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The Hong Kong–Shanghai, Korean, Taiwan, US and International Kawasaki Disease Genetics Consortia report a genome-wide association study in Kawasaki disease. They identify a novel locus in the FCGR2A gene that confers elevated risk of disease.

Yoshihiro Onouchi and colleagues report the results of a genome-wide association study of Kawasaki disease. They identify three new risk loci, all mapping near genes previously implicated in adult-onset autoimmune diseases.

A single-cell multiomic immune cell atlas from 235 Japanese, including patients with COVID-19 and healthy individuals, linked with host genetics including germline and somatic mutation, plasma proteomics and metagenomics data reveals that immune cells are dynamically regulated in a cell state-dependent manner.

Modular polyketide synthases (PKSs) are multi-domain enzymes responsible for the biosynthesis of polyketide antibiotics. Here, authors show the potential of ancestral sequence reconstruction to facilitate structural analysis of modular PKSs.

In view of previous work suggesting that low-voltage areas may promote atrial fibrillation, a multicenter, randomized controlled trial tested the hypothesis that ablation of low-voltage areas in addition to pulmonary vein isolation might reduce the recurrence of atrial arrhythmic events, but found no significant benefit to the combined procedure.

Oligonucleotide-immobilized plastic plates provide a rapid and easy-to-use tool for use in mRNA research, including the long-term storage, amplification and detection of the specific message, in vitro synthesis of both strands of sense and antisense mRNA, and ligation of cDNA to other DNA molecules.

Here, biological attributes of two early human isolates of the newly emerged H7N9 influenza viruses are characterized: the potential of these viruses to infect and/or transmit within various animal models is discussed, as is their relative sensitivity to neuraminidase inhibitors and experimental polymerase inhibitors compared to an H1N1 pandemic strain.

On 11 June 2009 the World Health Organization declared that the infections caused by a new strain of influenza A virus closely related to swine viruses had reached pandemic levels. Here, one of the first US isolates of the new swine-origin H1N1 influenza virus (S-OIV) is characterized, as well as several other S-OIV isolates, both in vitro and in vivo.

Analysis of the blood DNA virome in patients with COVID-19 and autoimmune disease associates endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and high anellovirus load with increased disease risk, most notably for systemic lupus erythematosus. eHHV-6 carriers show a distinct immune response.

Genetic mechanisms influencing COVID-19 susceptibility are not well understood. Here, the authors analyzed whole blood RNA-seq data of 465 Japanese individuals with COVID-19, highlighting thousands of fine-mapped variants affecting expression and splicing of genes, as well as the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs.

A genome-wide association study highlights a variant in DOCK2, which is common in East Asian populations but rare in Europeans, as a host genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19.

The ability of bone marrow to recruit transplanted hematopoietic stem cells decreases with age. Here, the authors demonstrate that this decline is caused by reduced sinusoidal shear stress due to increased non-neuronal acetylcholine degradation.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 73 Japanese patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 75 healthy controls were analyzed using single-cell transcriptomics. Combining these data with genotyping data highlights the interplay between host genetics and the immune response in modulating disease severity.

A light-harvesting chlorophyll-binding protein complex from an Antarctic green alga called Prasiola crispa can excite photosystem II with low energy far-red light. Here, through Cryo-EM analysis, the authors reveal its ring-shaped structure with 11-fold symmetry at 3.13 Å resolution.

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.

BIG3 is highly expressed in breast cancers and its interaction with PHB2 results in constitutive activation of E2/ERa signalling. Here the authors unveil the mechanistic details of this regulation showing that BIG3 binds PKA and regulates PP1Ca activity in an oestrogen-dependent manner.

CphA1 catalyzes the synthesis of cyanophycin polypeptide consisting of equimolar amounts of aspartate and arginine as a fixed nitrogen reservoir in cyanobacteria. Here, the authors solve the cryo-EM structures of CphA1, revealing the aspartate binding mode and protein dynamics required for cyanophycin elongation.

The upper atmosphere of Venus rotates much faster than the planet itself. An anomalous stationary structure observed by the Akatsuki mission at the cloud tops of Venus could be an atmospheric gravity wave induced by mountain topography below.

Myosin II–mediated contractility is required for leukocyte migration. Here, authors show that lysosomes are involved in leukocyte migration by providing the platform where Ragulator complex interacts with the myosin phosphatase Rho-interacting protein (MPRIP) independently of mTORC1 and interferes with the interaction between MPRIP and a subunit of myosin light chain phosphatase (MLCP).

The authors identify V-161, a compound that inhibits enterococcal Na⁺-V-ATPase and reduces VRE colonization in mice. The high-resolution structure of V-161 reveals its action on the Na+ transport pathway, offering new therapeutic insights.

Toshimasa Yamauchi and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association study of type 2 diabetes in the Japanese population. They identify new risk loci at UBE2E2 and C2CD4A-C2CD4B and show that the latter is also associated with type 2 diabetes risk in Europeans.

In C-glycosides the sugar moiety is linked through a carbon-carbon bond to the non-sugar moiety, which can be cleaved by intestinal microbes. Here, the authors use bioinformatics analysis to identify C-glycoside deglycosidase enzymes in intestinal and soil bacteria, biochemically characterise them and determine their structures and probe catalytic important residues in mutagenesis experiments.

Mutations in the haemagglutinin of H5N1 avian influenza viruses confer transmissibility in ferrets. Here, Wilker et al. show that while within host variability is high, transmitted virus diversity is low suggesting a genetic bottleneck acts during transmission, driven by selection on haemagglutinin genes.

Anti-EGFR therapy plus doublet chemotherapy is standard of care for patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but the role of triplet chemotherapy is unclear. Here, the authors report a randomised phase 2 trial testing the superiority of adding cetuximab (anti-EGFR) over bevacizumab (anti-VEGF) to modified FOLFOXIRI (5-FU, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and irinotecan) in patients with RAS wild-type mCRC.