Nature Communications

Nature Communications is an open access journal that publishes high-quality research from all areas of the natural sciences. Papers published by the journal represent important advances of significance to specialists within each field.

List of Papers (Total 73,439)

Influenza coinfection inhibits control of mycobacterial infection in a human challenge model

Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection is a dynamic continuum. Clinical outcomes reflect complex host-pathogen interactions. Epidemiological and animal studies have suggested influenza coinfection as a risk factor for progression from contained infection to active disease, but human studies have been lacking. Using a whole blood luminescent mycobacterial growth inhibition assay...

Independence and coherence in temporal sequence computation across the fronto-parietal network

Time processing requires distributed and coordinated cortical dynamics, yet how multiple brain areas flexibly switch between coherent and independent temporal representations remains unclear. Using mesoscale two-photon calcium imaging, we simultaneously recorded neuronal populations in the secondary motor cortex and posterior parietal cortex of mice performing a novel alternating...

Towards robust foundation models for digital pathology

Biomedical Foundation Models (FMs) are transforming AI-enabled healthcare research and entering clinical validation. However, their susceptibility to learning non-biological features — including variations in laboratory procedures and scanner hardware — poses risks for clinical deployment. We introduce PathoROB, a public benchmark quantifying FM robustness to non-biological...

Controls on natural hydrogen generation during serpentinization of mantle rocks

Mantle rocks undergoing serpentinization can generate significant amounts of natural hydrogen, yet the rates and controlling processes remain poorly understood. Here, we constrain the possible hydrogen generation rates in two distinct mantle rock types, the fertile lherzolites of the Western Pyrenees and the depleted harzburgites of Northern California, to relatively low rates of...

Genome-wide association study of cocaine self-administration behavior in Heterogeneous Stock rats

Cocaine use disorder (CUD) is a major public health crisis. The specific genes mediating CUD remain largely unknown. We conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) using outbred N/NIH Heterogeneous Stock (HS; n = 836, female = 415, male = 421) rats. We examined CUD-related phenotypes including acquisition of self-administration, escalation of intake, and compulsive-like...

Developmental variation in basal ganglia tissue iron, neurocognitive functioning, and impulsivity is associated with substance use trajectories in youth

Neurodevelopmental models implicate dopaminergic and neurocognitive maturation in adolescent risk-taking, yet their joint contribution to substance use trajectories in humans remains unclear. We examined basal ganglia tissue iron, a marker of dopamine-related neurobiology, alongside impulsivity and inhibitory control in relation to longitudinal substance use patterns in the...

TOFU-MAaPO: fast, scalable and reproducible analysis of large metagenome sequence data from the Sequence Read Archive

Metagenomic shotgun sequencing data from over 600,000 metagenomes are publicly available in repositories such as NCBI’s Sequence Read Archive (SRA). Technically advanced and easy-to-use best-practice metagenome software workflows for raw data pre-processing, assembly of metagenome-assembled genomes, and taxonomic and functional annotation of metagenome-assembled genomes are...

Co-ordinated shifts in deep-water formation and Gulf Stream migration during abrupt climate changes

Theory and models suggest the Gulf Stream may shift northwards under projected Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation weakening. Yet Gulf Stream behaviour during past abrupt cold events remains poorly constrained. Here we present high-resolution paleoceanographic records from the Northwest Atlantic during the last deglaciation. During the Younger Dryas cold period, we...

Synthesis of bundle copolymers as an emergent class of copolymer architecture

Copolymers play a central role in soft materials owing to their capacity for diverse molecular designs. While numerous combinations of composition and topology have been explored for the development of copolymers, only four types of basic architecture (random, sequence-controlled, block, and graft) have been synthetically and historically achievable. Herein, we introduce an...

The distinct trimeric structure of the immunodominant chlamydial antigen Major Outer Membrane Protein

The chlamydial Major Outer Membrane Protein (MOMP) is a promising subunit vaccine candidate due to its abundance in the outer membrane (OM), the presence of four surface-exposed variable domains (VDs) containing neutralizing and serotyping epitopes, and confirmed T-cell epitopes located in its constant domains (CDs). However, recombinant and denatured forms of MOMP have failed to...

