Volume 553 Issue 7689, 25 January 2018

Speed and gait selection in mice are controlled by glutamatergic excitatory neurons in the cuneiform nucleus and the pedunculopontine nucleus, which act in conjunction to select context-dependent locomotor behaviours.

The crystal structure of shed ectodomain of α-klotho bound to the FGFR1c ligand-binding domain and FGF23 unveils the mechanism by which klotho co-receptors promote hormonal FGF signalling.

In chromosomally unstable tumour cells, rupture of micronuclei exposes genomic DNA and activates the cGAS–STING cytosolic DNA-sensing pathway, thereby promoting metastasis.

Observations of a quasar at redshift 7.54, when the Universe was just five per cent of its current age, suggest that the Universe was significantly neutral at this epoch.

Mapping the three-dimensional trajectory of a Neptune-mass exoplanet across the disk of its cool star reveals that its orbit is nearly perpendicular to the stellar equator, implying the existence of a yet-undetected outer companion planet.

By periodically modulating the position of degenerate fermions unidirectionally in a three-dimensional optical lattice, antiferromagnetic correlations in this many-body system can be reduced, enhanced or even switched to ferromagnetic correlations.

Photophoretic optical trapping of cellulose particles and persistence of vision are used to produce real-space volumetric images that can be viewed from all angles, in geometries unachievable by holograms and light-field technologies.

Xenon isotopic anomalies found in modern plume rocks are explained as the result of iodine-to-plutonium fractionations during early, high-pressure episodes of core formation.

Interactions between receptors and ligands on immune cells are visualized in vivo and in vitro using an enzyme-tagged ligand that, when cells interact, leaves behind a detectable label on the receptor-expressing cell.

Crystal structures of free and ligand-bound β-klotho reveal that it acts as a primary receptor for FGF21, and demonstrate how a sugar-cutting enzyme has evolved to become a receptor for hormones that regulate metabolic processes.

The production of haematopoietic stem cells is repressed during early mammalian embryogenesis by an epigenetic mechanism that involves the action of the Polycomb protein EZH1.

Mutations in the nucleotidase-encoding gene NT5C2 drive chemotherapy resistance in relapsed acute lymphoid leukaemia but the mutations also lead to a loss-of-fitness phenotype and to collateral drug sensitivity, which could be exploited for therapy.

A blood enhancer cluster forms a highly combinatorial system that allows precise control of Myc expression across normal and leukaemic haematopoietic stem-cell hierarchies.

Cryo-electron microscopy reveals the structure of the Kaposi’s sarcoma-associated herpesvirus capsid, and experiments with polypeptides that mimic the smallest capsid protein demonstrate the potential for structure-derived insights to help to develop antiviral agents.

The X-ray structure of the integral membrane protein isoprenylcysteine carboxyl methyltransferase suggests mechanisms by which it recognizes both water-soluble and membrane-bound reactants to catalyze the methylation of RAS and other CAAX proteins at the membrane-cytosol interface.

This year’s ‘Frontiers in biology’ Insight features Reviews on the development of mature blood cells from haematopoietic stem cells, interactions between skin microorganisms and their host and how these contribute to health and disease, recent developments in three-dimensional brain tissue culture systems, and the biology of non-small cell lung cancer and recent advances in its treatment.