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Zhang et al. show that bone marrow fatty acid metabolism fuels expanded leukocyte production after myocardial infarction and, based on mouse, pig and human data, suggest that lipolysis in marrow adipocytes provides fatty acids to hematopoietic stem cells.

Iron dysregulation is a hallmark of many human diseases and cancers. In this study, the authors show that iron depletion, overload, or improper storage drive templated insertions at chromosome breaks, a class of events that are common yet poorly understood in cancer.

Payton et al. develop small-molecule inhibitors of kinesin KIF18A able to selectively kill cancer cells with high chromosomal instability and demonstrate that the inhibitors are therapeutically beneficial in cancer patient-derived in vivo models.

A purpose-built implantable system based on biomimetic epidural electrical stimulation of the spinal cord reduces the severity of hypotensive complications in people with spinal cord injury and improves quality of life.

This research investigates aperiodic neural activity in depressed individuals versus healthy controls using resting state electroencephalography recordings. Findings reveal significant differences in aperiodic exponent and offset, influenced by lifetime depressive episodes, highlighting the relationship between depression heterogeneity and neural mechanisms.

Perivascular and leptomeningeal macrophages, collectively termed here parenchymal border macrophages, are shown to regulate flow dynamics of cerebrospinal fluid, implicating this cell population as new therapeutic targets in neurological diseases such as Alzheimer’s.

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.

Machine learning classifiers generated using chronic neural measurements in individuals with obsessive-compulsive disorder accurately predicted clinical status and deep brain stimulation response.

Using differences among strains as a model for inter-individual variation, this paper identifies a conserved metabolicadaptation in C. elegans that compensates for genetic variation.

Bacteria reprogram tick metabolism impacting vector fitness and susceptibility to bacterial infection.

Methylerythritol cyclodiphosphate is an intermediate in the biosynthesis of isoprenoids in plants and bacteria, and acts as a stress signal in plants. Here, Guo et al. show that, in addition, the metabolite can inhibit biofilm formation in Escherichia coli by modulating the activity of the DNA-binding protein H-NS, thus downregulating the production of adhesive fimbriae.

SARS-CoV-2 infection is milder in children, but direct comparison with adults is rare. Here the authors show that immune responses are higher in children, retained for 12 months or longer and can neutralize Alpha, Beta and Delta variants.

Mohanakrishnan et al. identify a distinct subset of post-arterial capillaries, termed type R. They show that type R capillaries contribute to trabecular bone formation in the diaphysis and respond to anti-osteoporosis treatments.

Positron emission tomography measurements of nutrient uptake in cells of the tumour microenvironment reveal cell-intrinsic partitioning in which glucose uptake is higher in myeloid cells, whereas glutamine is preferentially acquired by cancer cells.

Structural and single-molecule analyses show the CTPase, KorB, is a sliding DNA clamp that interacts with a clamp-locking protein KorA to inhibit gene expression over distances of more than 1 kb in the multi-drug resistance RK2 plasmid.

A multiomics resource characterizing human mitochondrial proteins enables identification of biological functions and supports genetic diagnosis of mitochondrial pathologies.

Computationally designed genetically encoded proteins can be used to target surface proteins, thereby triggering endocytosis and subsequent intracellular degradation, activating signalling or increasing cellular uptake in specific tissues.

Using single-molecule techniques, the authors find that the methyl-CpG-binding protein MeCP2, whose mutations cause Rett syndrome, exhibits distinctive behaviors when bound to nucleosomes versus free DNA, thus directing its multifaceted functions on chromatin.

Alfonsa et al. show that wakefulness causes shifts in cortical EGABA_A, weakening synaptic inhibition and resulting in markers of local sleep pressure, and identify Cl⁻ regulation as a link between sleep–wake history, cortical activity and behavior.

Experimental removal of corallivorous snails from corals in the Caribbean Sea shows that this local management action can improve coral resilience to severe warming through reducing bleaching severity and post-bleaching tissue mortality.

This manuscript describes the structure of an endocannabinoid analog-bound CB1 complex and reveals the structural determinants of ligand efficacy. The activation mechanism, unique to CB1, that is exploited by allosteric modulators is also outlined.

Single-nucleus RNA-seq was used to profile 11 retinas with varying stages of age-related macular degeneration and 6 control retinas. The authors identified shared glial states across neurodegeneration, indicating that the retina provides a human system for investigating therapeutic approaches in neurodegeneration.

