December 2015

Cover articles

    1. Neuroscience

    Plasticity in the primitive streak

    Eric D Hoopfer, Yonil Jung ... David J Anderson
    1. Ecology

    How coral makes the most of moonlight

    Paulina Kaniewska, Shahar Alon ... Oren Levy

Highlights controls:

Research articles

    1. Neuroscience

    Neto auxiliary proteins control both the trafficking and biophysical properties of the kainate receptor GluK1

    Nengyin Sheng, Yun S Shi ... Roger A Nicoll
    Auxiliary subunits Neto1 and Neto2 regulate the GluK1 receptor targeting to excitatory silent synapses through different molecular mechanisms and also modify receptor biophysics through distinct mechanisms.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    YcgC represents a new protein deacetylase family in prokaryotes

    Shun Tu, Shu-Juan Guo ... Sheng-Ce Tao
    A protein microarray based strategy has identified a bacterial enzyme that represents a new protein deacetylase family.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Residue proximity information and protein model discrimination using saturation-suppressor mutagenesis

    Anusmita Sahoo, Shruti Khare ... Raghavan Varadarajan
    Experimental determination of residue contacts from mutational data allows model discrimination and identification of in vivo functional conformations of proteins.
    1. Neuroscience

    Anxiety dissociates the adaptive functions of sensory and motor response enhancements to social threats

    Marwa El Zein, Valentin Wyart, Julie Grèzes
    Social threats trigger enhanced neural representations within 200 milliseconds in sensory and motor systems of the human brain as a function of anxiety, highlighting its adaptive function in reacting rapidly to dangers in the environment.
    1. Ecology

    Acknowledging selection at sub-organismal levels resolves controversy on pro-cooperation mechanisms

    Wenying Shou
    Building on previous work (Momeni et al., 2013), it is shown that recognizing the hierarchical organization of biological systems resolves the ongoing controversy on pro-cooperation mechanisms.
    1. Epidemiology and Global Health

    Coverage and system efficiencies of insecticide-treated nets in Africa from 2000 to 2017

    Samir Bhatt, Daniel J Weiss ... Peter W Gething
    Insecticide-treated net requirements for Africa have been underestimated, but mitigating for inefficiencies in net distributions can produce a cost effective path to universal coverage.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A general strategy to construct small molecule biosensors in eukaryotes

    Justin Feng, Benjamin W Jester ... David Baker
    A new method for developing biosensors from ligand binding domains that have concentration-dependent and selective responses to small molecules in yeast, mammalian cells and plants.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Protein translocation channel of mitochondrial inner membrane and matrix-exposed import motor communicate via two-domain coupling protein

    Rupa Banerjee, Christina Gladkova ... Dejana Mokranjac
    Two domains of the peripheral membrane protein Tim44 interact with two different sectors of a translocase to coordinate the translocation of proteins across the inner mitochondrial membrane.
    1. Medicine
    2. Epidemiology and Global Health

    Mapping residual transmission for malaria elimination

    Robert C Reiner Jr, Arnaud Le Menach ... David L Smith
    A fine-grain map of residual transmission and importation in Swaziland shows where to target malaria elimination efforts.
    1. Neuroscience

    Multimodal sensory integration in single cerebellar granule cells in vivo

    Taro Ishikawa, Misa Shimuta, Michael Häusser
    Building on previous work (Huang et al., 2013), it is shown that single granule cells receive excitatory synaptic input driven by up to three separate sensory modalities in vivo, which demonstrate that individual neurons can contribute to multisensory integration at the input layer of the cerebellar cortex.
    1. Neuroscience

    P1 interneurons promote a persistent internal state that enhances inter-male aggression in Drosophila

    Eric D Hoopfer, Yonil Jung ... David J Anderson
    A sexually dimorphic circuit node controls a persistent, internal state that promotes fighting and mating in Drosophila, revealing parallels with mammalian systems suggestive of a conserved circuit "motif" controlling social behaviors.
    1. Cell Biology

    COPI selectively drives maturation of the early Golgi

    Effrosyni Papanikou, Kasey J Day ... Benjamin S Glick
    Inactivation of the COPI vesicle coat in yeast reveals that COPI recycles early but not late Golgi proteins.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Observation of long-range tertiary interactions during ligand binding by the TPP riboswitch aptamer

    Van K Duesterberg, Irena T Fischer-Hwang ... Steven M Block
    The combined use of optical trapping and single-molecule FRET permits the study of riboswitch structure formation and conformational dynamics at the same time.
    1. Neuroscience

