Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
In mice aged 12–18 months, chronic administration of low-dose Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) improves performance in behavioral learning and memory tasks, whereas a similar administration in younger mice (aged 2 months) impairs performance.
In mice, sleep loss increases sensitivity to painful stimuli. Restoration of normal sleep or acute treatment with wake-promoting agents can normalize pain sensitivities.
Persistence of HIV is attributed primarily to latent infection of CD4+ T cells. Honeycutt et al. report that in humanized mice lacking T cells HIV can rebound from myeloid cells after antiretroviral treatment interruption, suggesting that persistence of HIV could involve other cell types.
Pei-Yong Shi and colleagues report that a deletion mutant of Zika virus is safe and effective as a live-attenuated vaccine in mice and induces sterilizing immunity. Their results encourage further testing of the candidate vaccine for possible future use in humans.
Cold stimulation induces the synthesis and release of the lipid species 12,13-diHOME from brown adipose tissue. This ‘lipokine’ then acts on brown adipocytes to promote the uptake of fatty acids to fuel this cell type's heat production.
Use of an alternative open reading frame, potentially as a result of cellular stress, drives production of an unconventional insulin epitope that is recognized by cytotoxic T cells from individuals with type 1 diabetes; these T cells kill beta cells in vitro.
Selenoprotein P is released from the liver and acts through LRP1 in the muscle to contribute to exercise resistance in mouse and man by inhibiting ROS levels via inhibition of AMPK and PGC-1α.
Nucleosomes containing mutant K27M histones in diffuse intrinsic pediatric gliomas (DIPG) exclude PRC2 binding and recruit BET bromodomain proteins; however, residual PRC2-dependent repression of specific loci, is required for DIPG oncogenesis. These results provide a rationale for targeting these epigenetic regulators in patients.
Intracellular trafficking of the voltage-gated cardiac Na+ channel Nav1.5 is regulated by lysine deacetylation mediated by Sirt1, thereby affecting sodium current and cardiac electrical activity.
A previously uncharacterized population of innate lymphoid cells (ILCs) in the tumor microenvironment limits T cell expansion and cytokine production, and associates with early recurrence in patients with cancer. Depletion of this regulatory immunosuppressive cell population overcomes this effect, suggesting important implications for cancer immunotherapy.
The release of ATP from spinal microglia via pannexin-1 channels is required for withdrawal symptoms after termination of chronic opioid treatment in rodents, and pharmacological blockade of pannexin-1 channels reduces the severity of withdrawal without affecting opiate analgesia.
In transgenic mouse models of neuropsychiatric disease, loss of nicotinic cholinergic signaling in cortical inhibitory interneurons causes neurocognitive behavioral deficits and reduced neuronal activity in prefrontal circuits. Chronic administration of nicotine can restore this cortical hypofrontality phenotype.
Allogeneic chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells are capable of inducing graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) in recipients, yet this is not commonly seen in the clinic. Marcel van den Brink, Michel Sadelain and colleagues show that alloreactive CAR T cells have reduced effector function due to signaling through the CAR and T cell receptor, resulting in reduced GVHD, while the graft-versus-leukemia effect is maintained by non-alloreactive CAR T cells.
The therapeutic response of acute myelogenous leukemia to the nucleoside analog ara-C is controlled by SAMHD1, an enzyme that hydrolyzes the activemetabolite ara-CTP.