May 2016

Cover articles

    1. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
    2. Neuroscience

    Limits to neuronal regeneration

    Ryoji Amamoto, Violeta Gisselle Lopez Huerta ... Paola Arlotta
    1. Ecology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Genomics explains the evolutionary success of corals

    Debashish Bhattacharya, Shobhit Agrawal ... Paul G Falkowski
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Alternative splicing in the spinal cord

    Janelle C Leggere, Yuhki Saito ... Zhe Chen
    1. Developmental Biology

    Exploring cell fate during myogenesis

    Daniel Sieiro, Anne C Rios ... Christophe Marcelle

Highlights controls:

Research articles

    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Hyperosmotic stress memory in Arabidopsis is mediated by distinct epigenetically labile sites in the genome and is restricted in the male germline by DNA glycosylase activity

    Anjar Wibowo, Claude Becker ... Jose Gutierrez-Marcos
    Transient adaptation to environmental fluctuations in plants is mediated through discrete epigenetic changes.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Single molecule analysis reveals reversible and irreversible steps during spliceosome activation

    Aaron A Hoskins, Margaret L Rodgers ... Melissa J Moore
    Single molecule experiments reveal competition between spliceosome activation and the discard of the triple small nuclear ribonucleoprotein complex.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Evolution-guided functional analyses reveal diverse antiviral specificities encoded by IFIT1 genes in mammals

    Matthew D Daugherty, Aaron M Schaller ... Harmit S Malik
    Evolutionary innovation and turnover in the IFIT1 antiviral gene family has led to diverse repertoires of antiviral specificity across mammals.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Viral hijacking of a replicative helicase loader and its implications for helicase loading control and phage replication

    Iris V Hood, James M Berger
    A phage-encoded protein inhibits a bacterial replicative helicase loading factor by exploiting an internal site that auto-regulates loader self-assembly and ATPase activity.
    1. Neuroscience

    Cell type specificity of neurovascular coupling in cerebral cortex

    Hana Uhlirova, Kıvılcım Kılıç ... Anna Devor
    Excitatory and inhibitory cortical neurons drive parallel vasodilatory pathways, while vasoconstriction is mediated exclusively by inhibition acting via Neuropeptide Y binding to Y1 receptors.
    1. Cancer Biology

    Salicylate, diflunisal and their metabolites inhibit CBP/p300 and exhibit anticancer activity

    Kotaro Shirakawa, Lan Wang ... Eric Verdin
    Salicylic acid, the precursor to aspirin, is an anti-tumor agent that blocks protein acetylation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Light-induced depigmentation in planarians models the pathophysiology of acute porphyrias

    Bradford M Stubenhaus, John P Dustin ... Jason Pellettieri
    Physiological porphyrin biosynthesis causes photosensitivity in fasted planarians, providing an experimentally tractable animal model of acute porphyrias.
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Tumor suppression in basal keratinocytes via dual non-cell-autonomous functions of a Na,K-ATPase beta subunit

    Julia Hatzold, Filippo Beleggia ... Matthias Hammerschmidt
    A Na,K-ATPase beta subunit can suppress basal cell carcinogenesis either via its osmoregulatory function to avoid hypotonic stress, or by promoting epithelial polarity and adhesiveness of basal keratinocytes from the overlying outer layer.
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Secretion of protein disulphide isomerase AGR2 confers tumorigenic properties

    Delphine Fessart, Charlotte Domblides ... Frederic Delom
    Epithelial tumors secrete the ER-resident AGR2 in the extracellular matrix to function as a novel essential microenvironmental regulator of epithelial tissue architecture, which leads to tumorigenicity.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Thousands of novel translated open reading frames in humans inferred by ribosome footprint profiling

    Anil Raj, Sidney H Wang ... Jonathan K Pritchard
    Over 7,000 novel translated sequences have been identified from human cells, including several hundred in annotated noncoding RNA, pseudogenes and de novo assembled transcripts.
    1. Neuroscience

