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A national classification system of wetland hydrologic connectivity to streams, which could be applied globally, demonstrates and advances current understanding of how wetland connectivity affects surface water quality.

The APOE-ε4 allele is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer’s disease, but it is not deterministic. Here, the authors show that common genetic variation changes how APOE-ε4 influences cognition.

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.

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.

Native state proteomics of PV interneurons revealed unique molecular features of high translational and metabolic activity, and enrichment of Alzheimer’s risk genes. Early amyloid pathology exerted unique effects on mitochondria, mTOR signaling and neurotransmission in PV neurons.

From 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused global mass coral bleaching, where the corals lose their symbiotic algae. The authors find, this event exceeded the severity of all prior global bleaching events in recorded history, with approximately half the world’s reefs bleaching and 15% experiencing substantial mortality.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 58 independent risk loci for major anxiety disorders among individuals of European ancestry and implicates GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism underlying genetic risk for these disorders.

Using 63 globally distributed grassland and shrubland sites from the International Drought Experiment, this study identified plant traits linked to drought resistance after 1 year of extreme drought across growth forms, lifespans and climate.

Current mapping of fork progression in the human genome suffers from drastically low throughput. Here, the authors introduce ForkML, a nanopore sequencing-based method automatically positioning thousands of individual fork velocities by tracking BrdU incorporation into asynchronously growing cells.

The nature of the defects in amorphous materials, analogous to vacancies and dislocations in crystals, remains a matter of debate. Scalliet et al. show that localized and extended defects coexist in a wide range of conditions, yet are associated with distinct energy scales in a prototypical glass model.

Population-based studies from Sweden with replication in Norway identify associations between host genetic variants and gut microbial composition and implicate short-chain fatty acid chemosensors as modulators of gut microbial richness.

Native crystallographic defects are often introduced during synthesis of battery materials, but has been overlooked. Here, using in situ synchrotron X-ray probes and electron microscopy, the authors have revealed their adverse effect during battery operation.

Microscopic imaging and biochemical studies show that sinuses in mouse and human form a highly dynamic surface that regulates fluid movement and immune cell surveillance via RAMP1-dependent regulation of smooth muscle contraction and RAMP2-dependent regulation of the sinus endothelial barrier.

A probe with month-long molecular afterglow luminescence targeting a downregulated cancer biomarker detects small liver tumours for image-guided resection in mice and rabbits.

Energy deposition inside silicon with ultrashort laser pulses is intrinsically restricted. Here, authors demonstrate that this filamentation-driven ceiling is universal in semiconductors. Extreme nonlinearities are quantified to predict and optimize involume laser-semiconductor interaction.

Mechanosensitive PIEZO channels sense and open through membrane tension, but their dynamic gating mechanisms at the molecular level remain unclear. A hybrid all-atom and coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation approach and electrophysiology reveal a clockwork mechanism for PIEZO2 involving two open states.

Energy security is an important policy objective across Europe. Public concern about energy security varies across countries due to differences in national energy context and more general national indicators of economic and human well-being, over-and-above individual population characteristics.

This systematic review and meta-analysis synthesizes evidence on math ability in autistic individuals relative to the non-autistic population. The findings suggest that individuals with autism spectrum disorder exhibit significantly lower math scores and greater variability compared with non-autistic individuals.

The Na⁺ -pumping NADH-quinone oxidoreductase is a redox-driven sodium pump often found in pathogenic bacteria. Here, the authors demonstrate how enzyme structural changes efficiently couple electron transfer to Na⁺ translocation.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

Chen et al. developed a self-powered smart magnetoelastic stent for real-time hemodynamic monitoring and stenosis detection.

Human visual system relies on temporal attention to detect moving objects before high-level processing with large computational overheads. Wang et al. emulate this function in a neuromorphic hardware, showing a 400% speedup compared to algorithm-based visual perception and surpassing human capabilities.

Drugs that rescue function of episodic ataxia 1 (EA1) mutant potassium channels are lacking. Here, Manville et al identify and describe the molecular basis for Native American botanical ataxia remedies that directly rescue EA1 mutant channels.

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.

This study analyses whole-genome sequencing data of cancer samples from 10,983 patients and explores relationships among mutational signatures, various biomarkers and clinical outcomes.

Global Burden of Disease estimates show that between 1990 and 2023, the prevalence and burden of drug use disorders, inclusive of amphetamine, cannabis, cocaine and opioid use, have been increasing in high-income countries, particularly in the USA.

Biogenic–anthropogenic interactions increase the formation and prevalence of secondary organic aerosol coatings on urban black carbon in Nanjing, China. These coatings amplify radiative effects, according to a model–data analysis for 2023.

Here they show that NONO collaborates with HOXA1 to modulate gene expression during early cardiomyocyte differentiation. This interaction facilitates activation of the Wnt signaling pathway, establishing the NONO-HOXA1-Wnt axis as a key mechanism in cardiac development.

