Medical research articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article |

    Berberine is contained in some plant-derived medicines and is known to have anti-diabetic effects. Here the authors show that berberine activates thermogenesis in white and brown adipose tissues, thereby increasing organismal energy expenditure and limiting weight gain in genetically obese mice.

    • Zhiguo Zhang
    • , Huizhi Zhang
    •  & Guang Ning

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sphingosine is abnormally accumulated in Niemann–Pick type C disease (NP–C), but the causes of this accumulation have not been fully characterized. Here the authors show that sphingosine kinase activity is reduced in NP–C patient fibroblasts and NP–C mouse neurons due to defective vascular endothelial growth factor levels, suggesting therapeutic avenues.

    • Hyun Lee
    • , Jong Kil Lee
    •  & Hee Kyung Jin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO) has been implicated in steroid biogenesis and neuroinflammation. Here, the authors create viable and fertile global TSPO knockout mice, challenging the assumption that TSPO is essential for mouse development but suggesting that it may have a role under certain disease conditions.

    • Richard B. Banati
    • , Ryan J. Middleton
    •  & Guo-Jun Liu

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Henipaviruses (HNVs) infect bats in Asia and Africa, but transmission to humans (often with lethal consequences) is known only in Asia. Here the authors show that 3% of human serum samples from certain areas in Cameroon contain antibodies against HNV, indicating spillover into the human population.

    • Olivier Pernet
    • , Bradley S. Schneider
    •  & Benhur Lee

  • Article |

    Mitochondrial dysfunction is associated with a number of neurodegenerative diseases. Szelechowski et al.take advantage of a viral protein that suppresses apoptosis in neurons to isolate a peptide that protects mitochondria and reduces neuronal cell death in a mouse model of Parkinson’s disease.

    • Marion Szelechowski
    • , Alexandre Bétourné
    •  & Daniel Gonzalez-Dunia

  • Article |

    Health monitoring based on measuring circulating antibodies may enable the presymptomatic detection of diseases. Here, the authors report a large-scale peptide array platform that allows for a detection of the profile of circulating antibodies associated with cancers and infectious diseases.

    • Joseph Barten Legutki
    • , Zhan-Gong Zhao
    •  & Phillip Stafford

  • Article |

    Changes in serum metabolites can indicate the development of disease. Here, the authors measure serum metabolite and lipoprotein levels in a large cohort of Northern Europeans, creating metabolic fingerprints for various age groups and, specifically, for women at the onset of menopause.

    • Kirsi Auro
    • , Anni Joensuu
    •  & Markus Perola

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Endometriosis is a painful condition in which endometrial cells are found outside the womb. Here, the authors identify a peptide that specifically binds to a receptor expressed on endometrial epithelial cells and use it to induce apoptosis in both cultured cells and baboons with endometriosis.

    • K. Sugihara
    • , Y. Kobayashi
    •  & M.N. Fukuda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Nitric oxide (NO) and hydrogen sulphide (H2S) are two gaseous signalling molecules produced in tissues. Here the authors propose that NO and H2S react with each other to form nitroxyl (HNO), which activates the TRPA1 channel in nerve cells and triggers the release of the vasoactive peptide CGRP.

    • Mirjam Eberhardt
    • , Maria Dux
    •  & Milos R. Filipovic

  • Article |

    Fanconi anaemia (FA) is a genetic disease associated with low levels of blood stem cells. Here Liu et al.report an improved method to generate genetically corrected induced pluripotent stem cells from an FA patient, and perform a screening to identify drugs that improve their differentiation into blood stem cells.

    • Guang-Hui Liu
    • , Keiichiro Suzuki
    •  & Juan Carlos Izpisua Belmonte

  • Article |

    The transcription factor FOXO1 has been shown to control the differentiation of enteroendocrine cells in mice. Here the authors extend these findings to humans by showing that FOXO1-expressing cells also exist in the human gut, and that inhibition of FOXO1 generates insulin-secreting cells in human gut organoid cultures.