    A neural basis for the spatial suppression of visual motion perception

    Liu D Liu, Ralf M Haefner, Christopher C Pack
    The paradoxical spatial suppression of visual motion perception can result from a trade-off between sensitivity and noise in sensory neuron populations.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    TissueMiner: A multiscale analysis toolkit to quantify how cellular processes create tissue dynamics

    Raphaël Etournay, Matthias Merkel ... Frank Jülicher
    A computational framework called TissueMiner, complete with tutorials, will allow a wide range of users to perform quantitative multiscale analysis of tissue morphogenesis.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Mapping replication dynamics in Trypanosoma brucei reveals a link with telomere transcription and antigenic variation

    Rebecca Devlin, Catarina A Marques ... Richard McCulloch
    Mapping DNA replication timing, allied to genetic analysis of a RecQ repair helicase, reveals that antigenic variation in the African trypanosome may be initiated by locus-specific, replication-derived sequence instability.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    A bend, flip and trap mechanism for transposon integration

    Elizabeth R Morris, Heather Grey ... Julia M Richardson
    Structural and biochemical analyses of a eukaryotic DNA transpososome in the integration step reveal how mariner/Tc1 transposons are selectively integrated into a TA target sequence.
    1. Neuroscience

    NOVA2-mediated RNA regulation is required for axonal pathfinding during development

    Yuhki Saito, Soledad Miranda-Rottmann ... Robert B Darnell
    The RNA-binding protein NOVA2 coordinately regulates the alternative splicing of key components in axon guidance and outgrowth pathways, with severe functional consequences.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Structure of a Holliday junction complex reveals mechanisms governing a highly regulated DNA transaction

    Gurunathan Laxmikanthan, Chen Xu ... Gregory D Van Duyne
    The structure of a multi-protein DNA recombination reaction intermediate reveals how regulation is achieved by protein-mediated DNA wrapping around a core enzyme-substrate complex.
    1. Neuroscience

    Regulation of two motor patterns enables the gradual adjustment of locomotion strategy in Caenorhabditis elegans

    Ingrid Hums, Julia Riedl ... Manuel Zimmer
    Peptidergic neurons regulate undulation and turning movements to enable Caenorhabditis elegans to gradually adjust its locomotion strategy from dispersal to local search.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Adenosine diphosphate restricts the protein remodeling activity of the Hsp104 chaperone to Hsp70 assisted disaggregation

    Agnieszka Kłosowska, Tomasz Chamera, Krzysztof Liberek
    Hsp70 chaperone provides Hsp104 with high efficiency in disaggregation and specificity towards aggregated substrates at the, otherwise limiting, cellular concentrations of adenine nucleotides.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    NOVA regulates Dcc alternative splicing during neuronal migration and axon guidance in the spinal cord

    Janelle C Leggere, Yuhki Saito ... Zhe Chen
    Alternative splicing of the Dcc gene, which is controlled by the NOVA RNA-binding proteins, is crucial during neuronal migration and axon guidance.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    PHF13 is a molecular reader and transcriptional co-regulator of H3K4me2/3

    Ho-Ryun Chung, Chao Xu ... Sarah Kinkley
    PHF13 interacts with transcriptional complexes containing RNA polymerase II to recruit/stabilize them at H3K4me2/3 containing active or bivalent promoters.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    The postsynaptic t-SNARE Syntaxin 4 controls traffic of Neuroligin 1 and Synaptotagmin 4 to regulate retrograde signaling

    Kathryn P Harris, Yao V Zhang ... J Troy Littleton
    Syntaxin 4 regulates retrograde signaling in the postsynaptic compartment at Drosophila synapses by controlling trafficking of Neuroligin and Synaptotagmin 4 cargo.
    1. Neuroscience

    Gap junction networks in mushroom bodies participate in visual learning and memory in Drosophila

