August 2015

Cover articles

    1. Cell Biology

    A molecular hub for mitochondria

    Uri Manor, Sadie Bartholomew ... Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    A tale of two isoforms

    Qing Fang, Artur A Indzhykulian ... Jonathan E Bird
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Keeping neurons in their place in the ear

    Thomas M Coate, Nathalie A Spita ... Matthew W Kelley

Highlights controls:

Research articles

    1. Neuroscience

    Dopamine neurons projecting to the posterior striatum form an anatomically distinct subclass

    William Menegas, Joseph F Bergan ... Mitsuko Watabe-Uchida
    Dopamine neurons projecting to different targets receive a similar set of inputs, rather than forming reciprocal connections, whereas those projecting to the posterior striatum receive a distinct set of inputs.
    1. Neuroscience

    Normative evidence accumulation in unpredictable environments

    Christopher M Glaze, Joseph W Kable, Joshua I Gold
    Theoretically optimal dynamics for making decisions in unpredictable environments provide a broadly applicable framework for understanding choice behavior and underlying neural signals.
    1. Cell Biology

    The vacuole/lysosome is required for cell-cycle progression

    Yui Jin, Lois S Weisman
    The endo-lysosomal system plays a positive essential role in the initiation of the cell cycle in yeast.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    KPNB1 mediates PER/CRY nuclear translocation and circadian clock function

    Yool Lee, A Reum Jang ... John B Hogenesch
    KPNB1 regulates rhythmic spatio-temporal nuclear import of the PER/CRY complex and is required for negative feedback repression in mammalian and fly clock function.
    1. Neuroscience

    Dissociable roles of the inferior longitudinal fasciculus and fornix in face and place perception

    Carl J Hodgetts, Mark Postans ... Kim S Graham
    Structure-function associations in medial temporal lobe reflect specialised, behaviourally-relevant neurocognitive circuits for the perception of faces and places.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Chemical perturbation of an intrinsically disordered region of TFIID distinguishes two modes of transcription initiation

    Zhengjian Zhang, Zarko Boskovic ... Robert Tjian
    An inorganic tin oxochloride cluster specifically binds to an intrinsically disordered, histidine-rich, low complexity protein region and arrests de novo transcription initiation without affecting reinitiation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Distinct transcriptional responses elicited by unfolded nuclear or cytoplasmic protein in mammalian cells

    Yusuke Miyazaki, Ling-chun Chen ... Thomas J Wandless
    A new unfolded protein response has been discovered that is distinct from the heat shock response and protects mammalian cells from proteotoxic stress.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Progerin reduces LAP2α-telomere association in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria

    Alexandre Chojnowski, Peh Fern Ong ... Oliver Dreesen
    Expression of the lamina-associated polypeptide α (LAP2α) prevents premature cellular ageing caused by expression of progerin in Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome.
    1. Neuroscience

    NUDT21-spanning CNVs lead to neuropsychiatric disease and altered MeCP2 abundance via alternative polyadenylation

    Vincenzo A Gennarino, Callison E Alcott ... Huda Y Zoghbi
    Individuals with deletions or duplications of the NUDT21 gene have altered levels of MeCP2 protein and intellectual disabilities.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

    Inducible depletion of adult skeletal muscle stem cells impairs the regeneration of neuromuscular junctions

    Wenxuan Liu, Lan Wei-LaPierre ... Joe V Chakkalakal
    Skeletal muscle stem cells play important roles in the regeneration of neuromuscular junctions, and so present new targets for therapies to treat neuromuscular decline observed in the context of aging and various neuromuscular diseases.
    1. Neuroscience

    Noise-induced plasticity of KCNQ2/3 and HCN channels underlies vulnerability and resilience to tinnitus

    Shuang Li, Bopanna I Kalappa, Thanos Tzounopoulos
    Mice that successfully avoid developing tinnitus despite exposure to excessive noise show spontaneous recovery of KCNQ2/3 potassium channel activity associated with a reduction in HCN channel activity in auditory brainstem neurons.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Developmental Biology

