Catálogo de publicaciones - revistas

<jats:title>Thin, sensitive skin electronics</jats:title> <jats:p> The properties of the human sense of touch, including high sensitivity to differences in temperature, pressure, or surface roughness, are challenging to replicate in robotics because skin materials must be highly conductive, stretchable, and thin. Jung <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . developed a process to assemble nanomaterials as a monolayer that is partially embedded in an ultrathin elastomer. The process works by depositing a mixed solvent containing nanostructured silver and/or gold, along with elastomer, onto deionized water. This results in a layer of nanoparticles residing at the interface coating with elastomer, which is further densified by the addition of surfactant. The process is scalable, and the resulting elastomer membranes can be transferred to other substrates. —MSL </jats:p>

<jats:title>More species in warm waters</jats:title> <jats:p> Past patterns of diversity can be used as a baseline for understanding how current, human-induced changes are affecting biodiversity. Womack <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . looked at mollusk fossils from 40 million years ago in New Zealand to determine how ocean temperatures influence species richness and functional redundancy, a measure of how many species fill similar ecological roles. Both richness and redundancy increased in periods with warmer water, meaning that there were more species and that those species often filled similar ecological roles. Such ecological redundancy can increase ecosystem resilience, and understanding its relationship with temperature can help us see where human activities are driving change. —SNV </jats:p>

<jats:title>Gauging the spectrum of human mutations</jats:title> <jats:p> It has become increasing clear that mutation affects phenotypic variation and disease risk across humans. However, there are many different types of mutation. Seplyarskiy <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . applied a matrix factorization method to large human genomic datasets to identify germline mutational processes in an unsupervised manner. From this survey, nine robust mutational components were identified and specific mechanisms generating seven of these processes are proposed from correlations with genomic features. These results confirm and improve upon our understanding of mutational processes and reveal likely mechanisms of mutation in the human genome. —LMZ </jats:p>

<jats:title>Cooling threshold</jats:title> <jats:p> The end of each interglacial period over the past 800,000 years was characterized by large, abrupt cooling episodes that were distinct from the gradual decrease in insolation that was occurring. Why did these sudden coolings occur? Yin <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . used a suite of climate models to show that an insolation threshold exists, beneath which the slow decrease of energy from the sun leads to rapid climate cooling. This effect results from weakening of the Atlantic meridional overturning circulation involving sea ice feedbacks in the Nordic and Labrador Seas. —HJS </jats:p>

<jats:title>SagA promotes immunotherapy response</jats:title> <jats:p> The gut microbiome can influence the treatment outcome for cancer patients receiving PD-L1 immunotherapy, but the mechanisms underlying favorable responses are unclear. Griffin <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . found that a particular type of bacteria called enterococci enhance anti–PD-L1 immunotherapy in mice (see the Perspective by Ansaldo and Belkaid). The researchers show that enterococci secrete an enzyme called SagA that breaks down components of the bacterial cell wall. This process results in the release of muramyl peptide fragments, which in turn act as stimulatory molecules to promote signaling of the innate immune sensor protein NOD2 and improved immunotherapy responses. —PNK </jats:p>

<jats:title>Machine learning solves RNA puzzles</jats:title> <jats:p> RNA molecules fold into complex three-dimensional shapes that are difficult to determine experimentally or predict computationally. Understanding these structures may aid in the discovery of drugs for currently untreatable diseases. Townshend <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . introduced a machine-learning method that significantly improves prediction of RNA structures (see the Perspective by Weeks). Most other recent advances in deep learning have required a tremendous amount of data for training. The fact that this method succeeds given very little training data suggests that related methods could address unsolved problems in many fields where data are scarce. —DJ </jats:p>

<jats:title>Chromatin state and oncogenic competence</jats:title> <jats:p> Although specific DNA mutations can lead to tumor generation, they are not transforming in all cellular contexts. This may be due to the intrinsic transcriptional program present in the cell of origin. Using zebrafish and human pluripotent stem cell cancer models, Baggiolini <jats:italic>et al</jats:italic> . report that neural crest cells and melanoblasts (precursors to melanocytes) are susceptible to specific mutation of the <jats:italic>BRAF</jats:italic> gene, whereas melanocytes are relatively resistant (see the Perspective by Vredevoogd and Peeper). The competent cells display higher levels of chromatin factors such as the protein ATAD2 compared with the less competent ones. ATAD2 forms a complex with the neural crest transcription factor SOX10 and establishes a chromatin state that makes them permissive to BRAF mutagenesis. These data indicate that developmental chromatin programs are a determinant of how cells respond to DNA mutations. —BAP </jats:p>