Editorials
理化学研究所の予算削減をめぐる混乱は、今、日本が取り組まねばならない科学技術の深刻な問題の現れである。
Budget cuts fuel frustration among Japan’s academics p.259
Funding trouble at flagship research centre reflects a broader malaise in the country’s scientific priorities that must be addressed.
doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.22444
科学を偏見の正当化に利用することはできないし、すべきではない。
Against discrimination p.259
Science cannot and should not be used to justify prejudice.
doi: 10.1038/548259b
News
米国トランプ政権の気候変動研究軽視の穴埋めに、カリフォルニア州が独自の大規模な気候科学研究プロジェクトを。
California’s scientists push to create massive climate-research programme p.267
Effort backed by the state’s flagship universities comes as US President Donald Trump shrugs off global warming.
doi: 10.1038/548267a
中国で、高精度な脳地図の作製を大きく前進させる大規模研究施設が。
China launches brain-imaging factory p.268
Hub aims to make industrial-scale high-resolution brain mapping a standard tool for neuroscience
doi: 10.1038/548268a
エルニーニョ現象が、熱帯雨林からの二酸化炭素排出の大幅増加の原因に。
Massive El Niño sent greenhouse-gas emissions soaring p.269
Disruptive weather pattern in 2014–2016 spurred tropical forests to pump out 3 billion tonnes of carbon.
doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.22440
研究施設の災害対策が不十分なことが、全米科学アカデミーの調査で明らかに。
US biomedical-research facilities unprepared for attacks and natural disasters p.270
Science panel says institutions need to do more to prevent and mitigate damage to research equipment and animals.
doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.22446
科学への支援を訴える「科学のための行進」に、インド各地で多数の参加者が。
Thousands across India march in support of science p.270
Protesters demand respect for research — but some scientists were told to stay away.
doi: 10.1038/nature.2017.22439
野外研究の信頼性を高めようと、ヨーロッパ各地の14の研究室が並行して再現実験を進める試みを。
Why 14 ecology labs teamed up to watch grass grow p.271
Multi-lab efforts point the way to shoring up the reliability of field studies.
doi: 10.1038/548271a
News Features
健康:より健康な赤ちゃんを
China’s embrace of embryo selection raises thorny questions p.272
倫理面などで懸念はあるが、中国では着床前遺伝子診断が急激に増えている。
doi: 10.1038/548272a
News & Views
フォーラム:気候科学:大西洋十年規模変動の起源
Climate science: Origins of Atlantic decadal swings p.284
北大西洋の水温変動は、競合する多数の物理過程の結果であるが、こうした過程の相対的な役割は論争の源である。今回、こうした論争について、展望が2つ示された。
doi: 10.1038/nature23538
神経生物学:苦みと甘みの調和
Neurobiology: A bitter–sweet symphony p.285
苦みや甘みなどの味覚に関する情報は、それぞれの味覚に固有の経路を通してマウスの舌から脳へ伝えられる。今回、セマフォリンタンパク質が、こうした経路の配線を誘導していることが分かった。
doi: 10.1038/nature23537
がんゲノミクス:ヒトの転移がんを徹底的に調べる
Cancer genomics: Human metastases under scrutiny p.287
原発部位から体の別の部位に広がった500例のヒトがんのDNAとRNAの塩基配列によって、基礎科学と患者の利益の一致に一歩近づいた。
doi: 10.1038/nature23535
天文学:恒星の擾乱大気の全体像
Astronomy: A turbulent stellar atmosphere in full view p.288
赤色超巨星の外層大気におけるガスの動的運動がマッピングされ、恒星風を通して大質量星が質量を失う原因となる未知の機構の手掛かりが得られた。
doi: 10.1038/548288a
細胞生物学:健康な皮膚はがんを排除する
Cell biology: Healthy skin rejects cancer p.289
ライブ画像化法によって、健康な皮膚細胞が、がんを促進する変異を持つ隣接細胞を取り囲んで排除することが示され、組織が変異細胞を認識し除去して腫瘍のイニシエーションを妨げ得ることが明らかになった。
doi: 10.1038/nature23534
Articles
進化学:ジュラ紀の新たな滑空性哺乳形類
New gliding mammaliaforms from the Jurassic p.291
Maiopatagium, a haramiyid from the Jurassic Tiaojishan Formation (around 160 million years ago) of China was specialised for gliding with a patagium (wing membrane) and a fused wishbone, reminiscent of that of birds.
