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COVID-19 during pregnancy is still incompletely understood. Here, the authors use a hamster model to show that it causes placental inflammation, impairing fetal growth but without vertical transmission. Vaccination and anticoagulants can prevent such risks, highlighting ways to protect mother and unborn child.

Crohn’s disease is associated with disturbances in the B-cell compartment and secreted antibodies. Here, the authors reveal impaired colonic dimeric IgA responses in patients with Crohn’s disease and verify this phenotype in murine models, demonstrating that mitochondrial dysfunction drives defective mucosal humoral immunity.

mGWAS reveals ZmICE1 as a key hub for integrating amino acid metabolic pathways and cold tolerance in maize. Natural variation in ZmICE1 promoter regulates the binding affinity of ZmMYB39, which confers the diverse cold tolerance in maize.

Therapies combining chemotherapy and immune checkpoint inhibitors have shown limited efficacy in patients with advanced pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC). Here the authors report the results of a pilot phase 1 trial of neoadjuvant modified Folfirinox plus nivolumab in borderline-resectable PDAC, including safety, efficacy and immunological correlates.

Osteoporotic fractures are a major global health burden. Here the authors show, using proteome wide Mendelian randomization, that nine circulating proteins influence forearm fracture risk and identify a novel protective role for ephrin A1

Histological analysis of the human pancreas provides insight into initiation and progression of type 1 diabetes (T1D). Here the authors utilize pancreatic tissue sections across different disease stages and apply whole slide imaging and digital pathology to identify endocrine cell composition, immune cell burden and spatial islet relationships in health and over the course of T1D.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

LC retention time prediction of peptides and their modifications is useful but is hindered by variations in experimental parameters. Here, the authors show how fine-tuning a deep learning model on a wide variety of experimental setups and modified peptides substantially improves predictions.

Biomolecular insights into significant cultural changes during the Central European Late Bronze Age (1300–800 BCE) have been limited by cremation. Here, the authors examine available inhumation burials with ancient DNA, stable isotopes, and osteoarchaeology to identify regional traditions and interconnectedness.

Many vascular‑disease risk loci lack defined causal genes. Here, the authors integrate functional genomics and CRISPR screens to identify genes influencing smooth muscle cell behaviour, validating roles for FES, BCAR1, CARF and SMARCA4, with Fes loss promoting atherosclerosis and hypertension.

Tests of the predictions of the renormalization group in biological experiments have not yet been decisive. Now, a study on the collective dynamics of insect swarms provides a long-sought match between experiment and theory.

Analysis of the somatic and transcriptomic profile of 123 acral melanoma samples from Mexican patients helps understand tumour origins and prognosis, and highlights the importance of including samples from diverse ancestries in cancer genomics studies.

Immunopeptidomics identify CD4⁺ T cell epitopes from the conserved bacterial Hup protein that confer protection against multiple bacterial infections in mice suggesting potential for development of broader-spectrum vaccines against staphylococci and streptococci.

The authors find that distinct radial glia subtypes generate and support midbrain dopaminergic neurons, revealing specialized function and lineage relationships among the diverse cell types that shape dopamine neuron development.

Chlorine electrosynthesis from seawater is limited by poor selectivity and stability under industrial-scale conditions. Here atomic-step-enriched ultrafine high-entropy alloy nanowires enable highly efficient chlorine evolution at 10 kA m⁻² for over 5,500 h through dynamic Pt–O active sites, reducing electricity consumption and feedstock costs for next-generation chlor-alkali processes.

Plasma p-tau217 tests used to develop clocks that predict when cognitively unimpaired individuals would develop symptoms of Alzheimerʼs disease.

Evolutionarily related ‘proto-point’ centromeres providing resolution to the evolutionary origins of point centromeres are identified in yeast, and comparison shows they evolved in an ancestor with retrotransposon-rich centromeres and that long-terminal-repeat retrotransposons are the genetic substrate.

