Articles in 2019

Partial structures are reported for Ca_v3.1 both on its own and in complex with a phase II drug candidate for seizure and neuropathic pain; this presents the overall architecture of T-type Ca²⁺ channels, insights into their gating and permeation mechanisms, and how they are modulated by small-molecule blockers.

Electrocatalytic reduction of CO₂ over copper can be made highly selective by ‘tuning’ the copper surface with adsorbed organic molecules to stabilize intermediates for carbon-based fuels such as ethylene

Two-photon calcium imaging and optogenetic experiments in tethered flying flies, combined with modelling, demonstrate how the correlation of compass and visual neurons underpins plasticity that enables the transformation of visual cues into stable heading representations.

Interfaces for epidermal virtual reality technology are demonstrated that can communicate by programmable patterns of localized mechanical vibrations.

Progesterone receptor membrane component 2 is required to transport haem from the mitochondria to the nucleus, where, in adipose tissue, it has roles in regulation of thermogenesis and glucose metabolism.

Very-high-energy γ-rays observed ten hours after the prompt emission of the γ-ray burst 180720B can be attributed to either an inverse Compton or an extreme synchrotron process.

A genome-wide association study of mosaic loss of chromosome Y (LOY) in UK Biobank participants identifies 156 genetic determinants of LOY, showing that LOY is associated with cancer and non-haematological health outcomes.

Visual inputs to compass neurons can reorganize over minutes as a fly explores an altered virtual-reality environment.

Bacterial symbionts of animals may contain antibiotics that are particularly suitable for development into therapeutics; one such compound, darobactin, is active against important Gram-negative pathogens both in vitro and in animal models of infection.

Time-resolved electron microscopy reveals the mechanism by which the origin recognition complex loads pairs of MCM helicases around DNA prior to bidirectional replication.

The GLASS Consortium studies the evolutionary trajectories of 222 patients with a diffuse glioma to aid in our understanding of tumour progression and treatment failure

Imaging and sequencing approaches are combined to show that extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) in cancer is circular and has unique chromatin structure that amplifies oncogene output.

Observations of teraelectronvolt-energy γ-rays starting about one minute after the γ-ray burst GRB 190114C reveal a distinct component of the afterglow emission with power comparable to the synchrotron emission.

The enzymatic activity of caspase-8 controls apoptosis, necroptosis and pyroptosis, and prevents tissue damage during embryonic development and adulthood in mice.

A multi-frequency observing campaign of the γ-ray burst GRB 190114C reveals a broadband double-peaked spectral energy distribution, and the teraelectronvolt emission could be attributed to inverse Compton scattering.

A new computational framework, novoSpaRc, leverages single-cell data to reconstruct spatial context for cells and spatial expression across tissues and organisms, on the basis of an organization principle for gene expression.

Depletion of Archaean atmospheric xenon in ¹²⁹Xe relative to the modern atmosphere might indicate that a short burst of mantle activity took place around 2.6 to 2.2  billion years ago.

The authors show that NLRP3 inflammasome is activated in microglia of patients with fronto-temporal dementia and in a mouse model of tau pathology, and that the loss of NLRP3 inflammasome function decreases tau pathology and improves cognition in mice.

The pore space in the metal–organic framework Zr₆O₄(OH)₄(bpydc)₆ can be used as a scaffold to grow precisely defined atomically thick sheets of metal halide materials, taking advantage of multiple binding sites to direct complexation of the metal ions; these metal halide nanosheets fill the size gap between discrete molecular magnets and bulk magnetic materials, with potentially unusual magnetic properties arising from this size regime.

Spin-flip resonance data are used to place direct constraints on the interaction of ultralight axion-like particles with antiprotons, improving the sensitivity to the corresponding coupling coefficient by five orders of magnitude.