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Claudia Langenberg, James Meigs and colleagues apply a joint meta-analysis approach that accounts for differences in body mass index to identify variants associated with glycemic traits. They report six new loci associated with fasting insulin levels and provide insights into the genetic basis of insulin resistance.

Animal sexual signals should be conspicuous to mates but not to enemies. Here, the authors show that call site properties can set limits on the attractiveness of male frogs' advertisement call, but that males may balance sexual success over predation risk by digging deeper puddles.

Pro-inflammatory signaling during embryonic development is poorly understood. Here, the authors identify that the master inflammatory factor p65 drives cycles of cell quiescence and proliferation to power the development of hematopoietic stem cells.

Functional diversity of T cells expressing antigen receptors composed of γ and δ chains is just beginning to be appreciated. Here the authors show that within γδ T cells of highly diverse Vγ4+repertoire there is a population with germline rearranged, invariant TCR and a distinct phenotype.

A genome-wide association study of 1.7 million individuals identified 41 genetic variants associated with left-handedness and 7 associated with ambidexterity. The genetic correlation between the traits was low, thereby implying different aetiologies.

Immunoglobulin G (IgG) is the main isotype of antibody in human blood. Here the authors describe 14 genetic variants that affect IgG levels in blood. The data provide new insight into the regulation of humoral immunity that could be useful in the development of antibody-based therapeutics.

Ancient Salmonella enterica genomes from Neolithic Eurasian humans compared with those from later archaeological contexts illuminate the evolving host specificity of the pathogen from an initial multi-mammalian adaptation towards an increasingly human specialization.

Results of an exploratory interim analysis from a phase I trial show that an RNA vaccine targeted towards four melanoma-associated antigens produces durable objective responses in patients with melanoma that are accompanied by strong CD4⁺ and CD8⁺ T-cell immunity.

Promoter capture Hi-C maps in human pancreatic islets identify more than 1,300 three-dimensional regulatory hubs, linking diabetes-associated enhancers to their target genes. Genetic variation in hubs impacts insulin secretion heritability.

3-finger toxins are unique to the venoms of caenophidian snakes. This study traces the evolution of these toxins in snakes, highlighting a key shift from membrane-bound to secretory proteins. This transformation, involving the loss of a membrane-anchoring domain and changes in gene expression, paved the way for their venomous function.

European populations underwent strong genetic changes during the Neolithic. Here, Furtwängler et al. provide ancient nuclear and mitochondrial genomic data from the region of Switzerland during the end of the Neolithic and the Early Bronze Age that reveal a complex genetic turnover during the arrival of steppe ancestry.

Sequencing data from two large-scale studies show that most of the genetic variation influencing the risk of type 2 diabetes involves common alleles and is found in regions previously identified by genome-wide association studies, clarifying the genetic architecture of this disease.

Sprouting of new blood vessels depends on the migration of endothelial tip cells into surrounding tissue. Here the authors reveal the existence of a distinct migratory signalling circuit that guides endothelial cells from developing veins to the leading tip position in developing arteries.

Pitulescu et al. and Hasan et al. show that Dll4–Notch signalling in endothelial tip cells regulates angiogenesis through control of artery formation, linking sprouting angiogenesis and artery formation.

Anna Köttgen and colleagues report genome-wide association studies for serum urate in over 140,000 individuals from the Global Urate Genetics Consortium (GUGC). They identify 18 loci newly associated with serum urate concentrations and confirm 10 known loci, characterize their associations with gout and include a network analysis suggesting a role for inhibins-activins pathways in regulating urate homeostasis.

A series of genetic studies have led to the discovery of novel independent loci and candidate genes associated with red blood cell phenotype; for a proportion of these genes potential single-nucleotide genetic variants are also identified, providing new insights into genetic pathways controlling red blood cell formation, function and pathology.

A wooded flora thrived during the Late Miocene greenhouse climate in the currently hyperarid Peruvian desert, according to analysis of paleobotanical samples from the Pisco Formation, Peru.

Kyle Gaulton, Mark McCarthy, Andrew Morris and colleagues report fine mapping and genomic annotation of 39 established type 2 diabetes susceptibility loci. They find that the set of potential causal variants is enriched for overlap with FOXA2 binding sites in human islet and liver cells, and they show that a likely causal variant near MTNR1B increases FOXA2-bound enhancer activity, providing a molecular mechanism to explain the effect of this locus on disease risk.

Melinda Mills, Nicola Barban, Harold Snieder, Marcel den Hoed and colleagues perform a meta-analysis of data from over 300,000 individuals for age at first birth and number of children ever born. They identify 12 significant loci that associate with these traits, providing insights into the genetic basis of human reproductive behavior.

