Featured
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Article |
Modulation of cardiac ryanodine receptor 2 by calmodulin
The regulatory mechanism through which ryanodine receptor 2 is modulated by calmodulin is revealed through structural determination of ryanodine receptor 2 under eight conditions.
- Deshun Gong
- , Ximin Chi
- & Nieng Yan
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Article |
Structure and autoregulation of a P4-ATPase lipid flippase
Cryo-EM structures of the yeast P4-ATPase Drs2p–Cdc50p in three different states of activation provide insights into the function of this lipid flippase, including mechanisms of autoinhibition and PI4P-dependent activation.
- Milena Timcenko
- , Joseph A. Lyons
- & Poul Nissen
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Research Highlight |
A plant’s sneeze spreads disease
Some plants send dewdrops hurtling off their leaves — and pathogens tag along.
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Research Highlight |
Tiny flying saucers are actually odd new microbes
Single-celled life forms display original movement style.
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Letter |
Heterochromatin drives compartmentalization of inverted and conventional nuclei
Attractions between heterochromatic regions are essential for phase separation of the active and inactive genome in inverted and conventional nuclei, whereas chromatin–lamina interactions are necessary to build the conventional genomic architecture from these segregated phases.
- Martin Falk
- , Yana Feodorova
- & Leonid A. Mirny
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Letter |
Multiple liquid crystalline geometries of highly compacted nucleic acid in a dsRNA virus
The cryo-electron microscopy structure of the bacteriophage ɸ6 dsRNA genome shows that the genome is packaged in a spooled manner that is more similar to dsDNA viruses than to other dsRNA viruses.
- Serban L. Ilca
- , Xiaoyu Sun
- & Juha T. Huiskonen
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News & Views |
From the archive
How Nature reported an explanation for biological clocks in 1969, and a nature reserve in Tasmania in 1919.
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Letter |
Associating HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein structures with states on the virus observed by smFRET
Single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer imaging of conformational states of HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein trimers on intact virus and of trimers used in previous structural studies reveal the latter as downstream—rather than pre-triggered—conformations.
- Maolin Lu
- , Xiaochu Ma
- & Walther Mothes
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Letter |
Nuclear positioning facilitates amoeboid migration along the path of least resistance
Geometrically defined microenvironments are used to show that leukocytes migrate along chemokine gradients using the nucleus as a mechanical gauge to sample potential paths and identify the path of least resistance.
- Jörg Renkawitz
- , Aglaja Kopf
- & Michael Sixt
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Letter |
A potassium channel β-subunit couples mitochondrial electron transport to sleep
Sleep deprivation in Drosophila elevates reactive oxygen species in sleep-promoting neurons, leading to changes in potassium currents and spiking activity and thereby connecting energy metabolism, oxidative stress, and sleep.
- Anissa Kempf
- , Seoho M. Song
- & Gero Miesenböck
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Letter |
Structural basis for KCTD-mediated rapid desensitization of GABAB signalling
X-ray crystallography, electron microscopy and functional experiments reveal the details of how KCTD proteins interact with GABAB receptors and desensitize G-protein-coupled inwardly rectifying potassium channels.
- Sanduo Zheng
- , Nohely Abreu
- & Andrew C. Kruse
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Research Highlight |
Why great white sharks dawdle their days away
To scientists’ surprise, the toothy predators fail to reach their most efficient cruising speed when swimming at the water’s surface.
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Letter |
Structure of the complex I-like molecule NDH of oxygenic photosynthesis
The structure of NDH, a photosynthetic membrane-protein complex that is related to respiratory complex I, is obtained by single-particle cryo-electron microscopy.
- Thomas G. Laughlin
- , Andrew N. Bayne
- & Karen M. Davies
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Letter |
Directionality of dynein is controlled by the angle and length of its stalk
The motility of dynein towards the minus end of the microtubule is controlled by the length and angle of the coiled-coil stalk that connects the motor to the microtubule.
- Sinan Can
- , Samuel Lacey
- & Ahmet Yildiz
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Letter |
Tissue curvature and apicobasal mechanical tension imbalance instruct cancer morphogenesis
Three-dimensional imaging of mouse pancreatic ducts before and after oncogenic transformation reveals that epithelial tumorigenesis is determined by the relationship between tissue curvature and apical–basal mechanical tension.
- Hendrik A. Messal
- , Silvanus Alt
- & Axel Behrens
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Books & Arts |
Maxwell’s demon and the hunt for alien life
Timo Hannay explores a study of life that takes up where Erwin Schrödinger left off.
- Timo Hannay
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Obituary |
Aaron Klug (1926-2018)
Crystallographer who won a Nobel prize for 3D imaging of viruses.
