Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 122, Number 19

Single-cell organisms and various cell types use a range of motility modes when following a chemical gradient, but it is unclear which mode is best suited for different gradients. Here, we model directional decision-making in chemotactic amoeboid cells as ...

Phase separation is an important mechanism to generate certain biomolecular condensates and organize the cell interior. Condensate formation and function remain incompletely understood due to difficulties in visualizing the condensate interior at high ...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Mtb cell envelope glycans are potent virulence factors that play key roles in mediating infection of host tissues and modulating the host immune response. However, there are few ways ...

Regulating multistimulus responses in artificial systems remains a challenge in smart material development. We present a versatile chemical switching system that precisely controls the self-assembly of metal–organic cages via temperature and solvent ...

What mechanisms underlie linguistic generalization in large language models (LLMs)? This question has attracted considerable attention, with most studies analyzing the extent to which the language skills of LLMs resemble rules. As of yet, it is not known ...

Globally, cities face increasing extreme heat, impacting comfort, health, and energy consumption. Infrastructure-based heat adaptation strategies can improve these outcomes, but each strategy has a unique mix of benefits and drawbacks. Here, we apply an ...

Within Earth’s climate system, the ocean, cryosphere, and vegetation exhibit hysteresis behavior such that their state depends on their past and not merely on their current boundary conditions. The atmosphere’s fast mixing time scales were thought to ...

The distinction between “reinforcement” and “cloaking” has been overlooked in optimization-based design of devices intended to conceal a defect in an elastic medium. In the former, a so-called “cloak” is severely biased toward one or a few specific ...

Chromatin architecture is critical in determining nuclear mechanics. Most studies focus on the mechanical rigidity conferred by chromatin condensation from densely packed heterochromatin, but less is known on how transient chromatin decompaction impinge ...

Resistance to chemotherapeutics is one major challenge to clinical effectiveness of cancer treatment and is primarily interpreted by various biochemical mechanisms. This study establishes an inverse correlation between tumor cell contractility and ...

Liquid manipulation is ubiquitous in nature and engineering, enabling controllable and efficient liquid delivery. Conventional understanding of liquid manipulation relies on inhomogeneous chemical modifications or single-scale structure design. Here, we ...

The detection and identification of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and their modified derivatives in contaminated soil is challenging due to the chemical and microbial complexity of soil organic matter. To address these challenges, we developed ...

Biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) plastics have been praised as an effective solution to the global pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics, and their widespread use in food packaging and disposable tableware has resulted in increased oral exposure ...

The use of atoms, molecules, and free electrons in quantum amplifiers has greatly advanced precision measurements, paving the way for the development of extremely-low-noise quantum devices such as masers and lasers. Here, we investigate the signal ...

What mechanisms underlie linguistic generalization in large language models (LLMs)? This question has attracted considerable attention, with most studies analyzing the extent to which the language skills of LLMs resemble rules. As of yet, it is not known ...

Past research finds that sleep duration is reliably linked with health yet sleep durations differ substantially between countries. We investigated whether countries with shorter sleep durations have worse health. Study 1 analyzed national sleep durations ...

It is common to say that people feel entitled to rewards—they think they have earned or deserve them—based on their effort and achievement. However, effort and achievement draw on different principles to justify reward. They can also conflict over when ...

Representing the locations of places so that we can use them as landmarks is critical to our ability to navigate through large-scale spaces—a process referred to as “map-based navigation.” While many neuroimaging studies in adults have revealed that this ...

Social touch is crucial for human well-being, as a lack of tactile interactions increases anxiety, loneliness, and need for social support. To address the detrimental effects of social isolation, we build on cutting-edge research on social touch and ...

Despite the rapid proliferation of AI tools, we know little about how people who use them are perceived by others. Drawing on theories of attribution and impression management, we propose that people believe they will be evaluated negatively by others for ...

Global efforts to mitigate climate change are increasing pressure on heavy manufacturing industries to decarbonize production. The iron and steel industry is responsible for 7% of CO₂ emissions globally (2% in the United States) and is often a major ...

Vertebrates have evolved an understudied protein termed CDADC1 (NYD-SP15) that contains an inactive N-terminal and active C-terminal DCTD-like domain. Here, we show that human CDADC1 is a (d)CTP-specific deaminase, with a roughly 2-fold in vitro ...

The aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases (AaRSs) are an ancient family of structurally diverse enzymes that are divided into two major classes. The functionalities of most AaRSs are inextricably linked to their oligomeric states. While GluRSs were previously ...

Heterotrimeric Gα:Gβγ G proteins function as molecular switches downstream of G protein–coupled receptors (GPCRs). They alternate between a heterotrimeric GDP-bound OFF-state and a GTP-bound ON-state in which Gα_GTP is separated from the Gβγ dimer. ...

