Featured
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Letter |
Peripheral education of the immune system by colonic commensal microbiota
- Stephanie K. Lathrop
- , Seth M. Bloom
- & Chyi-Song Hsieh
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Letter |
A reserve stem cell population in small intestine renders Lgr5-positive cells dispensable
- Hua Tian
- , Brian Biehs
- & Frederic J. de Sauvage
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News |
Social network wants to sequence your gut
MyMicrobes project will gather DNA data from online community.
- Nicola Jones
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Letter |
The role of Tet3 DNA dioxygenase in epigenetic reprogramming by oocytes
- Tian-Peng Gu
- , Fan Guo
- & Guo-Liang Xu
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News |
Friendly bacteria cheer up anxious mice
Probiotics affect behaviour and brain chemistry.
- Nicola Jones
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Letter |
Fossil jawless fish from China foreshadows early jawed vertebrate anatomy
- Zhikun Gai
- , Philip C. J. Donoghue
- & Marco Stampanoni
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Research Highlights |
Placenta protects the brain
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News & Views |
Bespoke cells for the human brain
Human skin cells have been directly converted into neurons, an achievement that could lead to the cell-based treatment of neurodegenerative disorders. But the road ahead remains long and tortuous. See Letters p.220, p.224 & p.228
- Michael Sendtner
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Letter
| Open AccessThe genome sequence of Atlantic cod reveals a unique immune system
- Bastiaan Star
- , Alexander J. Nederbragt
- & Kjetill S. Jakobsen
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Research Highlights |
Chimp brains don't shrink
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News & Views |
Magnesium in a signalling role
Magnesium binds to enzymes and nucleic acids and is essential for their activity. It emerges that this ion can also function as a signalling molecule with a crucial role in the immune system. See Article p.471
- Ning Wu
- & André Veillette
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News & Views |
Imprinting in the brain
A gene is considered to be imprinted if only the copy inherited from the mother or from the father is expressed throughout life. But one imprinted gene, Dlk1, disobeys this rule during postnatal neurodevelopment. See Letter p.381
- Edwin C. Oh
- & Nicholas Katsanis
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Letter |
DMRT1 prevents female reprogramming in the postnatal mammalian testis
- Clinton K. Matson
- , Mark W. Murphy
- & David Zarkower
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Letter |
Control of TH17 cells occurs in the small intestine
- Enric Esplugues
- , Samuel Huber
- & Richard A. Flavell
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News & Views |
Weight loss through smoking
Many people smoke to keep their weight down. The identification of the molecular target in the brain for the appetite-suppressant effects of nicotine is a first step towards finding healthy alternatives to smoking for weight management.
- Randy J. Seeley
- & Darleen A. Sandoval
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News & Views |
Muscle for a damaged heart
When cardiac muscle cells die during a heart attack, this can lead to heart failure and even death. It now emerges that stem cells of the 'sheet' enveloping the heart can be coaxed to form new muscle after such an event. See Letter p.640
- Vincent Christoffels
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Letter |
Vpx relieves inhibition of HIV-1 infection of macrophages mediated by the SAMHD1 protein
- Kasia Hrecka
- , Caili Hao
- & Jacek Skowronski
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Research Highlights |
The voter's grey matter
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Review Article |
Human nutrition, the gut microbiome and the immune system
- Andrew L. Kau
- , Philip P. Ahern
- & Jeffrey I. Gordon
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News & Views |
In command of commensals
Humans must maintain a balanced composition for the trillions of commensal microbes that inhabit their gut, but how they do this is largely unclear. It now emerges that one factor is a molecular pathway in gut epithelial cells.
- Menno van Lookeren Campagne
- & Vishva M. Dixit
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Letter |
Regulation of angiogenesis by a non-canonical Wnt–Flt1 pathway in myeloid cells
- James A. Stefater III
- , Ian Lewkowich
- & Richard A. Lang
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Research Highlights |
Scenes deciphered from spaces
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News |
Mammalian brain followed a scented evolutionary trail
Digital scans suggest mammals have their ancestors to thank for their keen sense of smell.
- Ewen Callaway
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Research Highlights |
Blocking brain inflammation
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Books & Arts |
Neuroscience: My brain made me do it
Adam Kepecs urges caution in considering the unconscious mind in the justice system.
- Adam Kepecs
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Letter |
Neural crest regulates myogenesis through the transient activation of NOTCH
- Anne C. Rios
- , Olivier Serralbo
- & Christophe Marcelle
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News |
Reprogrammed cells repair damaged livers
Proof-of-principle study could point the way to averting the need for liver transplants.
