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Most patients with B-cell leukemia respond to chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, yet many relapse due to loss of CAR T function. Here, the authors show that the metabolism of CAR T from short- and long-term responders is different, which may explain why CAR T lose functionality.

The transformations for aragonite precursors in coral are not fully understood but have implications in bio, biogenic and geological mineralization. Here, the authors use high-resolution mapping and observe exponential decay from the edge of four precursors to coral aragonite skeleton in Stylophora pistillata.

Amundsen Sea records show warm Circumpolar Deep Water drove major West Antarctic Ice Sheet retreat from 18,000–10,000 years ago. Subsequent cooling stabilized the grounding line, indicating ocean heat—not atmospheric warming—controlled long-term WAIS change.

Human gastrulation and AI are often treated as black boxes. Here, the authors provide interpretability to both by combining stem cell models with AI and mechanistic modeling to understand how gastrulation can fail and to predict teratogenic risk.

Here, the authors report that the protein language model ESM-2 is broadly useful for variant effect prediction, including unobserved changes, and can be applied to understand novel viral pathogens with the potential to be applied to any protein sequence, pathogen or otherwise.

Large biospecimen banks are limited by a lack of fast, flexible, database-like retrieval. Here, authors encode metadata as DNA barcodes on silica-encapsulated samples and demonstrate numerical range, categorical, and Boolean queries, enabling rapid, precise recall from pooled DNA/RNA archives.

Industrial nitrogen fixation relies on energy-intensive processes. Here, the authors provide mechanistic insights on the transient conditions in acoustic cavitation that activate nitrogen and form nitrogen products in the absence of catalysts.

Programming ultrafast, reversible motions at the micron scale in subcellular soft materials and active matter requires precise spatiotemporal control over molecular processes. Here, the authors investigate elastic cortical protein networks that assemble rapidly and demonstrate repeatable force generation that actuates using light-sensitive Ca2+ release.

DNA recognition and cleavage control in type II topoisomerases are poorly understood processes. Here, the authors determine cleaved and uncleaved structures of supercoiled DNA-bound topoisomerase VI that reveal how the enzyme activates its cleavage state and prefers to act at deformable substrates.

How the brain adjusts its internal knowledge structures when new rules clash with old ones remains unclear. This study shows that OFC neurons hold on to earlier schemas in a way that helps to learn a new, conflicting schema.

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.

How the brain maintains object representations during grasping, when complex sensory input rapidly changes, remains poorly understood. Here the authors show that object-identity signals shift and strengthen across sensorimotor cortex as reaching transitions to grasping.

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.

Previous studies of Teneurins identified an uncharacterized family of Teneurin-like proteins in bacteria. Here, the authors show these proteins are widespread across both Gram groups but limited to certain species, where they form barrel-like structures that encapsulate a toxin and are co-expressed with potent immunity genes.

This study shows that strain-stabilized interfacial polarization in metallic RuO₂/TiO₂ heterostructures modulates the work function by over 1 eV and the metallicity, establishing a new route to control the electronic properties of functional metals.

Critical life-history traits, like growth and body size, can influence species’ survival. Using more than 7500 observations, this study suggests that the growth performance of marine fish has declined by 9% over the past century as a result of commercial size-based harvesting.

The famous nebula Barnard 68 has been used as a giant cosmic-ray detector: cosmic-ray-excited vibrational H₂ emission has been observed by JWST, giving a direct measurement of the CR ionization rate.

Radical protein footprinting reveals protein structure and interactions, but has not – to the best of the authors knowledge - been applied in whole blood. Here, authors demonstrate in-blood footprinting in mice, uncovering diabetes-associated protein conformational changes that were validated by orthogonal assays.

Meningiomas are common brain tumors with variable behavior. This study reveals high STING expression across multiple cell types in the meningioma microenvironment. STING agonism triggers tumor cell death via programmed necrosis and pyroptosis, enhancing survival in preclinical models.

Multiple myeloma involves alterations to T cell function, but mechanisms underlying disease evolution remain unclear. Here the authors find that, unlike solid cancers, multiple myeloma lacks exhausted T cells and is instead characterized by antigen-driven terminal memory T cell differentiation, which may be driven by tumour-intrinsic features including tumour burden and antigen-presentation gene expression.

Many viral vaccine antigen candidates are transmembrane glycoproteins, and their development requires methods which allow their biophysical characterization. Here authors present an optimized nanodisc assembly platform which provides reproducible, scalable, and accurate replication of the vaccine candidates for detailed analysis.

