Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 121, Number 25
This Week in PNAS
News Feature
Retrospective
Profile
Commentaries
Perspectives
Research has the potential to simultaneously generate new knowledge and contribute
meaningful social–ecological benefits; however, research processes and outcomes can
also perpetuate extractive patterns that have manifested the climate, biodiversity,
and ...
While rhythm can facilitate and enhance many aspects of behavior, its evolutionary
trajectory in vocal communication systems remains enigmatic. We can trace evolutionary
processes by investigating rhythmic abilities in different species, but research to
...
Brief Report
When wires are cut, the tool produces striations on the cut surface; as in other forms
of forensic analysis, these striation marks are used to connect the evidence to the
source that created them. Here, we argue that the practice of comparing two wire cut
...
Physical Sciences
Applied Physical Sciences
Active matter systems, from self-propelled colloids to motile bacteria, are characterized
by the conversion of free energy into useful work at the microscopic scale. They involve
physics beyond the reach of equilibrium statistical mechanics, and a ...
Adiabatic decompression of paraquadrupolar materials has significant potential as
a cryogenic cooling technology. We focus on TmVO, an archetypal material that undergoes a continuous phase transition to a ferroquadrupole-ordered
state at 2.15 K. Above the ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Error correction is central to many biological systems and is critical for protein
function and cell health. During mitosis, error correction is required for the faithful
inheritance of genetic material. When functioning properly, the mitotic spindle ...
Shear forces affect self-assembly processes ranging from crystallization to fiber
formation. Here, the effect of mild agitation on amyloid fibril formation was explored
for four peptides and investigated in detail for A42, which is associated with ...
Hertwig’s rule states that cells divide along their longest axis, usually driven by
forces acting on the mitotic spindle. Here, we show that in contrast to this rule,
microtubule-based pulling forces in early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos align the ...
Chemistry
Nano ferroelectrics holds the potential application promise in information storage,
electro-mechanical transformation, and novel catalysts but encounters a huge challenge
of size limitation and manufacture complexity on the creation of long-range ...
Reduction of carbon dioxide (CO2) by renewable electricity to produce multicarbon chemicals, such as ethylene (C2H4), continues to be a challenge because of insufficient Faradaic efficiency, low production
rates, and complex mechanistic pathways. Here, we ...
The photocatalytic CO2-to-CH4 conversion involves multiple consecutive proton–electron coupling transfer processes.
Achieving high CH4 selectivity with satisfactory conversion efficiency remains challenging since the
inefficient proton and electron ...
Many cancer-driving protein targets remain undruggable due to a lack of binding molecular
scaffolds. In this regard, octahedral metal complexes with unique and versatile three-dimensional
structures have rarely been explored as inhibitors of undruggable ...
Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (19F-MRI) is particularly promising for biomedical applications owing to the absence
of fluorine in most biological systems. However, its use has been limited by the lack
of safe and water-soluble imaging agents with ...
Computer Sciences
How are the merits of innovative ideas communicated in science? Here, we conduct semantic
analyses of grant application success with a focus on scientific promotional language,
which may help to convey an innovative idea’s originality and significance. ...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
Gravity and magnetic field data obtained by the Juno mission show that Jupiter’s strong
zonal winds extend a few thousand kilometers into the interior, but are quenched above
the level where the electrical conductivity becomes significant. Here, we extend ...
At fast-spreading centers, faults develop within the axial summit trough (AST; 0 to
250 m around the axis) primarily by diking-induced deformation originating from the
axial magma lens (AML). The formation of the prominent abyssal-hill-bounding faults
...
Engineering
Despite the tremendous clinical potential of nucleic acid–based vaccines, their efficacy
to induce therapeutic immune response has been limited by the lack of efficient local
gene delivery techniques in the human body. In this study, we develop a hydrogel-...
Environmental Sciences
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, can be generated by multiple biological and abiotic processes
in diverse contexts. Accurately tracking the dominant sources of N2O has the potential to improve our understanding of N2O fluxes from soils as ...