    Qingqing Liu, Xing Yang ... Aike Guo
    Gap junctions exist in Kenyon cells and Kenyon cell-mushroom body output neuron neural networks, and are also critical in visual learning and memory in Drosophila.
    1. Neuroscience

    Long-range population dynamics of anatomically defined neocortical networks

    Jerry L Chen, Fabian F Voigt ... Fritjof Helmchen
    A new microscopy system allows the activity of interconnected neurons in different brain regions to be measured simultaneously.
    1. Ecology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Comparative genomics explains the evolutionary success of reef-forming corals

    Debashish Bhattacharya, Shobhit Agrawal ... Paul G Falkowski
    The analysis of 20 coral genomic datasets provides unprecedented insights into what makes reef-building corals unique, including the evolution of novel gene families involved in biomineralization, signaling and stress responses that have led to their evolutionary success throughout the Phanerozoic Eon.
    1. Neuroscience

    Optical electrophysiology for probing function and pharmacology of voltage-gated ion channels

    Hongkang Zhang, Elaine Reichert, Adam E Cohen
    Optogenetic tools enable sophisticated measurements of a voltage-gated sodium channel implicated in pain, as well as high-throughput screening of candidate channel blockers.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    The anti-tubercular drug delamanid as a potential oral treatment for visceral leishmaniasis

    Stephen Patterson, Susan Wyllie ... Alan H Fairlamb
    Biological and pharmacokinetic studies indicate that the anti-tubercular drug, delamanid, could be repurposed for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis.
    1. Neuroscience

    Multisensory integration in the developing tectum is constrained by the balance of excitation and inhibition

    Daniel L Felch, Arseny S Khakhalin, Carlos D Aizenman
    During development, the Xenopus brain improves its ability to discern specific time intervals between sensory inputs of different modalities via the maturation of inhibitory circuits.
    1. Neuroscience

    Cell-specific synaptic plasticity induced by network oscillations

    Shota Zarnadze, Peter Bäuerle ... Tengis Gloveli
    Recordings of cellular and network activities of the mouse brain provide insights into how gamma rhythms contribute to memory formation.
    1. Developmental Biology

    Cytoplasmic NOTCH and membrane-derived β-catenin link cell fate choice to epithelial-mesenchymal transition during myogenesis

    Daniel Sieiro, Anne C Rios ... Christophe Marcelle
    In chick skeletal muscle, an incoming signal leads to two interdependent outcomes: a cell fate change and an epithelial-mesenchymal transition.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Spontaneous mutations and the origin and maintenance of quantitative genetic variation

    Wen Huang, Richard F Lyman ... Trudy FC Mackay
    Whole genome DNA sequence analysis, genome wide gene expression and complex organismal phenotypes in Drosophila mutation accumulation lines provide a robust estimate of the spontaneous mutation rate and mutational effects.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Neuroscience

    Functional synergy between the Munc13 C-terminal C1 and C2 domains

    Xiaoxia Liu, Alpay Burak Seven ... Josep Rizo
    Munc13 C-terminal domains synergize to coordinate synaptic vesicle docking, priming and fusion.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Time-resolved studies define the nature of toxic IAPP intermediates, providing insight for anti-amyloidosis therapeutics

    Andisheh Abedini, Annette Plesner ... Ann Marie Schmidt
    Toxic IAPP intermediates have some molecular features that are similar to, and others that are distinct from, toxic species reported for other amyloidogenic polypeptides.
    1. Ecology
    2. Neuroscience

    Olfactory channels associated with the Drosophila maxillary palp mediate short- and long-range attraction

    Hany KM Dweck, Shimaa AM Ebrahim ... Bill S Hansson
    Drosophila's second nose, the maxillary palp, is involved in short- and long-range attraction.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    The endoplasmic reticulum, not the pH gradient, drives calcium refilling of lysosomes