doi: 10.1038/nature23476
がん:転移がんの統合的臨床ゲノミクス
Integrative clinical genomics of metastatic cancer p.297
Clinical exome and transcriptome sequencing of 500 adult patients with metastatic solid tumours of diverse lineage and biopsy site, as part of the Michigan Oncology Sequencing (MI-ONCOSEQ) Program.
doi: 10.1038/nature23306
Letters
天文学:超大質量ブラックホールへのラム圧によるガス供給
Ram-pressure feeding of supermassive black holes p.304
The majority of ‘jellyfish’ galaxies, characterized by long ‘tentacles’ of gas, also have active nuclei, indicating that gas is being fed to the central supermassive black hole by ram pressure.
doi: 10.1038/nature23462
天文学:赤色超巨星アンタレスにおける活発な大気運動
Vigorous atmospheric motion in the red supergiant star Antares p.310
Mapping the velocity of the gas at the surface and in the atmosphere of the nearby red supergiant star Antares reveals vigorous motion of several huge gas clumps in an extended atmosphere, which cannot be fully explained by convection.
doi: 10.1038/nature23445
材料科学:CeRhIn5の磁場誘起量子臨界点での面内の電子対称性の破れ
Electronic in-plane symmetry breaking at field-tuned quantum criticality in CeRhIn5 p.313
Electronic nematicity is observed in a heavy-fermion superconductor, CeRhIn5, suggesting a close link between unconventional superconductivity and the appearance of nematicity.
doi: 10.1038/nature23315
ナノ科学:アナログ演算のためのNbO2モットメモリスターのカオスダイナミクス
Chaotic dynamics in nanoscale NbO2 Mott memristors for analogue computing p.318
A relaxation oscillator incorporating nanoscale niobium dioxide memristors that exhibit both a current- and a temperature-controlled negative differential resistance produces chaotic dynamics that aid biomimetic computing.
doi: 10.1038/nature23307
人類学:7万3000~6万3000年前のスマトラ島に初期の現生人類が存在していた
An early modern human presence in Sumatra 73,000–63,000 years ago p.322
Morphological analysis of teeth found at Lida Ajer shows that these belong to Homo sapiens, indicating that modern humans were in Sumatra between 73,000 and 63,000 years ago.
doi: 10.1038/nature23452
進化学:ジュラ紀生態系における哺乳形類の耳の進化および摂餌適応に関する新証拠
New evidence for mammaliaform ear evolution and feeding adaptation in a Jurassic ecosystem p.326
The fossil of a gliding mammal from the Tiaojishan Formation of China displays many unique features of its ears, teeth and tooth-replacement pattern, illustrating the great diversity of stem mammals living in the Jurassic period.
doi: 10.1038/nature23483
神経科学:味覚系の再配線
Rewiring the taste system p.330
Taste-receptor cells use distinct semaphorins to guide wiring of the peripheral taste system; targeted ectopic expression of SEMA3A or SEMA7A leads to bitter neurons responding to sweet tastes or sweet neurons responding to bitter tastes.
doi: 10.1038/nature23299
幹細胞:異常増殖の修正により組織の恒常性が維持される
Correction of aberrant growth preserves tissue homeostasis p.334
Intravital imaging reveals unanticipated plasticity of adult skin epithelium in mice when faced with mutational or non-mutational insults, and elucidates the dynamic cellular behaviours used for its return to a homeostatic state.