    • Ryotaro Bouchi
    • , Kylie S. Foo
    •  & Domenico Accili

  • Review Article |

    Sirtuins have been implicated in the ageing process in a variety of organisms, but their role in mammalian ageing remains somewhat controversial. Here the authors discuss sirtuin proteins in the brain, providing an overview of their physiological functions as well as their implication in mammalian ageing.

    • Akiko Satoh
    •  & Shin-ichiro Imai

  • Article |

    Unravelling the relationships between disease symptoms and underlying molecular origins is an important task in biomedical research. Here, Zhou et al.link diseases via their symptom overlap, and show that similar phenotypes are mirrored in networks that connect diseases with common genes or protein interactions.

    • XueZhong Zhou
    • , Jörg Menche
    •  & Amitabh Sharma

  • Article |

    Bioadhesives are materials frequently used as surgical sealants, though to date, these typically possess limited antibacterial properties. Here, the authors present a novel injectable and antibacterial bioadhesive hydrogel and demonstrate its performance in vivo.

    • Michael C. Giano
    • , Zuhaib Ibrahim
    •  & Joel P. Schneider

  • Article |

    Brown adipocytes are rich in mitochondria and influence whole-body energy balance. Here, Duteil et al. show that the lysine-specific demethylase 1 (LSD1) controls mitochondrial biogenesis and the formation of brown-like adipocytes, and that LSD1 overexpression in white fat reduces weight gain of mice on a high-fat diet.

    • Delphine Duteil
    • , Eric Metzger
    •  & Roland Schüle

  • Article |

    Myocardin-related transcription factors (MRTFs) increase muscle growth and regeneration. Here, Hinkel et al. show that MRTFs also promote microvessel growth and maturation in chronic ischaemic disease of the heart or peripheral muscle by increasing the expression of the pro-angiongenic factors, CCN1 and CCN2.

    • Rabea Hinkel
    • , Teresa Trenkwalder
    •  & Christian Kupatt

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The murine epicardium forms an envelope around the heart and contains cells that can participate in cardiac repair. Here the authors discover a population of epicardial cells derived from blood cells, which proliferate and change their surrounding extracellular matrix in response to cardiac injury.

    • Gemma M. Balmer
    • , Sveva Bollini
    •  & Paul R. Riley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An individual tumour is often heterogeneous and its various features can be visualised noninvasively using medical imaging. Here, the authors analyse large computed tomography data sets using radiomic algorithms to identify heterogeneity, and find that some of these tumour features have prognostic value across cancer types.

    • Hugo J. W. L. Aerts
    • , Emmanuel Rios Velazquez
    •  & Philippe Lambin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The TRPV2 calcium channel can be activated by mechanical stretch and may act as a mechanoreceptor in tissues. Here the authors deplete the TRPV2 calcium channel from the hearts of adult mice, showing that TRPV2 is important for the maintenance of cardiac structure and function.

    • Yuki Katanosaka
    • , Keiichiro Iwasaki
    •  & Keiji Naruse

  • Article |

    Mice overexpressing the mitochondrial protein MitoNEET in white adipose tissue (WAT) are very fat but metabolically healthy. Here the authors study the physiological consequences of MitoNEET overexpression in WAT, showing that this triggers an initial browning and that the subsequently expanded WAT is less fibrotic.

    • Christine M. Kusminski
    • , Jiyoung Park
    •  & Philipp E. Scherer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Focal epilepsy is difficult to treat with currently available drugs or surgical approaches. Kätzel et al.express mutant inhibitory receptors in the brains of rats with focal epilepsy and selectively activate these receptors by an exogenous compound, which results in region- and time-specific suppression of focal seizures

    • Dennis Kätzel
    • , Elizabeth Nicholson
    •  & Dimitri M. Kullmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    B-Raf is mutated in many melanomas but treatment of the disease with small molecules targeting the mutant protein often results in tumour resistance. Here, the authors show that mixed lineage kinases (MLK1-4) can reactivate the B-Raf signalling pathway in the presence of inhibitors, resulting in drug resistance.