    Abigail G Garrity, Wuyang Wang ... Haoxing Xu
    The endoplasmic reticulum serves as a direct and primary source of calcium ions for the lysosome.
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Simple biophysics underpins collective conformations of the intrinsically disordered proteins of the Nuclear Pore Complex

    Andrei Vovk, Chad Gu ... Anton Zilman
    Simple biophysical considerations explain the collective behavior of molecularly diverse complex protein assemblies that regulate transport between the nucleus and the cytoplasm in eukaryotic organisms.
    1. Cell Biology

    Spatial organization shapes the turnover of a bacterial transcriptome

    Jeffrey R Moffitt, Shristi Pandey ... Xiaowei Zhuang
    Transcriptome-scale RNA imaging and lifetime measurements reveal that the E. coli transcriptome is spatially organized and that this organization modulates the post-transcriptional fate of bacterial mRNAs.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Detection and manipulation of live antigen-expressing cells using conditionally stable nanobodies

    Jonathan CY Tang, Eugene Drokhlyansky ... Constance L Cepko
    A straightforward, rapid and generalizable strategy uses modified nanobodies to convert intracellular protein detection into desired biological activities in cells and animals.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression
    2. Cancer Biology

    Premature polyadenylation of MAGI3 produces a dominantly-acting oncogene in human breast cancer

    Thomas K Ni, Charlotte Kuperwasser
    The study of a recurrent breast cancer MAGI3 truncation reveals the role of MAGI3 in regulating the Hippo effector YAP and highlights premature mRNA cleavage and polyadenylation as a mechanism underlying cancer development.
    1. Neuroscience

    Loss of presenilin function is associated with a selective gain of APP function

    Carole Deyts, Mary Clutter ... Angèle T Parent
    Amyloid precursor protein expression and accumulation of its intracellular fragment are required for exuberant neurite outgrowth associated with pathological presenilin 1 loss-of-function mutations before the emergence of amyloid burden in mice.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Compaction and segregation of sister chromatids via active loop extrusion

    Anton Goloborodko, Maxim V Imakaev ... Leonid Mirny
    Loop extrusion can robustly compact, segregate and disentangle mammalian chromosomes, suggesting it is a universal mechanism of genome folding during cell division.
    1. Neuroscience

    Compensation for PKMζ in long-term potentiation and spatial long-term memory in mutant mice

    Panayiotis Tsokas, Changchi Hsieh ... Todd Charlton Sacktor
    The enzyme PKMzeta is crucial for the maintenance of long-term memories, but a closely related enzyme provides a back-up should PKMzeta fail, thus explaining the controversy over why deleting the gene for PKMzeta may not appear to impair memory.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine

    A feedback amplification loop between stem cells and their progeny promotes tissue regeneration and tumorigenesis

    Jun Chen, Na Xu ... Rongwen Xi
    A newly discovered feedback amplification loop between stem cells and their immediate daughter progenitor cells drives epithelial regeneration and tumor development.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Viruses are a dominant driver of protein adaptation in mammals

    David Enard, Le Cai ... Dmitri A Petrov
    Viruses drive adaptation at the scale of the whole proteome and not only in antiviral proteins in mammalian hosts.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Hedgehog signaling is a potent regulator of liver lipid metabolism and reveals a GLI-code associated with steatosis

    Madlen Matz-Soja, Christiane Rennert ... Rolf Gebhardt
    The Hedgehog signalling pathway is a master regulator of lipid metabolic processes and their zonation in the adult liver of mice and humans.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Dynamic NF-κB and E2F interactions control the priority and timing of inflammatory signalling and cell proliferation

    John M Ankers, Raheela Awais ... Michael RH White
    Cell imaging and mathematical modelling show reciprocal cross-regulation between inflammatory signalling and cell cycle timing, which is mediated through functional interactions between NF-B and E2F proteins.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    The Drosophila HNF4 nuclear receptor promotes glucose-stimulated insulin secretion and mitochondrial function in adults