Polyamides (PAs) or nylons are types of plastics with wide applications, but due to their accumulation in the environment, strategies for their deconstruction are of interest. Here, the authors screen 40 potential nylon-hydrolyzing enzymes (nylonases) using a mass spectrometry-based approach and identify a thermostabilized N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase as the most promising for further development, as well as crucial targets for progressing PA6 enzymatic depolymerization.

Multiple myeloma involves alterations to T cell function, but mechanisms underlying disease evolution remain unclear. Here the authors find that, unlike solid cancers, multiple myeloma lacks exhausted T cells and is instead characterized by antigen-driven terminal memory T cell differentiation, which may be driven by tumour-intrinsic features including tumour burden and antigen-presentation gene expression.

Bees are crucial for the maintenance of healthy ecosystems, yet rigorous estimates of their species’ richness are lacking. This study estimates taxonomic gaps for bees around the world and provides a standardised method for occurrence data.

Although antiretroviral therapies (ART) have expanded the life expectancy of patients with HIV, they are not curative due to the presence of latently infected cells. Here, the authors present IMC-M113V, a bispecific soluble TCR targeting the HIV peptide Gag_77-85 complexed to HLA-A*02:01 as an approach for targeting HIV reservoirs and test safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics in a first-in-human clinical trial on 12 HLA-A*02:01-positive male individuals on ART.

People living with HIV (PLWH) have an increased risk for aging-related comorbidities. Here, the authors develop a proteomics-based immune aging framework for PLWH and demonstrate that immune aging is accelerated in HIV infection, is closely linked to total viral reservoir burden, and is modulated by antiretroviral therapy.

Cue–reward learning rate scales proportionally with the time between rewards. Consequently, learning over a fixed duration is independent of the number of trials. This challenges trial-based dopamine learning models but supports retrospective learning.

Symbiotic bacteria can have exceedingly small genomes. This study finds that ancient bacterial symbionts of planthoppers have repeatedly evolved the smallest known genomes, losing most biosynthetic functions, revealing how extreme genome reduction shapes life at the edge of cellular complexity.

In this work, authors use whole genome tracking in a neonatal intensive care unit to reveal a strong link between Staphylococcus aureus colonization and invasive infection, pinpointing critical new targets for infection prevention in high-risk infants.

Soft electrostatic actuators are crucial for advancing robotic systems that require adaptability and safety in unstructured environments. This study introduces ultralight soft electrostatic actuators utilizing solid-liquid-gas architectures, achieving significant improvements in power-to-weight ratio and actuation speed, exemplified by a 60% increase in jump height in a jumping robot compared to traditional designs.

This work reports optical studies of circular and linear dichroism to image, respectively, chiral and nematic spin ordering in the layered triangular-lattice antiferromagnet Co1/3TaS2. Phases with co-existing chirality and nematicity are revealed.

Solid-state quantum emitters in the telecom C-band hold promise for quantum communication applications, but achieving high photon indistinguishability remains challenging. Here, the authors deterministically generate highly indistinguishable single photons in the telecom C-band from InAs/InAlGaAs quantum dots.

The APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype is the strongest genetic risk factor for sporadic Alzheimer’s disease. Here, Brutman et al. identify a deletion common in people of African ancestry that reduces the relative risk conferred by the APOE-ε4/ε4 genotype.

In this study, the authors designed potent Enterovirus D68 capsid inhibitors that block viral binding and show that the lead compounds reduce virus levels, prevent paralysis and improve survival in EV-D68-challenged mice, even when treatment starts days after infection.

T cell activation requires major metabolic adaptation. Here authors find that in mice and humans, expression of the NAD/H-synthesis enzyme nicotinamide riboside kinase 1 (NRK1) increases in CD4+ T cells upon activation, particularly within the cytoplasm, which impacts NADP/H and reactive oxygen species signalling, restraining activation and cytokine production while promoting CD4 + T cell survival during viral and fungal infections.

