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The isolation and propagation of oligodendroglial cells from postnatal animals can be impractical for functional genetic studies. This study highlights the potential of a new approach to rapidly generate oligodendrocytes and their progenitors from mouse embryonic and induced pluripotent stem cells, independent of mouse strain or mutational status.

The replicative helicase CMG is targeted for removal or proteolysis by the E3 ubiquitin ligase TRAIP. This study describes how the de-ubiquitylating enzyme USP37 protects genome stability by preventing premature TRAIP-dependent CMG unloading when replication stress impedes timely termination.

Stem cell repair of injured monkey spinal cords restores hand function in 53% of trials.

Iron-laden microglia assume a disease-relevant, ferroptosis-associated signature and cause neurotoxicity. CRISPR screen uncovered regulators of ferroptosis in microglia. This ferroptosis–microglia–neurodegeneration axis could be targeted therapeutically.

Genome editing tools can precisely introduce a specified lesion into the DNA, but ultimately rely on the cell’s DNA repair machinery to determine the editing outcome. Here, authors demonstrate how neurons’ unique DNA repair pathways impact the safety, efficiency, and precision of CRISPR edits.

Engineered DNA recombinases efficiently and specifically insert genetic cargos without the use of landing pads.

CLYBL has a role beyond itaconate catabolism to degrade malyl-CoA, a noncanonical metabolite and methylmalonyl-CoA mutase inhibitor that depletes coenzyme B₁₂, implying that malyl-CoA contributes to the B₁₂ deficiency observed in individuals with CLYBL loss of function.

Here, Isaacs, Nieto and Zhang et al. discover a potent nanobody and engineer a dual-action antibody that targets two viral proteins, offering strong protection against Nipah and Hendra viruses while preventing viral escape, potentially contributing to future treatments.

Kumar et al. show that under glucose-depleted conditions, neurons can use fatty acids as an alternative source of energy to support synaptic function.

There is a low efficiency of A-to-G base conversion in at specific positions using base editors. Here the authors fuse ABE8e with the Rad51 DNA-binding domain to generate a hyperactive ABE allowing improved A-to-G editing efficiency at the region proximal to the PAM and improved simultaneous A/C conversion efficiency.

In glioma, malignant synapses hijack mechanisms of synaptic plasticity to increase glutamate-dependent currents in tumour cells and the formation of neuron–glioma synapses, thereby promoting tumour proliferation and progression.

NF-κB transcription factors have been implicated in cellular transformation and tumorigenesis, but despite extensive biochemical characterization of NF-κB signalling, its requirement in tumour development is not completely understood. Here, the NF-κB pathway is shown to be required for the development of tumours in a mouse model of lung adenocarcinoma in a p53-status-dependent manner, providing support for the development of NF-κB inhibitory drugs as targeted therapies.

Long Fung Chau and colleagues report the generation of transgenic pigs expressing human ACE2, and show that they exhibit clinical signs and immunopathology consistent with COVID-19 following infection with SARS-CoV-2, suggesting that human ACE2 transgenic pigs are a viable large animal model for COVID-19.

Ubhi et al. describe the contribution of APOBEC family members A3C and A3D in the gemcitabine resistance mechanism in the context of pancreatic cancer, which is mediated by facilitating the restart of treatment-induced stalled replication forks.

DIAL designs synthetic promoters for generation of heritable setpoints of gene expression across a range of cell types.

Sung et al. provide a powerful pipeline based on deep mutational scanning to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of mitochondrial complex I assembly and predict pathogenicity of mutations in complex I assembly factors.

precisION discovers, localizes and quantifies protein modifications within complex proteoform assemblies through data-driven analysis of native top-down mass spectra.

Pseudovirus assays and surface plasmon resonance show that the Omicron receptor-binding domain binds to human ACE2 with increased affinity relative to the ancestral virus, and that most neutralizing antibodies are considerably less potent against Omicron.

Calcium signals are typically traced through electrophysical, optical and genetic methods. Here the authors report the development of Cal-ID, a calcium-dependent protein proximity labeling tool that can be used to record elevated calcium levels in cells.

Acute lymphoblastic leukemias (ALL) with an ETV6::RUNX1 fusion comprise the largest subtype of this cancer, and their optimal treatment strategy remains unclear. Here, the authors perform genomic profiling of 194 ETV6::RUNX1-rearranged pediatric ALL cases, finding two molecular subtypes associated with distinct drug sensitivities.

Myriad extracellular and intracellular cues regulate stem cell fate choice. Here, Liu et al. report intracellular pH dynamics as a previously unrecognized regulator to selectively mediate the secretory cell fate decision of the intestinal stem cell.

Loading of antigenic peptides onto MHC-I is essential for adaptive immunity and requires the protein Tapasin. Here, the authors demonstrate that Tapasin levels are controlled by the RNF185/MBRL ERAD complex and that this process regulates MHC-I surface expression.

A study identifies public neoantigens generated by tumor-wide aberrant mRNA splicing activity across distinct cancer types.

The mechanisms underlying the interplay between tumour cells and the microenvironment remain to be explored. Here, the authors report that the transcription factor FOXM1 epigenetically silences the DNA sensing pathway suppressing anti-tumour immunity and immune memory.

Identification of low abundance proteins interacting with viral proteins can be challenging. Here, Du et al. develop an mRNA display approach with a library of even distribution, identify host proteins interacting with NS1 protein of influenza A virus, and show that one interactor provides a means to regulate cellular fatty acids synthesis.

