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      • AmotL2 links VE-cadherin to contractile actin fibres necessary for aortic lumen expansion

        Sara Hultin, Yujuan Zheng, Mahdi Mojallal, Simona Vertuani, Christian Gentili, Martial Balland, Rachel Milloud, Heinz-Georg Belting, Markus Affolter, Christian S.M. Helker, Ralf H. Adams, Wiebke Herzog, Per Uhlen, Arindam Majumdar, Lars Holmgren
        Cell–cell adhesion molecules and the cytoskeleton determine endothelial cell shape during the formation of blood vessels. Here the authors show that the scaffold protein, amotL2, couples adherens junctions to contractile cytoskeletal proteins to coordinate cellular morphogenesis with aortic lumen expansion.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4743

      • Bacterial twitching motility is coordinated by a two-dimensional tug-of-war with directional memory

        Rahul Marathe, Claudia Meel, Nora C. Schmidt, Lena Dewenter, Rainer Kurre, Lilo Greune, M. Alexander Schmidt, Melanie J.I. Müller, Reinhard Lipowsky, Berenike Maier, Stefan Klumpp
        Bacteria such as Neisseria gonorrhoeae use filamentous appendages known as pili to move on surfaces. Here, using a combined theoretical and experimental approach, the authors show that pili are coordinated through a tug-of-war mechanism that provides directional persistence.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4759

      • Rhythmic oscillations of the microRNA miR-96-5p play a neuroprotective role by indirectly regulating glutathione levels Open

        Chisato Kinoshita, Koji Aoyama, Nobuko Matsumura, Kazue Kikuchi-Utsumi, Masahiko Watabe, Toshio Nakaki
        Glutathione is a key antioxidant that plays an important neuroprotective role in the brain. Here, Kinoshita et al. show that levels of glutathione exhibit diurnal fluctuations that are indirectly regulated by the microRNA miR-96-5p, and that this microRNA plays a neuroprotective role against oxidative stress.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4823

      • Protein grafting of p53TAD onto a leucine zipper scaffold generates a potent HDM dual inhibitor

        Jung-Hoon Lee, Eunji Kang, Jungmin Lee, Jungmin Kim, Kyoung Hu Lee, Jieun Han, Hye Yoon Kang, Soshin Ahn, Youngmi Oh, Dongkyu Shin, Kyeyeon Hur, Su Young Chae, Paul H. Song, Yong-In Kim, Jae Chan Park, Jae Il Lee
        The protein levels of the tumour suppressor p53 can be negatively regulated by HDM2, which is an attractive target for cancer therapy. In this study, Lee et al. graft the transactivation domain of p53 onto a scaffold protein and show that this binds to HDM2 and inhibits cancer cell growth in vitro.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4814

      • Frequency domain optical parametric amplification Open

        Bruno E. Schmidt, Nicolas Thiré, Maxime Boivin, Antoine Laramée, François Poitras, Guy Lebrun, Tsuneyuki Ozaki, Heide Ibrahim, François Légaré
        Optical parametric amplification is a process that amplifies the power of laser pulses. Here, Schmidt and colleagues demonstrate that performing this amplification in the frequency domain rather than the optical domain could lead to higher power outputs.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4643

      • Transcriptional control of ROS homeostasis by KUODA1 regulates cell expansion during leaf development Open

        Dandan Lu, Ting Wang, Staffan Persson, Bernd Mueller-Roeber, Jos H.M. Schippers
        During plant development, organ size is controlled by cell proliferation and expansion, but the molecular mechanisms involved are unclear. Here, Lu et al. show that leaf cell expansion is controlled by the KUA1 transcription factor that acts in a circadian manner and modulates the expression of genes encoding cell wall-localized peroxidases.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4767

      • Single-vesicle architecture of synaptobrevin2 in astrocytes

        Priyanka Singh, Jernej Jorgačevski, Marko Kreft, Vladimir Grubišić, Randy F. Stout Jr, Maja Potokar, Vladimir Parpura, Robert Zorec
        The astrocytic vesicular protein, synaptobrevin2 (Sb2), is implicated in neurotransmitter release, but its vesicular arrangement is poorly understood. Here, Singh et al. use super-resolution fluorescence microscopy to show that the total number of endogenous Sb2 molecules per vesicle is ≤25.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4780