The potassium channel TWIK-2 is crucial for ATP-induced activation of the NLRP3 inflammasome in macrophages. The channel is a member of the two-pore domain potassium (K2P) channel superfamily and an emerging therapeutic target to mitigate severe ...

RAS is the most frequently mutated oncogene in cancer. RAS proteins show high sequence similarities in their G-domains but are significantly different in their C-terminal hypervariable regions (HVR). These regions interact with the cell membrane via lipid ...

Genetically encoded biosensors with changes in fluorescence lifetime (as opposed to fluorescence intensity) can quantify small molecules in complex contexts, even in vivo. However, lifetime-readout sensors are poorly understood at a molecular level, ...

Despite the promise of vastly expanding the druggable genome, rational design of RNA-targeting ligands remains challenging as it requires the rapid identification of hits and visualization of the resulting cocomplexes for guiding optimization. Here, we ...

Single-cell organisms and various cell types use a range of motility modes when following a chemical gradient, but it is unclear which mode is best suited for different gradients. Here, we model directional decision-making in chemotactic amoeboid cells as ...

Current genome sequencing initiatives across a wide range of life forms offer significant potential to enhance our understanding of evolutionary relationships and support transformative biological and medical applications. Species trees play a central ...

Membrane blebs have important roles in cell migration, apoptosis, and intercellular communication through extracellular vesicles (EVs). While plasma membranes (PM) typically maintain phosphatidylserine (PS) on their cytoplasmic leaflet, most blebs have PS ...

Infection with hepatitis delta virus (HDV) causes the most severe form of viral hepatitis, affecting more than 15 million people worldwide. HDV is a small RNA satellite virus of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) that relies on the HBV envelope for viral ...

The protein midnolin (MIDN) augments proteasome activity in lymphocytes and dramatically facilitates the survival and proliferation of B-lymphoid malignancies. MIDN binds both to proteasomes and to substrates, but the mode of interaction with the ...

Chromatin architecture is critical in determining nuclear mechanics. Most studies focus on the mechanical rigidity conferred by chromatin condensation from densely packed heterochromatin, but less is known on how transient chromatin decompaction impinge ...

8-oxoguanine (8-oxoGua) is one of the most frequent forms of oxidative DNA base lesions, repaired by 8-oxoguanine DNA glycosylase 1 (OGG1) via base excision repair (BER) pathway to maintain genome fidelity. The human allelic variant hOGG1^S326C, prevalent ...

PARK7/DJ-1, a redox-sensitive protein implicated in neurodegeneration, cancer, and inflammation, exhibits increased secretion under stress. We previously demonstrated that, as a leaderless protein, PARK7 relies on an unconventional autophagy pathway for ...

Circadian regulation of the cell cycle progression generates a diurnal supply of newborn cells to replace those lost in organs and tissues. In this study, we analyzed circadian time-dependent changes in cell types within the mouse tongue epithelium. Using ...

Atheroprone flow–increased glycolysis in vascular endothelial cells (ECs) is pivotal in EC dysfunction and the initiation of atherosclerosis. Methyltransferase 3 (METTL3) is a major m⁶A methyltransferase for RNA N6-mehtyladenosine (m⁶A) modifications to ...

Vascular development is a precisely controlled process, yet how it is spatiotemporally orchestrated remains enigmatic. We previously identified DEAD-box RNA helicase 24 (DDX24) as a pathogenic gene for multiorgan vascular anomalies. Here, we show that ...

Wnt signaling orchestrates gene expression in a plethora of processes during development and adult cell homeostasis via the action of nuclear β-catenin. Yet, little is known about how β-catenin generates context-specific transcriptional outcomes. ...

How central and peripheral circadian clocks regulate protein metabolism and affect tissue mass homeostasis has been unclear. Circadian shifts in the balance between anabolism and catabolism control muscle growth rate in young zebrafish independent of ...

A key unresolved question in microbial ecology is how the extraordinary diversity of microbiomes emerges from the interactions among their many functionally distinct populations. This process is driven in part by the cross-feeding networks that help to ...

Nitrogen is one of the most limiting nutrients to forest productivity worldwide. Recently, it has been established that diverse ecosystems source a substantial fraction of their water from weathered bedrock, leading to questions about whether root-driven ...

Biodegradable polylactic acid (PLA) plastics have been praised as an effective solution to the global pollution caused by petroleum-based plastics, and their widespread use in food packaging and disposable tableware has resulted in increased oral exposure ...

The origins of novel behaviors are poorly understood, despite behavior’s hypothesized roles in evolution. One model, “genetic accommodation,” proposes that selection on ancestral phenotypic plasticity may precede the evolution of novel traits. A critical ...

The form and change of animal biogeography reflects the long-term interplay between organisms and their environment, involving physiological limitation, dispersal capability, and adaptive evolution versus plate tectonics, global climatic shifts, and ...

The primary function of the vertebrate jaw is the dorsoventral movement that occurs during opening and closing. Yet, several lineages have evolved the ability to move their jaws laterally, enabling major innovations, like chewing. While lateral jaw ...

