Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 121, Number 19
This Week in PNAS
Opinion
QnAs
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Retrospective
Commentaries
Perspective
Increasing the speed of scientific progress is urgently needed to address the many
challenges associated with the biosphere in the Anthropocene. Consequently, the critical
question becomes: How can science most rapidly progress to address large, complex
...
Letters
View the original article:
Tailoring chemical bonds to design unconventional glasses
This article has a reply:Reply to Lee and Elliott: Changes of bonding upon crystallization in phase change materials
View the original article:
Strengthening the argument for a large Greater India
This article has a reply:Brief Report
How accurate are Americans’ perceptions of the material benefits associated with union
membership, and do these perceptions influence their support for, and interest in
joining, unions? We explore these questions in a preregistered, survey experiment
...
Physical Sciences
Applied Mathematics
Evolution equations with convolution-type integral operators have a history of study,
yet a gap exists in the literature regarding the link between certain convolution
kernels and new models, including delayed and fractional differential equations. We
...
Applied Physical Sciences
Accurate prediction of the efficacy of immunotherapy for cancer patients through the
characterization of both genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity in individual patient
cells holds great promise in informing targeted treatments, and ultimately in ...
Certain fox species plunge-dive into snow to catch prey (e.g., rodents), a hunting
mechanism called mousing. Red and arctic foxes can dive into snow at speeds ranging
between 2 and 4 m/s. Such mousing behavior is facilitated by a slim, narrow facial
...
Odd viscosity couples stress to strain rate in a dissipationless way. It has been
studied in plasmas under magnetic fields, superfluid , quantum-Hall fluids, and recently in the context of chiral active matter. In most
of these studies, odd terms in the ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Macromolecular complexes are often composed of diverse subunits. The self-assembly
of these subunits is inherently nonequilibrium and must avoid kinetic traps to achieve
high yield over feasible timescales. We show how the kinetics of self-assembly ...
The loading of processed peptides on to major histocompatibility complex II (MHC-II)
molecules for recognition by T cells is vital to cell-mediated adaptive immunity.
As part of this process, MHC-II associates with the invariant chain (Ii) during ...
Proteins that are kinetically stable are thought to be less prone to both aggregation
and proteolysis. We demonstrate that the classical lac system of Escherichia coli can be leveraged as a model system to study this relation. β-galactosidase (LacZ)
plays ...
How breathing is generated by the preBötzinger complex (preBötC) remains divided between
two ideological frameworks, and a persistent sodium current (INaP) lies at the heart of this debate. Although INaP is widely expressed, the pacemaker hypothesis ...
Chemistry
Tertiary chirality describes the handedness of supramolecular assemblies and relies
not only on the primary and secondary structures of the building blocks but also on
topological driving forces that have been sparsely characterized. Helical biopolymers,
...
Water oxidation on magnetic catalysts has generated significant interest due to the
spin-polarization effect. Recent studies have revealed that the disappearance of magnetic
domain wall upon magnetization is responsible for the observed oxygen evolution ...
Amine modification through nucleophilic attack of the amine functionality is a very
common chemical transformation. Under biorelevant conditions using acidic-to-neutral
pH buffer, however, the nucleophilic reaction of alkyl amines (pKa ≈ 10) is not facile
...
Earlier sum frequency generation (SFG) experiments involve one infrared and one visible
laser, and a measurement of the intensity of the response, yielding data on the surface
sensitive properties of the sample. Recently, both the real and imaginary ...
EPH receptors (EPHs), the largest family of tyrosine kinases, phosphorylate downstream
substrates upon binding of ephrin cell surface–associated ligands. In a large cohort
of endometriotic lesions from individuals with endometriosis, we found that EPHA2 ...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Reconstructing the absolute chronology of Jerusalem during the time it served as the
Judahite Kingdom’s capital is challenging due to its dense, still inhabited urban
nature and the plateau shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve during part of this
...
Subtropical oceans contribute significantly to global primary production, but the
fate of the picophytoplankton that dominate in these low-nutrient regions is poorly
understood. Working in the subtropical Mediterranean, we demonstrate that subduction
of ...
Engineering
Myokines and exosomes, originating from skeletal muscle, are shown to play a significant
role in maintaining brain homeostasis. While exercise has been reported to promote
muscle secretion, little is known about the effects of neuronal innervation and ...
