Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
Articles in this Issue
Kinetic mechanisms for the sequence dependence of transcriptional errors
The fidelity of template-dependent mRNA synthesis during transcription elongation is the primary determinant of accurate gene expression and the maintenance of functional RNA transcripts. However, the...
Political and biological reality checks
Monensin suppresses EMT-driven cancer cell motility by inducing Golgi pH–dependent exocytosis of GOLIM4
Despite extensive efforts to develop strategies to inhibit cancer metastasis—the leading cause of cancer-related deaths—progress has been limited in recent decades. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transitio...
Asymptotic theory of in-context learning by linear attention
Transformers have a remarkable ability to learn and execute tasks based on examples provided within the input itself, without explicit prior training. It has been argued that this capability, known as...
Sustainable synthesis of polymer-grade ethylene via electrified acetylene semihydrogenation
The electrocatalytic semihydrogenation of acetylene (C 2 H 2 ), powered by renewable electricity, provides an energy- an...
A conserved editing mechanism for the fidelity of bacterial cell wall biosynthesis
Peptidoglycan (PG), a defining feature of the bacterial cell envelope, is crucial for cell integrity and morphology. PG is a macromolecular mesh consisting of glycan polymers crosslinked by short pept...
Emergence of a temporal processing gradient from naturalistic inputs and network connectivity
Natural language unfolds over multiple nested timescales: Words form sentences, sentences form paragraphs, and paragraphs build into full narratives. Correspondingly, the brain exhibits a hierarchy of...
Noncoding RNAs have a key role in butterfly speciation. What about other flora and fauna?
QnAs with Janet B. Pierrehumbert
The prefusion structure of the HERV-K (HML-2) Env spike complex
The human endogenous retrovirus K (HERV-K) is a retrovirus that got assimilated into the human genome in ancient times and has been inherited in our germline ever since. It enters cells using a class-...
The pathogenic factor of ZC4H2-associated rare disorder is a postsynaptic regulator for synaptic activity and cognitive function
The maintenance of excitatory synaptic activity is crucial for cognitive function and genetic mutations are responsible for the pathogenesis of related brain disorders. However, the roles of these pat...
Motilin stimulates food intake linked to gastric motility in <i>Suncus murinus</i> : Simultaneous recordings of food intake and gastric motility in the conscious state
The intestinal-derived hormone motilin, a peptide belonging to the ghrelin family, induces strong gastric contractions and hunger sensations. However, whether motilin regulates food intake and its ass...
Optimization of a sarbecovirus llama nanobody–antigen binding interface via a combined computational and phage display protein engineering approach
Single-domain antibodies, such as variable heavy domain of heavy chain (VHH) domains from camelids, are an attractive platform for therapeutic purposes. VHHs have a smaller size than traditional antib...
<i>Piezo2</i> + mechanosensory neurons orchestrate postnatal development through mechano-chemo-transduction of PDGFA signaling
Mechanical forces are ubiquitous and essential during vertebrate development, yet how these forces are translated into biochemical signals and regulate development during postnatal organogenesis remai...
HIF1α mediates circadian regulation of skeletal muscle metabolism and substrate preference in response to time-of-day exercise
The regulation of metabolism in peripheral tissues is intricately linked to circadian rhythms, with hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF1α) implicated in modulating time-of-day-specific exercise responses...
Patient-reported treatment outcomes in ME/CFS and long COVID
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS) and long COVID are persistent multisystem illnesses affecting many patients. With no known effective FDA-approved treatments for either cond...
Oxidative stress is a shared characteristic of ME/CFS and Long COVID
Over 65 million individuals worldwide are estimated to have Long COVID (LC), a complex multisystemic condition marked by fatigue, post-exertional malaise, and other symptoms resembling myalgic encepha...
Resolving the structure and dynamics of the disordered C terminus of human cardiac troponin T and effects of cardiomyopathic mutations
The C-terminal tail of cardiac troponin T (C-cTnT) inhibits thin filament activation and is a hotspot for cardiomyopathic mutations and variants. The mechanism whereby this region limits activation is...
EDNRB2 regulates fate, migration, and maturation of hair cell precursors in regenerating avian auditory epithelium explants
The mammalian cochlea loses its ability to regenerate hair cells (HCs) after birth. In contrast, in the avian auditory epithelium, the basilar papilla (BP), supporting cells (SCs) retain the capabilit...
A meta-analysis of the effectiveness of gratitude interventions on well-being across cultures
Gratitude practice is a popular strategy for promoting happiness worldwide. However, is it equally effective for people from different cultural backgrounds? To answer this question, we conducted a pre...
BIK polymorphism and proteasome regulation unveil host risk factor for severe influenza
Influenza A viruses (IAVs) pose a significant public health threat, with host factors playing a crucial role in disease severity. We investigated the role of Bcl-2-interacting killer (BIK) in IAV infe...
WT1 directs normal progesterone receptor–chromatin binding essential for uterine receptivity at peri-implantation
Progesterone receptor (PR)-mediated progesterone (P4) signaling plays a crucial role in the establishment of uterine receptivity which is the prerequisite for successful embryo implantation in mammals...
OMT and tensor SVD–based deep learning model for segmentation and predicting genetic markers of glioma: A multicenter study
Glioma is the most common primary malignant brain tumor and preoperative genetic profiling is essential for the management of glioma patients. Our study focused on tumor regions segmentation and predi...
SHANK2 establishes auditory hair bundle architecture essential for mammalian hearing
The mammalian auditory system relies on the precise architecture of the hair cell stereociliary bundle for effective sound transduction. Each bundle consists of approximately 100 actin-filled stereoci...
SARS-CoV-2 infection induces ZBP1-dependent PANoptosis in bystander cells
Virus-induced excessive inflammatory response is a key contributor to pathology in respiratory viral infections. However, the underlying mechanisms by which viral infection provokes intense inflammato...