Aperiodic composite crystals were discovered that emulate 2D moiré materials, demonstrating a potentially scalable approach for producing moiré materials for next-generation electronics and a generalizable approach for realizing theoretical predictions of higher-dimensional quantum phenomena.

A follow-up analysis of a clinical trial that evaluated anti-PD-1 therapy in patients with cancer who are living with HIV provides mechanistic insights into transcriptomic, cellular and cytokine changes related to immune checkpoint inhibitor treatment and identifies a signature associated with clinical response.

The role of the innate immune system in pancreatic cancer is largely unexplored. Here, the authors reveal a targetable cancer cell-intrinsic axis in pancreatic cancer comprising ASC inflammasome complexes that link innate immunity with mitochondrial function and metabolism.

Pancreatic ductal carcinoma is often diagnosed at a late stage due to challenges in detection. Here, the authors develop a serum metabolomics-based algorithm, which outperforms existing detection methods.

The transcription factor CarD facilitates the activation of transcription in many bacteria and in Rhodobacter sphaeroides, CarD compensates for suboptimal promoter DNA sequences. Here, the authors show CarD function is tied to promoter DNA topology.

Excess nitrogen fertilization in maize production harms the environment and society, yet farmers face yield risks when reducing inputs. Using field trials across the US Corn Belt, this study suggests that nitrogen rates can be reduced by 12–16% with minimal yield risk, reducing emissions and leaching.

Single-cell manipulation and processing techniques and improvements in mass spectrometry sensitivity make single-cell proteomic profiling feasible. This study presents a label-free approach for the characterisation of native N-glycans of single mammalian cells and ng-level blood isolates, demonstrating the potential to detect cell surface glycome changes at the single-cell level in health or disease.

DeepRare—a multi-agent system for rare disease differential diagnosis decision support powered by large language models, integrating specialized tools and up-to-date knowledge sources—has the potential to reduce healthcare disparities in rare disease diagnosis.

Urbanization often leaves cities with fewer iconic species, and not just of animals. This study focusing on urban trees finds that urban trees have homogenized over large geographic differences but diversified over short ones.

An Earth system model estimates that natural halogens, of marine biotic and abiotic origin, remove about 13% of present-day global tropospheric O₃. Projections suggest this ratio is stable through 2100, with high spatial heterogeneity, despite increasing natural halogens.

Targeted ablation of prostaglandin E₂ (PGE₂) signalling in CAR T cells enhances their activity in PGE₂-rich solid tumours, with demonstrations of efficacy in vitro, in mouse xenografts and in patient-derived organotypic tumour spheroids.

A study examines the effects of mutations that occur naturally in T cell cancers, reporting that such mutations can potentially be exploited to increase the potency of T cell therapies.

In this analysis of biomolecular and archaeological data from a ninth-century BCE mass grave in the Carpathian Basin, Fibiger et al. find evidence for the targeted killing of mostly unrelated women and children, challenging views of prehistoric violence.

JWST imaged three of the gas giants orbiting the star HR 8799 to study their atmospheres. The uniform enrichment of heavy elements, including sulfur, indicates that they formed like Jupiter and Saturn by accreting a lot of icy and rocky solids.

Viral ribonucleoprotein–viral protein networks form pre-replication centres that nucleate viral factories and drive respiratory syncytial virus replication.

While therapies targeting type I BRAF mutations have been developed, there are limited options for those with type II and III mutations. Here, the authors identify a subset of BRAF-mutant non-small cell lung cancer patients and characterise the pan-RAF inhibitor exarafenib, demonstrating efficacy in preclinical models and investigating subsequent resistance mechanisms.

Expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis in patients with inflammatory bowel disease identify potential target genes for IBD GWAS loci not readily detected in individuals without disease highlighting the importance disease-focused studies.

Thermal imaging lenses are typically made from expensive materials such as germanium and silicon. Here, the authors synthesise a sulfur-based polymer with high mid-wave infrared and long-wave infrared transparencies, presenting a high-performing, low-cost alternative to traditional thermal imaging lens materials.