Table Of Contents Page, PNAS Volume 122, Number 3
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Physical Sciences
Chemistry
Copper is an essential nutrient for sustaining vital cellular processes spanning respiration,
metabolism, and proliferation. However, loss of copper homeostasis, particularly misregulation
of loosely bound copper ions which are defined as the labile ...
Understanding topological defects-controlled structural degradation of layered oxides—a
key cathode material for high-performance lithium-ion batteries—plays a critical role
in developing next-generation cathode materials. Here, by constructing a ...
Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have become advanced energy storage technologies; however,
specific capacity remains limited by the active materials in cathodes. Here, we report
Li–LiNO3 batteries (LNBs) where LiNO3 in electrolyte serves as both active ...
On the one hand, nature utilizes hierarchical assemblies to create complex biological
binding pockets, enabling ultrastrong recognition toward substrates in aqueous solutions.
On the other hand, chemists have been fervently pursuing high-affinity ...
Heterogeneous catalysts have emerged as a potential key for closing the carbon cycle
by converting carbon dioxide (CO2) into value-added chemicals. In this work, we report a highly active and stable ceria
(CeO2)-based electronically tuned trimetallic ...
Earth, Atmospheric, and Planetary Sciences
The insulative properties of soil organic carbon (SOC) and surface organic layers
(moss, lichens, litter) regulate surface–atmosphere energy exchanges in the Arctic
through a coupling with soil temperatures. However, a physical description of this
process ...
Volcanic provinces are among the most active but least well understood landscapes
on Earth. Here, we show that the central Cascade arc, USA, exhibits systematic spatial
covariation of topography and hydrology that are linked to aging volcanic bedrock,
...
Engineering
Liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) exhibit reversible shape morphing behavior when cycled
above their nematic-to-isotropic transition temperature. During extrusion-based 3D
printing, LCE inks are subjected to coupled shear and extensional flows that can be
...
Environmental Sciences
Ancient texts and archaeological evidence indicate substantial lead exposure during
antiquity that potentially impacted human health. Although lead exposure routes were
many and included the use of glazed tablewares, paints, cosmetics, and even ...
Wastewater receives per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) from diverse consumer
and industrial sources, and discharges are known to be a concern for drinking water
quality. The PFAS family includes thousands of potential chemical structures ...
Social Sciences
Anthropology
Models of conformity and anticonformity have typically focused on cultural traits
with unordered variants, such as baby names, strategies (cooperate/defect), or the
presence/absence of an innovation. There have been fewer studies of conformity to
cultural ...
Economic Sciences
The advent of herbicide-tolerant genetically modified (GM) crops spurred rapid and
widespread use of the herbicide glyphosate throughout US agriculture. In the two decades
following GM-seeds’ introduction, the volume of glyphosate applied in the United ...
Environmental Sciences
Ancient texts and archaeological evidence indicate substantial lead exposure during
antiquity that potentially impacted human health. Although lead exposure routes were
many and included the use of glazed tablewares, paints, cosmetics, and even ...
Radon, a common radioactive indoor air pollutant, is the second leading cause of lung
cancer in the United States. Knowledge about its distribution is essential for risk
assessment and designing efficient protective regulations. However, the three current
...
Psychological and Cognitive Sciences
Soccer is arguably the most widely followed sport worldwide, and many dream of becoming
soccer players. However, only a few manage to achieve this dream, which has cast a
significant spotlight on elite soccer players who possess exceptional skills to rise
...
Self-reports are used ubiquitously to probe people’s thoughts, feelings, and behaviors
and inform medical decisions, enterprise operations, and government policy and legislation.
Despite their pervasive use, self-report measures such as Likert scales have ...
The hippocampus possesses anatomical differences along its long axis. Here, we explored
the functional specialization of the human hippocampal long axis using network-anchored
precision functional MRI in two independent datasets (N = 11 and N = 9) paired ...
Daily life for humans and other animals requires switching between periods of threat-
and reward-oriented behavior. We investigated neural activity associated with spontaneous
switching, in a naturalistic task, between foraging for rewards and seeking ...