Mark McCarthy and colleagues identify twelve new risk loci for type 2 diabetes through a large-scale genome-wide association and replication study in individuals of European ancestry. The identified loci affect both beta-cell function and insulin action and are enriched for genes involved in cell cycle regulation.

Samuli Ripatti and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide association study for circulating lipid levels based on 1000 Genomes Project imputation. Their results implicate several new loci, refine the association signals at many established loci and highlight the impact of low-frequency variants on lipid traits.

Unbiased screening for insect gene function has been largely restricted to Drosophila. Here, Schmitt-Engel et al. perform an unbiased large-scale RNAi screen in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneumto identify putative gene functions.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in more than 66,000 individuals identifies 68 new genomic loci that reliably associate with platelet count and volume, and reveals new gene functions.

Analyses of genomes from 914 children, adolescents, and young adults provide a comprehensive resource of genomic alterations across a spectrum of common childhood cancers.

An analysis of 101 ancient human genomes from the Bronze Age (3000–1000 bc) reveals large-scale population migrations in Eurasia consistent with the spread of Indo-European languages; individuals frequently had light skin pigmentation but were not lactose tolerant.

Children are less likely to be infected with SARS-CoV-2 and develop less severe disease than adults, which makes estimation of infection rates challenging. Here, the authors conduct seroprevalence surveys of children in Germany, describe changes in prevalence over time, and identify risk factors for infection.

Scientists say climate change, deforestation and fires could cause the world’s largest rainforest to dry out. The big question is how soon that might happen.

KdpFABC is a high-affinity bacterial K⁺ pump which combines the ion channel-like KdpA and the P-type ATPase KdpB. Here, the authors elucidate the mechanisms underlying transport and the coupling to ATP hydrolysis, and provide evidence that ions are transported via an intersubunit tunnel through KdpA and KdpB.

Many factors have been associated with chromosomal damage, including mechanical forces in a constrained cellular environment. Here the authors reveal an association between parity and chromosomal damage by analysing karyotypes of 1946 uterine leiomyomas.

Culturing bone marrow stromal cells on 3D silk scaffolds supports their proliferation and adipogenesis, while minimizing the activation of inflammatory pathways. Therefore, differentiation of bone marrow adipocytes in 3D culture might provide a more representative model for the study of bone marrow adipose tissue than is offered by traditional 2D cell cultures.

Vincent Jaddoe and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for infant head circumference. They identify variants in SBNO1 and near HMGA2 that are associated with this phenotype.

Measuring precise protein turnover rates in animals is technically challenging at the proteomic level. Here, Fornasiero and colleagues use isotopic labeling with mass spectrometry and mathematical modeling to accurately determine protein lifetimes in the mouse brain

Anti-cancer treatment often results in a subset of the clonal cell population developing resistance to therapy, with resistant cells displaying a diversity of fate types resulting from the intrinsic variability among the clonal population before treatment.

Joel Hirschhorn and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association and replication study for obesity-related traits. The newly discovered loci are enriched for genes expressed in the central nervous system, and may thus contribute to weight gain by modulating food intake. Similar results are reported in a related study by Gudmar Thorleifsson and colleagues.

Selenium and copper are two essential trace elements whose homeostasis and distribution is regulated by hepatic release of selenoprotein P (SELENOP) and ceruloplasmin, respectively. Here, the authors show that excessive copper results in hepatic SELENOP accumulation in the trans Golgi which might limit the selenium transport to peripheral organs.

More than two years after Russia invaded Ukraine, initiatives supporting Ukrainian researchers are counting the long-term career costs of the conflict.

Using 13 functional traits we characterize the Amazonian trees and the communities they form. Amazonian tree communities are distributed along a fast-slow-spectrum. This results in clear differences in traits among these forests, as well as their biomass and biomass productivity.

Retrotransposons are usually dormant in healthy tissue, but become activated during malignancy. Here, in colorectal cancer, Cajuso et al. show that retrotransposon activity associates with clinical features of the disease.

Marginal zone B (MZB) cells shuttle between the marginal zone and lymphoid follicle to capture and present peripheral blood antigens. Here the authors show that shear force, such as blood flow from the sinus around the follicle, is a directional cue that induces MZB migration on ICAM-1, and that S1P signaling inhibits this directional migration.

The effect of sequence variants on phenotypes may depend on parental origin. Here, a method is developed that takes parental origin — the impact of which, to date, has largely been ignored — into account in genome-wide association studies. For 38,167 Icelanders genotyped, the parental origin of most alleles is determined; furthermore, a number of variants are found that show associations specific to parental origin, including three with type 2 diabetes.

Pericytes are essential for the development, maintenance and function of vascular networks. Here, Eilken and colleagues show that expression of the decoy receptor VEGFR1 by pericytes spatially restricts VEGF signalling, thus regulating VEGF-induced endothelial cell sprouting in developing tissues.