The reliance on natural plasmid replication mechanisms limits plasmid tunability, compatibility, and modularity. Here the authors refactor the natural pMB1 origin and create plasmids with customizable copy numbers with synthetic RNA regulators to implement independent copy control.

GDF15 has been associated with cancer-associated cachexia. Here, the authors show that STK11/LKB1 loss-of-function mutations in non-small cell lung cancer result in an exaggerated integrated stress response culminating in the tumor cell secretion of the cytokine GDF15 promoting cachexia.

O’Shea and colleagues establish that optimisation of charge and stability is sufficient to enable any single-chain variable fragment intrabody to function within the cell. The authors use AI-led inverse folding to optimise intrabody characteristics, and they present hundreds of intrabody sequences targeting sixty cytoplasmic proteins.

It is currently unknown how uniform is signalling at the first synapse of vision in vivo. Here, the authors show neighbouring PR1 (red) cones differ in contrast sensitivity and timing due to locally stochastic horizontal-cell feedback, thereby extending total dynamic range.

Multipole datasets and targeted sensitivity simulations reveal interannual variability in Middle Eastern dust accounts for ~36 % of the Indian Ocean Dipole variance during boreal autumn, surpassing the influence of El Niño-Southern Oscillation.

A single intravenous dose of the psychedelic dimethyltryptamine, combined with psychological support, produces rapid and lasting reductions in depressive symptoms in adults with major depressive disorder.

An optical archival storage technology based on femtosecond laser direct writing in glass addresses the practical demands of archival storage.

Although antiretroviral therapies (ART) have expanded the life expectancy of patients with HIV, they are not curative due to the presence of latently infected cells. Here, the authors present IMC-M113V, a bispecific soluble TCR targeting the HIV peptide Gag_77-85 complexed to HLA-A*02:01 as an approach for targeting HIV reservoirs and test safety, tolerability and pharmacodynamics in a first-in-human clinical trial on 12 HLA-A*02:01-positive male individuals on ART.

Molecular glue degraders have consistently been discovered retrospectively, despite their increasing importance. Herein, a high-throughput approach is described that modifies existing ligands into molecular glue degraders.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Vocal fold cancer tumours lose some of their malignant traits when mechanically stimulated by physiological stretch or vibrations, mimicking the opening and closing of vocal folds and phonation.

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.

KRAS mutations are keenly associated with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma and represent a potential therapeutic target. Here the authors present the findings from a phase I clinical trial testing pooled KRAS mutant peptides in combination with immune checkpoint blockade in patients with resected pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of three large ornate natural bacterial RNA molecules reveal their quaternary structures and intra- and intermolecular interactions that stabilize them.

Despite the growing literature and widespread interest in transformational adaptation, its definition remains contested. The results of a global expert survey reveal broad agreement on 13 key elements that should be included in defining transformational adaptation.

Here authors demonstrate that distinct muscarinic receptor types drive coordinated salivary output in the tick Ixodes ricinus. Mapping the underlying circuits reveals functional neural pathways that could be targeted to disrupt tick feeding.

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.

The Ocean Equity Index provides a systematic, twelve-criteria framework to assess and improve equity in ocean initiatives, projects and policies, producing structured data that guide evidence-based decisions and support more equitable outcomes for coastal communities and ecosystems.

High-order modes of hyperbolic polaritons – hybrid light-matter interactions – in anisotropic van der Waals materials hold potential for nanophotonics applications. Here, the authors report the observation of polariton mode conversion in step-shaped terraces of hexagonal boron nitride and α-MoO3.

Zero Invasive Predators (ZIP) is a New Zealand company working together with the New Zealand Department of Conservation and other organizations, community groups and Māori groups towards eradicating invasive predator species from the country. We spoke to James Russell, a professor at the University of Auckland and chief scientist at ZIP, and Maggie Nichols, a predator ecologist at ZIP, about the company’s work.

Atomic force microscopy is used to investigate the adsorption and organization of ions on charged surfaces. Trivalent ions adopt complex networks, clusters and layers associated with overcharging, whereas divalent ions follow classical predictions.

Fanjiang Kong, Zhixi Tian, Xingliang Hou, Baohui Liu and colleagues report the cloning and functional characterization of J, the locus underlying the long-juvenile (LJ) trait that has enabled tropical cultivation of soybean. They show that J, an ortholog of Arabidopsis ELF3, downregulates the expression of E1, thereby promoting flowering under short-day conditions.

Hepatic glycogenolysis is essential for protein glycosylation and rhythmic secretion by the liver. Disruptions to hepatic glycogenolysis, caused by congenital diseases or physiological factors such as obesity, caloric restriction and changes to meal timing, alter hepatic protein secretion.