    An ancient Pygo-dependent Wnt enhanceosome integrated by Chip/LDB-SSDP

    Marc Fiedler, Michael Graeb ... Mariann Bienz
    The Chip/LDB-SSDP complex integrates multiple signals to render TCF/LEF enhancers Wnt responsive.
    1. Neuroscience

    Phase-amplitude coupling supports phase coding in human ECoG

    Andrew J Watrous, Lorena Deuker ... Nikolai Axmacher
    Electrocorticography (ECoG) reveals that phase-amplitude coupling relates to phase-dependent coding in the human brain.
    1. Neuroscience
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Unified pre- and postsynaptic long-term plasticity enables reliable and flexible learning

    Rui Ponte Costa, Robert C Froemke ... Mark CW van Rossum
    Combined pre- and postsynaptically expressed long-term plasticity of neuronal connections improves sensory discrimination, and enables rapid relearning of previously encountered information.
    1. Neuroscience

    Rapid learning in visual cortical networks

    Ye Wang, Valentin Dragoi
    The rapid learning of sensory information in cortical circuits is accompanied by a tight coordination of spike timing with the local theta-band population activity in visual cortex.
    1. Neuroscience

    Distinct regulation of dopamine D2S and D2L autoreceptor signaling by calcium

    Stephanie C Gantz, Brooks G Robinson ... Kim A Neve
    The loss of calcium-dependent D2 autoreceptor desensitization caused by prior in vivo cocaine exposure may be conferred by an unexpected role of the D2L splice variant as an autoreceptor.
    1. Neuroscience

    Nemo-like kinase is a novel regulator of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy

    Tiffany W Todd, Hiroshi Kokubu ... Janghoo Lim
    Nemo-like kinase is a key protein promoting the pathogenesis of spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Regulation of mRNA translation during mitosis

    Marvin E Tanenbaum, Noam Stern-Ginossar ... Ronald D Vale
    Ribosomal profiling reveals that translational repression is an important mechanism for cell cycle control and can complement protein degradation.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Cdc6 ATPase activity disengages Cdc6 from the pre-replicative complex to promote DNA replication

    FuJung Chang, Alberto Riera ... Michael Weinreich
    Biochemical and genetic characterization of the Cdc6 replication initiator reveals similarities in the helicase loading reaction between bacteria and eukaryotes.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Genome-wide errant targeting by Hairy

    Kurtulus Kok, Ahmet Ay ... David N Arnosti
    Pervasive ‘futile cycling’ by chromatin-modifying factors suggests a mechanism for creating new links in gene regulatory networks.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Plant Biology

    Structural basis of pathogen recognition by an integrated HMA domain in a plant NLR immune receptor

    A Maqbool, H Saitoh ... MJ Banfield
    Structure/function studies of a plant pathogen effector in complex with a host disease resistance protein domain reveal the molecular basis for recognition and underpin future engineering of immunity in crops.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Structural dynamics of E. coli single-stranded DNA binding protein reveal DNA wrapping and unwrapping pathways

    Sukrit Suksombat, Rustem Khafizov ... Yann R Chemla
    Single-molecule force and fluorescence spectroscopy reveal the structural states and dynamics of E. coli single-stranded DNA binding proteins and the energy landscape of the nucleo–protein complex.
    1. Cell Biology

    A mitochondria-anchored isoform of the actin-nucleating spire protein regulates mitochondrial division

    Uri Manor, Sadie Bartholomew ... Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz
    An actin nucleating protein, Spire1C, localizes to the mitochondrial outer membrane and interacts with the endoplasmic reticulum-anchored formin protein INF2 to drive mitochondrial fission.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    The 133-kDa N-terminal domain enables myosin 15 to maintain mechanotransducing stereocilia and is essential for hearing

    Qing Fang, Artur A Indzhykulian ... Jonathan E Bird
    Two myosin 15 isoforms are required separately for the development and long-term maintenance of hearing.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Immunology and Inflammation