Statistics
We introduce an approach which allows detecting causal relationships between variables
for which the time evolution is available. Causality is assessed by a variational
scheme based on the Information Imbalance of distance ranks, a statistical test ...
Social Sciences
Anthropology
Reconstructing the absolute chronology of Jerusalem during the time it served as the
Judahite Kingdom’s capital is challenging due to its dense, still inhabited urban
nature and the plateau shape of the radiocarbon calibration curve during part of this
...
Political Sciences
Amid the discourse on foreign influence investigations in research, this study examines
the impact of NIH-initiated investigations starting in 2018 on U.S. scientists’ productivity,
focusing on those collaborating with Chinese peers. Using publication ...
Recent work finds that nonviolent resistance by ethnic minorities is perceived as
more violent and requiring more policing than identical resistance by ethnic majorities,
reducing its impact and effectiveness. We ask whether allies—advantaged group ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Childhood maltreatment has been linked to adult somatic symptoms, although this has
rarely been examined in daily life. Furthermore, the localization of somatization
associated with childhood maltreatment and its subtypes is unknown. This large-scale
...
Social Sciences
Previous models suggest that indirect reciprocity (reputation) can stabilize large-scale
human cooperation [K. Panchanathan, R. Boyd, Nature 432, 499–502 (2004)]. The logic behind these models and experiments [J. Gross et al., Sci. Adv. 9, eadd8289 (2023) ...
Biological Sciences
Agricultural Sciences
Phytophagous insects have evolved sophisticated detoxification systems to overcome
the antiherbivore chemical defenses produced by many plants. However, how these biotransformation
systems differ in generalist and specialist insect species and their role ...
Applied Biological Sciences
Genetic elements are foundational in synthetic biology serving as vital building blocks.
They enable programming host cells for efficient production of valuable chemicals
and recombinant proteins. The unfolded protein response (UPR) is a stress pathway
in ...
Molecular chaperones assist in protein refolding by selectively binding to proteins
in their nonnative states. Despite progress in creating artificial chaperones, these
designs often have a limited range of substrates they can work with. In this paper,
we ...
Biochemistry
Directing antibodies to a particular epitope among many possible on a target protein
is a significant challenge. Here, we present a simple and general method for epitope-directed
selection (EDS) using a differential phage selection strategy. This involves ...
Toll-like receptors (TLRs) are crucial components of the innate immune system. Endosomal
TLR7 recognizes single-stranded RNAs, yet its endogenous ssRNA ligands are not fully
understood. We previously showed that extracellular (ex-) 5′-half molecules of ...
Alternative lengthening of telomeres (ALT) is a telomere maintenance mechanism mediated
by break-induced replication, evident in approximately 15% of human cancers. A characteristic
feature of ALT cancers is the presence of C-circles, circular single-...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Evolution equations with convolution-type integral operators have a history of study,
yet a gap exists in the literature regarding the link between certain convolution
kernels and new models, including delayed and fractional differential equations. We
...
Macromolecular complexes are often composed of diverse subunits. The self-assembly
of these subunits is inherently nonequilibrium and must avoid kinetic traps to achieve
high yield over feasible timescales. We show how the kinetics of self-assembly ...
The muscle-type nicotinic acetylcholine receptor is a transmitter-gated ion channel
residing in the plasma membrane of electrocytes and striated muscle cells. It is present
predominantly at synaptic junctions, where it effects rapid depolarization of the
...
Determining the pathogenicity of hypertrophic cardiomyopathy–associated mutations
in the β-myosin heavy chain (MYH7) can be challenging due to its variable penetrance and clinical severity. This study
investigates the early pathogenic effects of the ...
Cell Biology
β-catenin has influential roles affecting embryonic development, tissue homeostasis,
and human diseases including cancer. Cellular β-catenin levels are exquisitely controlled
by a variety of regulatory mechanisms. In the course of exploring the functions ...
Successful CRISPR/Cas9-based gene editing in skeletal muscle is dependent on efficient
propagation of Cas9 to all myonuclei in the myofiber. However, nuclear-targeted gene
therapy cargos are strongly restricted to their myonuclear domain of origin. By ...