    William E Barry, Carl S Thummel
    Drosophila HNF4 directs a developmental switch at the onset of adulthood that suppresses diabetes by promoting mitochondrial function and supporting glucose-stimulated insulin secretion.
    1. Cancer Biology

    Mitochondrial genetic diversity, selection and recombination in a canine transmissible cancer

    Andrea Strakova, Máire Ní Leathlobhair ... Elizabeth P Murchison
    Genetics of a canine transmissible tumour show how the world’s oldest cancer “metastasised” through the global dog population – and captured, maintained and rearranged its mitochondrial DNA along the way.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Neuroscience

    Ca2+ entry into neurons is facilitated by cooperative gating of clustered CaV1.3 channels

    Claudia M Moreno, Rose E Dixon ... Luis F Santana
    CaV1.3 channels of the short isoform are coupled via their C-terminal domains in a Ca2+-CaM-dependent manner, which facilitates Ca2+ influx and increases the discharge of hippocampal neurons.
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    5-hydroxymethylcytosine marks regions with reduced mutation frequency in human DNA

    Marketa Tomkova, Michael McClellan ... Benjamin Schuster-Boeckler
    Different types of epigenetic DNA modifications affect the likelihood of cytosine mutations in cancer.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Two-way communication between SecY and SecA suggests a Brownian ratchet mechanism for protein translocation

    William John Allen, Robin Adam Corey ... Ian Collinson
    Evidence is presented that supports a completely new, diffusion-driven mechanism for transporting proteins across membranes in bacteria.
    1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Quorum sensing control of Type VI secretion factors restricts the proliferation of quorum-sensing mutants

    Charlotte Majerczyk, Emily Schneider, E Peter Greenberg
    Quorum-sensing control of Burkholderia thailandensis toxin and immunity pairs serves to police quorum-sensing mutants and may represent a general strategy whereby cooperators can police mutants.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Developmental Biology

    Unipolar distributions of junctional Myosin II identify cell stripe boundaries that drive cell intercalation throughout Drosophila axis extension

    Robert J Tetley, Guy B Blanchard ... Bénédicte Sanson
    Analysing Myosin II unipolar planar polarisation with high spatial and temporal resolution during Drosophila axis extension reveals how tissue boundaries drive polarized cell intercalation while limiting cell mixing.
    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    ERG signaling in prostate cancer is driven through PRMT5-dependent methylation of the Androgen Receptor

    Zineb Mounir, Joshua M Korn ... Raymond A Pagliarini
    The transcription factor ERG recruits the PRMT5 enzyme to methylate the androgen receptor, presenting a post-translational regulatory mechanism that could be therapeutically exploited to control cell proliferation.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Zeb1 controls neuron differentiation and germinal zone exit by a mesenchymal-epithelial-like transition

    Shalini Singh, Danielle Howell ... David J Solecki
    Neuronal progenitor cells autonomously inhibit polarization via the transcription factor Zeb1.
    1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
    2. Neuroscience

    Engineering vanilloid-sensitivity into the rat TRPV2 channel

    Feng Zhang, Sonya M Hanson ... Kenton J Swartz
    Vanilloid sensitivity has been introduced into the TRPV2 channel, revealing that the gating and permeation properties of this enigmatic TRP channel are remarkably similar to the capsaicin receptor.
    1. Neuroscience

    Massive normalization of olfactory bulb output in mice with a 'monoclonal nose'

    Benjamin Roland, Rebecca Jordan ... Alexander Fleischmann
    Inhibitory circuits in the olfactory bulb can amplify or suppress sensory inputs over a wide range of intensities to generate robust mitral cell output.
    1. Neuroscience

    The wiring diagram of a glomerular olfactory system

    Matthew E Berck, Avinash Khandelwal ... Albert Cardona
    The complete neural circuit map of a tractable olfactory system will support studies towards bridging the gap between circuits and behavior.
    1. Neuroscience