Sustainability Science
Radon, a common radioactive indoor air pollutant, is the second leading cause of lung
cancer in the United States. Knowledge about its distribution is essential for risk
assessment and designing efficient protective regulations. However, the three current
...
Biological Sciences
Anthropology
In contrast to animal foods, wild plants often require long, multistep processing
techniques that involve significant cognitive skills and advanced toolkits to perform.
These costs are thought to have hindered how hominins used these foods and delayed
...
Biochemistry
[FeFe]-hydrogenases catalyze the reversible two-electron reduction of two protons
to molecular hydrogen. Although these enzymes are among the most efficient H2-converting biocatalysts in nature, their catalytic cofactor (termed H-cluster) is
irreversibly ...
Ammonia oxidizing archaea (AOA) are among the most abundant microorganisms on earth
and are known to be a major source of nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, although biochemical origins of this N2O remain unknown. Enzymological details of AOA nitrogen ...
TGFβ family ligands are synthesized as precursors consisting of an N-terminal prodomain
and C-terminal growth factor (GF) signaling domain. After proteolytic processing,
the prodomain typically remains noncovalently associated with the GF, sometimes ...
Insect phenoloxidase, presented as an inactive precursor prophenoloxidase (PPO) in
hemolymph, catalyzes melanin formation, which is involved in wound healing, pathogen
killing, reversible oxygen collection during insect respiration, and cuticle and ...
Cell Biology
Neurotransmitters and neuromodulators can be released via either action potential
(AP)–evoked transient or AP-independent continuous neurotransmission. The elevated
AP-evoked neurotransmission in the primary sensory neurons plays crucial roles in
...
Developmental Biology
Although chromatin remodelers are among the most important risk genes associated with
neurodevelopmental disorders (NDDs), the roles of these complexes during brain development
are in many cases unclear. Here, we focused on the recently discovered ChAHP ...
Ecology
Unlike most rivers globally, nearly all lowland Amazonian rivers have unregulated
flow, supporting seasonally flooded floodplain forests. Floodplain forests harbor
a unique tree species assemblage adapted to flooding and specialized fauna, including
fruit-...
In ecology, Alan Turing’s proposed activation–inhibition mechanism has been abstracted
as corresponding to several ecological interaction types to explain pattern formation
in ecosystems. Consumer–resource interactions have strong theoretical arguments ...
Evolution
Models of conformity and anticonformity have typically focused on cultural traits
with unordered variants, such as baby names, strategies (cooperate/defect), or the
presence/absence of an innovation. There have been fewer studies of conformity to
cultural ...
Biological relatedness is a key consideration in studies of behavior, population structure,
and trait evolution. Except for parent–offspring dyads, pedigrees capture relatedness
imperfectly. The number and length of identical-by-descent DNA segments (IBD) ...
The sense of smell is a central sensory modality of most terrestrial species. However,
our knowledge of olfaction is based on vertebrates and insects. In contrast, little
is known about the chemosensory world of spiders and nothing about how they perform
...
Human brain evolution is marked by a disproportionate expansion of cortical regions
associated with advanced perceptual and cognitive functions. While this expansion
is often attributed to the emergence of novel specialized brain areas, modifications
to ...
Genetics
Aging is a complex process characterized by biological decline and a wide range of
molecular alterations to cells, including changes to DNA methylation. In this study,
we used a male-specific epigenetic marker of aging to build an epigenetic predictor
...
Stable inheritance of DNA N6-methyladenine (6mA) is crucial for its biological functions in eukaryotes. Here,
we identify two distinct methyltransferase (MTase) complexes, both sharing the catalytic
subunit AMT1, but featuring AMT6 and AMT7 as their ...
Immunology and Inflammation
Exercising regularly promotes health, but these benefits are complicated by acute
inflammation induced by exercise. A potential source of inflammation is cell-free
DNA (cfDNA), yet the cellular origins, molecular causes, and immune system interactions
of ...
The DNA-sensing protein cGAS plays a pivotal role in the innate immune response and
pathogenesis of various diseases. DNA triggers liquid–liquid phase separation (LLPS)
and enhances the enzymatic activity of cGAS. However, the regulatory mechanisms of
the ...