    • Anna A. Marusiak
    • , Zoe C. Edwards
    •  & John Brognard

  • Article |

    The ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate is produced in the liver in response to a ketogenic diet. Here, Rahman et al. show that β-hydroxybutyrate mediates the neuroprotective effect of a ketogenic diet by activating the HCA2receptor on a neuroprotective subset of macrophages.

    • Mahbubur Rahman
    • , Sajjad Muhammad
    •  & Markus Schwaninger

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Endurance athletes are known to have a low resting heart rate. Here, D'Souza et al.propose that training-induced bradycardia is the result of electrophysiological changes in the sinus node, challenging the classical view that training-induced bradycardia is caused by increased activity of the autonomic nervous system.

    • Alicia D’Souza
    • , Annalisa Bucchi
    •  & Mark R. Boyett

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mitochondria are involved in ageing but exactly how they are involved is controversial. Here the authors show that optimal assembly of mitochondrial complex I predicts longevity in mice, whereas partial complex I assembly increases the production of reactive oxygen species.

    • Satomi Miwa
    • , Howsun Jow
    •  & Thomas von Zglinicki

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Osteoclasts are bone-resorbing cells responsible for the loss of bone mass in diseases such as osteoporosis. Here the authors show that osteoclast proliferation and survival is regulated by FoxO family transcription factors, which control levels of the signalling molecule hydrogen peroxide.

    • Shoshana M. Bartell
    • , Ha-Neui Kim
    •  & Maria Almeida

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The consumption of fermentable carbohydrates, or fibre, is associated with weight loss. Here the authors show that the metabolite acetate, created by fermentation of fibre in the mouse colon, is taken up into the brain where it induces appetite-suppressing neuronal activity in the hypothalamus.

    • Gary Frost
    • , Michelle L. Sleeth
    •  & Jimmy D. Bell

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Maternal diet affects DNA methylation in the developing offspring, leading to phenotypic changes. Here, Dominguez-Salas et al. exploit seasonal variation in the diet of Gambian women to show that maternal methyl donor nutrient status around the time of conception predicts methylation levels at metastable epialleles in infants.

    • Paula Dominguez-Salas
    • , Sophie E. Moore
    •  & Branwen J. Hennig

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Patients with oesophageal diseases may require surgical removal and replacement of the oesophagus. Here the authors seed mesenchymal stromal cells on a decellularized rat oesophagus and show that this bioengineered tissue construct restores swallowing function after transplantation into rats.

    • Sebastian Sjöqvist
    • , Philipp Jungebluth
    •  & Paolo Macchiarini

  • Article |

    The transcription factor NR5A1 has so far mainly been known for regulating the biosynthesis of steroids. Here the authors discover that NR5A1 also has a role in energy metabolism, demonstrating that NR5A1 regulates several key enzymes involved in the breakdown of glucose.

    • Takashi Baba
    • , Hiroyuki Otake
    •  & Ken-Ichirou Morohashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The potential of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as cancer biomarkers is substantial. Here, Yoshioka et al. describe a sensitive technique to analyse EVs directly from blood samples of patients with colorectal cancer, highlighting a liquid biopsy technique with cancer-detection possibilities.

    • Yusuke Yoshioka
    • , Nobuyoshi Kosaka
    •  & Takahiro Ochiya

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Caloric restriction extends the lifespan of various organisms but whether it works in monkeys is controversial. Here, Colman et al.report that caloric restriction reduces all-cause mortality of rhesus macaques, and perform a weight comparison that aims to reconcile their findings with contradictory results from a similar study.

    • Ricki J. Colman
    • , T. Mark Beasley
    •  & Rozalyn M. Anderson

  • Article |

    Semen-derived peptides can form amyloid fibrils that boost HIV infection in vitro, but the existence of such fibrils in semen remained to be demonstrated. Here, the authors show that human semen contains amyloid fibrils, which can bind HIV particles and increase their infectiveness.

    • Shariq M. Usmani
    • , Onofrio Zirafi
    •  & Jan Münch

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