    The leak channel NALCN controls tonic firing and glycolytic sensitivity of substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons

    Andrew Lutas, Carolina Lahmann ... Gary Yellen
    Basal ganglia output neurons use the NALCN leak channel to maintain their characteristic tonic firing, and this channel is important for the modulation of firing by metabolic or receptor-mediated signals.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Histone H2B ubiquitylation represses gametogenesis by opposing RSC-dependent chromatin remodeling at the ste11 master regulator locus

    Philippe Materne, Enrique Vázquez ... Damien Hermand
    Building on previous work (Materne et al., 2015), it is shown that the ubiquitylation of histone H2B represses cell differentiation by opposing chromatin remodeling at the promoter of the master regulator of gametogenesis, ste11
    1. Neuroscience

    Instructed knowledge shapes feedback-driven aversive learning in striatum and orbitofrontal cortex, but not the amygdala

    Lauren Y Atlas, Bradley B Doll ... Elizabeth A Phelps
    While the striatum and orbitofrontal cortex learn about threats through verbal warnings, the amygdala learns only from direct experience, suggesting that the amygdala forms part of a specialized threat detection system.
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Computational and Systems Biology

    Many-molecule encapsulation by an icosahedral shell

    Jason D Perlmutter, Farzaneh Mohajerani, Michael F Hagan
    Computational and theoretical models reveal mechanisms by which protein compartments assemble around enzymes and reagents to facilitate reactions in bacteria, allowing the identification of strategies for reengineering such compartments as customizable nanoreactors.
    1. Cell Biology

    Spatial signals link exit from mitosis to spindle position

    Jill Elaine Falk, Dai Tsuchiya ... Angelika Amon
    In yeast, exit from mitosis is triggered by the movement of one spindle pole body out of the mother cell into the bud, the future daughter cell.
    1. Physics of Living Systems
    2. Cell Biology

    Dynamic curvature regulation accounts for the symmetric and asymmetric beats of Chlamydomonas flagella

    Pablo Sartori, Veikko F Geyer ... Jonathon Howard
    The self-organised beat of cilia and flagella is dynamically regulated by curvature.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Opposing roles of nuclear receptor HNF4α isoforms in colitis and colitis-associated colon cancer

    Karthikeyani Chellappa, Poonamjot Deol ... Frances M Sladek
    Proper gut health depends on the balance between two naturally occurring variants of a transcription factor in the colon.
    1. Neuroscience

    Electrical and Ca2+ signaling in dendritic spines of substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons

    Travis A Hage, Yujie Sun, Zayd M Khaliq
    Dopaminergic cells uniquely receive input from a roughly equal mixture of synapses on dendritic spines and synapses formed directly on dendrites.
    1. Neuroscience

    Cyclooxygenase-2 inhibition reduces stress-induced affective pathology

    Joyonna Carrie Gamble-George, Rita Baldi ... Sachin Patel
    Mechanistically distinct COX-2 inhibitors reduce stress-induced behavioral pathology via unique multimodal molecular mechanisms, and could be used to treat mood disorders.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    Punctuated evolution and transitional hybrid network in an ancestral cell cycle of fungi

    Edgar M Medina, Jonathan J Turner ... Nicolas E Buchler
    Cell cycle network evolution in a fungal ancestor was punctuated by the arrival of a viral DNA-binding protein that was permanently incorporated into the regulatory network controlling cell cycle entry.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    Discovery and validation of sub-threshold genome-wide association study loci using epigenomic signatures

    Xinchen Wang, Nathan R Tucker ... Laurie A Boyer
    Epigenomic signatures overlapping disease-associated variants from genome-wide association studies help prioritize new variants in sub-threshold loci whose biological relevance is experimentally confirmed.
    1. Neuroscience

    An inhibitory corticostriatal pathway

    Crystal Rock, Hector Zurita ... Alfonso junior Apicella
    The discovery of somatostatin-positive inhibitory neurons projecting from mouse cortex to striatum shows that corticostriatal pathways are not exclusively excitatory.
    1. Neuroscience