    A cellular and regulatory map of the cholinergic nervous system of C. elegans

    Laura Pereira, Paschalis Kratsios ... Oliver Hobert
    Analyzing a map of all cholinergic neurons in the nematode C. elegans shows how these neurons are embedded in the C. elegans connectome and reveals the regulatory factors controlling their development.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    A cholinergic feedback circuit to regulate striatal population uncertainty and optimize reinforcement learning

    Nicholas T Franklin, Michael J Frank
    Computational modeling suggests that feedback between striatal cholinergic neurons and spiny neurons dynamically adjusts learning rates to optimize behavior in a variable world.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Genetic mechanisms control the linear scaling between related cortical primary and higher order sensory areas

    Andreas Zembrzycki, Adam M Stocker ... Dennis DM O'Leary
    Primary and higher order visual area dimensions in the neocortex are determined by the same genetic mechanisms during development which in turn also control the proportionate scaling between them.
    1. Neuroscience

    Dendritic nonlinearities are tuned for efficient spike-based computations in cortical circuits

    Balázs B Ujfalussy, Judit K Makara ... Máté Lengyel
    Dendrites combine the inputs that they receive from other neurons using calculations that have been optimized for those particular input patterns.
    1. Neuroscience

    A dystonia-like movement disorder with brain and spinal neuronal defects is caused by mutation of the mouse laminin β1 subunit, Lamb1

    Yi Bessie Liu, Ambika Tewari ... Kathleen J Sweadner
    A mouse with a defined mutation in an extracellular matrix protein that is expressed in selected neurons sheds light on circuit abnormalities producing transient hyperkinetic movements.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    The splicing regulator PTBP1 controls the activity of the transcription factor Pbx1 during neuronal differentiation

    Anthony J Linares, Chia-Ho Lin ... Douglas L Black
    The RNA binding protein PTBP1 controls an extensive program of alternative splicing in embryonic stem cells, one function of which is to repress neuronal transcriptional programs.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Immunology and Inflammation

    TRAF2 regulates TNF and NF-κB signalling to suppress apoptosis and skin inflammation independently of Sphingosine kinase 1

    Nima Etemadi, Michael Chopin ... John Silke
    Intrinsic defects in keratinocytes can cause skin inflammation through excessive cell death and production of inflammatory molecules.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Unravelling druggable signalling networks that control F508del-CFTR proteostasis

    Ramanath Narayana Hegde, Seetharaman Parashuraman ... Alberto Luini
    Analysis of the mechanism of action of cystic fibrosis corrector drugs reveals signalling pathways potently controlling the proteostasis of the main disease-relevant CFTR mutant.
    1. Neuroscience

    Neural coding in barrel cortex during whisker-guided locomotion

    Nicholas James Sofroniew, Yurii A Vlasov ... Karel Svoboda
    A tactile virtual reality system reveals the neural codes in the barrel cortex that underlie wall-tracking in mice.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Long-distance communication by specialized cellular projections during pigment pattern development and evolution

    Dae Seok Eom, Emily J Bain ... David M Parichy
    Cells of the xanthophore lineage form projections that allow them to communicate with other pigment cells during adult pigment pattern formation in zebrafish, but not in the closely-related pearl danio.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Building accurate sequence-to-affinity models from high-throughput in vitro protein-DNA binding data using FeatureREDUCE

    Todd R Riley, Allan Lazarovici ... Harmen J Bussemaker
    A biophysically principled algorithm can build quantitative models of protein-DNA binding specificity of unprecedented accuracy from a leading type of high-throughput in vitro binding data.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    ABHD17 proteins are novel protein depalmitoylases that regulate N-Ras palmitate turnover and subcellular localization

    David Tse Shen Lin, Elizabeth Conibear
    Palmitate turnover is controlled by distinct enzyme families with different specificities.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Active contraction of microtubule networks

    Peter J Foster, Sebastian Fürthauer ... Daniel J Needleman
    Microtubule networks in frog egg extracts can spontaneously contract in a manner that can be quantitatively described by an active fluid model.
    1. Physics of Living Systems

    Munc18-1-regulated stage-wise SNARE assembly underlying synaptic exocytosis

    Lu Ma, Aleksander A Rebane ... Yongli Zhang
    The Munc18-1 protein promotes formation of the t-SNARE complex and the half-zippered SNARE complex, two rate-limiting steps of SNARE assembly, to enhance membrane fusion.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Genetic variation in offspring indirectly influences the quality of maternal behaviour in mice