Fluorescence labeling of chemically fixed specimens, especially immunolabeling, plays
a vital role in super-resolution imaging as it offers a convenient way to visualize
cellular structures like mitochondria or the distribution of biomolecules with high
...
Cells must replicate their genome quickly and accurately, and they require metabolites
and cofactors to do so. Ionic zinc (Zn2+) is an essential micronutrient that is required for hundreds of cellular processes,
including DNA synthesis and adequate ...
Ovarian cancer is an aggressive gynecological tumor characterized by a high relapse
rate and chemoresistance. Ovarian cancer exhibits the cancer hallmark of elevated
glycolysis, yet effective strategies targeting cancer cell metabolic reprogramming
to ...
Proteins carrying a signal peptide and/or a transmembrane domain enter the intracellular
secretory pathway at the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and are transported to the Golgi
apparatus via COPII vesicles or tubules. SAR1 initiates COPII coat assembly by ...
Developmental Biology
Neural crest cells exemplify cellular diversification from a multipotent progenitor
population. However, the full sequence of early molecular choices orchestrating the
emergence of neural crest heterogeneity from the embryonic ectoderm remains elusive.
...
In the meiotic prophase, programmed DNA double-strand breaks are repaired by meiotic
recombination. Recombination-defective meiocytes are eliminated to preserve genome
integrity in gametes. BRCA1 is a critical protein in somatic homologous recombination,
...
Ecology
Subtropical oceans contribute significantly to global primary production, but the
fate of the picophytoplankton that dominate in these low-nutrient regions is poorly
understood. Working in the subtropical Mediterranean, we demonstrate that subduction
of ...
The pace and scale of environmental change represent major challenges to many organisms.
Animals that move long distances, such as migratory birds, are especially vulnerable
to change since they need chains of intact habitat along their migratory routes. ...
View related content:
Stopover strategies drive potential adaptability under changing environments
Evolution
Previous models suggest that indirect reciprocity (reputation) can stabilize large-scale
human cooperation [K. Panchanathan, R. Boyd, Nature 432, 499–502 (2004)]. The logic behind these models and experiments [J. Gross et al., Sci. Adv. 9, eadd8289 (2023) ...
Measuring inbreeding and its consequences on fitness is central for many areas in
biology including human genetics and the conservation of endangered species. However,
there is no consensus on the best method, neither for quantification of inbreeding
...
Genetics
Gene expression varies between individuals and corresponds to a key step linking genotypes
to phenotypes. However, our knowledge regarding the species-wide genetic control of
protein abundance, including its dependency on transcript levels, is very ...
Immunology and Inflammation
The loading of processed peptides on to major histocompatibility complex II (MHC-II)
molecules for recognition by T cells is vital to cell-mediated adaptive immunity.
As part of this process, MHC-II associates with the invariant chain (Ii) during ...
The IL-17 pathway displays remarkably diverse functional modes between different subphyla,
classes, and even orders, yet its driving factors remains elusive. Here, we demonstrate
that the IL-17 pathway originated through domain shuffling between a Toll-...
Eosinophil recruitment is a pathological hallmark of many allergic and helminthic
diseases. Here, we investigated chemokine receptor CCR3-induced eosinophil recruitment
in sialyltransferase St3gal4−/− mice. We found a marked decrease in eosinophil ...
Interleukin 22 (IL-22) promotes intestinal barrier integrity, stimulating epithelial
cells to enact defense mechanisms against enteric infections, including the production
of antimicrobial peptides. IL-22 binding protein (IL-22BP) is a soluble decoy ...
Medical Sciences
Accurate prediction of the efficacy of immunotherapy for cancer patients through the
characterization of both genetic and phenotypic heterogeneity in individual patient
cells holds great promise in informing targeted treatments, and ultimately in ...
United States (US) Special Operations Forces (SOF) are frequently exposed to explosive
blasts in training and combat, but the effects of repeated blast exposure (RBE) on
SOF brain health are incompletely understood. Furthermore, there is no diagnostic
...
Peptides presented by HLA-E, a molecule with very limited polymorphism, represent
attractive targets for T cell receptor (TCR)-based immunotherapies to circumvent the
limitations imposed by the high polymorphism of classical HLA genes in the human ...