    Perception as a closed-loop convergence process

    Ehud Ahissar, Eldad Assa
    Perception is proposed to be a dynamic motor-sensory closed-loop process in which information flows through the environment and the brain in continuous loops, converging towards steady-state percepts.
    1. Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine
    2. Neuroscience

    Adult axolotls can regenerate original neuronal diversity in response to brain injury

    Ryoji Amamoto, Violeta Gisselle Lopez Huerta ... Paola Arlotta
    Upon injury, the regeneration of the adult axolotl brain rebuilds neuronal diversity, but alters the original long-distance circuitry and tissue architecture.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    Distinct responses to reduplicated chromosomes require distinct Mad2 responses

    Benjamin M Stormo, Donald T Fox
    Mitosis of reduplicated chromosomes is under careful regulation and can be perfectly executed.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Structural characterization of ribosome recruitment and translocation by type IV IRES

    Jason Murray, Christos G Savva ... Israel S Fernández
    A Internal Ribosomal Entry Site RNA has been visualised by high resolution cryoEM, trapped in the ribosome in an intermediate state of translocation.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Ensemble cryo-EM uncovers inchworm-like translocation of a viral IRES through the ribosome

    Priyanka D Abeyrathne, Cha San Koh ... Andrei A Korostelev
    An ensemble of cryo-EM structures reveals how eukaryotic elongation factor 2 positions the first codon of a viral mRNA for translation.
    1. Cell Biology

    A FRET-based study reveals site-specific regulation of spindle position checkpoint proteins at yeast centrosomes

    Yuliya Gryaznova, Ayse Koca Caydasi ... Gislene Pereira
    Daughter-cell-associated factors and centrosome-based regulation is important in mitotic exit and spindle position checkpoint control.
    1. Neuroscience

    Distinct modes of endocytotic presynaptic membrane and protein uptake at the calyx of Held terminal of rats and mice

    Yuji Okamoto, Noa Lipstein ... Mitsuharu Midorikawa
    Capacitance measurements and pH imaging reveal distinct modes of uptake for endocytotic presynaptic membrane and proteins.
    1. Neuroscience

    Mapping quantal touch using 7 Tesla functional magnetic resonance imaging and single-unit intraneural microstimulation

    Rosa Maria Sanchez Panchuelo, Rochelle Ackerley ... Francis McGlone
    The combination of intraneural microstimulation and 7T fMRI makes it possible to bridge the gap between first-order mechanoreceptive afferent input codes and their spatial, dynamic and perceptual representations in human cortex.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

    Allosteric modulation in monomers and oligomers of a G protein-coupled receptor

    Rabindra V Shivnaraine, Brendan Kelly ... James W Wells
    Allosteric modulation in the M2 muscarinic receptor derives from a mix of interactions within and between the protomers of an oligomer.
    1. Computational and Systems Biology

    Quantitative perturbation-based analysis of gene expression predicts enhancer activity in early Drosophila embryo

    Rupinder Sayal, Jacqueline M Dresch ... David N Arnosti
    Mathematical modeling of mutagenesis data for a suite of enhancers uncovers new relationships between the binding sites of transcription factors that help in genome-wide prediction of enhancers.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cancer Biology

    Set7 mediated Gli3 methylation plays a positive role in the activation of Sonic Hedgehog pathway in mammals

    Lin Fu, Hailong Wu ... Yun Zhao
    Methylation of Gli3 by Set7 enhances the activation of Hedgehog signaling and contributes to tumor growth and metastasis in vitro and in vivo.
    1. Neuroscience
    2. Plant Biology