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.

Sex chromosome gene content and expression is unusual. Here the authors use single cell RNA-Seq on Drosophila larvae to demonstrate that the single X and pair of 4th chromosomes are specifically inactivated in primary spermatocytes, while genes on the single Y chromosome become maximally active in primary spermatocytes.

Directed evolution of the ribosome is challenging because the requirement of cell viability limits the mutations that can be made. Here the authors develop a platform for in vitro ribosome synthesis and evolution (RISE) to overcome these constraints.

A comprehensive analysis of the cell-specific molecular regulatory mechanisms underlying post-traumatic stress disorder in the human prefrontal cortex.

Inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK3) improves muscle function, metabolism, and bone health in many other diseases. Here, Marcella et al. found that inhibiting glycogen synthase kinase 3, alone or combined with exercise, improves muscle health and function in mouse models of Duchenne muscular dystrophy without negatively affecting insulin sensitivity or bone health.

Pooled CRISPR perturbation screens with multimodal RNA and protein single-cell profiling readout (Perturb-CITE-seq) applied to patient-derived melanoma and tumor-infiltrating lymphocyte co-cultures identifies new tumor immune evasion mechanisms.

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.

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.

Extinction threatens to erode the Tree of Life. Here, the authors calculate extinction risk for jawed vertebrates, predicting a loss of 86–150 billion years (11–19%) of evolutionary history through the next 50–500 years and indicating that cartilaginous fish, ray-finned fish, and turtles are most at risk from a phylogenetic perspective.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

The phenotype and function of immune cells could change during spaceflight. Here the authors use simulated microgravity, coupled to validation with spaceflight data, to assess whether there are distinct gene expression changes in resting and TLR 7/8 stimulated PBMCs and found conserved changes in IFN signalling, the cytoskeleton, IL-6 and sirtuin signalling.

Here the authors characterise the cellular and molecular progression of lung alveolar damage in severe COVID-19 patients using integrated histopathology and cell atlassing, pinpointing a role for macrophage SPP1 signalling to vasculature in this process.

A consensus cell type atlas for the fly brain provides both an intellectual framework and open-source toolchains for brain-scale comparative connectomics.

Platelet aggregation is associated with myocardial infarction and stroke. Here, the authors have conducted a whole genome sequencing association study on platelet aggregation, discovering a locus in RGS18, where enhancer assays suggest an effect on activity of haematopoeitic lineage transcription factors.

Few aerobic hyperthermophilic microorganisms are known to degrade polysaccharides. Here, Nou et al. use genomic information to enrich and optical tweezers to isolate an aerobic hyperthermophilic bacterium that can grow at 65–87.5 °C using polysaccharides as sole carbon sources.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

The mechanisms that trigger neurodegeneration in demyelinating disease are unclear. Here, the authors find that impaired remyelination induces a DLK-mediated loss of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs), and that efficient remyelination or DLK inhibition block RGC death.

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.

Telomeres, tandem repeats at the ends of linear chromosomes, have evolved to deal with the end replication and end protection. Using a proteomics approach, the authors identify TEBP-1 and TEBP-2, two double-stranded binding proteins which together are required for fertility. Despite being paralogs, they have distinct individual effects on telomere dynamics; TEBP-1 and TEBP-2 are part of a telomeric complex also containing POT-1.

Injection of donor apoptotic cells induces graft tolerance in mice. Here the authors combine this approach with short immunosuppressive therapy to achieve long-term tolerance to allogeneic islets and restoration of normoglycemia in diabetic nonhuman primates, and delineate cellular and molecular correlates of tolerance induction.

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.

Dick and colleagues identify human LT-HSC subsets with distinct quiescent states. They link these differences to INKA1-mediated downregulation of the transmembrane protein CD112 and its interaction with the protein deacetylase SIRT1. INKA1 is inversely correlated with the histone H4K16Ac mark, which then distinguishes ‘latent’ CD112^lo LT-HSCs from CD112^hi LT-HSCs that are more readily activated in response to hematopoietic stress.

The components of the tumour microenvironment contribute to prostate cancer initiation and progression. Here the authors perform single-cell RNA sequencing and spatial transcriptomics analysis of prostate cancer stroma from mouse models at different stages of the disease and develop a gene signature to predict distant metastasis in patients.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.