Hydrogels derived from decellularized extracellular matrices (ECM) of animal origin
show immense potential for regenerative applications due to their excellent cytocompatibility
and biomimetic properties. Despite these benefits, the impact of ...
Microbiology
Proteins that are kinetically stable are thought to be less prone to both aggregation
and proteolysis. We demonstrate that the classical lac system of Escherichia coli can be leveraged as a model system to study this relation. β-galactosidase (LacZ)
plays ...
HIV latency regulation in monocytes and macrophages can vary according to signals
directing differentiation, polarization, and function. To investigate these processes,
we generated an HIV latency model in THP-1 monocytes and showed differential levels
of ...
Several microbial genomes lack textbook-defined essential genes. If an essential gene
is absent from a genome, then an evolutionarily independent gene of unknown function
complements its function. Here, we identified frequent nonhomologous replacement of
...
During their blood-feeding process, ticks are known to transmit various viruses to
vertebrates, including humans. Recent viral metagenomic analyses using next-generation
sequencing (NGS) have revealed that blood-feeding arthropods like ticks harbor a ...
Targeting proteins to specific subcellular destinations is essential in prokaryotes,
eukaryotes, and the viruses that infect them. Chimalliviridae phages encapsulate their
genomes in a nucleus-like replication compartment composed of the protein chimallin
...
Neurotropic alphaherpesviruses, including herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), recruit
microtubule motor proteins to invade cells. The incoming viral particle traffics to
nuclei in a two-step process. First, the particle uses the dynein–dynactin motor to
...
Neuroscience
How breathing is generated by the preBötzinger complex (preBötC) remains divided between
two ideological frameworks, and a persistent sodium current (INaP) lies at the heart of this debate. Although INaP is widely expressed, the pacemaker hypothesis ...
Tourette disorder (TD) is poorly understood, despite affecting 1/160 children. A lack
of animal models possessing construct, face, and predictive validity hinders progress
in the field. We used CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing to generate mice with mutations ...
Type 1 voltage-activated calcium channels (CaV1) in the plasma membrane trigger calcium
release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum (SR) by two mechanisms. In voltage-induced
calcium release (VICR), CaV1 voltage sensing domains are directly coupled to ...
Pharmacology
Snakebite envenoming is a neglected tropical disease that causes substantial mortality
and morbidity globally. The venom of African spitting cobras often causes permanent
injury via tissue-destructive dermonecrosis at the bite site, which is ineffectively
...
Physiology
EPH receptors (EPHs), the largest family of tyrosine kinases, phosphorylate downstream
substrates upon binding of ephrin cell surface–associated ligands. In a large cohort
of endometriotic lesions from individuals with endometriosis, we found that EPHA2 ...
Conventionally, women are perceived to feel colder than men, but controlled comparisons
are sparse. We measured the response of healthy, lean, young women and men to a range
of ambient temperatures typical of the daily environment (17 to 31 °C). The ...
Growth is a function of the net accrual of resources by an organism. Energy and elemental
contents of organisms are dynamically linked through their uptake and allocation to
biomass production, yet we lack a full understanding of how these dynamics ...
Plant Biology
DELLA proteins recruit the Mediator complex subunit MED15 to coactivate transcription in land plants
DELLA proteins are negative regulators of the gibberellin response pathway in angiosperms,
acting as central hubs that interact with hundreds of transcription factors (TFs)
and regulators to modulate their activities. While the mechanism of TF ...
Strigolactones are a class of phytohormones with various functions in plant development,
stress responses, and in the interaction with (micro)organisms in the rhizosphere.
While their effects on vegetative development are well studied, little is known ...
Correction
Cover image: Pictured is a red fox (Vulpes vulpes) diving headfirst into snow to catch prey in a hunting technique called mousing. Jisoo Yuk et al. analyzed fox skull morphology and modeled the impact dynamics involved in mousing. Dropping 3D-printed fox skulls into fresh snow in the lab demonstrated that the sharp, elongated snouts of foxes minimized impact force and potential tissue damage during mousing. The results could provide insight into interactions between animals and the surface of snow, including falls by humans during skiing and snowboarding. See the article by Yuk et al. e2321179121. Image credit: Deby Dixon.
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