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The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

Degradable polymers are important for technological applications and sustainability, but they remain difficult to access via ring-opening metathesis polymerization (ROMP). Now, commercial 2,3-dihydrofuran is shown to be an effective ROMP comonomer for various norbornenes. This copolymerization generates new acid-degradable polymers with controlled molecular weights, different functionalities and tunable properties.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Genetically engineered commensal bacteria are promising living drugs, however, drug delivery is limited to bacterial colonization site. Here, the authors report an oral protein delivery technology utilizing an engineered bacterial type zero secretion system (T0SS) via outer membrane vesicles (OMVs).

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

This study uncovers a unique broad neutralization mechanism against rotavirus, where antibody 7H13 destabilizes the partial structure of the viral VP4 spike by acting on a critical residue switch located at the interface of multiple VP4 subunits.

Repetto et al. provide an analysis of the genetic basis of variation of neuro-related protein levels in plasma and link this to human behaviour and disorders.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

PKAN and PD are two distinct diseases with overlapping pathophysiology. Here, authors show that their pathogenic genes PANK2 and PINK1 interact. PANK2 regulates mitophagy via CoA metabolism, while PINK1 supervises PANK2 translation on mitochondria.

Yu-Shiba-Rusinov (YSR) states result from the exchange coupling between a localized magnetic moment and a superconductor. Traditionally, the YSR states have been studied for magnetic atoms. For molecular magnets with extended ligand spin, the entanglement of spin and ligand orbital gives rise to new forms of YSR excitations. Here, Xia et al uncovered spin-orbital YSR states in an unpaired ligand spin in the molecular magnet Tb2Pc3 on Pb.

Nissley and co-workers predict protein misfolding into kinetically trapped, entangled conformations that can bypass the proteostasis network to remain soluble but less-functional for long timescales is widespread within the E. coli proteome.

Developing facile strategies to realize the precise construction of Ni-Fe structures is of significance for water oxidation. Here, the authors demonstrate a universal microorganism-assisted corrosion strategy for preparing highly efficient Ni-Fe composites towards oxygen evolution.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Receptor Interacting Protein Kinase 3 (RIPK3) has a key role in TNF-induced necroptosis. Here, the authors combine solid state NMR measurements, MD simulations and cell based assays to characterize mouse RIPK3 and they present the structure of the RIPK3 amyloid core.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Functional imaging of proteolytic activity is an emerging strategy to guide patient diagnosis and monitor clinical outcome. Here the authors present a peptide-based probe to detect and localize thrombin activity ex vivoand non-invasively in mouse models of wounding and pulmonary thrombosis.

Polyketide yields in Streptomyces are boosted by routing stored intracellular triacylglycerol into pathways that make industrially relevant products.

Hinsley and colleagues explore trends in the global wildlife trade, developing a novel machine-learning approach to analyse patent filing related to important taxa from 1970 to 2020. They found higher per year increases in these taxa compared with background trends, giving insight into how wildlife-related businesses predict, adapt to and create market shifts. These results provide data to underpin proactive wildlife-trade management approaches.

Mutational analysis of marine microorganisms with streamlined genomes revealed an excess of deleterious radical amino acid substitutions compared to related lineages with larger genomes, suggesting that genetic drift may be important.

Accurate long-read RNA sequencing facilitates analysis of full-length transcripts. Here the authors develop an integrative toolkit, optimised for Iso-Seq data analysis, that includes transcript alignment, annotation, quantification and gene fusion detection.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Inhibition of factor XI has emerged as a promising strategy to mitigate bleeding while potentially preserving antithrombotic efficacy. In this Review, the authors comprehensively discuss the rationale, pharmacology, evidence and future directions for factor XI inhibitors across various clinical settings.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

An improved, fully re-annotated Aedes aegypti genome assembly (AaegL5) provides insights into the sex-determining M locus, chemosensory systems that help mosquitoes to hunt humans and loci involved in insecticide resistance and will help to generate intervention strategies to fight this deadly disease vector.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

A large range of inert and non-defective sites in catalysts is a primary factor impeding catalyst activity in acidic CO₂ electroreduction. Here, the authors achieve high HCOOH selectivity and activity in acidic electrolyte by introducing tensile strain to activate inert sites.

Clarke, Hawkinson and colleagues study the contribution of glycogen accumulation in the onset and progression of lung cancer.

Oxygen evolution is a key reaction in electrolysers and involves a spin-dependent, multi-electron transfer process. Here the authors use topological semimetals with intrinsic chirality as a means to control spin in oxygen evolution catalysts, and explore the role of spin–orbit coupling in determining activity.

Biochemical, functional and computational analyses are combined to show that circular RNAs are a large class of animal RNAs with regulatory potency.

The semileptonic decay channels of the Λc baryon can give important insights into weak interaction, but decay into a neutron, positron and electron neutrino has not been reported so far, due to difficulties in the final products’ identification. Here, the BESIII Collaboration reports its observation in e+e- collision data, exploiting machine-learning-based identification techniques.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Fruit senescence is a complex physiological process. Here, the authors construct a single-cell expression atlas of pitaya pericarp pitaya to provide a spatiotemporal perspective of the dynamic process of plant senescence.

The pilot phase of PigGTEx, re-analyzing 5,457 published RNA-seq samples, presents a pan-tissue catalog of molecular quantitative trait loci. Cross-species comparisons identify traits with shared genetic regulation in humans.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

Observations of γ-rays with energies up to 1.4 PeV find that 12 sources in the Galaxy are PeVatrons, one of which is the Crab Nebula.

Worldwide, the number of only-child families is increasing. This research examines how growing up without siblings affects adult brain structure, function and connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health.

Zinc gluconate in oral supplements associates with plasma proteins to form renal-tumour-accumulating ZnO nanoparticles, which have antitumoural immune activity and can also be used for the delivery of chemotherapeutic agents.

miR408-5p typically regulates target IAA30 via translation repression, but switches to cleaving IAA30 mRNA under high auxin conditions. miR393, miR156, miR408-5p and their targets could hierarchically act in auxin pathway and regulate leaf inclination.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.