      • Glycinergic inhibition tunes coincidence detection in the auditory brainstem Open

        Michael H. Myoga, Simon Lehnert, Christian Leibold, Felix Felmy, Benedikt Grothe
        Coincidence detector neurons in the mammalian brainstem encode interaural time differences (ITDs) that are implicated in auditory processing. Myoga et al. study a previously developed neuronal model and find that inhibition is crucial for sound localization, but more dynamically than previously thought.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4790

      • An order parameter for impurity systems at quantum criticality Open

        Abolfazl Bayat, Henrik Johannesson, Sougato Bose, Pasquale Sodano
        So far, the notion of the order parameter for impurity quantum phase transitions has been missing. Using a two-impurity Kondo model, Bayat et al. show that the Schmidt gap obtained from the entanglement spectrum may serve as a nonlocal order parameter for a quantum impurity system at criticality.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4784

      • A new clade of Asian Late Cretaceous long-snouted tyrannosaurids

        Junchang Lü, Laiping Yi, Stephen L. Brusatte, Ling Yang, Hua Li, Liu Chen
        Tyrannosaurids were top predators in Asia and North America during the latest Cretaceous and most species had deep skulls. Here, Lü et al. describe mature fossils of Qianzhousaurus sinensis, a new long-snouted tyrannosaurid species from southeastern China that groups with other long snout species from Asia.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4788

      • Observation of a three-dimensional topological Dirac semimetal phase in high-mobility Cd3As2

        Madhab Neupane, Su-Yang Xu, Raman Sankar, Nasser Alidoust, Guang Bian, Chang Liu, Ilya Belopolski, Tay-Rong Chang, Horng-Tay Jeng, Hsin Lin, Arun Bansil, Fangcheng Chou, M. Zahid Hasan
        Topological Dirac semimetals constitute a promising platform for the study of quantum Hall phenomena and Weyl fermion transport. Using high-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, Neupane et al. identify the topological bulk Dirac semimetal phase in a Cd3As2 system.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4786

      • An ITAM-Syk-CARD9 signalling axis triggers contact hypersensitivity by stimulating IL-1 production in dendritic cells

        Shinsuke Yasukawa, Yoshiyuki Miyazaki, Chika Yoshii, Mako Nakaya, Naoko Ozaki, Shuji Toda, Etsushi Kuroda, Ken-ichi Ishibashi, Tomoharu Yasuda, Yohei Natsuaki, Fumika Mi-ichi, Ei’ichi Iizasa, Takeshi Nakahara, Masanori Yamazaki, Kenji Kabashima, Yoichiro Iwakura, Toshiyuki Takai, Takashi Saito, Tomohiro Kurosaki, Bernard Malissen, Naohito Ohno, Masutaka Furue, Hiroki Yoshida, Hiromitsu Hara
        Contact hypersensitivity is caused by the reaction of T cells to various chemical contact allergens. Here, the authors unveil the signalling pathway induced in dendritic cells in response to contact allergens, which is required for the stimulation of T-cell sensitization in contact hypersensitivity.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4755

      • Loss-of-heterozygosity facilitates passage through Haldane’s sieve for Saccharomyces cerevisiae undergoing adaptation

        A. C. Gerstein, A. Kuzmin, S. P. Otto
        Haldane’s sieve is a theoretical prediction which states that recessive beneficial mutations rarely contribute to adaptation. Here, Gerstein et al. show rapid growth of Saccharomyces carrying recessive beneficial mutations, due to loss-of-heterozygosity when exposed to a fungicide and provide a mechanism for avoiding Haldane’s sieve.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4819

      • A population of glomerular glutamatergic neurons controls sensory information transfer in the mouse olfactory bulb