    David George Ashbrook, Beatrice Gini, Reinmar Hager
    A cross-fostered population of mice reveals loci on offspring chromosomes 5 and 7 that modify the behaviour of their mothers, along with evidence of coadaptation between offspring and parental traits.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Filovirus receptor NPC1 contributes to species-specific patterns of ebolavirus susceptibility in bats

    Melinda Ng, Esther Ndungo ... Kartik Chandran
    NPC1 is a genetic determinant of filovirus susceptibility in bats, and some variations in bat NPC1 may reflect host adaptations to reduce filovirus replication and virulence.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Bidirectional interactions between indomethacin and the murine intestinal microbiota

    Xue Liang, Kyle Bittinger ... Garret A FitzGerald
    Indomethacin, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, alters the composition of the intestinal microbiota, and the intestinal microbiota affect the pharmacokinetics of indomethacin.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Structural basis of interprotein electron transfer in bacterial sulfite oxidation

    Aaron P McGrath, Elise L Laming ... Megan J Maher
    A structural and functional analysis of the electron transfer complex between a sulfite oxidase and its redox protein partner reveals an elegant compromise between the requirements for fast and efficient electron transfer and reaction specificity.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Targeting senescent cells enhances adipogenesis and metabolic function in old age

    Ming Xu, Allyson K Palmer ... James L Kirkland
    Senescent cells contribute to age-related fat dysfunction and can directly impair healthy fat progenitor function, in part, via the secretion of activin A.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Methylation of RNA polymerase II non-consensus Lysine residues marks early transcription in mammalian cells

    João D Dias, Tiago Rito ... Ana Pombo
    Lysine mono- and di-methylation are two novel post-translational modifications of RNA polymerase II, which are enriched at promoters of active genes, precede lysine acetylation and mark early stages of transcription.
    1. Neuroscience

    Dbx1 precursor cells are a source of inspiratory XII premotoneurons

    Ann L Revill, Nikolas C Vann ... Gregory D Funk
    Building on previous work (Wang et al., 2014), we use a combination of genetic, electrophysiology and laser ablation approaches to identify a developmentally defined population of neurons that are a significant source of clinically relevant inspiratory drive to XII motoneurons.
    1. Neuroscience

    Neural evidence accumulation persists after choice to inform metacognitive judgments

    Peter R Murphy, Ian H Robertson ... Redmond G O'Connell
    Error detection is contingent on the continuation of evidence accumulation after choice commitment, and the speed and accuracy of this process are modulated by high-level signals from medial frontal cortex.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Many lncRNAs, 5’UTRs, and pseudogenes are translated and some are likely to express functional proteins

    Zhe Ji, Ruisheng Song ... Kevin Struhl
    Thousands of "noncoding" RNAs, 5' "untranslated" regions, and pseudogenes in humans are actually translated, and some of these are likely to express functional proteins.
    1. Neuroscience

    Hippocampal ensemble dynamics timestamp events in long-term memory

    Alon Rubin, Nitzan Geva ... Yaniv Ziv
    Temporally close events share a common timestamp regardless of the spatial context in which they occur.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Human Holliday junction resolvase GEN1 uses a chromodomain for efficient DNA recognition and cleavage

    Shun-Hsiao Lee, Lissa Nicola Princz ... Christian Biertümpfel
    The crystal structure of human Holliday junction resolvase GEN1 in complex with DNA reveals a conserved chromodomain as an additional DNA-anchoring point that opens new perspectives for enzyme regulation.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Evidence for a common evolutionary rate in metazoan transcriptional networks

    Anne-Ruxandra Carvunis, Tina Wang ... Trey Ideker
    Transcriptional regulation evolves at indistinguishable rates in mammals, birds and insect lineages despite large differences in underlying rates of sequence evolution.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Translational control of nociception via 4E-binding protein 1

    Arkady Khoutorsky, Robert P Bonin ... Nahum Sonenberg
    The mTOR downstream effector eukaryotic initiation factor 4E-binding protein 1 (4E-BP1) regulates mechanical nociception via translational control of synaptic transmission in the spinal cord.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    A deep proteomics perspective on CRM1-mediated nuclear export and nucleocytoplasmic partitioning

    Koray Kırlı, Samir Karaca ... Dirk Görlich
    A new resource quantifying the distribution of 5,000 individual proteins between nucleus and cytoplasm, as well as identifying 2,800 yeast, human and frog proteins that are exported from the nucleus by the exportin CRM1/Xpo1.
    1. Neuroscience

