Health sciences articles within Nature Communications

Featured

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Malaria can persist at levels that escape detection by standard microscopy, but can be detected by PCR. Okell et al.now show that rates of submicroscopic infection can be predicted using more widely available microscopy data, and are most epidemiologically significant in areas with low malaria transmission.

    • Lucy C. Okell
    • , Teun Bousema
    •  & Chris J. Drakeley

  • Article |

    Polycystic kidney disease family proteins form heteromeric complexes with transient receptor potential channel subunits of the TRPP subfamily. Yu and colleagues find that the polycystic kidney disease protein, PKD1L3, is an ion channel pore-forming subunit in the acid-sensing PKD1L3/TRPP3 complex.

    • Yong Yu
    • , Maximilian H. Ulbrich
    •  & Jian Yang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Multiple sclerosis is characterized by the activation of microglia cells. Davalos et al. investigate the early stages of neuroinflammation in mice and reveal that the plasma protein fibrinogen induces microglial clustering around the brain vasculature, which facilitates lesion formation and focal axonal damage.

    • Dimitrios Davalos
    • , Jae Kyu Ryu
    •  & Katerina Akassoglou

  • Article |

    Humans tend to adopt one of a limited number of different bacterial community structures in the gut, known as enterotypes. Moeller et al.now show that these microbial fingerprints are conserved in chimpanzees, and that individuals can switch between enterotypes over periods of several years.

    • Andrew H. Moeller
    • , Patrick H. Degnan
    •  & Howard Ochman

  • Article |

    Multifunctional S100 proteins are upregulated in brain injury, but their role in neurodegeneration is not clear. Dmytriyeva and colleagues study in vivomodels of brain trauma and find that the S100A4 protein and its peptide mimetics protect neurons via the interleukin-10 receptor and the Janus kinase (JAK)/STAT pathway.

    • Oksana Dmytriyeva
    • , Stanislava Pankratova
    •  & Darya Kiryushko

  • Article |

    The temporal opening and closing of cell–cell junctions at the blood–testis barrier allows the passage of immature germ cells during spermatogenesis. Su and colleagues identify a peptide fragment of the laminin-γ3 chain that disrupts the blood–testis barrier and reversibly impairs spermatogenesis in rats.

    • Linlin Su
    • , Dolores D. Mruk
    •  & C. Yan Cheng

  • Article |

    The ras family of oncogenes consists of H-ras, K-ras and N-ras, and usually only one of these genes is mutated in a given tumour type. In this study, K-ras is found to promote the activation of wild-type H-ras and N-ras in a manner dependent on the Ras guanine nucleotide exchange factor Son of sevenless.

    • Hao-Hsuan Jeng
    • , Laura J Taylor
    •  & Dafna Bar-Sagi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Prion proteins are implicated in a range of neurodegenerative diseases, which are, in part, due to a disruption of metal homeostasis. Wattet al.use selective antagonists to show that prion proteins mediate zinc uptake by interacting with GluA2-lacking, GluA1-containing AMPA receptors.

    • Nicole T. Watt
    • , David R. Taylor
    •  & Nigel M. Hooper

  • Article |

    Mice lacking the anti-inflammatory cytokine IL-10 can develop colitis, which depends on inappropriate responses to commensal bacteria. Hoshiet al. now show that these responses are driven by colonic mononuclear phagocytes, providing insight to the initiating events, which may underlie inflammatory bowel disease.

    • Namiko Hoshi
    • , Dominik Schenten
    •  & Ruslan Medzhitov

  • Article |

    One of the five IL-17 receptors, IL-17RD lacks a motif thought to be required for downstream signalling. Melletet al. show that IL-17RD tunes IL-17A-dependent signalling; in its absence, MAPK signalling and neutrophil recruitment are impaired, but NF-κB activation is enhanced.

    • Mark Mellett
    • , Paola Atzei
    •  & Paul N. Moynagh

  • Article |

    Vascular calcification is commonly associated with advanced stages of atherosclerosis. Woldtet al. show that the nuclear hormone receptor PPARγ in vascular smooth muscle cells protects mice from vascular calcification by inhibiting Wnt5a signalling triggered by activation of the cell-surface receptor LRP1.

    • Estelle Woldt
    • , Jérome Terrand
    •  & Philippe Boucher

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fragile X syndrome is a major genetic cause of autism and is caused by loss of the fragile X mental retardation protein. In a mouse model of fragile X syndrome, Junget al. show that an absence of neuronal endocannabinoid signalling is responsible for the neurophysiological and behavioural defects.