        Roberta Tatti, Khaleel Bhaukaurally, Olivier Gschwend, Rebecca P. Seal, Robert H. Edwards, Ivan Rodriguez, Alan Carleton
        The olfactory bulb (OB) is involved in odour processing, but exactly how is unclear. Tatti et al. identify a population of VGluT3-expressing neurons within the OB that suppresses spontaneous and odour-evoked firing of OB output neurons via direct connections with OB output neurons and juxtaglomerular cells.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4791

      • Arctic tree rings as recorders of variations in light availability Open

        A. R. Stine, P. Huybers
        Tree rings are widely used to reconstruct historical records of surface temperature. Here, Stine and Huybers analyse tree-ring records north of 50°N and show that changes in the light environment associated with both volcanic eruptions and global dimming significantly influence tree-ring growth.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4836

      • Pressure-induced semiconducting to metallic transition in multilayered molybdenum disulphide

        Avinash P. Nayak, Swastibrata Bhattacharyya, Jie Zhu, Jin Liu, Xiang Wu, Tribhuwan Pandey, Changqing Jin, Abhishek K. Singh, Deji Akinwande, Jung-Fu Lin
        Molybdenum disulphide has been predicted to undergo an electronic phase transition, but experimental evidence for this is limited. Here, the authors observe a high-pressure semiconducting-to-metallic transition in molybdenum disulphide at 19 GPa, and quantify changes in electronic, vibrational, optical and structural properties.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4731

      • Plasma irregularities in the D-region ionosphere in association with sprite streamer initiation

        Jianqi Qin, Victor P. Pasko, Matthew G. McHarg, Hans C. Stenbaek-Nielsen
        Sprites are spectacular optical emissions in the mesosphere with an enigmatic filamentary nature. Qin et al. present high-speed video and modelling data revealing sub-millisecond dynamics to reconstruct the structures on a km-scale, showing that pre-existing plasma irregularities are responsible for their initiation.
        07 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4740

      • Spider genomes provide insight into composition and evolution of venom and silk Open

        Kristian W. Sanggaard, Jesper S. Bechsgaard, Xiaodong Fang, Jinjie Duan, Thomas F. Dyrlund, Vikas Gupta, Xuanting Jiang, Ling Cheng, Dingding Fan, Yue Feng, Lijuan Han, Zhiyong Huang, Zongze Wu, Li Liao, Virginia Settepani, Ida B. Thøgersen, Bram Vanthournout, Tobias Wang, Yabing Zhu, Peter Funch, Jan J. Enghild, Leif Schauser, Stig U. Andersen, Palle Villesen, Mikkel H Schierup, Trine Bilde, Jun Wang
        Spiders use self-produced venom and silk for their daily survival. Here, the authors report the assembled genome of the social velvet spider and a draft assembly of the tarantula genome and, together with proteomic data, provide insights into the evolution of genes that affect venom and silk production.
        06 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4765

      • Madden–Julian Oscillation prediction skill of a new-generation global model demonstrated using a supercomputer Open

        Tomoki Miyakawa, Masaki Satoh, Hiroaki Miura, Hirofumi Tomita, Hisashi Yashiro, Akira T. Noda, Yohei Yamada, Chihiro Kodama, Masahide Kimoto, Kunio Yoneyama
        Prediction of the Madden–Julian Oscillation using complex cloud-resolving models has been limited by computational power. Here, Miyakawa et al. run a series of simulations using the newly developed 10 peta-flop ‘K computer’ and demonstrate a Madden–Julian Oscillation predictive window of 27 days.
        06 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4769

      • Waving potential in graphene

        Jun Yin, Zhuhua Zhang, Xuemei Li, Jin Yu, Jianxin Zhou, Yaqing Chen, Wanlin Guo
        Attempts have been made in flowing liquids over carbon nanomaterials to generate electric voltages, but a convincing or significant voltage is yet to be obtained. Here, Yin et al. show an electrokinetic process in which an electric potential of 0.1 V is generated in graphene by a moving liquid–gas boundary.
        06 May 2014
        doi:
        10.1038/ncomms4582
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