    Sources of noise during accumulation of evidence in unrestrained and voluntarily head-restrained rats

    Benjamin B Scott, Christine M Constantinople ... Carlos D Brody
    Statistical analysis of evidence-based decisions reveals new insights into the source of behavioral variability.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    The serine protease hepsin mediates urinary secretion and polymerisation of Zona Pellucida domain protein uromodulin

    Martina Brunati, Simone Perucca ... Luca Rampoldi
    Hepsin is the first protease identified to modulate specific cleavage and secretion of a Zona Pellucida domain protein, uromodulin.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    AMPylation matches BiP activity to client protein load in the endoplasmic reticulum

    Steffen Preissler, Cláudia Rato ... David Ron
    Attaching a molecule of adenosine mono-phosphate (AMP) to the BiP protein at threonine 518 regulates its chaperone activity in the endoplasmic reticulum.
    1. Neuroscience

    Specialized areas for value updating and goal selection in the primate orbitofrontal cortex

    Elisabeth A Murray, Emily J Moylan ... Janita Turchi
    Within the monkey orbitofrontal cortex, a posterior part learns new values, whereas an anterior part translates this knowledge into advantageous decisions.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Ataxin-1 oligomers induce local spread of pathology and decreasing them by passive immunization slows Spinocerebellar ataxia type 1 phenotypes

    Cristian A Lasagna-Reeves, Maxime WC Rousseaux ... Huda Y Zoghbi
    Building on previous work (Lasagna-Reeves et al., 2015) it is shown that polyglutamine ATXN1 oligomers propagate locally in SCA1 mice, and that passive immunotherapy targeting soluble oligomers can lead to an improvement in motor coordination and a modest increase in life span.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    A versatile pipeline for the multi-scale digital reconstruction and quantitative analysis of 3D tissue architecture

    Hernán Morales-Navarrete, Fabián Segovia-Miranda ... Yannis Kalaidzidis
    MotionTracking is freely available software that can generate multi-scale geometrical models of mammalian tissue and perform quantitative analysis of tissue architecture.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Catalysis-dependent selenium incorporation and migration in the nitrogenase active site iron-molybdenum cofactor

    Thomas Spatzal, Kathryn A Perez ... Douglas C Rees
    Unanticipated rearrangements in the nitrogenase active site establish the dynamic nature of the FeMo-cofactor during catalysis.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    The near-atomic cryoEM structure of a flexible filamentous plant virus shows homology of its coat protein with nucleoproteins of animal viruses

    Xabier Agirrezabala, Eduardo Méndez-López ... Mikel Valle
    The high-resolution structure of a filamentous flexible plant virus shows that there is structural homology between its coat protein and the nucleoproteins of an unrelated group of enveloped RNA animal viruses.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation

    The innate immune sensor IFI16 recognizes foreign DNA in the nucleus by scanning along the duplex

    Sarah A Stratmann, Seamus R Morrone ... Jungsan Sohn
    The scanning-assisted clustering mechanism of IFI16 not only allows efficient assembly on exposed foreign-dsDNA, but also suppresses the engagement of chromatinized self-dsDNA.
    1. Neuroscience

    The cation channel TRPA1 tunes mosquito thermotaxis to host temperatures

    Román A Corfas, Leslie B Vosshall
    Female mosquitoes are exquisitely sensitive to human body heat, and the TRPA1 gene is required to focus their attraction toward thermal stimuli resembling warm-blooded hosts.
    1. Neuroscience

    Plasmon resonance and the imaging of metal-impregnated neurons with the laser scanning confocal microscope

    Karen J Thompson, Cynthia M Harley ... Karen A Mesce
    A new method allows silver- and gold-labeled tissues to be imaged with confocal microscopy, avoiding the problem of fluorescence photobleaching.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Cell Biology

    Structural basis for activation, assembly and membrane binding of ESCRT-III Snf7 filaments

    Shaogeng Tang, W Mike Henne ... Scott D Emr
    Snf7 crystal structures reveal the mechanisms of ESCRT-III activation and polymerization into membrane-remodeling filaments.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Sister kinetochore splitting and precocious disintegration of bivalents could explain the maternal age effect

    Agata P Zielinska, Zuzana Holubcova ... Melina Schuh
    Multiple age-related changes in chromosome architecture could explain why human oocyte aneuploidy increases with advanced maternal age.
    1. Neuroscience