Mathematics
In recent decades, a growing number of discoveries in mathematics have been assisted
by computer algorithms, primarily for exploring large parameter spaces. As computers
become more powerful, an intriguing possibility arises—the interplay between human
...
Physics
We present experimental evidence of a thermoelectric effect at the interface between
two liquid metals. Using superimposed layers of mercury and gallium in a cylindrical
vessel operating at room temperature, we provide a direct measurement of the electric
...
Metallic alloys often form phases—known as solid solutions—in which chemical elements
are spread out on the same crystal lattice in an almost random manner. The tendency
of certain chemical motifs to be more common than others is known as chemical short-...
Social Sciences
Economic Sciences
The WHO recommends mass drug administration (MDA) for intestinal worm infections in
areas with over 20% infection prevalence. Recent Cochrane meta-analyses endorse treatment
of infected individuals but recommend against MDA. We conducted a theory-agnostic
...
Political Sciences
Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPSs) are one of the most prevalent and impactful clean
energy policies implemented by states in the United States. This paper investigates
the regional spillover effect of RPS policies using a directed dyad panel dataset
of ...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
The perception of sensory attributes is often quantified through measurements of sensitivity
(the ability to detect small stimulus changes), as well as through direct judgments
of appearance or intensity. Despite their ubiquity, the relationship between ...
We experience a life that is full of ups and downs. The ability to bounce back after
adverse life events such as the loss of a loved one or serious illness declines with
age, and such isolated events can even trigger accelerated aging. How humans respond
...
From close friends to people on a first date, imagining a shared future appears fundamental
to relationships. Yet, no previous research has conceptualized the act of imagination
as a socially constructed process that affects how connected we feel to ...
Despite an abundance of support for culturally inclusive learning environments, there
is little consensus regarding how to change educational contexts to effectively and
sustainably foster cultural inclusion. To address this gap, we report findings from
a ...
Social Sciences
How are the merits of innovative ideas communicated in science? Here, we conduct semantic
analyses of grant application success with a focus on scientific promotional language,
which may help to convey an innovative idea’s originality and significance. ...
Intergenerational mobility captures the distance between the socioeconomic positions
of parents versus their adult children. Researchers measure this distance in absolute
and relative units, such as absolute dollars and relative ranks. Absolute and ...
Biological Sciences
Biochemistry
Fluorine magnetic resonance imaging (19F-MRI) is particularly promising for biomedical applications owing to the absence
of fluorine in most biological systems. However, its use has been limited by the lack
of safe and water-soluble imaging agents with ...
In secondary active transporters, a relatively limited set of protein folds have evolved
diverse solute transport functions. Because of the conformational changes inherent
to transport, altering substrate specificity typically involves remodeling the ...
Biophysics and Computational Biology
Tuberculosis (TB) is the world’s deadliest infectious disease, with over 1.5 million
deaths and 10 million new cases reported anually. The causative organism Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) can take nearly 40 d to culture, a required step to determine ...
Human Cep57 is a coiled-coil scaffold at the pericentriolar matrix (PCM), controlling
centriole duplication and centrosome maturation for faithful cell division. Genetic
truncation mutations of Cep57 are associated with the mosaic-variegated aneuploidy
(...
Intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs) play a crucial role in various biological
phenomena, dynamically changing their conformations in response to external environmental
cues. To gain a deeper understanding of these proteins, it is essential to ...
The fat mass and obesity-associated fatso (FTO) protein is a member of the Alkb family
of dioxygenases and catalyzes oxidative demethylation of N6-methyladenosine (m6A), N1-methyladenosine (m1A), 3-methylthymine (m3T), and 3-methyluracil (m3U) in single-...
Cell Biology
Error correction is central to many biological systems and is critical for protein
function and cell health. During mitosis, error correction is required for the faithful
inheritance of genetic material. When functioning properly, the mitotic spindle ...
Despite the tremendous clinical potential of nucleic acid–based vaccines, their efficacy
to induce therapeutic immune response has been limited by the lack of efficient local
gene delivery techniques in the human body. In this study, we develop a hydrogel-...