Conventional type 1 dendritic cells (cDC1) can boost the precursor exhausted T cell population thought to be essential for efficacy of immune checkpoint therapy. Here the authors enhance this cellular network using Flt3L to expand cDC1s and then map the movement of T cells and DCs between tumors and lymph nodes.

Using two newly developed immunoassays tested in three clinical cohorts, this study highlights CSF DOPA decarboxylase as a promising biomarker for differentiating dementia with Lewy bodies and Parkinson’s disease from Alzheimer’s disease and controls.

Iron is an essential micronutrient for plants and a lack of iron availability limits crop yield in many parts of the world. Here the authors show that natural variation in root growth ofArabidopsis plants under iron deficiency can be caused by allelic variation at the FRO2locus.

Electroreduction of CO is an emerging route to produce multicarbon molecules, but achieving this efficiently in solid-state devices is challenging. Here the authors develop a cation-functionalized layer using polyacrylate in a solid-state electrolyser that produces ethylene stably and efficiently from syngas.

A lab-scale proof-of-principle demonstration of a quantum network comprising one server chip and 20 client photonic chips implementing twin-field quantum key distribution shows excellent scalability and reliability and yields a pathway towards future large-scale networks.

Exposure to inflammation drives hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) aging, limiting their self-renewal capacity and differentiation. Here, the authors explore the mechanistic link between inflammation and HSC aging. Using mouse models, they identify the innate immune RNA sensor MDA5 as a key mediator of HSC aging and show that MDA5 loss ameliorates the aging phenotype by improving proteostasis in aged HSCs.

In a randomized experiment in Chelsea, Massachusetts, USA, lower-income individuals who received cash transfers reduced calorie deficits and increased consumption of nutrient-dense, higher-cost foods. Their findings highlight the critical role that income support may have in a high-income country to reduce hunger.

The electronic behaviour of complex oxides such as LaNiO₃ depends on many intrinsic and extrinsic factors, making it challenging to identify microscopic mechanisms. Here the authors demonstrate the influence of oxygen vacancies on the thickness-dependent metal-insulator transition of LaNiO₃ films.

Bång-Rudenstam et al. report that the acidic tumour microenvironment facilitates the assembly of chondroitin sulfate-enriched glycocalyx to disrupt lipid scavenging and prevent ferroptosis, thereby providing an adaptive mechanism upon tumour acidosis.

An outbreak of MPXV in sooty mangabeys in Côte d’Ivoire was linked to MPXV-infected fire-footed rope squirrels, providing direct evidence of interspecies transmission and indicating risk for zoonotic transmission of MPXV from both hosts.

This exploratory analysis of a phase 1b study evaluating BIIB080, a MAPT-targeting antisense oligonucleotide, in mild Alzheimer’s disease indicates favorable trends of high-dose BIIB080 in slowing cognitive and functional decline, supporting the need for future trials evaluating clinical efficacy of BIIB080 in mild Alzheimer’s disease.

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

There are limited effective treatments for pulmonary fibrosis. Here, the authors demonstrate that p300/CBP inhibition in human iPSC–derived lung organoids suppresses fibrotic phenotypes and abnormal alveolar epithelial cell states.

Boosting mitochondrial metabolism in neurons in central memory circuits by enhancing Ca²⁺ retention in the mitochondrial matrix is shown to improve long-term memory formation in flies and mice.

Insights into regulatory T cell biology are accelerating therapeutic innovation in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.

Growth of wind and solar energy share demonstrates different dynamics between the initial phases of adoption as compared with the advanced stages. Cherp et al. study the growth dynamics of renewable energy and show that laggards may continue to struggle to achieve high growth rates despite learning from early adopters’ experience.

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.

Snow droughts are periods of unusually low snowpack driven by warming winters and reduced snowfall in regions that rely on snow. This study shows that the frequency of snow drought events increased by 5.3–6.7% per decade from 1960 to 2020 in global winter wheat croplands, and that winter wheat yield sensitivity to snow droughts has intensified in 25% of Northern Hemisphere croplands.

Polymer thin films that emit and absorb circularly polarised light are promising in achieving important technological advances, but the origin of the large chiroptical effects in such films has remained elusive. Here the authors demonstrate that in non-aligned polymer thin films, large chiroptical effects are caused by magneto-electric coupling, not structural chirality as previously assumed.

The authors developed self-incompatible diploid potatoes via haploid breeding. The resulting F₁ hybrids prevent fruit set, redirect photoassimilates to tubers, increase the harvest index and enable scalable hybrid seed production.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

The authors estimate genomic vulnerability for closely related species of rainbowfish. They find that narrow endemic species that have hybridized with a warm-adapted generalist show reduced vulnerability to climate change and that hybridization may facilitate evolutionary rescue for such species.