    Small molecule inhibition of Csk alters affinity recognition by T cells

    Boryana N Manz, Ying Xim Tan ... Arthur Weiss
    The T cell response, especially to weak agonists, is enhanced by acute Csk inhibition.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Neuropilin-2/Semaphorin-3F-mediated repulsion promotes inner hair cell innervation by spiral ganglion neurons

    Thomas M Coate, Nathalie A Spita ... Matthew W Kelley
    The development of the mammalian cochlea undergoes a period of embryonic refinement in which the outer hair cell region repels incoming type I spiral ganglion neurons, thus ensuring these neurons instead form connections with inner hair cells.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Physics of Living Systems

    Phenotypic states become increasingly sensitive to perturbations near a bifurcation in a synthetic gene network

    Kevin Axelrod, Alvaro Sanchez, Jeff Gore
    Perturbations in the extracellular environment drive transitions from a highly stable memory state to an alternative phenotype in microorganisms.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Centriolar satellites assemble centrosomal microcephaly proteins to recruit CDK2 and promote centriole duplication

    Andrew Kodani, Timothy W Yu ... Jeremy F Reiter
    To control centriole duplication, centriolar satellite proteins assemble a microcephaly-associated protein complex at the centrosome and activate cyclin-dependent kinase 2.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Wild worm embryogenesis harbors ubiquitous polygenic modifier variation

    Annalise B Paaby, Amelia G White ... Matthew V Rockman
    Cryptic alleles affecting embryonic development are widespread in wild C. elegans populations.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Cell Biology

    Conformational change of Dishevelled plays a key regulatory role in the Wnt signaling pathways

    Ho-Jin Lee, De-Li Shi, Jie J Zheng
    The ligand-binding pocket of the Dishevelled PDZ domain can be occupied by Dishevelled's own highly conserved C-terminus, inducing a closed conformation that is ‘opened’ when Wnt signaling stimulates interaction between Frizzled and Dishevelled.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Lamellipodin promotes actin assembly by clustering Ena/VASP proteins and tethering them to actin filaments

    Scott D Hansen, R Dyche Mullins
    Lamellipodin, an important regulator of cytoskeletal and assembly cell migration, enhances the activity of Ena/VASP family actin polymerases by clustering them on leading-edge membranes and tethering them to actin filaments.
    1. Plant Biology

    GLO-Roots: an imaging platform enabling multidimensional characterization of soil-grown root systems

    Rubén Rellán-Álvarez, Guillaume Lobet ... José R Dinneny
    A luminescence-based imaging system is presented that allows soil-based environmental stimuli to be studied in root systems under physiologically relevant conditions.
    1. Cell Biology

    DNA damage induces nuclear actin filament assembly by Formin-2 and Spire-1/2 that promotes efficient DNA repair

    Brittany J Belin, Terri Lee, R Dyche Mullins
    An efficient response to DNA damage requires the assembly of actin filaments in the nucleus.
    1. Cell Biology

    Centrosome age regulates kinetochore–microtubule stability and biases chromosome mis-segregation

    Ivana Gasic, Purnima Nerurkar, Patrick Meraldi
    The presence of cenexin at the old centrosome imposes a functional asymmetry on the mitotic spindle that impacts chromosome alignment and segregation.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Plant Biology

    Orchestration of microtubules and the actin cytoskeleton in trichome cell shape determination by a plant-unique kinesin

    Juan Tian, Libo Han ... Zhaosheng Kong
    Kinesin-like calmodulin-binding protein integrates microtubules and F-actin to assemble the cytoskeletal configuration needed for trichome formation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A molecular tweezer antagonizes seminal amyloids and HIV infection

    Edina Lump, Laura M Castellano ... Jan Münch
    CLR01 is a small molecule that could be an effective topical microbicide to eliminate HIV (and other enveloped viruses), and to antagonize host-encoded amyloid fibrils that promote HIV infection.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    A shift in anterior–posterior positional information underlies the fin-to-limb evolution

    Koh Onimaru, Shigehiro Kuraku ... Mikiko Tanaka
    A shift in antero-posterior positional information may contribute to the fin-to-limb transformation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Intrinsic sequence specificity of the Cas1 integrase directs new spacer acquisition

