Search

Diamond quantum magnetometry is utilized to directly read the vorticity of antiferromagnetic spin textures through coupled multi-polar emergent magnetic charge distributions.

Daily location data on the individuals of 14 migratory marine species from 2000 to 2009 allow annual migratory cycles to be mapped to the time spent in the high seas and the exclusive economic zones of specific countries, providing a basis for international management strategies for these species.

Size and shape of the brain are, among others, influenced by the dimensions of the skull. Here, the authors report genome-wide association studies for head circumference and intracranial volume in children and adults and the identification of nine common or low-frequency variants associated with these traits.

A genome-wide association study of critically ill patients with COVID-19 identifies genetic signals that relate to important host antiviral defence mechanisms and mediators of inflammatory organ damage that may be targeted by repurposing drug treatments.

Here, the authors develop a reverse epitaxial process whereby a nanocrystalline Au film becomes highly textured and support a suspended 2D WSe₂ overlayer. Surface plasmon polaritons are launched in nanostructured Au by laser excitation and couple remotely to single photon emitters present in WSe₂.

A longitudinal evolutionary analysis of 126 lung cancer patients with metastatic disease reveals the timing of metastatic divergence, modes of dissemination and the genomic events subject to selection during the metastatic transition.

In the first results from an ongoing global cancer screening data repository, screening program organization was better overall in Europe compared to other continents; however, there were substantial gaps in implementation across both high- and low-resource settings.

Tropinone is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of tropane alkaloids. Here, the authors discovered the enzymes AbPYKS and AbCYP82M3, a non-canonical polyketide synthase and a cytochrome P450, that work sequentially to form tropinone from N-methyl-Δ¹-pyrrolinium cation.

Neuronal PAS domain protein 4 (NPAS4) is an immediate early gene, but its role in striatal circuits in drug seeking behaviour is not understood. Here the authors show that exposure to cocaine in mice results in induction of NPAS4 in a subset of nucleus accumbens (NAc) neurons, and in D2-neurons of the NAc it contributes to cocaine-associations and cocaine seeking behaviour.

Interleukin-12 (IL-12) can have anti-inflammatory properties; however, the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show that IL-12-sensing neurons mediate IL-12-induced neuroprotective tissue adaptation in autoimmune conditions of the CNS.

The Omicron variant evades vaccine-induced neutralization but also fails to form syncytia, shows reduced replication in human lung cells and preferentially uses a TMPRSS2-independent cell entry pathway, which may contribute to enhanced replication in cells of the upper airway. Altered fusion and cell entry characteristics are linked to distinct regions of the Omicron spike protein.

Stabilization of DNA quadruplex structures (G4) is lethal for cells with a compromised DNA repair pathway. Here, the authors show that CX-5461, a small molecule in clinical trials as RNA polymerase inhibitor, has G4-stablization properties and can be repurposed to target DNA repair-defective cancers cells.

As phase 1 of the Earth Microbiome Project, analysis of 16S ribosomal RNA sequences from more than 27,000 environmental samples delivers a global picture of the basic structure and drivers of microbial distribution.

Analyses of the TRACERx study unveil the relationship between tissue morphology, the underlying evolutionary genomic landscape, and clinical and anatomical relapse risk of lung adenocarcinomas.

Mutations in the Wnt co-receptor, LRP5, lead to skeletal diseases in humans. Matthew Warman and his colleagues have now developed mutant mice with tissue-specific alterations of Lrp5 expression and found that these mice phenocopy the human skeletal diseases. They also found that Lrp5 acts locally to affect bone homeostasis. Their data suggest that increasing LRP5 signaling in mature bone cells may be a strategy to treat osteoporosis.

For many neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) risk genes, the significance for mutational burden is unestablished. Here, the authors sequence 125 candidate NDD genes in over 16,000 NDD cases; case-control mutational burden analysis identifies 48 genes with a significant burden of severe ultra-rare mutations.

The most advanced P. falciparum circumsporozoite protein (PfCSP)-based malaria vaccine confers partial protection. Here, Pholcharee et al. present crystal structures, binding affinities/kinetics, and in vivo protection of 8 anti-NANP antibodies to understand in vivo protection of PfCSP-targeting antibodies.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of connexin channels composed of connexin 46 and connexin 50 in an open-state reveal features that govern permselectivity and the location of mutated residues linked to herediatry cataracts.

C. elegans sleep can be used to model neural state transitions. Here the authors show that adult C. elegans show quiescent sleep-like behavior when in a microfluidic chamber, and that this is regulated by temperature, mechanosensation and satiety.

Transposon based screens carried out in mice can identify genes critical for tumourigensis. Here, the authors describe transposon screens in mouse models of breast cancer and highlight a large group of tumour suppressors that could underlie selection for common chromosome arm losses in cancer.

Synthetic lethality (SL) offers a new precision oncology approach, which is based on targeting cancer-specific vulnerabilities across the whole genome, going beyond cancer drivers. The authors develop an approach termed ISLE to identify clinically relevant SL interactions and use them for patient stratification and novel target identification.

The identification of high-affinity molecular mimicry between the Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) transcription factor EBNA1 and the CNS protein GlialCAM provides a mechanistic link between multiple sclerosis and EBV.

