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Enzymes embedded directly into the material allows PLA plastic to completely break down — plus a gel that can safely store proteins for shipping.

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.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Cell surface receptors perceive immunogenic elicitors, triggering downstream signalling via receptor-like cytoplasmic kinases such as BIK1. Here the authors define and use the phosphorylation motif of BIK1 to find novel substrate candidates.

Authors show that all individuals have asymmetrically glycosylated IgGs—the glycans on each of the Fc protomers are not identical. Asymmetrically monofucosylated IgGs drive dengue disease and are functionally similar to afucosylated IgGs.

Variants in the PSMC5 gene impair proteasome function and cellular homeostasis, altering brain development in children. This study reveals underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to this neurodevelopmental phenotype, and suggests therapeutic leads for neurodevelopmental proteasomopathies.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

CaBLAM is a bioluminescent genetically encoded calcium indicator that delivers high-contrast signals as shown in cell culture, in the in vivo mouse brain and in zebrafish larvae.

Transcription termination can tune bacterial gene expression in response to diverse signals. Here, the authors use several RNA-seq approaches to map RNA ends for the transcriptome of the spirochete Borrelia burgdorferi, providing insights into various modes of transcription termination and identifying potential RNA regulators in this pathogen.

The influence of pregnancy on Long COVID is not well understood. Here, the authors use electronic health record data from the United States to compare the incidence of Long COVID in females after infection in pregnancy with matched non-pregnant females of reproductive age.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

The extent to which COVID-19 vaccination protects against long COVID is not well understood. Here, the authors use electronic health record data from the United States and find that, for people who received their vaccination prior to infection, vaccination was associated with lower incidence of long COVID.

Multicomponent supramolecular hydrogels have been prepared using a self-sorting mixture of two different gelators—one of which is photosensitive. Irradiation of the gels through a mask leads to the photosensitive network being selectively removed by a light-triggered gel-to-sol transition in a process that can be used to produce patterned gels with spatially controlled properties.

A study of the evolution of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in England between September 2020 and June 2021 finds that interventions capable of containing previous variants were insufficient to stop the more transmissible Alpha and Delta variants.

JWST data show that the exoplanet WASP-18b has thermally distinct regions of its dayside. The authors mapped the sizes of these regions, measured their temperatures and potentially identify water destruction in the hottest region.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

Panoptes, an anti-phage defence system against virus-mediated immune suppression, is revealed.

An integrated analysis of de novo and inherited coding variants in 42,607 individuals with autism spectrum disorder identifies 60 risk genes of which five have not previously been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.

In a large multinational cohort study, maternal, gestational or pregestational diabetes was associated with only a small-to-moderate risk of ADHD in offspring, contrary to previous estimates that showed stronger effect sizes, attributing the differences in findings to confounding by shared genetic and familial factors.

Biomechanical analyses of mammaliaform and cynodont fossils demonstrate that miniaturization drove the evolutionary transformation of the mammalian jaw, which preceded the optimization of bite force-to-joint load in the mandible

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.

In this study, the authors used molecular brain imaging and measures of neuroticism to identify that high 5-HT_2AR binding and higher levels of neuroticism predicted an increased risk of developing depression up to 19 years after assessment.

The authors show that zonation extends to hepatic immune cells and that this spatial patterning is mediated by microbiome sensing by liver sinusoidal endothelial cells, and provide evidence that immune zonation is required to protect the host from the dissemination of blood-borne pathogens.

Kinetic trapping in supramolecular gels leads to varied morphologies and macroscopic properties. Emily R. Draper and Dave J. Adams discuss subtle experimental effects that can lead to reproducibility issues in these systems.

Analysis of 100 consecutive personalized bacteriophage therapy cases supports the use of personalized and sometimes pre-adapted, bacteriophage preparations, often in combination with antibiotics.

ADAM metalloproteases cleave ephrin signalling proteins and their receptors. Here, the authors show that ADAM10-mediated cleavage of ephrinB2 is inhibited by the lipid raft protein flotillin-1 and that ephrinB2 regulates apical constriction during neural tube closure in Xenopusembryos.

Nature Biotechnology's readers select some of biotech's most remarkable and influential personalities from the past 10 years.

Exome sequencing and copy number analysis are used to define genomic aberrations in early sporadic pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma; among the findings are mutations in genes involved in chromatin modification and DNA damage repair, and frequent and diverse somatic aberrations in genes known as embryonic regulators of axon guidance.

Collagen can be a metabolic source to fuel cancer growth. Here the authors show that cell surface protein TEM8 mediates the binding and uptake of collagen in stromal cells and these cells processed the collagen to glutamine, providing an alternative energy source for tumour cells to grow.

A new study shows the total global SOC stock of 1 m in the world’s tidal marshes to be 1.44 Pg C. On average, SOC in tidal marshes’ 0–30 cm and 30–100 cm soil layers are estimated at 83.1 Mg C ha⁻¹ and 185.3 Mg C ha⁻¹, respectively.

The use of natural killer (NK) cells in immunotherapy as an alternative to allogeneic T cells is gaining ground. Here, two genome-scale high-throughput platforms are used to identify genes that modulate the sensitivity of multiple solid tumor cell lines to NK-mediated killing.

The α-diazoester azaserine can be produced by Streptomyces albus engineered with a biosynthetic gene cluster and act as the carbene precursor for coupling with intracellularly produced styrene to generate unnatural amino acids containing a cyclopropyl group.

Sera from vaccinated individuals and some monoclonal antibodies show a modest reduction in neutralizing activity against the B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2; but the E484K substitution leads to a considerable loss of neutralizing activity.

Chronic infection with SARS-CoV-2 leads to the emergence of viral variants that show reduced susceptibility to neutralizing antibodies in an immunosuppressed individual treated with convalescent plasma.

The guanine-nucleotide-binding protein stimulatory α subunit (Gα_s) is necessary for the homing and engraftment of haematopoietic stem and progenitor cells to bone marrow, as demonstrated by its disruption in adult mice deficient in Gα_s. Conversely, pharmacological activators of Gα_s enhance homing and engraftment in vivo, suggesting a potential pharmacological target to improve transplantation efficiency.

Circulating tumour DNA profiling in early-stage non-small-cell lung cancer can be used to track single-nucleotide variants in plasma to predict lung cancer relapse and identify tumour subclones involved in the metastatic process.

The chimeric cytokine IC7Fc combines the beneficial effects of the cytokines IL-6 and CNTF on weight loss and metabolism in mice, with no obvious side effects in mice and non-human primates.

Thousands of recombinant antibodies enriched for specificity against defined targets are assembled in multivalent mixtures with enhanced therapeutic activity.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

Dysregulated protein synthesis is key contributor to Fragile X syndrome. Here the authors identify a relationship between ribosome expression and the translation of long mRNAs that contributes to synaptic weakening in a model of Fragile X syndrome.

A highly selective inhibitor of the DCLK1/2 kinases is used to uncover the consequences of DCLK1 inhibition on viability, phosphosignaling and the transcriptome in patient-derived organoid models of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Morphometrics and comparative phylogenetics show coevolution of the beak and the skull of Darwin’s finches and Hawaiian honeycreepers, suggesting that adaptive radiation in these groups occurred under tight cranial integration.

Panzeri et al. use a Trim28^+/D9 mouse model with intrinsic developmental heterogeneity to show that ‘heavy’ and ‘light’ developmental morphs exhibit different timing, type and severity of cancer, linked to a relevant DNA hypomethylation signature.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.