Ciliary defects are linked to ciliopathies, but impairments in the sensory cilia of
Caenorhabditis elegans neurons extend lifespan, a phenomenon with previously unclear mechanisms. Our study
reveals that neuronal cilia defects trigger the unfolded protein ...
Loss of mitochondrial electron transport complex (ETC) function in the retinal pigment
epithelium (RPE) in vivo results in RPE dedifferentiation and progressive photoreceptor
degeneration, and has been implicated in the pathogenesis of age-related macular ...
Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 (PARP1) has emerged as a central target for cancer therapies
due to the ability of PARP inhibitors to specifically kill tumors deficient for DNA
repair by homologous recombination. Upon DNA damage, PARP1 quickly binds to DNA ...
Meiosis, a reductional cell division, relies on precise initiation, maturation, and
resolution of crossovers (COs) during prophase I to ensure the accurate segregation
of homologous chromosomes during metaphase I. This process is regulated by the ...
Intrinsic and acquired resistance to mitogen-activated protein kinase inhibitors (MAPKi)
in melanoma remains a major therapeutic challenge. Here, we show that the clinical
development of resistance to MAPKi is associated with reduced tumor expression of
...
Sirtuin 7 (SIRT7) is a member of the mammalian family of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide
(NAD+)-dependent histone/protein deacetylases, known as sirtuins. It acts as a potent oncogene
in numerous malignancies, but the molecular mechanisms employed by ...
The nematode intestine is the primary site for nutrient uptake and storage as well
as the synthesis of biomolecules; lysosome-related organelles known as gut granules
are important for many of these functions. Aspects of intestine biology are not well
...
Pannexin1 hemichannels (Panx1 HCs) are found in the membrane of most mammalian cells
and communicate the intracellular and extracellular spaces, enabling the passive transfer
of ions and small molecules. They are involved in physiological and ...
Developmental Biology
Hertwig’s rule states that cells divide along their longest axis, usually driven by
forces acting on the mitotic spindle. Here, we show that in contrast to this rule,
microtubule-based pulling forces in early Caenorhabditis elegans embryos align the ...
The dorsal and anal fins can vary widely in position and length along the anterior–posterior
axis in teleost fishes. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying the diversification
of these fins remain unknown. Here, we used genetic approaches in ...
Animals from all major clades have evolved a segmented trunk, reflected in the human
spine or the insect segments. These units emerge during embryogenesis from a posterior
segment addition zone (SAZ), where repetitive gene activity is regulated by a ...
Human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-derived retinal organoids are three-dimensional
cellular aggregates that differentiate and self-organize to closely mimic the spatial
and temporal patterning of the developing human retina. Retinal organoid models serve
...
Ecology
Legacy effects describe the persistent, long-term impacts on an ecosystem following
the removal of an abiotic or biotic feature. Redlining, a policy that codified racial
segregation and disinvestment in minoritized neighborhoods, has produced legacy ...
Permafrost regions contain approximately half of the carbon stored in land ecosystems
and have warmed at least twice as much as any other biome. This warming has influenced
vegetation activity, leading to changes in plant composition, physiology, and ...
Evolution
For over a century, the evolution of animal play has sparked scientific curiosity.
The prevalence of social play in juvenile mammals suggests that play is a beneficial
behavior, potentially contributing to individual fitness. Yet evidence from wild ...
Many pathogens evolve to escape immunity, yet it remains difficult to predict whether
immune pressure will lead to diversification, serial replacement of one variant by
another, or more complex patterns. Pathogen strain dynamics are mediated by cross-...
Animals, and mammals in particular, vary widely in their “pace of life,” with some
species living long lives and reproducing infrequently (slow life histories) and others
living short lives and reproducing often (fast life histories). These species also
...
The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 variants with increased fitness has had a strong impact
on the epidemiology of COVID-19, with the higher effective reproduction number of
the viral variants leading to new epidemic waves. Tracking such variants and their
...