- Kenneth Holmes
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Article |
Structure of native lens connexin 46/50 intercellular channels by cryo-EM
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of connexin channels composed of connexin 46 and connexin 50 in an open-state reveal features that govern permselectivity and the location of mutated residues linked to herediatry cataracts.
- Janette B. Myers
- , Bassam G. Haddad
- & Steve L. Reichow
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Research Highlight |
Geckos slap their feet and swish their tails to race over water
Slender lizards can speed across a body of water faster than a young alligator can swim.
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Letter |
The entropic force generated by intrinsically disordered segments tunes protein function
The carboxy terminus of human UDP-α-d-glucose-6-dehydrogenase is structurally disordered, but has sequence-independent effects on the conformation of the enzyme and binding of an allosteric inhibitor, suggesting a reason for the persistence of intrinsically disordered peptide segments in the proteome.
- Nicholas D. Keul
- , Krishnadev Oruganty
- & Zachary A. Wood
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News Feature |
Bottom-up biology
Researchers are tearing up the biology rule books by trying to construct cells from scratch. A special issue explores the lessons being learnt about life.
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Editorial |
Focus on the benefits of building life’s systems from scratch
Scientists have overturned the conventional top-down approach to studying cells to instead construct new cellular systems from the bottom up.
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News Feature |
How biologists are creating life-like cells from scratch
Built from the bottom up, synthetic cells and other creations are starting to come together and could soon test the boundaries of life.
- Kendall Powell
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News & Views Forum |
Cell parts to complex processes, from the bottom up
Engineering approaches allow biological structures and behaviours to be reconstituted in vitro. A biologist and a physicist discuss the potential and limitations of this bottom-up philosophy in providing insights into complex biological processes.
- Matthew Good
- & Xavier Trepat
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News & Views |
Nanofibres induce remodelling of cell membranes
A nanometre-scale mechanism has been proposed to explain how bacteria improve their grip on human cells. The findings have implications for drug discovery, and might inspire biomimetic applications such as adhesives.
- John R. Dutcher
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News & Views |
Cellular stretch reveals superelastic powers
External forces can make cells undergo large, irreversible deformations. It emerges that stretched mammalian cells grown in vitro can enter a state called superelasticity, in which large, reversible deformations occur.
- Manuel Théry
- & Atef Asnacios
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Article |
Active superelasticity in three-dimensional epithelia of controlled shape
Theoretical modelling in combination with measurements of tension and shape in epithelial domes of controlled geometry reveals a plateau of tension in tissue that is maintained by heterogeneous strain across cells.
- Ernest Latorre
- , Sohan Kale
- & Xavier Trepat
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Letter |
Conformational transitions of the serotonin 5-HT3 receptor
Cryo-electron microscopy of the serotonin 5-HT3 receptor in complex with various ligands yields four distinct structures, capturing serotonin binding in detail and increasing understanding of the gating mechanism of the receptor.
- Lucie Polovinkin
- , Ghérici Hassaine
- & Hugues Nury
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Research Highlight |
Why an elephant’s tail is a feeble fly-swatter
Tails serve as effective non-lethal weapons against pests.
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Letter |
A separated vortex ring underlies the flight of the dandelion
The flight of dandelion seeds is enabled by an extraordinary vortex ring, which was revealed by the visualization of the flow around the seed.
- Cathal Cummins
- , Madeleine Seale
- & Naomi Nakayama
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Research Highlight |
How extremely dry skin safeguards African elephants
Imaging reveals mounds under the skin that help to create cooling channels.
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News & Views Forum |
Protein structures guide the design of a much-needed tool for neuroscience
The structures of anion-conducting channelrhodopsin proteins have been solved and used to develop a tool for optogenetics. Experts discuss what the structures tell us about ion conduction, and why the tool is needed.
- Patrick Scheerer
- , Elizabeth Unger
- & Lin Tian
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Letter |
A flavin-based extracellular electron transfer mechanism in diverse Gram-positive bacteria
The Gram-positive Listeria monocytogenes pathogen possesses a distinctive extracellular electron transfer mechanism, which is probably present in numerous ecologically diverse species of the Firmcutes phylum.
- Samuel H. Light
- , Lin Su
- & Daniel A. Portnoy
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News & Views |
A 3D cell shape that enables tube formation
Sheets of cells called epithelia can curve into tubes in embryos. Modelling and in vivo observations reveal that cells in tubes adopt an asymmetric cell shape dubbed scutoid, contrary to some previous assumptions.
