Review Articles in 2014

Extracellular ATP released from cells during inflammatory responses predominantly functions as a signalling molecule through the activation of purinergic P2 receptors and contributes to both beneficial and detrimental inflammatory responses; this review examines P2 receptor signalling via ATP and its effect on the outcome of inflammatory and infectious diseases.

Some of the most recent and significant developments in homogeneous nickel catalysis are reviewed, including nickel-mediated cross-coupling reactions and carbon–hydrogen bond activation reactions.

Allostery is the process by which biological macromolecules transmit the effect of binding at one site to another, often distal, functional site, allowing for the regulation of activity; here facilitation of allostery through dynamic and intrinsically disordered proteins is discussed, and a framework to unify the description of allosteric mechanisms for different systems is proposed.

Recent progress in the various lab-on-a-chip microtechnologies is reviewed and the clinical and research areas in which they have made the greatest impact are discussed.

How atmospheric oxygen concentrations evolved from only small amounts for the early Earth to about 21 per cent today remains uncertain; here our latest understanding of the evolution of Earth’s oxygen levels is discussed.

In the ΛCDM paradigm, 95% of the Universe consists of dark energy and cold dark matter, but the low-density cores of dark matter measured at the centre of galaxies are hard to explain using this model; here a review of recent work shows that the action of stars and gas can significantly alter the distribution of cold dark matter through a coupling based on rapid gravitational potential fluctuations.

Unexpected diversity in the asteroids in the main asteroid belt holds clues to mixing via planetary migration in the early Solar System.