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Analysis of an invasive brain cancer reveals that networks of tumour cells are linked to small groups of ‘pacemaker’ cells in which levels of calcium ions pulse periodically, driving a signal through the network that causes tumour growth.
Anatomical, cellular and molecular immune interactions at the borders of the central nervous system control homeostatic brain function and can lead to neurological or psychiatric diseases, representing potential therapeutic targets.
In the neocortex of the brain, excitatory neuronal cells that arise from the same progenitor cell express patterned combinations of clustered protocadherin proteins (cPCDHs). The pattern of cPCDHs expressed by a neuron regulates its spatial positioning and its connections with other neurons.
Ancient environmental DNA from northern Greenland opens a new chapter in genetic research, demonstrating that it is possible to track the ecology and evolution of biological communities two million years ago. The record shows an open boreal-forest ecosystem inhabited by large animals such as mastodons and reindeer.
Supplies of the crucial molecules ATP and NADPH are lacking in many human diseases, but restoring them requires tight control. Using light-powered thylakoid structures from plants to carefully deliver these molecules to the joints of arthritic mice slowed degeneration.
Modelling reveals that the carbon emissions associated with plastics could be negative by 2100 under a strict set of technological and socio-economic conditions — including increased recycling and plant-derived production.
Organisms use various strategies for sex determination. The non-genetic mechanism in the malaria-causing parasite Plasmodium falciparum, involving a male-specific factor, has now been revealed.
Long bursts of γ-rays usually signal the death of massive stars, but an emission detected last year suggests that a long burst with peculiar properties originated from the merger of stars in a compact binary system.
An exercise in benchmarking a quantum computer reveals that the processor can go beyond the ‘integrability’ limit, at which dynamical systems no longer have explicit solutions, and standard mathematical techniques struggle.
In an enormous study of almost 3.4 million individuals from 4 ancestries, variants of more than 2,000 genomic regions were found to be associated with tobacco smoking and alcohol use. Genetic variants that contribute to these behaviours have been identified, and the accuracy of genetic risk scores compared in diverse populations.
In mature tropical forests, trees that can capture nitrogen experience high levels of herbivory. This could explain the low abundance of such trees, and demonstrates that herbivores can limit nitrogen availability on land.
A widely used drug called UDCA reduces SARS-CoV-2 infection in human organoid structures, animals and human organs maintained outside the body. Individuals using UDCA for liver conditions are less likely to develop severe COVID-19 than are people who did not use it. UDCA treatment could help to protect people with suppressed immune systems and offer protectionagainst vaccine-resistant variants.
Parental-care behaviours include mammalian lactation to provide milk for offspring. The discovery that adult ants harvest nutritious fluid from pupae and give larvae this fluid reveals social feeding that aids colony success.
Seasonal variation in tropical sea surface temperatures doubled during an abrupt warming event 11,700 years ago. This shows that seasonal changes must be considered when inferring past climatic events, and predicting those to come.
Abnormal protein aggregates are a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease. It emerges that these plaques cause swellings in neuronal projections called axons that prevent proper circuit function.
The response of cumulus clouds in trade-wind regions to warming is a large uncertainty in climate projections. Observations now indicate that the mechanism leading to the strongest cloud reductions in models does not occur in nature, suggesting that extreme sensitivity of Earth’s temperatures to climate change is less likely than previously thought.
A 67-million-year-old fossil bird found in Europe provides evidence suggesting that scientists should reconsider centuries-old ideas about the nature of the ancestral avian beak.
The neurotransmitter dopamine has been shown to serve as a signal for learning in the fly’s navigation centre. The rate at which the fly learns depends on turning, so only useful visual information is used to update the fly’s mental map.