    Clare Rollie, Stefanie Schneider ... Malcolm F White
    The acquisition of new foreign DNA by the prokaryotic adaptive immune system CRISPR-Cas is shown to depend on the fundamental sequence specificity of the Cas1 integrase.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Perturbation biology nominates upstream–downstream drug combinations in RAF inhibitor resistant melanoma cells

    Anil Korkut, Weiqing Wang ... Chris Sander
    Data-driven systems biology models of signaling predict cellular response to untested perturbations and can nominate drug combinations to overcome drug resistance in cancer cells.
    1. Neuroscience

    A central role for the retrosplenial cortex in de novo environmental learning

    Stephen D Auger, Peter Zeidman, Eleanor A Maguire
    Functional brain imaging of subjects while travelling through an alien virtual world reveals how brain regions encode novel environments from scratch thus enabling navigation.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Cell Biology

    Specific cancer-associated mutations in the switch III region of Ras increase tumorigenicity by nanocluster augmentation

    Maja Šolman, Alessio Ligabue ... Daniel Abankwa
    Rare mutations in the switch III region of Ras can increase its nanoscale clustering, which enhances effector recruitment and downstream signaling.
    1. Neuroscience

    A high affinity RIM-binding protein/Aplip1 interaction prevents the formation of ectopic axonal active zones

    Matthias Siebert, Mathias A Böhme ... Stephan J Sigrist
    High affinity interactions with transport adaptors are important to shield the interaction surfaces of cytomatrix components to block fatal premature oligomerization of active zone proteins during axonal transport.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    FAK/PYK2 promotes the Wnt/β-catenin pathway and intestinal tumorigenesis by phosphorylating GSK3β

    Chenxi Gao, Guangming Chen ... Jing Hu
    Dual FAK/PYK2 kinase inhibition disrupts GSK3β phosphorylation and may present a new treatment for colorectal cancer in patients carrying APC mutations.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Reverse evolution leads to genotypic incompatibility despite functional and active site convergence

    Miriam Kaltenbach, Colin J Jackson ... Nobuhiko Tokuriki
    Enzyme evolution is reversible on a structural and functional (phenotypic) level, but through a different mutational pathway that leads to genotypic incompatibility with the ancestor.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Down-regulation of TORC2-Ypk1 signaling promotes MAPK-independent survival under hyperosmotic stress

    Alexander Muir, Françoise M Roelants ... Jeremy Thorner
    Building on previous work (Muir et al., 2014), we validate the utility of a screen for new protein kinase substrates and define the underlying molecular basis of a new mechanism for responding to hypertonic conditions.
    1. Neuroscience

    Neuron-glia signaling in developing retina mediated by neurotransmitter spillover

    Juliana M Rosa, Rémi Bos ... Marla B Feller
    Retinal waves are correlated with calcium transients in Müller cells, demonstrating that spontaneous activity encompasses both neuronal and glial networks during a crucial period of retinal development.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Longitudinal analysis of Plasmodium sporozoite motility in the dermis reveals component of blood vessel recognition

    Christine S Hopp, Kevin Chiou ... Photini Sinnis
    Malaria parasites enter the host via the skin, where they are inoculated by an infected mosquito as it probes for blood: the inoculation site is a bottleneck for the parasite and the only time when the parasite is extracellular for more than a few minutes, thus possibly presenting the best opportunity for antibody-mediated inhibition of infection.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Cancer Biology

    BAG2 promotes tumorigenesis through enhancing mutant p53 protein levels and function

    Xuetian Yue, Yuhan Zhao ... Wenwei Hu
    Overexpression of BAG2—a novel mutant p53 binding protein—in tumors inhibits MDM2-mediated mutant p53 degradation, which leads to the accumulation of mutant p53 protein and promotes tumorigenesis.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Ngn1 inhibits astrogliogenesis through induction of miR-9 during neuronal fate specification