Kodali, Proietti et al. report that increased numbers of P-bodies in leukaemia cells account for sequestration and prevention of tumour-suppressive mRNAs from being translated, which could be targeted as a potential intervention in myeloid leukaemia.

PIK3CA mutations and ARID1A loss co-exist in endometrial neoplasms. Here, the authors show that these co-mutations drive gene expression profiles correlated with differential chromatin accessibility and ARID1A binding in the endometrial epithelium, resulting in partial EMT and myometrial invasion.

Cerebral cavernous malformation is a vascular disease characterized by capillary-venous cavernomas in the central nervous system. Here the authors show that cavernomas display benign tumor characteristics and originate from the clonal expansion of mutated endothelial progenitors which can attract surrounding wild-type cells, inducing their mesenchymal transition and leading to growth of the cavernoma.

Huang et al. provide a method to generate human gastric stem cell-derived pancreatic islet-like organoids that are capable of restoring glucose homeostasis in diabetic mice.

Alternative splicing is controlled with engineered fusion splicing factors.

SOX2 amplification and overexpression represents a hallmark of squamous cancers with distinct distribution of chromatin accessible regions depending on cancer type. Here, the authors identify a single enhancer e1 that predominantly drives SOX2 expression in squamous cancer.

The combination of engineered probes and spectral phasor analysis overcomes long-standing challenges associated with bioluminescence detection at the microscale, enabling multiplexed, real-time imaging of cellular features without the need for excitation light.

Lenardo and colleagues identify a new human genetic disease, GISELL, whereby ceramide lipid homeostasis is disrupted, thereby altering T cell longevity. Deficiency of GTPase of the immunity-associated protein 5 (GIMAP5) in patients leads to cellular senescence, immunodeficiency and early mortality.

A nanoscale polymer layer formed by mucins at the surface of tumour cells protects them against immune cell attack. This shield can be circumvented through immune cell engineering, using chimeric antigen receptors to stimulate natural killer and T cells or by tethering glycocalyx-editing enzymes to immune cells.

Lymphatics maintain lipid transport, immunity, and fluid balance. Kim J and Chaudhary S et al. reveal an AIBP-driven cholesterol efflux mechanism that regulates lymphangiogenesis via VEGF signaling.

CRISPR-based single-cell pooled screens that use linked barcodes suffer from lost sensitivity due to lentiviral template switching. The barcode-free CROP-seq design circumvents this problem.

Genetic screens are important tools to identify host factors associated with viral infections. Here, Flint et al. perform a genome-wide CRISPR screen using infectious Ebola virus (EBOV) and show that the host transferase GNPTAB is required for EBOV infection and a potential target for antiviral therapies

This study explores the relationship between telomere length and clonal hematopoiesis. Splicing factor and PPM1D gene mutations are more frequent in people with genetically predicted shorter telomere lengths, suggesting that these mutations protect against the consequences of telomere attrition.

Yang et al. show that transcription–replication collisions lead to large tandem duplications, which are frequent in female-enriched, upper gastrointestinal tract and prostate cancers and are associated with poor survival and mutations in specific genes, such as CDK12.

The authors use high-resolution total reflection fluorescence microscopy to study the mechanisms of AMPA receptor synaptic delivery. They report that palmitoylation of the GluR1 subunit modulates phosphorylation by PKC. This enhances protein 4.1N binding to GluR1, thereby facilitating GluR1 insertion.

CD28 costimulatory signalling can be suppressed by immune checkpoints, such as CTLA-4 and PD-1. Here the authors describe the design of the fusion therapeutic davoceticept (ALPN-202), based on a variant CD80 extracellular domain engineered to bind PD-L1 as well as CD28 and CTLA-4, providing direct T cell costimulation and dual checkpoint inhibition to enable anti-tumor immune responses.

This work presents ORFtag that enables proteome-wide functional screens by tagging and overexpression of endogenously encoded proteins via randomly integrated cassettes.

The ligandability of the human proteome can be expanded using covalent chemistry. A multi-tiered chemical proteomic strategy now provides in-depth maps of tryptoline acrylamide–protein interactions in cancer cells. This platform afforded the discovery of stereoselective covalent ligands for hundreds of human proteins, including compounds that disrupt protein–protein interactions regulating the cell cycle.

Here the authors use a range of approaches to examine the interplay between genetic variants linked to risk for polygenic skin diseases and transcription factors (TFs) important for skin homeostasis. The findings implicate dysregulated binding of specific TF families in risk for diverse skin diseases.

Waldenström macroglobulinemia (WM)/lymphoplasmacytic lymphoma (LPL) is a non-Hodgkin-type B cell lymphoma. Here, the authors identify two risk loci for WM/LPL in a two-stage GWAS involving a family-oversampling approach and provide evidence for a functional role of the non-coding SNP rs116446171.

Key neurons in the orbitofrontal cortex form memories for best action strategies when mice seek rewards. Here, the authors show that these neurons have more mature dendritic spines than neighboring cells, this maturation requiring concurrent plasticity in the amygdala.

Synthetic receptors are a powerful approach for engineering cell-based therapies that can sense and respond to their environment. Here cytokine receptor domains have been repurposed to develop engineered T cells that can sense and respond to cues associated with cancer or immune dysfunction.

In an interim analysis of a phase 1/2 trial, a heterologous prime boost vaccine comprised of a chimpanzee adenovirus and self-amplifying mRNA that encodes neoantigens derived from common oncogenic driver mutations in combination with immune checkpoint blockade was safe and elicited neoantigen-specific T cell responses in patients with advanced solid tumors.