    • Kwang-Mook Jung
    • , Marja Sepers
    •  & Olivier J. Manzoni

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Heart failure is often a consequence of pathological growth of cardiomyocytes or cardiac hypertrophy. Here Ucar and colleagues report that the microRNAs miR-132 and miR-212 promote cardiac hypertrophy and inhibit autophagy in cardiomyocytes by downregulating the transcription factor FoxO3.

    • Ahmet Ucar
    • , Shashi K. Gupta
    •  & Thomas Thum

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Environmental factors can influence one's susceptibility to cancer, but it is not clear whether such an influence extends beyond the directly exposed generations. Here, feeding pregnant rats with a high-fat diet or a hormone derivative, the authors observe increased breast cancer risk in up to three subsequent generations.

    • Sonia de Assis
    • , Anni Warri
    •  & Leena Hilakivi-Clarke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seizure activity in the brain is characterized by the recruitment of cortical neuronal activity. Schevon and colleagues study seizure activity in human subjects and find that the recruitment of neurons is hypersynchronous and that there is an intrinsic restraint on the propagation of this activity.

    • Catherine A. Schevon
    • , Shennan A. Weiss
    •  & Andrew J. Trevelyan

  • Article |

    TGF-β signalling suppresses tumorigenesis in breast cancer cells but its effects on breast cancer initiating cells have not been reported. Using cells in culture, Brunaet al. show that TGF-β increases breast cancer initiating cell numbers in cells that have low levels of the tight junction protein claudin.

    • Alejandra Bruna
    • , Wendy Greenwood
    •  & Carlos Caldas

  • Article |

    The amyloid beta peptide can aggregate into insoluble plaques, which may indicate the onset of Alzheimer's disease. In a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease, Cao and colleagues report a phenotype of altered connectivity in the olfactory neuronal circuit that precedes amyloid plaque deposition.

    • Luxiang Cao
    • , Benjamin R. Schrank
    •  & Mark W. Albers

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The kinase PINK1 is mutated in Parkinson's disease and accumulates in defective mitochondria, where it recruits Parkin. Here, PINK1 is shown to be autophosphorylated and this is required for the localization of PINK1 to mitochondria with a reduced membrane potential, and for the recruitment of Parkin.

    • Kei Okatsu
    • , Toshihiko Oka
    •  & Noriyuki Matsuda

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Monarch Butterflies (Danaus plexippus) use their antennae for orientation during their autumnal migration. Guerra and colleagues differentially disrupt clock gene expression in each antenna and find that the individual outputs are integrated and processed to allow precise control of orientation behaviour.

    • Patrick A. Guerra
    • , Christine Merlin
    •  & Steven M. Reppert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In mammalian cells, ABC transporter proteins were thought to exclusively export a range of substrates out of cells. Quazi and colleagues show that, in retinal photoreceptor cells, ABCA4 is acting as an importer of phospholipids and that mutations known to cause Stargardt disease decrease its activity.

    • Faraz Quazi
    • , Stepan Lenevich
    •  & Robert S. Molday

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Seasonal malaria chemoprevention can lower the incidence of malaria in areas where transmission is highly periodical. Combining data on rainfall, population and malaria endemicity, Cairnset al. identify geographical areas in sub-Saharan Africa where this intervention is likely to be effective and cost-effective.

    • Matthew Cairns
    • , Arantxa Roca-Feltrer
    •  & Brian M. Greenwood

  • Article |

    De-differentiation and proliferation of vascular smooth muscle cells is thought to have a dominant role in vascular remodelling. Here, Tanget al. identify a new type of multipotent vascular stem cell in the blood vessel wall that contributes to this process, thereby challenging the established hypothesis.

    • Zhenyu Tang
    • , Aijun Wang
    •  & Song Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Exposure to ultraviolet light is responsible for a large proportion of melanomas but the molecular mechanisms are unknown. In this study, melanoma is found to be induced in mice by UVA and UVB light in a pigment-dependent and -independent manner, respectively, resulting in different types of DNA damage.

    • Frances P. Noonan
    • , M. Raza Zaidi
    •  & Edward C. De Fabo

  • Article |

    Inositol polyphosphate 4 phosphatase regulates phosphoinositide signalling and is associated with an increased risk of asthma. Aichet al. show that, in a mouse model of airway inflammation, calpains degrade inositol polyphosphate 4 phosphatase resulting in exacerbated phosphoinositide 3-kinase signalling.