Navigating adoption barriers for microbial proteins in future food

Microbial biomass fermentation, in which microbes are cultivated to produce nutrient-dense biomass, offers a scalable route to sustainable protein production with low land, water, and greenhouse gas footprints. However, its shift from a speciality to a mainstream food continues to be difficult. Here, we move beyond technological overviews and propose a three-phase adoption...

Individual locomotor bias drives counterclockwise motion in pedestrian crowds

Pedestrian walking behaviour is intrinsic to individuals, yet it is influenced by external factors such as obstacles and the degree of crowding. It is precisely in crowded scenarios that pedestrian interactions lead to collective motions, such as lane formation or waves. Recently, the spontaneous development of collective counterclockwise motion has been reported in both dense...

Electron ptychography reveals correlated lattice vibrations at atomic resolution

Electron Ptychography is a computational imaging technique capable of performing phase retrieval at atomic resolution. Here we introduce the CAVIAR framework (Correlated Atomic Vibration Imaging with sub-Angstrom Resolution) that reveals spatial correlations in atomic displacements at the atomic scale. Using realistically simulated data for a symmetric Σ9 grain boundary in...

Active inference as a model of collision avoidance behavior in human drivers

Collision avoidance – involving a rapid threat detection and quick execution of the appropriate evasive maneuver – is a critical aspect of driving. However, existing models of human collision avoidance behavior are fragmented, focusing on specific scenarios or only describing certain aspects of the avoidance behavior, such as response times. This paper addresses these gaps by...

Passive subambient cooling and atmospheric water nexus

Accelerating global warming has intensified the need for sustainable, low-energy cooling strategies. Subambient radiative cooling is a compelling solution, passively dissipating heat to outer space via mid-infrared emission without external energy input. However, its performance depends on atmospheric conditions, especially low humidity and clear skies. Although its global...

Scg2 drives corticospinal circuit reorganization with spinal premotor interneurons and astrocytes for motor recovery after stroke in mice

Brain injuries such as stroke damage neural circuitry and lead to functional deficits. Spared motor pathways are often reorganized for recovery; however, the connectivity and mechanisms that drive the reorganization are largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate structural and functional connectivity reformed by corticospinal axons after stroke in male mice and determine a secretory...

Switchable annulation paths to diverse N-bridged bicyclic scaffolds via ligand-directed dicarbonylation

N-Bridged bicyclic scaffolds bearing 3-azabicyclo[3.2.0]heptane and 3-azabicyclo[3.1.1]heptane cores have emerged as privileged bioisosteres of piperidine and meta-substituted pyridine, offering enhanced conformational rigidity and improved pharmacokinetic profiles. However, existing synthetic approaches are typically restricted to single scaffolds, limiting scaffold diversity...

Slow slip modulates low-frequency seismicity on the Parkfield segment of the San Andreas Fault

Understanding how slow slip events (SSEs) influence fault behavior is essential for characterizing the fault slip spectrum and its role in earthquake generation. Here, we show that deep learning applied to strainmeter data can detect short-duration SSEs on the San Andreas Fault near Parkfield, enabling an SSE catalog. SSEs are coherently observed across instruments, with evidence...

Ground squirrel coprolites preserve complex archives of ancient environmental DNA over 700,000 years

Permafrost-preserved ground squirrel (Urocitellus) burrows in Yukon, Canada contain coprolites (palaeofaeces) that span from the Holocene to at least the Middle Pleistocene (~700 kya). Using shotgun metagenomics and targeted enrichment, we recover a rich, multi-taxon spectrum of ancient environmental DNA from these pellets, including: plants, insects, microbes, and megafauna...

Adaptive Riemannian optimization for multi-scale diffeomorphic matching

Image matching is a fundamental task in quantitative biomedical and biological image analyses, enabling researchers to compare, integrate, and interpret imaging data across subjects, time points, modalities, and experimental conditions. Existing state-of-the-art registration methods are slow due to inefficient implementations and poor convergence rates because of the ill...

Structural basis of insulin receptor antagonism by bivalent site 1-site 2 ligands S961 and Ins-AC-S2

Congenital hyperinsulinism is a rare genetic disease characterized by overproduction of insulin. One class of potential treatments is insulin receptor antagonists like S961 and Ins-AC-S2, which comprise segments for binding each of the two insulin-binding sites (site 1 and site 2) on the receptor. Notably, S597 – containing the same receptor binding segments as S961 but in the...