    A serial multiplex immunogold labeling method for identifying peptidergic neurons in connectomes

    Réza Shahidi, Elizabeth A Williams ... Gáspár Jékely
    A new technique called ‘siGOLD’ allows neural circuits to be mapped using a combination of antibody labeling and electron microscopy.
    1. Neuroscience

    Lateral orbitofrontal neurons acquire responses to upshifted, downshifted, or blocked cues during unblocking

    Nina Lopatina, Michael A McDannald ... Geoffrey Schoenbaum
    Building on previous work (McDannald et. al, 2014), it is shown that dissociable populations of neurons in the lateral orbitofrontal cortex acquire responses to cues that predict more, less, or no change in reward in rats during training in a Pavlovian unblocking task.
    1. Neuroscience

    Hippocampus ghrelin signaling mediates appetite through lateral hypothalamic orexin pathways

    Ted M Hsu, Joel D Hahn ... Scott E Kanoski
    A communication pathway linking memory processing and feeding behavior exists between the gut hormone ghrelin, the hippocampus and the hypothalamic neuropeptide orexin.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Mechanisms of ribosome stalling by SecM at multiple elongation steps

    Jun Zhang, Xijiang Pan ... Sen-Fang Sui
    Nascent regulatory peptides tune the translation rate through a continuous, dynamic reshaping of the functional center of the ribosome.
    1. Ecology

    Signaling cascades and the importance of moonlight in coral broadcast mass spawning

    Paulina Kaniewska, Shahar Alon ... Oren Levy
    Artificial light causes changes to gene expression and cellular signaling cascades that coordinate mass spawning events for a species of coral from the Great Barrier Reef.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    The kinetochore prevents centromere-proximal crossover recombination during meiosis

    Nadine Vincenten, Lisa-Marie Kuhl ... Adèle L Marston
    The meiotic DNA recombination landscape is locally influenced by the kinetochore to minimize potentially deleterious pericentromeric crossover recombination.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Protein flexibility is required for vesicle tethering at the Golgi

    Pak-yan Patricia Cheung, Charles Limouse ... Suzanne R Pfeffer
    Atomic force microscopy reveals a floppy, dimeric, coiled coil Golgin structure that captures transport vesicles via splayed, N-terminal ends at the Golgi complex.
    1. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

    Embryonic attenuated Wnt/β-catenin signaling defines niche location and long-term stem cell fate in hair follicle

    Zijian Xu, Wenjie Wang ... Ting Chen
    Long-term hair follicle stem cells arise by embryonic progenitor cells occupying a niche location that is defined by attenuated Wnt/β-catenin signal.
    1. Neuroscience

    Testing sensory evidence against mnemonic templates

    Nicholas E Myers, Gustavo Rohenkohl ... Mark G Stokes
    Visual search templates are reactivated only temporarily to act as input filters for target detection.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Fcp1 phosphatase controls Greatwall kinase to promote PP2A-B55 activation and mitotic progression

    Rosa Della Monica, Roberta Visconti ... Domenico Grieco
    The phosphatase Fcp1 inactivates Greatwall kinase at the end of mitosis.
    1. Neuroscience

    The carcinine transporter CarT is required in Drosophila photoreceptor neurons to sustain histamine recycling

    Drew Stenesen, Andrew T Moehlman, Helmut Krämer
    Fly vision depends on a member of the SLC22 transporter family for recycling the histamine neurotransmitter following its uptake by glia and its modification into the transport metabolite carcinine.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A vocabulary of ancient peptides at the origin of folded proteins

    Vikram Alva, Johannes Söding, Andrei N Lupas
    A comparative study of modern proteins identifies 40 fragments that may represent the observable remnants of a primordial RNA-peptide world.
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Developmental Biology

    Unified quantitative characterization of epithelial tissue development

    Boris Guirao, Stéphane U Rigaud ... Yohanns Bellaïche
    A new approach measures the respective participations of elementary cell behaviors – such as cell division, intercalation, shape change and death – in the shaping of animal tissues.
    1. Cell Biology

    A gene-expression screen identifies a non-toxic sumoylation inhibitor that mimics SUMO-less human LRH-1 in liver

    Miyuki Suzawa, Diego A Miranda ... Holly A Ingraham
    The FDA-approved compound and plant extract tannic acid is a non-toxic chemical tool for modulating sumoylation in multiple platforms.
    1. Neuroscience

