Articles in 2012

Semaphorin 3A (Sema3A) is shown to function as a protector of bone, by synchronously inhibiting osteoclastic bone resorption and promoting osteoblastic bone formation.

Integrative analysis of copy number and gene expression in 2,000 primary breast tumours with long-term clinical follow-up revealed putative cis-acting driver genes, novel subgroups and trans-acting aberration hotspots that modulate subgroup-specific gene networks.

Previous work has shown that a combination of three transcription factors can directly reprogram cardiac fibroblasts into cardiomyocyte-like cell in vitro; now, the same authors demonstrate in vivo reprogramming of cardiac fibroblasts into induced cardiomyocytes.

Single atoms in optical cavities in two separate laboratories are the nodes of an elementary quantum network, in which quantum information is distributed via the controlled emission and absorption of single photons.

A reference genome sequence for threespine sticklebacks, and re-sequencing of 20 additional world-wide populations, reveals loci used repeatedly during vertebrate evolution; multiple chromosome inversions contribute to marine-freshwater divergence, and regulatory variants predominate over coding variants in this classic example of adaptive evolution in natural environments.

A reconstruction of global surface temperature is used to show that deglacial temperature is correlated with and generally lags carbon dioxide concentration, a result that contributes to the explanation of the temperature change that occurred at the end of the most recent ice age.

Downregulation of the glucose transporter GLUT4 in adipose tissue occurs early in the development of type 2 diabetes; here GLUT4-mediated glucose uptake is shown to induce a novel form of the transcription factor ChREBP, which regulates de novo lipogenesis and systemic glucose metabolism.

Synthetic REV-ERB agonists can alter the circadian expression of core clock genes in the hypothalami of mice, which changes the expression of metabolic genes in liver, skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, and results in increased energy expenditure.

The 3.4-million-year-old partial hominin foot skeleton indicates the coexistence of more than one hominin species between 3 and 4 million years ago, each with its own way of getting around.

Human cancer cell lines are screened with drugs, undergoing clinical or preclinical investigation, to determine specific genomic alterations associated with response to therapeutic agents.

Reduced representation bisulphite sequencing is used to generate genome-scale DNA methylation maps in mouse gametes and several stages of early, pre-implantation embryogenesis, allowing a base-pair resolution timeline of the changes in DNA methylation during developmental transitions.

An international drilling programme that explored offshore from the Tahiti reef establishes that an episode of rapid sea-level rise, meltwater pulse 1A, occurred between 14,650 and 14,310 years ago, and that the rise in sea level was probably between 14 and 18 metres.

The crystal structure of the human κ-opioid receptor in complex with an antagonist, JDTic, is determined, with potential importance for the design of new therapeutic agents.

The crystal structure of fission yeast mitotic checkpoint complex (MCC) reveals how MCC assembly is regulated and the molecular basis of anaphase-promoting complex (APC/C) inhibition by MCC.

The crystal structure of the mouse μ-opioid receptor bound to an antagonist is described, with possible implications for the future development of analgesics.

Metal nanoparticles with dimensions below ten nanometres exhibit plasmon resonances governed by quantum mechanical effects, as probed with electron microscopy and spectroscopy

Two members of the Teneurin transmembrane protein family are shown to control the synaptic partner matching in the Drosophila olfactory system.

The neural circuit dynamics in the mouse posterior parietal cortex are found to involve sequences of neural activation rather than longer-lived sustained neural activity states.

The H3N2 influenza virus immunomodulatory protein NS1 carries a sequence that mimics the histone H3 tail; this sequence interferes with the host antiviral response via binding to the cellular regulator of RNA elongation, hPAF1C.

Genetic programs homologous to three vertebrate signalling centres are present in the hemichordate Saccoglossus kowalevskii and may be components of a complex, ancient genetic regulatory scaffold for deuterostome body patterning that degenerated in amphioxus and ascidians, but was retained to pattern divergent structures in hemichordates and vertebrates.