- Heidi Ledford
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Letter |
Induction of functional hepatocyte-like cells from mouse fibroblasts by defined factors
- Pengyu Huang
- , Zhiying He
- & Lijian Hui
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Research Highlights |
Worm-proofing the gut
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News & Views |
Sleepy neurons?
A study in rats suggests that individual neurons take a nap when the brain is forced to stay awake, and that the basic unit of sleep is the electrical activity of single cortical neurons. See Article p.443
- Christopher S. Colwell
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News & Views |
A helping hand against autoimmunity
The TH17 helper cells of the immune system have a dark side: they mediate autoimmune disorders. Two drugs that prevent the differentiation and activity of these cells might be of therapeutic value. See Letters p.486 & p.491
- Anton M. Jetten
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News |
Gut study divides people into three types
Bacterial populations fall into three distinct classes that could help to personalize medicine.
- Nicola Jones
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Article |
Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidylcholine promotes cardiovascular disease
This paper shows that gut flora can influence cardiovascular disease, by metabolizing a dietary phospholipid. Using a metabolomics approach it is found that plasma levels of three metabolites of dietary phosphatidylcholine—choline, betaine and TMAO—are associated with increased risk of cardiovascular disease in humans. The gut flora is known to have a role in TMAO formation from choline, and this paper shows that dietary choline supplementation enhances macrophage foam cell formation and lesion formation in atherosclerosis-prone mice, but not if the gut flora are depleted with antibiotics.
- Zeneng Wang
- , Elizabeth Klipfell
- & Stanley L. Hazen
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News |
Sperm grown in a test tube
Immature mouse testicles yield fully developed sperm in culture.
- Janelle Weaver
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Letter |
Progesterone activates the principal Ca2+ channel of human sperm
Progesterone stimulates an increase in Ca2+ levels in human sperm, but the underlying signalling mechanism is poorly understood. Two studies now show that progesterone activates the sperm-specific, pH-sensitive CatSper calcium channel, leading to a rapid influx of Ca2+ ions into the spermatozoa. These results should help to define the physiological role of progesterone and CatSper in sperm, and could lead to the development of new classes of non-hormonal contraceptives.
- Polina V. Lishko
- , Inna L. Botchkina
- & Yuriy Kirichok
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News |
Do gut bacteria worsen malnourishment?
Human microbiota could be behind why deficient diets leave only some children seriously ill.
- Nicola Jones
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Research Highlights |
Tagging the TB bacterium
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Research Highlights |
A changing eye on the world
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Article |
Network anatomy and in vivo physiology of visual cortical neurons
To date, various aspects of connectivity have been inferred from electron microscopy (EM) of synaptic contacts, light microscopy of axonal and dendritic arbors, and correlations in activity. However, until now it has not been possible to relate the complex structural wiring between neurons to the function of individual cells. Using a combination of functional imaging and three-dimensional serial EM reconstruction at unprecedented scale, two papers now describe the connectivity of single cells in the mouse visual system. This study investigates the connectivity of inhibitory interneurons in primary visual cortex.
- Davi D. Bock
- , Wei-Chung Allen Lee
- & R. Clay Reid
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Letter |
A tension-induced mechanotransduction pathway promotes epithelial morphogenesis
This study describes a mechanotransduction pathway that links the body wall with the epidermis in Caenorhabditis elegans. The pathway involves the p21 activated kinase PAK 1, an adaptor GIT 1 and its partner PIX 1. Tension exerted by muscles or external pressure keeps GIT 1 on station at hemidesmosomes — the small rivet like bodies that attach epidermal cells to the underlying musculature — and stimulates PAK 1 through PIX 1 and Rac GTPase. The C. elegans hemidesmosome is more than a passive attachment structure, therefore, but a sensor that responds to tension by triggering signalling processes.
- Huimin Zhang
- , Frédéric Landmann
- & Michel Labouesse
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News |
Of femurs and fertility
Mouse studies suggest bone hormone affects male fertility.
- Tiffany O'Callaghan
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Books & Arts |
Psychology: More alike than different
Two books debunk gender differences in the brain, discovers Virginia Valian.
- Virginia Valian
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News |
Brain implants have long-lasting effect on depression
Technique can alleviate symptoms for six years.
- Alison Abbott
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News |
Antipsychotic drugs could shrink patients' brains
Experts say findings should not dramatically change current prescription practices.
- David Cyranoski
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News |
Fly brain structure illuminated
Multicoloured imaging techniques highlight neural networks in fruitflies.
- Joseph Milton
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Books & Arts |
Neuroscience: Browsing and the brain
Two books reach opposite verdicts on how the Internet affects us, find Daphne Bavelier and C. Shawn Green
- Daphne Bavelier
- & C. Shawn Green