Physiology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Gut microbiota deficient mice demonstrate enhanced glucose clearance, but which tissues are responsible for this improvement are still unclear. Here the authors report that brown adipose tissue contributes to the enhanced glucose clearance in gut microbiota depleted mice and that this response is dissociated from adaptive thermogenesis.

    • Min Li
    • , Li Li
    •  & John R. Speakman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Visceral adiposity is a risk factor for cognitive decline, but subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) is not and may be protective. Here, the authors show that beige adipocytes are indispensable for the neuroprotective effects of SAT. Beige fat knockout mice were more susceptible to the neuroimmune and cognitive effects of obesity, and in normal mice, SAT transplants protected against chronic obesity via beige fat-dependent mechanisms.

    • De-Huang Guo
    • , Masaki Yamamoto
    •  & Alexis M. Stranahan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Differentiation of hPSCs to cardiomyocytes suffers from high variability. Here the authors report a label-free live cell imaging platform based on autofluorescence imaging to enable the prediction of cardiomyocyte differentiation efficiency from hPSCs.

    • Tongcheng Qian
    • , Tiffany M. Heaster
    •  & Melissa C. Skala

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The cellular identity and function of the pancreatic polypeptide (Ppy)-producing γ-cells are incompletely understood. Here the authors show that these cells are heterogeneous and display adaptive plasticity to engage in insulin production following β-cell injury, but loss of the Ppy gene or γ-cells in mice does not affect weight or glycemia under basal conditions.

    • Marta Perez-Frances
    • , Léon van Gurp
    •  & Pedro L. Herrera

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether thyroid hormones affect gene expression via DNA methylation is not well known. Here the authors show that type 2 deiodinase (D2) converts T4 to produce T3, which prevents DNA methylation of discrete areas in the neonatal liver. In the absence of D2, DNA methylation occurs and is associated with reduced chromatin accessibility in promoters and enhancers and affects gene expression.

    • Tatiana L. Fonseca
    • , Tzintzuni Garcia
    •  & Antonio C. Bianco

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diverse macrophage subsets are found in adipose tissue where they regulate its physiology. Here, the authors used single-cell RNA sequencing to analyse the effect of post-prandial lipids on adipose tissue macrophages and identify Tim4 as a regulator of ABCA1+ macrophage function and post-prandial cholesterol transport.

    • M. S. Magalhaes
    • , P. Smith
    •  & C. Bénézech

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Theory predicts that organisms in varied environments should evolve to be more phenotypically flexible. Evidence combining genetic and physiological variation with thermal acclimation experiments shows that the thermogenic flexibility of wild juncos is greatest in populations where temperatures are most variable.

    • Maria Stager
    • , Nathan R. Senner
    •  & Zachary A. Cheviron

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acute pancreatitis is a serious inflammatory disease, which is more severe in diabetic mice. Here the authors use mice lacking pancreatic acinar cell insulin receptors to show that this may be because insulin preserves glycolytic energy supply in acinar cell during pancreatitis, which prevents cytotoxic calcium overload and cell death.

    • Jason I. E. Bruce
    • , Rosa Sánchez-Alvarez
    •  & John A. Williams

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Different types of mesenchymal progenitors participate in ectopic bone formation. Here, the authors show Col2+ lineage cells adopt a lymphatic endothelium cell fate, which regulates local inflammatory microenvironment after trauma, thus influencing heterotopic ossification (HO) development via a FGFR3-BMPR1a pathway.

    • Dali Zhang
    • , Junlan Huang
    •  & Yangli Xie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Memory T cells are particularly reliant on fatty acid oxidation as a source of energy. Here the authors show this reliance is controlled by AMPK sensing of glucose deprivation that triggers SENP1-Sirt3 signalling, driving fatty acid oxidation and memory differentiation in T cells via deacetylation of YME1L1 to induce mitochondrial fusion.

    • Jianli He
    • , Xun Shangguan
    •  & Jinke Cheng

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Self-powered implantable devices have the potential to extend device operation, though current energy harvesters are both insufficient and inconvenient. Here the authors report on a commercial coin battery-sized high-performance inertia-driven triboelectric nanogenerator based on body motion and gravity that can be used to charge a lithium-ion battery and integrated into a cardiac pacemaker.

    • Hanjun Ryu
    • , Hyun-moon Park
    •  & Sang-Woo Kim

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reactive oxygen species are required for the long lifespan, and glutathione is an antioxidant. Here the authors show that limiting the consumption of dietary thiols, including those naturally derived from the microbiota, increases proteotoxic stress resistance in worms and human cells, and extends C. elegans lifespan.

    • Ivan Gusarov
    • , Ilya Shamovsky
    •  & Evgeny Nudler

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Neurofibromatosis type 1 (NF1) is a genetic disorder caused by mutations in neurofibromin and associated with disruptions in physiology and behavior. Here the authors show that neurofibromin regulates metabolic homeostasis via a discrete brain circuit in a Drosophila model of NF1.