doi: 10.1038/nature23304
免疫学:m6A mRNAメチル化はIL-7/STAT5/SOCS経路を標的としてT細胞恒常性を制御する
m6A mRNA methylation controls T cell homeostasis by targeting the IL-7/STAT5/SOCS pathways p.338
N6-methyladenosine (m6A) is the most common and abundant messenger RNA modification, modulated by ‘writers’, ‘erasers’ and ‘readers’ of this mark. In vitro data have shown that m6A influences all fundamental aspects of mRNA metabolism, mainly mRNA stability, to determine stem cell fates. However, its in vivo physiological function in mammals and adult mammalian cells is still unknown. Here we show that the deletion of m6A ‘writer’ protein METTL3 in mouse T cells disrupts T cell homeostasis and differentiation. In a lymphopaenic mouse adoptive transfer model, naive Mettl3-deficient T cells failed to undergo homeostatic expansion and remained in the naive state for up to 12 weeks, thereby preventing colitis. Consistent with these observations, the mRNAs of SOCS family genes encoding the STAT signalling inhibitory proteins SOCS1, SOCS3 and CISH were marked by m6A, exhibited slower mRNA decay and showed increased mRNAs and levels of protein expression in Mettl3-deficient naive T cells. This increased SOCS family activity consequently inhibited IL-7-mediated STAT5 activation and T cell homeostatic proliferation and differentiation. We also found that m6A has important roles for inducible degradation of Socs mRNAs in response to IL-7 signalling in order to reprogram naive T cells for proliferation and differentiation. Our study elucidates for the first time, to our knowledge, the in vivo biological role of m6A modification in T-cell-mediated pathogenesis and reveals a novel mechanism of T cell homeostasis and signal-dependent induction of mRNA degradation.
doi: 10.1038/nature23450
遺伝学:ゲノム規模の活性化スクリーニングから明らかになった近傍の遺伝子を調節するlncRNA座位
Genome-scale activation screen identifies a lncRNA locus regulating a gene neighbourhood p.343
Long noncoding RNAs are investigated using a CRISPR–Cas9 activation screen and shown to confer BRAF inhibitor resistance on melanoma cells through various local mechanisms.
doi: 10.1038/nature23451
分子生物学:mRNA 3′ウリジル化とポリ(A)尾部の長さが哺乳類の母系トランスクリプトームを形作る
mRNA 3′ uridylation and poly(A) tail length sculpt the mammalian maternal transcriptome p.347
A fundamental principle in biology is that the program for early development is established during oogenesis in the form of the maternal transcriptome. How the maternal transcriptome acquires the appropriate content and dosage of transcripts is not fully understood. Here we show that 3′ terminal uridylation of mRNA mediated by TUT4 and TUT7 sculpts the mouse maternal transcriptome by eliminating transcripts during oocyte growth. Uridylation mediated by TUT4 and TUT7 is essential for both oocyte maturation and fertility. In comparison to somatic cells, the oocyte transcriptome has a shorter poly(A) tail and a higher relative proportion of terminal oligo-uridylation. Deletion of TUT4 and TUT7 leads to the accumulation of a cohort of transcripts with a high frequency of very short poly(A) tails, and a loss of 3′ oligo-uridylation. By contrast, deficiency of TUT4 and TUT7 does not alter gene expression in a variety of somatic cells. In summary, we show that poly(A) tail length and 3′ terminal uridylation have essential and specific functions in shaping a functional maternal transcriptome.
doi: 10.1038/nature23318
細胞生物学:タンパク質輸送ERADチャネルHrd1の、Hrd3と複合体を形成した状態の低温電子顕微鏡構造
Cryo-EM structure of the protein-conducting ERAD channel Hrd1 in complex with Hrd3 p.352
The structure of yeast Hrd1 in complex with Hrd3 shows that Hrd1 forms an aqueous cavity with a lateral seal within the endoplasmic reticulum membrane, shedding light on how misfolded proteins are transported out of the endoplasmic reticulum.
doi: 10.1038/nature23314
細胞生物学:リゾホスファチジン酸受容体LPA6によるリガンド認識に関する構造学的考察
Structural insights into ligand recognition by the lysophosphatidic acid receptor LPA6 p.356
Determination of the crystal structure of the zebrafish LPA6 receptor shows that the lipid ligand binds to an unusual ligand-binding pocket in the receptor that is laterally accessible through the membrane.
doi: 10.1038/nature23448