Issues

Summary: We measured the metabolism of fire ant rafts engaged in collective behaviors such as tower and raft building. We found that except for rafting at early stages, the metabolism scales isometrically with group size, indicating no group benefit in metabolism.

Summary: In this study, we evaluated two protocols that are based on temporal modulation of the Wnt/β -catenin pathway for iPSC-CM differentiation from four iPSC lines. We show that both protocols were successful in the generation of contracting iPSC-CMs. However, one of the tested protocols rendered cells that were more accessible for patch-clamp experiments and showed an expression pattern of cardiac-specific markers more similar to this of human heart left ventricle samples.

Summary: Aberrant DUX4 expression initiates pathogenesis in facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy. These studies delineate additional downstream events that accompany aberrant DUX4 expression and suggest possibilities for further mechanistic investigation of FSHD pathogenesis.

Summary: We investigated the response of adult lung fibroblasts to nutrient deprivation and reveal a role for the p19Arf tumor suppressor in suppressing both fibroblast activity and survival during leucine deprivation.

Summary:Theodoxus fluviatilis snails are mild hyperregulators that express basic levels of transport ATPases that are not regulated by external osmolality. Animals avoid body volume changes using organic osmolytes.

Summary: Viral transduction is generally the method of choice for genetic manipulation of primary lymphocytes. Here, the authors systematically compared different genetic components and created and shared an optimized set of vectors that can be used in all aspects of research on T cells.

Summary: A near wild-type human hTERT RPE-1 cell line with inducible Cre recombinase integrated at the AAVS1 was generated for inducible genetic knock-in and knock-out. It facilitates human gene functional studies.

Summary: We suggest an advanced protocol to efficiently observe the small intestinal tuft cell, a rare cell on the intestinal epithelium, by transmission electron microscopy.

Summary: A computational anatomy approach offers a potential pipeline for high-throughput screening of complex zebrafish craniofacial phenotypes, an important model system for the study of development, evolution, and human diseases.

Summary: We present a method for estimating evolutionary timescales that makes minimal assumptions and accurately reflects uncertainty. This enables evolutionary researchers to test hypotheses in contexts where uncertainty is adequately accounted for, and to determine the implications of the more stringent assumptions that underpin other methods.