Pressure amplification phenomena have recently been observed in ordered mesoporous solids, but little is understood about this counter-intuitive behaviour. Here, Kaskel and colleagues demonstrate that crystal size can play an important role in modulating pressure amplification in metal-organic frameworks.

Duan et al. find that the membrane skeleton protein spectrin is required for myoblast fusion in Drosophila, accumulating in a mechanosensitive manner in the receiving partner during cell–cell fusion to modulate adhesion and protrusion events.

The authors report the mutational landscape of 29 cell types from microdissected biopsies from 19 organs and explore the mechanisms underlying mutation rates in normal tissues.

Elise Robinson and colleagues present the polygenic transmission disequilibrium test (pTDT) for evaluating transmission of polygenic risk in family-based study designs. The authors apply pTDT to a cohort of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) families and find that common polygenic variation acts additively with de novo variants to contribute to ASD risk.

High-status journals or institutions no guarantees of carefully-reported trials.

In this study, the authors show that MeCP2 interacts with the NCoR/SMRT co-repressor complex and that a discrete cluster of Rett syndrome–causing mutations in the C-terminal domain of MeCP2 disrupts this interaction, impairing transcriptional repression. Knock-in mice expressing one of these MeCP2 missense mutations exhibit severe motor phenotypes.

Vaccination is effective in protecting from COVID-19. Here the authors report immune responses and breakthrough infections in twice-vaccinated patients receiving anti-TNF treatments for inflammatory bowel disease, and find dampened vaccine responses that implicate the need of adapted vaccination schedules for these patients.

Molecular diagnostics for tuberculosis have focused on predicting drug susceptibilities in a binary manner (i.e., strains are either susceptible or resistant). Here, CRyPTIC Consortium researchers use whole genome sequencing and a quantitative assay to identify associations between genomic mutations and minimum inhibitory concentrations in over 15,000 Mycobacterium tuberculosis clinical isolates.

The role of subpatent infections for malaria transmission and elimination is unclear. Here, Slater et al. analyse several malaria datasets to quantify the density, detectability, course of infection and infectiousness of subpatent infections.

A synaptic neuron and astrocyte program (SNAP) varies among healthy humans, may shape interindividual differences in synapses and plasticity, and is undermined in schizophrenia and with advancing age.

The Sc2.0 consortia is reengineering the yeast genome. To expand the Sc2.0 genetic repertoire, the authors build a neo-chromosome comprising variable loci from diverse yeast isolates, providing phenotypic plasticity for use in synthetic backgrounds.

Characterization of ten temperate mycobacteriophages reveals at least five distinct prophage-expressed viral defence systems that interfere with infection by either closely related or unrelated lytic and temperate phages.

Results of the TRACERx study shed new light into the association between body composition and body weight with survival in individuals with non-small cell lung cancer, and delineate potential biological processes and mediators contributing to the development of cancer-associated cachexia.

Suspended electrodes integrated into a scalable microfluidic device can be used for electrical measurements in large numbers of small organisms.

Human activities affect marine predators in complex ways, yet we lack spatial understanding of cumulative impacts across key habitats. Here the authors analyse distribution and movements of eight marine predators, and find that species and human impacts vary across space and overlap within marine sanctuaries.

Transcriptome deconvolution aims to estimate cellular composition based on gene expression data. Here the authors evaluate deconvolution methods for human brain transcriptome and conclude that partial deconvolution algorithms work best, but that appropriate cell-type signatures are also important.

With a comprehensive analysis of sequencing data, DNA copy number, gene expression and DNA methylation in a large number of human glioblastomas, The Cancer Genome Atlas project initiative provides a broad overview of the genes and pathways that are altered in this cancer type.

Extensive genetic analysis of over 2,000 individuals from different locations in Britain reveals striking fine-scale patterns of population structure; comparisons with similar genetic data from the European continent reveal the legacy of earlier population migrations and information about the ancestry of current populations in specific geographic regions.

Past genome-wide associate studies have identified hundreds of genetic loci that influence body size and shape when examined one trait at a time. Here, Jeff and colleagues develop an aggregate score of various body traits, and use meta-analysis to find new loci linked to body shape.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) is highly heritable but the mechanisms of sporadic ALS are not fully understood. In this study, the authors identify drivers of variation and disease-relevant changes in the epigenomic profile of iPSC-derived motor neuron lines generated from ALS patients and healthy controls as part of the Answer ALS program.

Comprehensive analyses of 178 lung squamous cell carcinomas by The Cancer Genome Atlas project show that the tumour type is characterized by complex genomic alterations, with statistically recurrent mutations in 11 genes, including TP53 in nearly all samples; a potential therapeutic target is identified in most of the samples studied.

The Cancer Genome Atlas Network describe their multifaceted analyses of primary breast cancers, shedding light on breast cancer heterogeneity; although only three genes (TP53, PIK3CA and GATA3) are mutated at a frequency greater than 10% across all breast cancers, numerous subtype-associated and novel mutations were identified.

The Consortium for Top-Down Proteomics presents a decision-tree-based guide to sample preparation and analysis protocols for researchers performing top-down mass-spectrometry-based analysis of intact proteins.