    Capturing the temporal evolution of choice across prefrontal cortex

    Laurence T Hunt, Timothy EJ Behrens ... Steven W Kennerley
    Experiments in macaques and humans reveal time-varying changes in prefrontal cortex activity that occur during decisions based on costs and benefits.
    1. Cell Biology

    Discrete spatial organization of TGFβ receptors couples receptor multimerization and signaling to cellular tension

    Joanna P Rys, Christopher C DuFort ... Tamara N Alliston
    Cells control the spatial organization and signaling of TGFβ receptors at focal adhesions via a mechanically regulated mechanism to integrate biochemical and physical cues.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    RNA polymerase errors cause splicing defects and can be regulated by differential expression of RNA polymerase subunits

    Lucas B Carey
    A single human cell makes 10-100 transcriptional errors per second; these errors affect splicing and may influence the evolution of coding sequences.
    1. Neuroscience

    NG2 glia are required for vessel network formation during embryonic development

    Shilpi Minocha, Delphine Valloton ... Cecile Lebrand
    The appearance of NG2+ glial cells in the dorsal telencephalon of the embryo coincides with the establishment of the brain blood vessel network in mice.
    1. Cell Biology

    Generation of contractile actomyosin bundles depends on mechanosensitive actin filament assembly and disassembly

    Sari Tojkander, Gergana Gateva ... Pekka Lappalainen
    Mechanosensitive inhibition of actin polymerization through VASP phosphorylation is required for stress fiber maturation and alignment.
    1. Immunology and Inflammation

    Mycolic acid-specific T cells protect against Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection in a humanized transgenic mouse model

    Jie Zhao, Sarah Siddiqui ... Chyung-Ru Wang
    A humanized transgenic mouse model reveals that CD1b-restricted, mycolic acid-specific T cells play a protective role during Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection.
    1. Neuroscience

    Frequency-selective control of cortical and subcortical networks by central thalamus

    Jia Liu, Hyun Joo Lee ... Jin Hyung Lee
    Central thalamus relay neurons dynamically switch the activity of cortical and subcortical networks at distinct frequencies, providing a mechanism for this region's role in arousal regulation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Ternatin and improved synthetic variants kill cancer cells by targeting the elongation factor-1A ternary complex

    Jordan D Carelli, Steven G Sethofer ... Jack Taunton
    An ancient complex comprising the eukaryotic elongation factor-1A and aminoacylated tRNA is shown to be the target of a cyclic heptapeptide and two unrelated natural products with potent anticancer activity.
    1. Neuroscience

    Misaligned feeding impairs memories

    Dawn H Loh, Shekib A Jami ... Christopher S Colwell
    The time at which mice consume food can dramatically affect hippocampal-dependent biochemistry, physiology, and learned behavior.
    1. Ecology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    The evolution of distributed sensing and collective computation in animal populations

    Andrew M Hein, Sara Brin Rosenthal ... Iain D Couzin
    A computational model shows that natural selection can cause populations to evolve a distinctive population-level phenotype: the ability to transition between collective states in response to the environment.
    1. Genetics and Genomics
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Population genomics of intrapatient HIV-1 evolution

    Fabio Zanini, Johanna Brodin ... Richard A Neher
    Whole genome deep sequencing of many longitudinally sampled HIV-1 populations reveals that reversions towards ancestral HIV-1 genome sequences occur throughout the course of infection.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Single molecule compression reveals intra-protein forces drive cytotoxin pore formation

    Daniel M Czajkowsky, Jielin Sun ... Zhifeng Shao
    Compressive force spectroscopy of single molecules reveals that intra-protein forces underlie the long-distance coordination of structural changes within a cytotoxin during pore formation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Bordetella adenylate cyclase toxin is a unique ligand of the integrin complement receptor 3

    Radim Osicka, Adriana Osickova ... Peter Sebo
    A toxin produced by the bacterium Bordetella pertussis preferentially binds to non-activated integrin complement receptor 3 outside of its ligand-binding I-domain and efficiently blocks downstream signaling of the integrin through elevation of cytosolic cAMP.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Precise assembly of complex beta sheet topologies from de novo designed building blocks

    Indigo Chris King, James Gleixner ... David Baker
    Protein structures with complex topologies can be designed by recombining small independently folded domains.
    1. Cell Biology

    GGGGCC microsatellite RNA is neuritically localized, induces branching defects, and perturbs transport granule function

    Alondra Schweizer Burguete, Sandra Almeida ... Nancy M Bonini
    Expanded repeat RNAs associated with human neurodegenerative diseases can become incorporated into transported granules in neurons, perturbing their function to cause neuritic branching defects.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Rate and timing of cortical responses driven by separate sensory channels

