ローマ教皇とハンチントン病患者、研究者との対話は、宗教と科学が共通の目標に向けて進んでいくための道を開く。

Keep doors open for constructive dialogue between religion and science p.265

A meeting between the Pope, patients and researchers acknowledges how the two sectors can help each other.

doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21985

米国は利用者の急増している電子タバコについての規制作りが遅れており、急いで進めるべきだ。

The United States must act quickly to control the use of e-cigarettes p.265

The nation needs to end the long-running battle between regulators, lawmakers and industry.

doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21987

米国ハンフォード核施設で起きたトンネル陥没事故は、米国が、冷戦時代の放射性廃棄物の処理に早急に取り組む必要があることを示している。

Why US nuclear sites are a ticking time bomb p.266

The Department of Energy needs to prioritize the clean-up of nuclear waste.

doi: 10.1038/545266a

米国トランプ大統領が打ち出した科学予算削減は、共和党支持層にも打撃となる可能性が。

How Trump’s science cuts could hurt states that voted for him p.273

Rural and struggling areas have benefited from funding that is now at risk.

doi: 10.1038/545273a

中国が、新薬の臨床試験のデータのねつ造に対し、厳罰で臨む方針を。

China cracks down on fake data in drug trials p.275

Researchers and manufacturers face possible jail time — or execution — for fraudulent submissions to nation's drug agency.

doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21977

青銅器時代の鐘状ビーカー文化が、どのようにして英国を「侵略」したかが明らかに。

Ancient-genome study finds Bronze Age ‘Beaker culture’ invaded Britain p.276

Famous bell-shaped pots associated with group of immigrants who may have displaced Neolithic farmers.

doi: 10.1038/545276a

米国の柑橘類に甚大な被害をもたらしている細菌に対し、遺伝学者たちが改変ウイルスなどで対策を。

Geneticists enlist engineered virus and CRISPR to battle citrus disease p.277

Desperate farmers hope scientists can beat pathogen that is wrecking the US orange harvest.

doi: 10.1038/545277a

100年前の小児腫瘍試料のDNA塩基配列の解析によって、現在の小児がん治療に役立つ手掛かりが。

Century-old tumours offer rare cancer clues p.278

DNA sequences from 100-year-old tumour samples could bolster childhood cancer research.

doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.21975

持続可能性：成長する木材

The wooden skyscrapers that could help to cool the planet p.280

木造建築物は、より安全に、より強く、より高く、進化し続けており、温暖化の抑制にも効果があるかもしれない。

doi: 10.1038/545280a

がん：腫瘍が自身のニッチを作る

Cancer: Tumours build their niche p.292

腫瘍細胞は、ニッチと呼ばれる腫瘍の増殖を支える微小環境の一部を形成する非分裂細胞を生み出すことがあることが、今回分かった。こうしたニッチ細胞は、腫瘍の増殖や発達を促進するタンパク質を分泌する。

doi: 10.1038/nature22494

原子物理学：実験によって確かめられた量子論

Atomic Physics: Quantum theory verified by experiment p.293

量子物体の系は、物体間の相関によって特性を評価できる。今回、最も弱い相関でも精密に測定できる手法によって、量子系のモデルを検証できた。

doi: 10.1038/545293a

加齢：老化細胞を除去するツール

Ageing: Tools to eliminate senescent cells p.294

加齢や多くの疾患は、部分的には、分裂しなくなった損傷細胞の蓄積によって進行する。今回、FOXO4タンパク質の活性を阻害する薬剤を用いれば、マウスのこうした老化細胞を完全に除去できることが分かった。

doi: 10.1038/nature22493

回顧：ロバストな気候モデルの半世紀

In Retrospect: Half a century of robust climate models p.296

1967年の古典的論文で、気候のモデル化の重要な進歩が報告され、二酸化炭素の地球温暖化効果の説得力のある定量化が可能になった。これが、今日の気候研究を支えるモデルの基盤となっている。

doi: 10.1038/545296a

行動経済学：時折起こる誤りが協調に役立つ

Behavioural Economics: Occasional errors can benefit coordination p.297

人々の間の協調が関与する問題では、時々間違いを起こすロボットの参加者を入れることで成績が向上することが、今回分かった。この知見は、実世界の協調問題に影響を及ぼす。

doi: 10.1038/545297a

微生物学：化合物蓄積を予測する規則から得られた広域抗生物質

Predictive compound accumulation rules yield a broad-spectrum antibiotic p.299

The authors use computational modelling and a set of chemically synthesized compounds to define the physicochemical properties required for small-molecule accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria.

