Metals articles within Nature Communications

Featured

• Article
  14 September 2015 | Open Access

  Calcium-controlled conformational choreography in the N-terminal half of adseverin

  The calcium-regulated gelsolin family of actin-binding proteins includes adseverin. Here, the authors report the X-ray crystal structure of the N-terminal portion of adseverin and use small-angle scattering and molecular dynamics simulations to examine the calcium-dependent function of this protein.

  • Sakesit Chumnarnsilpa
  • , Robert C. Robinson
  •  & Cedric Leyrat

• Article | 07 April 2015

  Metal ion-directed dynamic splicing of DNA through global conformational change by intramolecular complexation

  Higher-order structured DNA molecules can be manipulated to carry out specific enzymatic functions. Here the authors demonstrate the metal ion-directed global conformational control of DNA structure, using intramolecular coordination chemistry to manipulate the DNAzyme activity.

  • Toshihiro Ihara
  • , Hiroyuki Ohura
  •  & Yusuke Kitamura

• Article
  03 March 2015 | Open Access

  Dysregulation of transition metal ion homeostasis is the molecular basis for cadmium toxicity in Streptococcus pneumoniae

  The molecular basis for the high toxicity of cadmium is unclear. Here, Begg et al. use the bacterium Streptococcus pneumoniaeas a model system, and show that cadmium uptake increases sensitivity to oxidative stress by reducing intracellular concentrations of manganese and zinc through different mechanisms.

  • Stephanie L. Begg
  • , Bart A. Eijkelkamp
  •  & Christopher A. McDevitt

• Article
  02 November 2010 | Open Access

  TRPM7 is essential for Mg²⁺ homeostasis in mammals

  Magnesium is an essential element of the diet and is a cofactor for many enzymes. In this study, the channel kinase TRPM7 is shown to be essential for magnesium homeostasis, and heterozygous mice lacking the kinase domain show a defect in absorption of magnesium from the diet.

  • Lillia V. Ryazanova
  • , Lusliany J. Rondon
  •  & Alexey G. Ryazanov

• Article | 27 July 2010

  Phase diagram of bismuth in the extreme quantum limit

  Electrons in metals at extremely high magnetic fields show interesting quantum structures. The authors measure the angle-dependent Nernst effect with high precision and show that, for bismuth, Coulomb interactions between the electrons become important in this ultraquantum regime.

  • Huan Yang
  • , Benoît Fauqué
  •  & Kamran Behnia