Interferon regulatory factor 3 (IRF3) is the key transcription factor in the type
I IFN signaling pathway, whose activation is regulated by multiple posttranslational
modifications. Here, we identify SMYD3, a lysine methyltransferase, as a negative
...
Monocytes are critical in controlling tissue infections and inflammation. Monocyte
dysfunction contributes to the inflammatory pathogenesis of cystic fibrosis (CF) caused
by CF transmembrane conductance regulator (CFTR) mutations, making CF a clinically
...
Medical Sciences
ADAR is highly expressed and correlated with poor prognosis in hepatocellular carcinoma
(HCC), yet the role of its constitutive isoform ADARp110 in tumorigenesis remains
elusive. We investigated the role of ADARp110 in HCC and underlying mechanisms using
...
Sleep insufficiency and sleep disorders pose serious health challenges. This study
aimed to determine the potential discrepancy between subjective and objective sleep
assessments, including the latter made by physicians, by analyzing a 421-participant
...
Microbiology
In soils, the first rain after a prolonged dry period represents a major pulse event
impacting soil microbial community function, yet we lack a full understanding of the
genomic traits associated with the microbial response to rewetting. Genomic traits
...
Tubulin detyrosination has been implicated in various human disorders and is important
for regulating microtubule dynamics. While in most organisms this modification is
restricted to α-tubulin, in trypanosomatid parasites, it occurs on both α- and β-...
Bacterial–fungal interaction (BFI) has significant implications for the health of
host plants. While the diffusible antibiotic metabolite-mediated competition in BFI
has been extensively characterized, the impact of intercellular contact remains largely
...
Entomopathogenic fungi play a critical role in regulating insect populations, and
representative species from the Metarhizium and Beauveria genera have been developed as eco-friendly biocontrol agents for managing agricultural
insect pests. Relative to ...
Neuroscience
The hippocampus possesses anatomical differences along its long axis. Here, we explored
the functional specialization of the human hippocampal long axis using network-anchored
precision functional MRI in two independent datasets (N = 11 and N = 9) paired ...
Daily life for humans and other animals requires switching between periods of threat-
and reward-oriented behavior. We investigated neural activity associated with spontaneous
switching, in a naturalistic task, between foraging for rewards and seeking ...
Retinal diseases often lead to degeneration of specific retinal cell types with currently
limited therapeutic options to replace the lost neurons. Previous studies have reported
that overexpression of ASCL1 or combinations of proneural factors in Müller ...
In ephaptic coupling, physically adjacent neurons influence one another’s activity
via the electric fields they generate. To date, the molecular mechanisms that mediate
and modulate ephaptic coupling’s effects remain poorly understood. Here, we show that
...
Recurrent neural networks (RNNs) based on model neurons that communicate via continuous
signals have been widely used to study how cortical neural circuits perform cognitive
tasks. Training such networks to perform tasks that require information ...
Task-free brain activity affords unique insight into the functional structure of brain
network dynamics and has been used to identify neural markers of individual differences.
In this work, we present an algorithmic optimization framework that directly ...
Plant Biology
The SWItch/Sucrose Non-Fermenting (SWI/SNF) complexes are evolutionarily conserved,
ATP-dependent chromatin remodelers crucial for multiple nuclear functions in eukaryotes.
Recently, plant BCL-DOMAIN HOMOLOG (BDH) proteins were identified as shared ...
Corrections
View the original article:
Cover image: Pictured is a high-discharge spring near the crest of Oregon’s central Cascade Range. Leif Karlstrom et al. examined the province, which features relatively young volcanic terrain. As the primary volcanic rocks age, the landscape undergoes a shift in topographic erosion patterns, chemical weathering, and surface and groundwater hydrologic characteristics—features collectively associated with Earth’s near-surface Critical Zone. The authors report that the young volcanic Critical Zone extends deeper into the subsurface than expected and hosts a significant volume of active groundwater. See the article by Karlstrom et al. e2415155122. Image credit: Leif Karlstrom.
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