doi: 10.1038/nature22308

心血管疾患：内皮のTLR4およびマイクロバイオームは脳海綿状血管腫を促進する

Endothelial TLR4 and the microbiome drive cerebral cavernous malformations p.305

Lipopolysaccharide derived from gut bacteria can accelerate the formation of cerebral cavernous malformations by activating TLR4 on endothelial cells, and polymorphisms that increase expression of the genes encoding TLR4 or its co-receptor CD14 are associated with higher CCM lesion burden in humans.

doi: 10.1038/nature22075

植物科学：栄養による生長調節ネットワークにおける硝酸イオン–CPK–NLPシグナル伝達の発見

Discovery of nitrate–CPK–NLP signalling in central nutrient–growth networks p.311

In response to nitrate, Ca²⁺-sensor protein kinases (CPKs) act as master regulators to coordinate downstream signalling responses that are essential for shoot growth and root establishment in Arabidopsis.

doi: 10.1038/nature22077

構造生物学：GPCR–Gタンパク質結合の選択性決定因子

Selectivity determinants of GPCR–G-protein binding p.317

The identification of the positions and patterns of amino acids that form the selectivity determinants for the entire human G-protein and G-protein-coupled receptor signalling system.

doi: 10.1038/nature22070

原子物理学：高次相関による量子多体系の実験的特性評価

Experimental characterization of a quantum many-body system via higher-order correlations p.323

Experimental measurements of higher-order correlation functions in many-body systems provide insight into a non-trivial quantum field theory and how it can be implemented in a cold-atom quantum simulation.

doi: 10.1038/nature22310

生物物理学：培養神経前駆細胞ではトポロジカル欠陥が集団運動を制御する

Topological defects control collective dynamics in neural progenitor cell cultures p.327

Cultured stem cells have become a standard platform not only for regenerative medicine and developmental biology but also for biophysical studies. Yet, the characterization of cultured stem cells at the level of morphology and of the macroscopic patterns resulting from cell-to-cell interactions remains largely qualitative. Here we report on the collective dynamics of cultured murine neural progenitor cells (NPCs), which are multipotent stem cells that give rise to cells in the central nervous system. At low densities, NPCs moved randomly in an amoeba-like fashion. However, NPCs at high density elongated and aligned their shapes with one another, gliding at relatively high velocities. Although the direction of motion of individual cells reversed stochastically along the axes of alignment, the cells were capable of forming an aligned pattern up to length scales similar to that of the migratory stream observed in the adult brain. The two-dimensional order of alignment within the culture showed a liquid-crystalline pattern containing interspersed topological defects with winding numbers of +1/2 and −1/2 (half-integer due to the nematic feature that arises from the head–tail symmetry of cell-to-cell interaction). We identified rapid cell accumulation at +1/2 defects and the formation of three-dimensional mounds. Imaging at the single-cell level around the defects allowed us to quantify the velocity field and the evolving cell density; cells not only concentrate at +1/2 defects, but also escape from −1/2 defects. We propose a generic mechanism for the instability in cell density around the defects that arises from the interplay between the anisotropic friction and the active force field.

doi: 10.1038/nature22321

地球科学：貫入性火成活動が制御していた初期地球の大陸地殻形成

Continental crust formation on early Earth controlled by intrusive magmatism p.332

Modelling of two modes of continental crust formation suggests that before plate tectonics began operating, the Archean early Earth’s tectonic regime was governed by intrusive magmatism.

doi: 10.1038/nature22042

地球科学：逆断層地震破壊が断層を開く可能性を示す実験的証拠

Experimental evidence that thrust earthquake ruptures might open faults p.336

Earthquake rupture experiments and mathematical modelling reveal the existence of a torquing mechanism of thrust fault ruptures near the free surface that causes them to dynamically unclamp, open and slip large distances.

doi: 10.1038/nature22045

神経科学：ショウジョウバエの概日リズムの光同調における脳内ロドプシンの機能

A rhodopsin in the brain functions in circadian photoentrainment in Drosophila p.340

The Drosophila rhodopsin Rh7 works with cryptochrome to mediate circadian light entrainment by pacemaker neurons.

doi: 10.1038/nature22325

神経科学：ゼブラフィッシュ幼生の脳全体の連続切片電子顕微鏡解析

Whole-brain serial-section electron microscopy in larval zebrafish p.345

A complete larval zebrafish brain is examined and its myelinated axons reconstructed using serial-section electron microscopy, revealing remarkable symmetry and providing a valuable resource.