    • Valentina Botero
    • , Bethany A. Stanhope
    •  & Seth M. Tomchik

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lactate levels in blood change during hypoxia or exercise, however whether this variable is sensed to evoke adaptive responses is unknown. Here the authors show that oxygen-sensing carotid body cells stimulated by hypoxia are also activated by lactate to potentiate a compensatory ventilatory response.

    • Hortensia Torres-Torrelo
    • , Patricia Ortega-Sáenz
    •  & José López-Barneo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Osteoarthritis is caused by an imbalance between extracellular matrix synthesis and degradation. Here, the authors show that both strands of microRNA-455, -5p and -3p, target HIF2α and regulate cartilage homeostasis, and show that overexpression of these miRNAs is protective against osteoarthritis in mice.

    • Yoshiaki Ito
    • , Tokio Matsuzaki
    •  & Hiroshi Asahara

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Limited understanding of the interactions between nanoparticle drug carriers and the blood-brain barrier underlies many translational failures in treatments of brain disorders. Here the authors use two-photon microscopy in mice to characterize the receptor-mediated transcytosis of nanoparticles at all steps of delivery from the blood to the brain in vivo.

    • Krzysztof Kucharz
    • , Kasper Kristensen
    •  & Martin Johannes Lauritzen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Iron is essential during pregnancy for embryo and placental development and maternal health. However, in this study using mouse models, the authors demonstrate that excess maternal iron causes adverse embryo outcomes in pregnancies with underlying systemic inflammation.

    • Allison L. Fisher
    • , Veena Sangkhae
    •  & Elizabeta Nemeth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Whether the adult testis harbours a somatic progenitor population is unknown. Here, the authors provide evidence that the testis interstitial cells expressing the transcription factor Tcf21 maintain adult testis homeostasis during aging, and act as potential reserve somatic progenitors following injury.

    • Yu-chi Shen
    • , Adrienne Niederriter Shami
    •  & Saher Sue Hammoud

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The human voltage-gated proton channel (hHv1) maintains intracellular pH and membrane potential in sperm and neutrophils. Here, the authors show that albumin activates hHv1, by binding to the channel voltage sensor domains to enhance open probability and increases proton current, and that activation is required to trigger sperm to allow oocyte fertilization and to sustain production and release of immune inflammatory mediators during the neutrophil respiratory burst.

    • Ruiming Zhao
    • , Hui Dai
    •  & Steve A. N. Goldstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bacterial microcompartments (BMCs) are organelles consisting of a protein shell in which certain metabolic reactions take place separated from the cytoplasm. Here, Sutter et al. present a comprehensive catalog of BMC loci, substantially expanding the number of known BMCs and describing distinct types and compartmentalized reactions.

    • Markus Sutter
    • , Matthew R. Melnicki
    •  & Cheryl A. Kerfeld

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Abnormal folate metabolism in mice results in transgenerational epigenetic inheritance of congenital malformations. Here, the authors provide evidence that defective folate metabolism causes germline epigenetic instability and observe multigenerational misexpression of Hira in embryos, implicating Hira transcript levels as a biomarker of maternal phenotypic inheritance.

    • Georgina E. T. Blake
    • , Xiaohui Zhao
    •  & Erica D. Watson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Acute stress transiently disrupts reward-seeking behaviour and repeated stress exposure produces lasting anhedonia-like behaviour in rodents. Here, the authors show that stress triggers GABAergic activity in the ventral tegmental area which blunts reward-seeking behaviour in mice.

    • Daniel C. Lowes
    • , Linda A. Chamberlin
    •  & Alexander Z. Harris

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During the expansion of adipose tissue adipocyte progenitor cells proliferate and undergo adipogenesis. Here, the authors show that adipocyte progenitor cell proliferation in visceral adipose tissue has a diurnal pattern, which is dependent on both energy intake and the circadian clock.

    • Aleix Ribas-Latre
    • , Rafael Bravo Santos
    •  & Kristin L. Eckel-Mahan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Regular exercise promotes overall health and prevents non-communicable diseases, but the adaptation mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors perform a meta-analysis to reveal time-specific patterns of the acute and long-term exercise response in human skeletal muscle, and identify sex- and age-specific changes.

    • David Amar
    • , Malene E. Lindholm
    •  & Euan A. Ashley

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effect of fallopian tube’s curvature on sperm motion has not been studied in detail. Here, the authors use droplet microfluidics to create soft curved interfaces, revealing a dynamic switch in sperm motility from a progressive surface-aligned mode at low curvatures, to an aggressive surface-attacking mode at high curvatures.

    • Mohammad Reza Raveshi
    • , Melati S. Abdul Halim
    •  & Reza Nosrati

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Diet-induced changes in the microbiome have been associated with obesity. Here, using a mouse model, the authors show that a mixed protein source found in western diets exacerbates diet-induced obesity and insulin resistance by potentiating hepatic mTORC1/S6K1 signaling via microbial production of branched-chain fatty acids (BCFA).