Heritable symbionts are common among animals in nature, but the molecular mechanisms
underpinning symbiont invasions of host populations have been elusive. In this study,
we demonstrate the spread of Rickettsia in an invasive agricultural pest, the ...
Immunology and Inflammation
The process of human parturition involves inflammation at the interface where fetal
chorion trophoblast cells interact with maternal decidual stromal (DS) cells and maternal
immune cells in the decidua (endometrium of pregnancy). This study tested the ...
The NLRP3 inflammasome, a pivotal component of innate immunity, has been implicated
in various inflammatory disorders. The ubiquitin-editing enzyme A20 is well known
to regulate inflammation and maintain homeostasis. However, the precise molecular
...
Medical Sciences
Ex vivo expansion of human CD34+ hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells remains a
challenge due to rapid differentiation after detachment from the bone marrow niche.
In this study, we assessed the capacity of an inducible fusion protein to enable ...
mTORC1 is aberrantly activated in renal cell carcinoma (RCC) and is targeted by rapalogs.
As for other targeted therapies, rapalogs clinical utility is limited by the development
of resistance. Resistance often results from target mutation, but mTOR ...
Microbiology
Nitrous oxide (N2O), a potent greenhouse gas, can be generated by multiple biological and abiotic processes
in diverse contexts. Accurately tracking the dominant sources of N2O has the potential to improve our understanding of N2O fluxes from soils as ...
In bacteria, attenuation of protein-tyrosine phosphorylation occurs during oxidative
stress. The main described mechanism behind this effect is the H2O2-triggered conversion of bacterial phospho-tyrosines to protein-bound 3,4-dihydroxyphenylalanine.
This ...
Ovoid-shaped bacteria, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococcus), have two spatially separated peptidoglycan (PG) synthase nanomachines
that locate zonally to the midcell of dividing cells. The septal PG synthase bPBP2x:FtsW
closes the septum of ...
Vibrio vulnificus causes life-threatening wound and gastrointestinal infections, mediated primarily
by the production of a Multifunctional-Autoprocessing Repeats-In-Toxin (MARTX) toxin.
The most commonly present MARTX effector domain, the Makes ...
Human parainfluenza virus type 3 (HPIV3) is a major pediatric respiratory pathogen
lacking available vaccines or antiviral drugs. We generated live-attenuated HPIV3
vaccine candidates by codon-pair deoptimization (CPD). HPIV3 open reading frames (ORFs)
...
Pyruvate lies at a pivotal node of carbon metabolism in eukaryotes. It is involved
in diverse metabolic pathways in multiple organelles, and its interorganelle shuttling
is crucial for cell fitness. Many apicomplexan parasites harbor a unique organelle
...
Intracellular bacterial pathogens divert multiple cellular pathways to establish their
niche and persist inside their host. Coxiella burnetii, the causative agent of Q fever, secretes bacterial effector proteins via its Type
4 secretion system to generate ...
The spatial organization of gut microbiota is crucial for the functioning of the gut
ecosystem, although the mechanisms that organize gut bacterial communities in microhabitats
are only partially understood. The gut of the insect Riptortus pedestris has a ...
Antiviral RNA interference (RNAi) is conserved from yeasts to mammals. Dicer recognizes
and cleaves virus-derived double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) and/or structured single-stranded
RNA (ssRNA) into small-interfering RNAs, which guide effector Argonaute to ...
It is extremely rare that a single virus crosses host barriers across multiple kingdoms.
Based on phylogenetic and paleovirological analyses, it has previously been hypothesized
that single members of the family Partitiviridae could cross multiple ...
Life harnessing light energy transformed the relationship between biology and Earth—bringing
a massive flux of organic carbon and oxidants to Earth’s surface that gave way to
today’s organotrophy- and respiration-dominated biosphere. However, our ...
Biofilm formation and surface attachment in multiple Alphaproteobacteria is driven
by unipolar polysaccharide (UPP) adhesins. The pathogen Agrobacterium tumefaciens produces a UPP adhesin, which is regulated by the intracellular second messenger
cyclic ...
