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Sanna Vattulainen-Collanus et al. report that mutations in the BMPR2 gene, which is associated with pulmonary arterial hypertension, result in a deficit of RAD51 and altered DNA repair and replication. They were able to rescue the RAD51-deficient phenotype by restoring BMPR2 activity in cell culture.
Qianting Zhang et al. characterized the role of the mammalian ortholog of Zip2 in meiotic crossovers. Loss-of-function of MZIP2 leads to defects in DNA double-strand break repair, halting meiosis and causing sterility in both male and female mice.
Yoshitaro Akiyama et al. report the use of innovative behavioral assays in planarian flatworms to investigate the mechanism by which they efficiently respond to light. They find that binocular vision and spontaneous self-motion are key factors for accurately detecting the direction of a light source.
Tania Rowley et al. present multivalent Fc molecules with enhanced avidity for Fc gamma receptors in order to improve the treatment of autoantibody-mediated human diseases. They found several key amino acids involved in Fc receptor binding interactions.
Monica Tulstrup et al. show that antibiotic treatment of female rats during pregnancy leads to altered intestinal colonization in early life and lower body weight in adulthood. They find that this effect correlates with lower feed intake and increased expression of satiety hormone at weaning.
Helen Schwerdt et al. report micro-invasive probes capable of monitoring chemical signaling in the rat brain for over a year. The probes have diameters as small as single neuronal cell bodies and can monitor sub-second fluctuations in chemical signaling without significant induction of inflammation or tissue damage.
Liran Samuni et al. examined meat sharing behavior and oxytocin in wild chimpanzees, elucidating the mechanism facilitating cooperation. They find that hunters are more likely to receive food independent of begging, suggesting that prosocial behaviors are rewarded in primates, likely facilitated by oxytocin.
Giuseppe Antonacci et al. present a method for non-contact and label-free imaging using Brillouin microscopy to examine intracellular biomechanics at the sub-micron level. They use this approach in an analysis of stress granules containing ALS-related FUS protein mutants.
Julia Jehn et al. report a phylogenetic analysis and expression studies of PIWI genes in 11 mollusk species. They find that PIWI genes and piRNAs are expressed in both the germline and soma, as in arthropods, suggesting that somatic expression of the piRNA system represents the ancestral state in animals.
Araujo et al. investigate the soil microbiome across four major vegetation zones of the Brazilian Cerrado and find that protist taxon richness increases towards the tree-dominated climax vegetation. Their findings suggest that increased microbiome complexity might enhance system stability towards climax vegetation.
Yingrou Tan et al. present a method streamlining surface creation in 3D imaging by applying the hue-saturation-brightness transformed channels simultaneously. They show the utility of this approach by imaging ear skin following needlestick injury, observing immune cell infiltration.
Maria Blasi et al. report the anti-HIV-1 humoral response elicited in rhesus macaques following vaccination with an SIV-based integrase-defective lentiviral vector (IDLV). They find that a single IDLV-Env immunization induces continuous antibody avidity maturation and boosting with a heterologous HIV-1 Env results in lower peak antibody titers than autologous boost.
Lyons and Kolter describe a single-point mutation in the plasmid-borne gene rapP of Bacillus subtilis that optimizes surfactin transcription to express the minimum required for cooperation. The decrease in the production of this public good significantly prevented the exploitation of cooperative traits by cheaters.
Isabel Ernst et al. use single-molecule FRET measurements and in silico analyses to show the conformational changes of bacterial SecA. They show that the Preprotein Binding Domain is highly dynamic in the absence of ATP and moves toward the Helical Wing Domain when ATP is bound into the “wide open” position.
Arfaxad Reyes-Alcaraz et al. report that galanin induces robust signaling mediated by β-arrestin1/2 and Gαq, whereas an alternative ligand spexin prefers the Gαq-protein signaling pathway. This study provides mechanistic insights into how endogenous ligands can generate biased signaling outputs.
Masako Kurashige et al. investigate the origin of cancer-associated fibroblasts and tumor-associated macrophages in humans. They find that these are derived from bone marrow following sex-mismatched bone marrow transplants.
Peter Otoupal et al. present CHAOS, an approach for preventing the development of antibiotic resistance in E. coli through CRISPR-Cas9-based perturbation of gene expression. They show that multiplexed perturbations decrease fitness of clinically-isolated Carbapenem-resistant E. coli upon antibiotic exposure.
Huang et al. report a fully automated method for collecting and merging data from thousands of in meso-grown microcrystals. This in situ approach provides a fast and efficient way to determine the structures of membrane proteins from fragile microcrystals.
Dvir Harris et al. present the structure of a homolog of the orange carotenoid protein (OCP) C-terminal domain, elaborating on this protein family’s carotenoid transfer mechanism. They observed major structural shifts in the homolog compared to that of the OCP C-terminal domain, with a strong positive impact on carotenoid uptake and delivery.
Ichiro Aoki et al. demonstrate that a K+ channel and a cyclic nucleotide-gated channel regulate the adaptation of thermosensory neurons to temperature fluctuations in C. elegans. This study deepens our understanding of how long it takes for animals to accommodate environmental changes behaviorally.