    • Béatrice S.-Y. Choi
    • , Noëmie Daniel
    •  & André Marette

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During insulin-resistance, the compensatory expansion of beta-cell mass is able to delay or the onset of overt type 2 diabetes. Here, the authors report that beta-arrestin-1, an intracellular protein known to regulate signalling through G protein-coupled receptors, is essential for beta-cell replication and function in insulin-resistant mice.

    • Luiz F. Barella
    • , Mario Rossi
    •  & Jürgen Wess

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Pupariation in Drosophila is triggered by the steroid-hormone ecdysone and requires coordination between associated behavioral and body-reshaping motor subprograms. The authors show that coordination requires ecdysone-dependent Dilp8-Lgr3 signaling between the cuticle epidermis and interneurons.

    • Fabiana Heredia
    • , Yanel Volonté
    •  & Alisson M. Gontijo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Metals such as calcium and potassium have long been known to regulate the diameter of arteries that control blood flow. Here, we report that zinc causes relaxation of blood vessels and reduces blood pressure by its coordinated action in sensory nerves, endothelium and smooth muscle cells.

    • Ashenafi H. Betrie
    • , James A. Brock
    •  & Scott Ayton

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Aging is associated with increased frailty and disrupted energy homeostasis. Here, the authors show that SIRT6 overexpression extends the lifespan of male and female mice and demonstrate that SIRT6 optimizes energy homeostasis in old age, which delays frailty and preserves healthy aging.

    • A. Roichman
    • , S. Elhanati
    •  & H. Y. Cohen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Natural selection may favor traits underlying aging-related diseases if they benefit the young. Wang et al. find that oxidative activation of CaMKII provides physiological benefits critical to the initial and continued success of vertebrates but at the cost of disease, frailty, and shortened lifespan.

    • Qinchuan Wang
    • , Erick O. Hernández-Ochoa
    •  & Mark E. Anderson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The brain is sensitive to oxygen deprivation. Here, the authors show in experimental animals that sensitivity to hypoxia is inversely related to the level of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductast (SQOR) and the capacity to catabolize sulfide in the brain.

    • Eizo Marutani
    • , Masanobu Morita
    •  & Fumito Ichinose

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Decreased expression of BAG3 in the heart is associated with contractile dysfunction and heart failure. Here the authors show that this is due to decreased BAG3-dependent sarcomere protein turnover, which impairs mechanical function, and that sarcomere force-generating capacity is restored with BAG3 gene therapy.

    • Thomas G. Martin
    • , Valerie D. Myers
    •  & Jonathan A. Kirk

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    Circadian clocks link physiologic processes to environmental conditions and a mismatch between internal and external rhythms has negative effects on organismal health. In this review, the authors discuss the interactions between circadian clocks and dietary interventions targeted to promote healthy aging.

    • Victoria A. Acosta-Rodríguez
    • , Filipa Rijo-Ferreira
    •  & Joseph S. Takahashi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mechanisms driving metabolic dysfunction in obesity remain incompletely understood. Here, the authors show that the levels of Hippo pathway effector YAP are reduced in muscle from individuals with insulin resistance and obese-diabetic mice, and that YAP promotes skeletal muscle lipid metabolism and limits adiposity in obese mice.

    • K. I. Watt
    • , D. C. Henstridge
    •  & P. Gregorevic

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Bone regeneration involves activation of tissue resident stem cells. Here the authors show that mesenchymal progenitors from skeletal muscle mediate the fibrotic response to bone injury and also contribute to bone repair; processes that are impaired when both muscle and bone are injured.

    • Anais Julien
    • , Anuya Kanagalingam
    •  & Céline Colnot

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Endothelial tissues must have intact barrier function, but this may be disrupted during inflammation. Here, the authors show that the mitochondrial protein Mitofusin-2 stabilizes cell–cell adherens junctions in endothelial cells during homeostasis and binds the transcriptional activator β-catenin upon inflammatory stimulation.

    • Young-Mee Kim
    • , Sarah Krantz
    •  & Jalees Rehman

  • Review Article
    | Open Access

    At the centre of intestinal health and the fight against obesity and metabolic syndrome is the intestinal microbiota and its interaction with our immune systems. Here the authors Review the current understanding of how these systems interact and how we can capitalize on recent advances to provide better therapeutic options.

    • Saad Khan
    • , Helen Luck
    •  & Daniel A. Winer

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A mutation in Shugoshin-1 causes the Chronic Atrial and Intestinal Dysrhythmia (CAID) Syndrome, but the underlying mechanisms are unknown. Here, the authors show that Shugoshin-1 controls cardiac pacemaker activity by interacting with HCN4 to enhance its cell-surface expression, and that the CAID-Syndrome mutation disrupts cardiac pacemaking by interfering with this important non-canonical interaction.

    • Donghai Liu
    • , Andrew Taehun Song
    •  & Stanley Nattel

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