    Jing Zhao, Quan Lin ... Yi Sun
    During neurogenesis, Neurogenin 1 activates the microRNA miR-9, which directly targets the Jak-Stat pathway to inhibit astrogliogenesis.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Enhancer additivity and non-additivity are determined by enhancer strength in the Drosophila embryo

    Jacques P Bothma, Hernan G Garcia ... Michael Levine
    Quantitative live imaging assays reveal that multiple enhancers often fail to work in an additive fashion in the patterning of the Drosophila embryo, and sometimes even interfere with one another.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Aven recognition of RNA G-quadruplexes regulates translation of the mixed lineage leukemia protooncogenes

    Palaniraja Thandapani, Jingwen Song ... Stéphane Richard
    Arginine methylation regulates mRNA translation of key protooncogenes via an RGG/RG motif-containing protein called Aven.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Predicting effective microRNA target sites in mammalian mRNAs

    Vikram Agarwal, George W Bell ... David P Bartel
    Many experimentally identified microRNA-binding sites are ineffective at mediating repression, and an improved quantitative model for predicting the effective sites is as informative as high-throughput experimental approaches.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Reduced matrix rigidity promotes neonatal cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation, proliferation and clonal expansion

    Yfat Yahalom-Ronen, Dana Rajchman ... Eldad Tzahor
    Compliant matrix provides a permissive micoenvironment for cardiomyocyte dedifferentiation, cell division and expansion, and thus may open a new avenue towards cardiac regeneration.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Plant Biology

    SnRK1-triggered switch of bZIP63 dimerization mediates the low-energy response in plants

    Andrea Mair, Lorenzo Pedrotti ... Markus Teige
    The transcription factor bZIP63 is a key regulator of the starvation response in the model plant Arabidopsis thaliana and is directly targeted by the kinase SnRK1.
    1. Neuroscience

    Ultrastructural analysis of adult mouse neocortex comparing aldehyde perfusion with cryo fixation

    Natalya Korogod, Carl CH Petersen, Graham W Knott
    Snap-freezing of brain tissue reveals its true structure-showing that cells are less squashed together, and the connections between neurons are less enclosed than previously thought.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    The viral context instructs the redundancy of costimulatory pathways in driving CD8+ T cell expansion

    Suzanne PM Welten, Anke Redeker ... Ramon Arens
    Redundancy in the costimulatory signals that drive CD8+ T cell expansion is dictated by pathogen-specific cues.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    ISG15 counteracts Listeria monocytogenes infection

    Lilliana Radoshevich, Francis Impens ... Pascale Cossart
    The induction of ISG15 during bacterial infection can be independent of Type I Interferons and leads to an increase in the secretion of cytokines known to be critical for bacterial clearance.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation

    The HIV-1 envelope protein gp120 is captured and displayed for B cell recognition by SIGN-R1+ lymph node macrophages

    Chung Park, James Arthos ... John H Kehrl
    Lymph node gp120 specific B cells extract locally injected HIV-1 gp120 from SIGN-R1 positive macrophages that line the subcapsular sinus overlying the lymph node interfollicular channels.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Structural basis for recognition and remodeling of the TBP:DNA:NC2 complex by Mot1

    Agata Butryn, Jan M Schuller ... Karl-Peter Hopfner
    A structural analysis of the transcription regulator Mot1 in complex with promoter DNA and the proteins TBP and NC2 provides a first structural framework for how a Swi2/Snf2 type remodeler interacts with a histone fold protein:DNA complex.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation

    Antigen presentation kinetics control T cell/dendritic cell interactions and follicular helper T cell generation in vivo

    Robert A Benson, Megan KL MacLeod ... James M Brewer
    Temporal availability of antigen presentation by dendritic cells influences the differentiation of follicular helper T (Tfh) cells, which enhances germinal centre responses and induces protective immunity.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Transcription dynamically patterns the meiotic chromosome-axis interface

    Xiaoji Sun, Lingzhi Huang ... Andreas Hochwagen
    Distributed cohesin rings flexibly tether the axial element structure of meiotic chromosomes to the underlying chromatin to readily accommodate ongoing transcription.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation

    The activation of IgM- or isotype-switched IgG- and IgE-BCR exhibits distinct mechanical force sensitivity and threshold

    Zhengpeng Wan, Xiangjun Chen ... Wanli Liu
    The B cell receptors of naïve B cells need higher levels of mechanical force to be fully activated than those of memory B cells.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Lamprey VLRB response to influenza virus supports universal rules of immunogenicity and antigenicity

    Meghan O Altman, Jack R Bennink ... Brantley R Herrin
    Antibody responses are remarkably similar in widely disparate hosts.
    1. Cell Biology

    The RhoGAP activity of CYK-4/MgcRacGAP functions non-canonically by promoting RhoA activation during cytokinesis

    Donglei Zhang, Michael Glotzer
    Activation of the key regulator of cytokinesis, RhoA, involves an unexpected contribution by a RhoGAP domain.
    1. Ecology

    Mass enhances speed but diminishes turn capacity in terrestrial pursuit predators

    Rory P Wilson, Iwan W Griffiths ... David M Scantlebury
    Increased mass enhances speed but compromises turning capacity in pursuit predators; this has widespread ramifications for the best strategies for predators and prey during chases according to their relative masses.
    1. Neuroscience

    Low-noise encoding of active touch by layer 4 in the somatosensory cortex

    Samuel Andrew Hires, Diego A Gutnisky ... Karel Svoboda
    Touch information is represented with minimal noise in the somatosensory cortex during tactile exploration.
    1. Neuroscience

    Dendritic sodium spikes are required for long-term potentiation at distal synapses on hippocampal pyramidal neurons

    Yujin Kim, Ching-Lung Hsu ... Nelson Spruston
    At distal synapses onto hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons, synaptic plasticity is dependent on dendritically initiated sodium spikes, thus establishing a new role for voltage-gated sodium channels in the dendrites that may have important implications for how learning rules are implemented.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Developmental alterations in centrosome integrity contribute to the post-mitotic state of mammalian cardiomyocytes

    David C Zebrowski, Silvia Vergarajauregui ... Felix B Engel
    Mammal hearts are unable to replace lost cardiomyocytes, which may be due to the loss of centrosome integrity in these cells after birth.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    An extrafollicular pathway for the generation of effector CD8+ T cells driven by the proinflammatory cytokine, IL-12

    Suhagi Shah, Gijsbert M Grotenbreg ... George S Yap
    Proliferation and differentiation of CD8+ T cells into terminal effectors occurs in the marginal zone and red pulp, and is promoted by IL-12 through direct and indirect mechanisms.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Promiscuous interactions and protein disaggregases determine the material state of stress-inducible RNP granules

    Sonja Kroschwald, Shovamayee Maharana ... Simon Alberti
    A comparison in yeast and human cells reveals a remarkable variability in the properties of RNP granules and highlights a key role for protein disaggregation machines in regulating RNP granule assembly.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A putative ATPase mediates RNA transcription and capping in a dsRNA virus

    Xuekui Yu, Jiansen Jiang ... Z Hong Zhou
    Atomic structures suggest a novel mechanism for the regulation of mRNA transcription and capping in dsRNA viruses.
    1. Epidemiology and Global Health
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Species-wide whole genome sequencing reveals historical global spread and recent local persistence in Shigella flexneri

    Thomas R Connor, Clare R Barker ... Nicholas R Thomson
    Shigella flexneri, globally the most frequent cause of bacterial dysentery, is far more diverse, and has caused disease around the world for far longer than other Shigella species by persisting in local environments over extended timescales.
    1. Neuroscience

    Peripheral sensory coding through oscillatory synchrony in weakly electric fish

    Christa A Baker, Kevin R Huck, Bruce A Carlson
    Sensory receptors encode stimuli by transiently synchronizing ongoing electrical oscillations, conferring enhanced sensitivity to communication signals produced by large groups of conspecifics.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Selections that isolate recombinant mitochondrial genomes in animals

    Hansong Ma, Patrick H O'Farrell
    Recombinant mitochondrial genomes can be selected, traits can be genetically mapped and new genetic combinations can be made.