    Hawkmoths evaluate scenting flowers with the tip of their proboscis

    Alexander Haverkamp, Felipe Yon ... Danny Kessler
    Building on previous work (Kessler et al., 2015), it is shown that long-tongued hawkmoths assess individual flowers by smelling floral odors with olfactory neurons on their proboscises, and that this close-range perception is crucial for successful pollination and foraging.
    1. Neuroscience

    Lip movements entrain the observers’ low-frequency brain oscillations to facilitate speech intelligibility

    Hyojin Park, Christoph Kayser ... Joachim Gross
    Rhythms of lip movements entrain low-frequency brain oscillations and facilitate audiovisual speech processing.
    1. Developmental Biology
    2. Evolutionary Biology

    An ancient yet flexible cis-regulatory architecture allows localized Hedgehog tuning by patched/Ptch1

    David S Lorberbaum, Andrea I Ramos ... Scott Barolo
    The seemingly simple, constitutive response of the patched/Ptch1 gene to Hedgehog signaling is in fact regulated by large batteries of context-specific Hedgehog-responsive enhancers in both fly and mouse, allowing tissue-specific tuning of the Hedgehog pathway in animal development and evolution.
    1. Cell Biology

    Tethering of an E3 ligase by PCM1 regulates the abundance of centrosomal KIAA0586/Talpid3 and promotes ciliogenesis

    Lei Wang, Kwanwoo Lee ... Brian D Dynlacht
    Ciliogenesis is regulated by a certain group of centriolar satellite proteins, among which an E3 ligase is tethered by PCM1 to maintain the normal level of pro-ciliogenic protein on centrioles.
    1. Chromosomes and Gene Expression

    RNA Polymerase II cluster dynamics predict mRNA output in living cells

    Won-Ki Cho, Namrata Jayanth ... Ibrahim I Cisse
    Quantitative super resolution imaging, in live mammalian cells, reveals a direct relationship between protein clustering dynamics and the number of mRNA transcribed at an endogenous gene locus.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    A novel synaptic plasticity rule explains homeostasis of neuromuscular transmission

    Gilles Ouanounou, Gérard Baux, Thierry Bal
    Skeletal muscle cells constantly monitor their own activity and that of their partner neuron at synapses, enabling them to provide the neuron with feedback regarding neurotransmitter release.
    1. Neuroscience

    An extrasynaptic GABAergic signal modulates a pattern of forward movement in Caenorhabditis elegans

    Yu Shen, Quan Wen ... Yun Zhang
    The activity of a set of GABAergic neurons is causally linked with a locomotory pattern in moving animals, and the mechanisms underlying the neuromodulatory role of GABA are illuminated.
    1. Genetics and Genomics

    The genetic basis for ecological adaptation of the Atlantic herring revealed by genome sequencing

    Alvaro Martinez Barrio, Sangeet Lamichhaney ... Leif Andersson
    Whole genome sequencing of 19 populations of Atlantic and Baltic herring reveals hundreds of individual loci underlying adaptation to a low salinity niche or timing of reproduction.
    1. Cell Biology
    2. Neuroscience

    Synaptic pruning in the female hippocampus is triggered at puberty by extrasynaptic GABAA receptors on dendritic spines

    Sonia Afroz, Julie Parato ... Sheryl Sue Smith
    Extrasynaptic GABAA receptors that emerge at puberty trigger adolescent synaptic pruning; pruning is prevented and cognition is impaired if the receptors are absent.
    1. Neuroscience

    Critical role for the mediodorsal thalamus in permitting rapid reward-guided updating in stochastic reward environments

    Subhojit Chakraborty, Nils Kolling ... Anna S Mitchell
    In monkeys, the integrity of the magnocellular subdivision of mediodorsal thalamus is important when using recent rewarded choices to promote persistence with a recently sampled choice during changing or uncertain reward guided-learning and decision-making tasks.

Magazine

    1. Neuroscience

    Microbiome: Does the brain listen to the gut?

    Thomas Kuntz, Jack Gilbert
    1. Neuroscience

    Memory: Forget me not

    Richard GM Morris
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