doi: 10.1038/nature22356

神経科学：底板由来のネトリン1は交連軸索ガイダンスに必要ではない

Floor-plate-derived netrin-1 is dispensable for commissural axon guidance p.350

Preventing netrin secretion from floor-plate cells at the midline does not disrupt axonal guidance; commissural axons develop normally and the data suggest that netrin may influence axons locally by promoting growth cone adhesion.

doi: 10.1038/nature22331

がん：Wntを産生するニッチが、肺腺がんの増殖能を高めプログレッションを駆動する

A Wnt-producing niche drives proliferative potential and progression in lung adenocarcinoma p.355

The heterogeneity of cellular states in cancer has been linked to drug resistance, cancer progression and the presence of cancer cells with properties of normal tissue stem cells. Secreted Wnt signals maintain stem cells in various epithelial tissues, including in lung development and regeneration. Here we show that mouse and human lung adenocarcinomas display hierarchical features with two distinct subpopulations, one with high Wnt signalling activity and another forming a niche that provides the Wnt ligand. The Wnt responder cells showed increased tumour propagation ability, suggesting that these cells have features of normal tissue stem cells. Genetic perturbation of Wnt production or signalling suppressed tumour progression. Small-molecule inhibitors targeting essential posttranslational modification of Wnt reduced tumour growth and markedly decreased the proliferative potential of lung cancer cells, leading to improved survival of tumour-bearing mice. These results indicate that strategies for disrupting pathways that maintain stem-like and niche cell phenotypes can translate into effective anti-cancer therapies.

doi: 10.1038/nature22334

がん：Notchシグナル伝達によって生じる腫瘍内不均一性が小細胞肺がんを進行させる

Intratumoural heterogeneity generated by Notch signalling promotes small-cell lung cancer p.360

In a mouse model of small-cell lung cancer and in human tumours, activation of the Notch pathway can lead to a cell fate switch of neuroendocrine cells to less proliferative non-neuroendocrine cells, generating intratumoural heterogeneity.

doi: 10.1038/nature22323

細胞シグナル伝達：TRAF2およびOTUD7BはmTORC2シグナル伝達を調節するユビキチン依存性の切り替えを統御する

TRAF2 and OTUD7B govern a ubiquitin-dependent switch that regulates mTORC2 signalling p.365

The mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) has a key role in the integration of various physiological stimuli to regulate several cell growth and metabolic pathways. mTOR primarily functions as a catalytic subunit in two structurally related but functionally distinct multi-component kinase complexes, mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) and mTORC2 (refs 1, 2). Dysregulation of mTOR signalling is associated with a variety of human diseases, including metabolic disorders and cancer. Thus, both mTORC1 and mTORC2 kinase activity is tightly controlled in cells. mTORC1 is activated by both nutrients and growth factors, whereas mTORC2 responds primarily to extracellular cues such as growth-factor-triggered activation of PI3K signalling. Although both mTOR and GβL (also known as MLST8) assemble into mTORC1 and mTORC2 (refs 11, 12, 13, 14, 15), it remains largely unclear what drives the dynamic assembly of these two functionally distinct complexes. Here we show, in humans and mice, that the K63-linked polyubiquitination status of GβL dictates the homeostasis of mTORC2 formation and activation. Mechanistically, the TRAF2 E3 ubiquitin ligase promotes K63-linked polyubiquitination of GβL, which disrupts its interaction with the unique mTORC2 component SIN1 (refs 12, 13, 14) to favour mTORC1 formation. By contrast, the OTUD7B deubiquitinase removes polyubiquitin chains from GβL to promote GβL interaction with SIN1, facilitating mTORC2 formation in response to various growth signals. Moreover, loss of critical ubiquitination residues in GβL, by either K305R/K313R mutations or a melanoma-associated GβL(ΔW297) truncation, leads to elevated mTORC2 formation, which facilitates tumorigenesis, in part by activating AKT oncogenic signalling. In support of a physiologically pivotal role for OTUD7B in the activation of mTORC2/AKT signalling, genetic deletion of Otud7b in mice suppresses Akt activation and Kras-driven lung tumorigenesis in vivo. Collectively, our study reveals a GβL-ubiquitination-dependent switch that fine-tunes the dynamic organization and activation of the mTORC2 kinase under both physiological and pathological conditions.