- Guy Blanchard
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News & Views |
Tissue ‘melting’ sculpts embryo
Collections of cells in the tails of zebrafish embryos have now been found to transition between behaving as solids and fluids. This transition is responsible for the head-to-tail elongation of the embryo.
- Pierre-François Lenne
- & Vikas Trivedi
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Letter |
A fluid-to-solid jamming transition underlies vertebrate body axis elongation
Cell collectives in embryonic tissues undergo a fluid-to-solid jamming transition, similar to those that occur in soft materials such as foams, emulsions and colloidal suspensions, to physically sculpt the vertebrate body axis.
- Alessandro Mongera
- , Payam Rowghanian
- & Otger Campàs
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Article |
Structural mechanisms of selectivity and gating in anion channelrhodopsins
Crystal structures and molecular simulations of the designed anion-conducting channelrhodopsin iC++ provide molecular insights that enable structure-based design of channelrhodopsins with desirable properties for use as optogenetic tools.
- Hideaki E. Kato
- , Yoon Seok Kim
- & Karl Deisseroth
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Letter |
Cryo-EM of the dynamin polymer assembled on lipid membrane
A cryo-electron microscopy structure of human dynamin-1 demonstrates conformational changes and sheds light on the fission of membranes during endocytosis.
- Leopold Kong
- , Kem A. Sochacki
- & Jenny E. Hinshaw
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Technology Feature |
The hackers teaching old DNA sequencers new tricks
Outdated genome-sequencing machines need not die — researchers can repurpose them to drive next-generation biochemistry studies.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
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Letter |
The outer membrane is an essential load-bearing element in Gram-negative bacteria
The outer membrane of Gram-negative bacteria is shown to be at least as stiff as the cell wall, and this property enables it to protect cells from mechanical pertubations.
- Enrique R. Rojas
- , Gabriel Billings
- & Kerwyn Casey Huang
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Article |
Cryo-EM structure of a fungal mitochondrial calcium uniporter
A cryo-electron microscopy structure of fungal mitochondrial calcium uniporter shows that the channel is tetrameric and sheds light on channel assembly and function.
- Nam X. Nguyen
- , Jean-Paul Armache
- & Youxing Jiang
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Article |
Cryo-EM structures of fungal and metazoan mitochondrial calcium uniporters
Structures of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter from fungal and metazoan organisms reveal a tetrameric architecture and shed light on the function of the channel.
- Rozbeh Baradaran
- , Chongyuan Wang
- & Stephen Barstow Long
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Letter |
A distinct abundant group of microbial rhodopsins discovered using functional metagenomics
An analysis based on functional metagenomics reveals a previously unknown group of microbial light-sensory rhodopsins that are widespread among a diverse range of microorganisms.
- Alina Pushkarev
- , Keiichi Inoue
- & Oded Béjà
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Letter |
Structural basis of G-quadruplex unfolding by the DEAH/RHA helicase DHX36
A mechanism for the unfolding of guanine-rich DNA ‘quadruplexes’ by helicases is suggested, based on the structure of a DNA-bound helicase.
- Michael C. Chen
- , Ramreddy Tippana
- & Adrian R. Ferré-D’Amaré
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Article |
Structural basis of mitochondrial receptor binding and constriction by DRP1
Cryo-electron microscopy is used to resolve the structure of human dynamin-related protein 1 co-assembled with its receptor mitochondrial dynamics protein of 49 kDa, along with an analysis of structure- and disease-based mutations.
- Raghav Kalia
- , Ray Yu-Ruei Wang
- & Adam Frost
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News & Views |
Enzymes can adapt to cold by wiggling regions far from their active site
Mutations introduced far from the active site of an enzyme can cause local unfolding that increases enzyme activity. This finding suggests how organisms that live in the cold can speed up biochemical reactions.
- Ashok A. Deniz
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Review Article |
Long-distance navigation and magnetoreception in migratory animals
A Review of the cues and mechanisms used by animals to navigate over long distances, with a particular emphasis on magnetoreception.
- Henrik Mouritsen
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Letter |
Dynamic allostery can drive cold adaptation in enzymes
By engineering entropy-tuning changes into distal sites of a bacterial adenylate kinase, an allosteric tuning mechanism based on protein dynamics is revealed.
- Harry G. Saavedra
- , James O. Wrabl
- & Vincent J. Hilser
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News & Views |
Transcription regulation enters a new phase
A subunit of the enzymatic complex P-TEFb can induce compartmentalization of proteins into liquid-like droplets in cells. This phase separation might help P-TEFb to promote gene transcription.
- James Goodrich
- & Dylan Taatjes
Collective intercellular communication through ultra-fast hydrodynamic trigger waves