Human bocavirus 1 (HBoV1) is a human parvovirus that causes lower respiratory tract
infections in young children. It contains a single-stranded (ss) DNA genome of ~5.5
kb that encodes a small noncoding RNA of 140 nucleotides known as bocavirus-encoded
...
Trichomonas vaginalis, a common sexually transmitted parasite that colonizes the human urogenital tract,
secretes extracellular vesicles (TvEVs) that are taken up by human cells and are speculated
to be taken up by parasites as well. While the crosstalk ...
Neuroscience
The perception of sensory attributes is often quantified through measurements of sensitivity
(the ability to detect small stimulus changes), as well as through direct judgments
of appearance or intensity. Despite their ubiquity, the relationship between ...
Pleasure and pain are two fundamental, intertwined aspects of human emotions. Pleasurable
sensations can reduce subjective feelings of pain and vice versa, and we often perceive
the termination of pain as pleasant and the absence of pleasure as ...
The medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) is a key brain structure for higher cognitive
functions such as decision-making and goal-directed behavior, many of which require
awareness of spatial variables including one’s current position within the surrounding
...
Cortical networks exhibit complex stimulus–response patterns that are based on specific
recurrent interactions between neurons. For example, the balance between excitatory
and inhibitory currents has been identified as a central component of cortical ...
Cortical arealization arises during neurodevelopment from the confluence of molecular
gradients representing patterned expression of morphogens and transcription factors.
However, whether similar gradients are maintained in the adult brain remains ...
Many animals can extract useful information from the vocalizations of other species.
Neuroimaging studies have evidenced areas sensitive to conspecific vocalizations in
the cerebral cortex of primates, but how these areas process heterospecific ...
Physiology
Low temperatures and cooling agents like menthol induce cold sensation by activating
the peripheral cold receptors TRPM8 and TRPA1, cation channels belonging to the TRP
channel family, while the reduction of potassium currents provides an additional and/...
The heart beats approximately 100,000 times per day in humans, imposing substantial
energetic demands on cardiac muscle. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is an essential
energy source for normal function of cardiac muscle during each beat, as it powers
ion ...
Plant Biology
Endoplasmic reticulum (ER)–associated degradation (ERAD) plays key roles in controlling
protein levels and quality in eukaryotes. The Ring Finger Protein 185 (RNF185)/membralin
ubiquitin ligase complex was recently identified as a branch in mammals and is ...
Plants rely on immune receptor complexes at the cell surface to perceive microbial
molecules and transduce these signals into the cell to regulate immunity. Various
immune receptors and associated proteins are often dynamically distributed in specific
...
Sustainability Science
Legacy effects describe the persistent, long-term impacts on an ecosystem following
the removal of an abiotic or biotic feature. Redlining, a policy that codified racial
segregation and disinvestment in minoritized neighborhoods, has produced legacy ...
Conservation enforcement is a direct strategy to combat illegal wildlife trade in
open markets. Yet, its large-scale effectiveness has not been widely assessed due
to the lack of extensive market data. Between August 2016 and June 2017, a national
...
Systems Biology
We experience a life that is full of ups and downs. The ability to bounce back after
adverse life events such as the loss of a loved one or serious illness declines with
age, and such isolated events can even trigger accelerated aging. How humans respond
...
Corrections
SI Correction
Cover image: Pictured are groups of allied male Indo-Pacific bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops aduncus) with female consorts. Kathryn Holmes et al. explored associations between juvenile social play and future reproductive success among male T. aduncus in Shark Bay, Australia, using 32 years of behavioral observations and paternity data. Juvenile males with strong social bonds who spent more time engaging in play resembling coordinated actions and vocalizations used in adult mating behaviors had greater reproductive success as adults. The results support the hypothesized role of play in animals as practice for adult reproductive behaviors. See the article by Holmes et al. e2305948121. Image credit: Simon J. Allen.
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