiation of enteroendocrine DCLK1-positive tuft cells.

    • Moritz Middelhoff
    • Henrik Nienhüser
    • Timothy C. Wang
    ArticleOpen Access
  • A plethora of solid-state nanodevices rely on engineering the quantization of electrons in quantum wells. Here, the authors leverage the thickness of exfoliated 2D crystals to control the quantum well dimensions in few-layer semiconductor InSe and investigate the resonance features in the tunnelling current, photoabsorption and light emission spectra.

    • Johanna Zultak
    • Samuel J. Magorrian
    • Roman Gorbachev
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Immunoglobulin A (IgA) has two subclasses, IgA1 and IgA2, but differential effects on inflammation are unclear. Here the authors show that IgA2, when compared with IgA1, has stronger pro-inflammatory functions associated with changed glycosylation and higher disease scores in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

    • Ulrike Steffen
    • Carolien A. Koeleman
    • Georg Schett
    ArticleOpen Access
  • There is interest in understanding the relaxation mechanisms of photoexcitation in atoms, molecules and other complex systems. Here the authors unravel the photoexcitation and ultrafast relaxation of superfluid helium nanodroplets using a pump-probe experiment with FEL pulses.

    • M. Mudrich
    • A. C. LaForge
    • F. Stienkemeier
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Torsional stress is generated during DNA replication and transcription, however, the propagation of twist in condensed chromatin is poorly understood. Here the authors measure how force and torque impact chromatin fibers and find that the fibers fold into a left-handed superhelix that can be stabilized by positive torsion, suggesting that chromatin fibers stabilize nucleosomes under torsional stress.

    • Artur Kaczmarczyk
    • He Meng
    • Nynke H. Dekker
    ArticleOpen Access
  • T cell responses start with antigen-induced rapid cell divisions, and end by division cessation after pathogen clearance. Here, the authors use single-cell fate mapping and nucleoside analogue labelling to show that T central memory precursors proliferate slower than effector subsets and rely on antigenic rather than inflammatory stimuli to maintain their cell cycle speed.

    • Lorenz Kretschmer
    • Michael Flossdorf
    • Veit R. Buchholz
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Mesenchymal stromal cells enhance bone and cartilage repair, but are limited by poor survival and retention after transplantation. Here, the authors show that synthetic hydrogels presenting integrin-specific peptides enhance the survival and persistence of human mesenchymal stromal cells after transplant, as well as bone repair.

    • Amy Y. Clark
    • Karen E. Martin
    • Andrés J. García
    ArticleOpen Access
  • Dopamine neurons are proposed to signal the reward prediction error in model-free reinforcement learning algorithms. Here, the authors show that when given during an associative learning task, optogenetic activation of dopamine neurons causes associative, rather than value, learning.

    • Melissa J. Sharpe
    • Hannah M. Batchelor
    • Geoffrey Schoenbaum
    ArticleOpen Access