    Hannes P Saal, Michael A Harvey, Sliman J Bensmaia
    Signals from different tactile submodalities are integrated optimally to culminate in cortical responses whose rate and timing conveys stimulus information.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Muscle niche-driven Insulin-Notch-Myc cascade reactivates dormant Adult Muscle Precursors in Drosophila

    Rajaguru Aradhya, Monika Zmojdzian ... Krzysztof Jagla
    Adult muscle precursors (AMP) cells in Drosophila send out filopodia to interact with neighbouring muscles, which drive the reactivation of AMPs via an Insulin-Notch-Myc cascade.
    1. Neuroscience

    Extracellular space preservation aids the connectomic analysis of neural circuits

    Marta Pallotto, Paul V Watkins ... Kevin L Briggman
    Automated segmentation of neurons and identification of synapses in electron micrographs is significantly improved by using simple modifications to chemical fixation protocols that preserve extracellular space in the brain.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Cell Biology

    A K+-selective CNG channel orchestrates Ca2+ signalling in zebrafish sperm

    Sylvia Fechner, Luis Alvarez ... U Benjamin Kaupp
    Zebrafish sperm display an unusual pathway for Ca2+ signalling.
    1. Cell Biology

    Ion channels and calcium signaling in motile cilia

    Julia F Doerner, Markus Delling, David E Clapham
    Direct patch clamp of ependymal motile cilia reveals that voltage-gated calcium channels in the cell body dominate their electrical and calcium signaling properties.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Near-infrared photoactivatable control of Ca2+ signaling and optogenetic immunomodulation

    Lian He, Yuanwei Zhang ... Yubin Zhou
    A near-infrared light-stimulable optogenetic platform enables remote and wireless manipulation of calcium signaling and immune responses both in vitro and in vivo to achieve tailored function.
    1. Neuroscience

    Mouse V1 population correlates of visual detection rely on heterogeneity within neuronal response patterns

    Jorrit S Montijn, Pieter M Goltstein, Cyriel MA Pennartz
    Heterogeneity of neural responses in mouse cortex correlates better with visual detection than mean population activity.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Structural basis of death domain signaling in the p75 neurotrophin receptor

    Zhi Lin, Jason Y Tann ... Carlos F Ibanez
    Structures of the death domain of the p75 neurotrophin receptor in complex with downstream effectors show how competitive protein-protein interactions orchestrate the hierarchical activation of downstream pathways in non-catalytic receptors.
    1. Neuroscience

    Internal models for interpreting neural population activity during sensorimotor control

    Matthew D Golub, Byron M Yu, Steven M Chase
    A novel analysis of neural activity recorded in monkeys performing a “brain-machine interface” task reveals that a mismatch between motor effectors and the brains’ internal models of those effectors can explain a substantial portion of movement errors.
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Neuroscience

    Mechanical sensitivity of Piezo1 ion channels can be tuned by cellular membrane tension

    Amanda H Lewis, Jörg Grandl
    Tension is the activating stimulus of Piezo1 mechanosensitive ion channels and resting membrane tension modulates overall channel sensitivity to mechanical stimulation.
    1. Epidemiology and Global Health
    2. Medicine

    Mathematical modeling of the West Africa Ebola epidemic

    Jean-Paul Chretien, Steven Riley, Dylan B George
    A review of mathematical models applied to the West Africa Ebola epidemic suggests ways to improve the use of mathematical modeling in responding to public health emergencies.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Identification of NPC1 as the target of U18666A, an inhibitor of lysosomal cholesterol export and Ebola infection

    Feiran Lu, Qiren Liang ... Michael S Brown
    A nanomolar inhibitor of cholesterol transport out of endosomes/lysosomes can be crosslinked to the “sterol-sensing domain” of NPC1, which implicates this domain in the transmembrane transport of cholesterol.
    1. Neuroscience

    Striatal dynamics explain duration judgments

    Thiago S Gouvêa, Tiago Monteiro ... Joseph J Paton
    Neurons in the rat striatum respond preferentially to long or short time intervals, enabling the animal to track the passage of time.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Immunology and Inflammation

    The NFκB-inducing kinase is essential for the developmental programming of skin-resident and IL-17-producing γδ T cells

    Florian Mair, Stefanie Joller ... Burkhard Becher
    Thymic stromal cells help to develop and shape the gamma delta T cell pool.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Mechanism of Na+-dependent citrate transport from the structure of an asymmetrical CitS dimer

