Articles

Microbes living in human skin are known to influence the immune system; however, the deeper layers in which immune cells reside were thought to be largely impervious to bacteria. Nakatsuji et al.show that the skin microbiome extends into the dermis, enabling contact with cells below the basement membrane.

The gut-derived orexigenic hormone, ghrelin, enhances neuronal firing in the substantia nigra pars compacta. This study shows that ghrelin enhances firing of nigral dopaminergic neurons by a novel mechanism in which activation of the PLC/PKC pathway inhibits Kv7 channels.

Coordination between dendritic growth and synaptogenesis is essential for the establishment of functional neuronal connectivity. This study shows that doublecortin-like kinases achieve this by promoting the growth of distal dendrites, while suppressing the maturation of glutamatergic synapses.

Cochlear inner and outer hair cells receive afferent innervation from type I and type II spiral ganglion neurons, respectively. Defourny et al. find that, in the absence of ephrin-A5 and its receptor EphA4, a subset of type I spiral ganglion neuron projections invade the outer hair cell area.

The Chinese tree shrew, Tupaia belangeri chinensis, has been proposed as a potential animal model in biomedical research and drug safety testing. This study presents the full genome of the Chinese tree shrew, identifying common features between the tree shrew and primates.

There are conflicting views about the symmetrical/asymmetrical nature of the hydrogen-bond network in water. This theoretical study reveals that water molecules in liquid form highly asymmetric hydrogen bonds and that this asymmetry relaxes rapidly towards an average symmetrical structure.

Rumen methanogenic archaea are major sources of methane emissions and potential targets for methane mitigation strategies. Poulsen et al.now show that dietary rapeseed oil (RSO) supplementation can reduce the abundance of methanogenic Thermoplasmata archaea inhabiting the bovine rumen.

Programmed cell death is essential for the development of plants. Here Niu et al.characterize a rice mutant with deletions in the transcription factor, ETERNAL TAPETUM 1, which is shown to positively regulate programmed cell death by modulating expression of two aspartic proteases.

Cytotoxic T lymphocytes kill target cells through the fusion of lytic granules at the immunological synapse. Using high-resolution microscopy techniques Matti et al.identify synaptobrevin2 as the vesicular SNARE protein required for this fusion reaction.

Gene circuits created by synthetic biologists working in one system may not be functional when transferred to a different organism. Using computational modelling to identify factors underlying such differences, the authors successfully adapt a yeast ‘linearizer’ circuit so that it functions in mammalian cells.

The coupling of ferromagnetic and ferroelectric materials could enable more efficient non-volatile information storage. Surprisingly, Ghidini et al. observe electrically-driven magnetic reversal events in commercially produced multilayer capacitor devices.

Aromaticity predicts the existence of the benzene tetra-anion, although it has not been unambiguously observed. Here, the authors have synthesized a tetra-anionic substituted benzene as a ligand and characterize the six-carbon, 10 π-electron system by structural, spectroscopic and theoretical techniques.

Diabetes and obesity pose an increased risk for breast cancer; however, the reasons for this link remain unclear. Di et al.provide evidence that CtBP, a metabolically regulated transcriptional repressor, regulates a gene network that is selectively downregulated in more aggressive forms of breast cancer.

The emission properties of quantum dots make them ideal for probing plasmonic nanostructures, but their small size makes them difficult to manipulate. Ropp et al.use a microfluidic system to accurately place single quantum dots around silver nanowires to probe the local density of optical states.

Tandem solar cell structures combine high- and low-bandgap materials, allowing a broader spectral absorption of solar radiation. The authors report the synthesis of a high performance low-bandgap polymer which enables fabrication of a tandem solar cell with a certified power conversion efficiency of 10.6%.

High-brightness light-emitting diodes require high operating currents, which generate significant Joule heating and subsequent heat dissipation is an issue. This work demonstrates the growth of GaN-based light-emitting diodes directly on graphene oxide with a low thermal resistance for efficient heat removal.

The repeated presentation of observed action is hypothesized to result in the reduction in firing rates of mirror neurons in premotor areas of the cortex. In this study, it is shown that monkey premotor area F5 mirror neurons, unlike local field potentials, do not display suppression to repetitive stimuli.

Understanding magnetic materials at the nanoscale is important for the development of novel applications, but has been hampered by a lack of suitable experimental techniques. Here, the use of transmitted electrons permits the determination of atomic site-specific magnetic information.

A variant in the IFITM3gene increases the risk of severe influenza, but homozygosity is rare in Caucasians. The authors show that the variant gene is homozygous in 25% of healthy Chinese people, and 69% of those with severe pandemic influenza, suggesting that this gene influences the epidemiology of influenza in South-East Asia.

The mitochondrial protease CLPP is found in most eukaryotic organisms but its biological role has been unclear. Here Osiewacz and colleagues show that deletion of CLPP extends lifespan of the filamentous fungus Podospora anserina, and that human and fungal CLPP are functionally conserved.