    • Jyotirmoi Aich
    • , Ulaganathan Mabalirajan
    •  & Balaram Ghosh

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Claudin-5 is a component of tight junctions and has important roles in mediating the permeability of the blood-brain barrier. Campbell and co-workers administer short interfering RNA against claudin-5 in a model of brain injury, finding that it enhances water movement from the brain to the blood and alleviates swelling.

    • Matthew Campbell
    • , Finnian Hanrahan
    •  & Peter Humphries

  • Article |

    Epigenetic and genetic factors have a role in obesity but the role of epigenetics in this disease is unclear. Here, Liet al. investigated global DNA methylation patterns in three breeds of pigs that have different fat contents, providing a resource for the further analysis of differentially methylated gene promoters in obesity.

    • Mingzhou Li
    • , Honglong Wu
    •  & Ruiqiang Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The incidence of bovine tuberculosis in the UK is increasing despite efforts to eradicate the disease. The authors of this paper show that infection of cattle with the parasiteFasciola hepaticaimpedes the diagnosis of tuberculosis, which may in part explain why the current eradication campaign is failing.

    • Jen Claridge
    • , Peter Diggle
    •  & Diana J.L. Williams

  • Article |

    The detection of subclonal variants in heterogeneous cancer specimens is a challenge due to errors that occur during sequencing. In this study, a statistical algorithm and a sequencing strategy are reported that circumvent this issue and can accurately detect variants at a frequency as low as 1/10,000.

    • Moritz Gerstung
    • , Christian Beisel
    •  & Niko Beerenwinkel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The large virus family,Paramyxoviridae, includes several human and livestock viruses. This study, testing 119 bat and rodent species distributed globally, identifies novel putative paramyxovirus species, providing data with potential uses in predictions of the emergence of novel paramyxoviruses in humans and livestock.

    • Jan Felix Drexler
    • , Victor Max Corman
    •  & Christian Drosten

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Radiotherapy is used to treat many cancers but radiation-resistant cells can result in recurrence of the tumour. Here, Harada and colleagues develop a method to track cells that persist after radiation treatment and show that the cells acquire transcriptional activity of HIF-1 and move towards blood vessels.

    • Hiroshi Harada
    • , Masahiro Inoue
    •  & Masahiro Hiraoka

  • Article |

    Fanconi's anaemia is characterized by an inability to repair DNA damage and is associated with mutations in the Fanconi anaemia nuclear complex, which includes the protein FANCM. This study reports the crystal structures of a fragment of FANCM bound to the histone-fold-containing protein complex, MHF1–MHF2.

    • Yuyong Tao
    • , Changjiang Jin
    •  & Maikun Teng

  • Article |

    Lamivudine treatment of hepatitis B is associated with drug-resistance mutations in the virus’ DNA polymerase. In this study, 11 patients with drug resistance are investigated and the primary mutation in the DNA polymerase shown to be essential but not sufficient for establishing drug resistance.

    • Hong Thai
    • , David S. Campo
    •  & Yury Khudyakov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Lung injury initiates a series of wound-healing responses, which if unregulated, can lead to fibrosis. Liet al. show that the deubquitinase CYLD has a key role in the prevention of fibrosis by inhibiting transforming growth factor β-signalling through the direct deubiquitination of the protein kinase Akt.

    • Jae Hyang Lim
    • , Hirofumi Jono
    •  & Jian-Dong Li

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The amyloid-β-peptide is pivotal to the pathology of Alzheimer's disease, but its mechanism of action remains uncertain. This study utilizesin vivotwo-photon calcium imaging to investigate the effects of this peptide on single cortical neurons of the visual cortex in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease.

    • Christine Grienberger
    • , Nathalie L. Rochefort
    •  & Arthur Konnerth

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Hyperuricemia, or gout, is thought to arise either from urate overproduction or from decreased renal excretion of urate. Ichidaet al. show that the extra-renal excretion of urate also has a role in the pathogenesis of hyperuricemia, and propose a new classification for patients with this disease.

    • Kimiyoshi Ichida
    • , Hirotaka Matsuo
    •  & Hiroshi Suzuki

Browse narrower subjects

Browse Health sciences across other nature.com journals