    David Wöhlert, Maria J Grötzinger ... Özkan Yildiz
    The high-resolution x-ray structure of an asymmetrical SeCitS dimer, present in the inward- and outward-facing state, provides a complete mechanism of substrate and ion translocation in a sodium-dependent symporter.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Untwisting the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo

    Ryan Patrick Christensen, Alexandra Bokinsky ... Hari Shroff
    Open-source software can untwist images of live Caenorhabditis elegans embryos, allowing epidermal and neuronal cell position and morphology to be examined in previously inaccessible developmental time periods.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Nanobodies: site-specific labeling for super-resolution imaging, rapid epitope-mapping and native protein complex isolation

    Tino Pleiner, Mark Bates ... Dirk Görlich
    Protocols that greatly simplify the use of nanobodies in fluorescence imaging and affinity purification have been developed.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Synergistic integration of Netrin and ephrin axon guidance signals by spinal motor neurons

    Sebastian Poliak, Daniel Morales ... Artur Kania
    The Netrin-1 and ephrin-B2 proteins act synergistically in the developing nervous system.
    1. Neuroscience

    Mouse models of human PIK3CA-related brain overgrowth have acutely treatable epilepsy

    Achira Roy, Jonathan Skibo ... Kathleen J Millen
    Acute one-hour treatment of Pik3ca mutant mice with a novel anti-epilepsy drug suppresses seizures despite continued developmental brain dysmorphology, promising a new therapeutic strategy for patients with intractable pediatric epilepsy.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    An extracellular biochemical screen reveals that FLRTs and Unc5s mediate neuronal subtype recognition in the retina

    Jasper J Visser, Yolanda Cheng ... Woj M Wojtowicz
    An integrated approach for studying laminar organization in the developing mouse retina identifies two families of extracellular recognition proteins that mediate neuronal subtype-specific recognition.
    1. Neuroscience

    Cortex commands the performance of skilled movement

    Jian-Zhong Guo, Austin R Graves ... Adam W Hantman
    Optogenetic inhibition demonstrates that the cortex is necessary and sufficient for the initiation and execution of a learned, skilled action.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Multipotent versus differentiated cell fate selection in the developing Drosophila airways

    Ryo Matsuda, Chie Hosono ... Kaoru Saigo
    A genetic framework that balances the numbers of multipotent precursors and differentiated cells in the developing airways of Drosophila is presented.
    1. Neuroscience

    An essential role of acetylcholine-glutamate synergy at habenular synapses in nicotine dependence

    Silke Frahm, Beatriz Antolin-Fontes ... Ines Ibañez-Tallon
    Local elimination of acetylcholine synthesis in habenular neurons demonstrates a key role for vesicular synergy and neurotransmitter co-release in nicotine dependence.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Plant Biology

    Mechanical stress contributes to the expression of the STM homeobox gene in Arabidopsis shoot meristems

    Benoît Landrein, Annamaria Kiss ... Olivier Hamant
    Mechanical stress promotes the expression of the homeobox gene and meristem master regulator STM, synergistically and independently from auxin depletion.
    1. Neuroscience

    Auxiliary subunits of the CKAMP family differentially modulate AMPA receptor properties

    Paul Farrow, Konstantin Khodosevich ... Jakob von Engelhardt
    Three AMPAR interacting proteins – namely CKAMP39, CKAMP52 and CKAMP59 – together with the previously characterized CKAMP44, constitute a new family of auxiliary subunits that are distinct from other families of AMPAR interacting proteins.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Suppression of transcriptional drift extends C. elegans lifespan by postponing the onset of mortality

    Sunitha Rangaraju, Gregory M Solis ... Michael Petrascheck
    A transcriptome-based metric for aging reveals a longevity mechanism that specifically prolongs the duration of young adulthood rather than slowing overall aging.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Sampling the conformational space of the catalytic subunit of human γ-secretase

    Xiao-chen Bai, Eeson Rajendra ... Sjors HW Scheres
    A masked cryo-EM image classification approach and the structure of an inhibitor-bound complex provide insights into the molecular flexibility of the catalytic subunit of gamma-secretase.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Oviductal estrogen receptor α signaling prevents protease-mediated embryo death

    Wipawee Winuthayanon, Miranda L Bernhardt ... Carmen J Williams
    Cyclic estrogen signaling in oviduct epithelial cells suppresses oviduct luminal protease activity to allow survival and development of preimplantation embryos