The platypus and four echidna species are the only living egg-laying mammals and the sole extant representatives of Order Monotremata. The platypus and echidnas are very disparate both morphologically and ecologically: The platypus is a specialized ...

Hawaiian lobeliads exhibit extensive adaptive radiations and are considered the largest plant clade (143 species) endemic to any oceanic archipelago. Rapid insular radiations are prone to reticulate evolution, yet detecting hybridization is often limited ...

Genes and the environment jointly shape individual traits, but the influence of indirect genetic effects (IGEs), arising from the genetic composition of interacting conspecific individuals, is often ignored or underemphasized. Moreover, because of ...

The latitudinal diversity gradient (LDG) is the most notable global biodiversity pattern, but its underlying mechanisms remain unresolved. The evolutionary speed hypothesis (ESH) posits that molecular rates play a crucial role in shaping the LDG, ...

In an era of unprecedented biodiversity loss, the need for standardized practices to describe biological variation is becoming increasingly important. As with all scientific endeavors, species delimitation needs to be explicit, testable, and refutable. A ...

Developmental time (or time to maturity) strongly correlates with an animal’s maximum lifespan, with late-maturing individuals often living longer. However, the genetic mechanisms underlying this phenomenon remain largely unknown. This may be because most ...

During meiosis, the correct pairing, synapsis, and recombination of homologous chromosome pairs is critical for fertility of sexual eukaryotes. These processes are challenged in polyploids, which possess additional copies of each chromosome. Polyploidy ...

Infiltrating neutrophils are key effector cells in inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) while providing antimicrobial defense and tissue restitution in the intestine. The complexity of neutrophil functions in local environments underscores our limited ...

Yellow fever vaccination provides long-lasting protection and is a unique model for studying the immune response to an acute RNA virus infection in humans. To elucidate the early innate immune events preceding the rapid generation of protective immunity, ...

The exhausted CD8⁺ T (T_EX) cells consist of distinct subsets including Tcf1⁺ stem-like, Tcf1^–Cx3cr1⁺ intermediate (T_EX-int) and Tcf1^–Cx3cr1^– terminally exhausted cells; yet, epigenetic determinants of T_EX subset differentiation remain incompletely ...

Resistance to chemotherapeutics is one major challenge to clinical effectiveness of cancer treatment and is primarily interpreted by various biochemical mechanisms. This study establishes an inverse correlation between tumor cell contractility and ...

Cancer cells frequently reprogram one-carbon metabolic pathways to fulfill their vigorous demands of biosynthesis and antioxidant defense for survival and proliferation. Dysfunction of oncogenes or tumor suppressor genes is critically involved in this ...

DNA damage repair (DDR) is essential for cancer cell survival and treatment resistance, making it a critical target for tumor therapy. The eukaryotic AAA+ adenosine triphosphatase valosin-containing protein (VCP), which is transported from the cytoplasm ...

Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Mtb cell envelope glycans are potent virulence factors that play key roles in mediating infection of host tissues and modulating the host immune response. However, there are few ways ...

Cell division is a fundamental biological process that allows a single mother cell to produce two daughter cells. In walled bacteria, different modes of cell division have been reported that are notably associated with distinctive cell shapes. In all ...

Many phenotypic traits, such as fermentation activity, have been shown to be instable due to stochastic gene expression and environmental influence. While previous studies only have obtained understanding at the level of the microbial community, the fate ...

Spreading depolarizations (SDs) have been identified in various brain pathologies. SDs increase the cerebral energy demand and, concomitantly, oxygen consumption, which indicates enhanced synthesis of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) by oxidative ...

Establishing a dominance hierarchy in social organisms is important for access to resources. Stress has been proposed as a major factor influencing an animal’s likely position in a social hierarchy. Although individual differences in vulnerability to ...

Sleep is an essential component of our daily life. A mutation in human salt induced kinase 3 (hSIK3), which is critical for regulating sleep duration and depth in rodents, is associated with natural short sleep (NSS), a condition characterized by reduced ...

While current arousal level assessments in patients with disorders of consciousness discriminate altered states of consciousness, there are significant limitations in characterizing the transition from one state to another or quantifying the frequent ...

Sensory enteroendocrine cells in the intestinal epithelium detect and relay information about the luminal environment to other cells within and outside the gut. Serotonergic enterochromaffin (EC) cells are a subset of enteroendocrine cells that detect ...

Liquid manipulation is ubiquitous in nature and engineering, enabling controllable and efficient liquid delivery. Conventional understanding of liquid manipulation relies on inhomogeneous chemical modifications or single-scale structure design. Here, we ...

Diverse single-stranded RNA viruses employ different host cellular organelles or membrane systems to compartmentalize their replication intermediates and proviral factors, ensuring robust replication. Replication of Bamboo mosaic virus (BaMV), an ...