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Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters are key drivers of metastasis, yet their formation in tumors lacking classical adhesion molecules is unclear. Here, the authors discover that hyaluronic acid promotes homotypic and heterotypic CTC clustering by initiating early cell contacts and stabilizing mature interactions.

The paper reports a scalable, chemical-free plasma process that converts methane and water into high-purity, single-layer graphene oxide while co-producing hydrogen, cutting greenhouse emissions, and lowering cost compared with conventional methods.

Access to green space has been a critical, and contentious, issue for neighbourhood inequality and health outcomes. This Analysis looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic interacts with availability of nature for urban residents.

HIV-1 integrase forms an RNA-binding module on the luminal side of the mature capsid lattice.

A human spinal cord organoid model can replicate two different types of spinal cord injury and can be used as an in vitro system to evaluate therapeutics and inflammatory reactions to treatments.

Plasmas can unlock unconventional reactivity for established catalytic systems, but understanding the resulting mechanistic changes is a complex endeavour. Here in situ characterization techniques allow us to rationalize the promotional role of non-thermal plasma on the catalytic hydrogenation of CO₂ to methanol on Cu–Zn systems.

Spatiotemporal insight into photoactivation of the prototypical B₁₂ photoreceptor CarH is revealed across nine orders of magnitude in time, identifying a transient adduct that distinguishes it from thermally activated B₁₂ enzymes.

Understanding collective behaviour is an important aspect of managing the pandemic response. Here the authors show in a large global study that participants that reported identifying more strongly with their nation reported greater engagement in public health behaviours and support for public health policies in the context of the pandemic.

The ZFTA–RELA fusion, an oncogene for ependymomas, promotes the production of itaconate, and its dependence on this metabolite represents a new therapeutic target for this cancer.

Vibrio cholerae O1 outbreak strains are classified as Ogawa or Inaba serotypes, but the impact of serotype on pathogenicity is understudied. Here, the authors show that O1 antigen methylation in Ogawa strains promotes colonization and infectivity.

Genome-wide association meta-analysis identifies 58 independent risk loci for major anxiety disorders among individuals of European ancestry and implicates GABAergic signaling as a potential mechanism underlying genetic risk for these disorders.

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.

This Resource paper presents a global SARS-CoV-2 phylogenetic tree of 4,471,579 high-quality genomes consistently constructed by Viridian, an efficient amplicon-aware assembler.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Chemical recycling of poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) typically requires high temperatures. Here, the authors report the UV-initiated depolymerisation of PMMA at low temperatures, in non-chlorinated solvents, such as benzonitrile.

A comprehensive atlas platform integrating transcriptional and epigenetic data enables more precise engineering of T cell states, accelerating the rational design of more effective cellular immunotherapies.

Functional studies of O-GlcNAcylation have often focused on individual modifications. Now, a systems-level approach has identified simultaneous O-GlcNAcylation events that coordinate cellular activities and tissue-specific functions.

Native state proteomics of PV interneurons revealed unique molecular features of high translational and metabolic activity, and enrichment of Alzheimer’s risk genes. Early amyloid pathology exerted unique effects on mitochondria, mTOR signaling and neurotransmission in PV neurons.

An anti-HIV-1 antibody that targets an N332_gp120 glycan-independent V3 epitope, a site of Env vulnerability, can decline viremia in HIV-1-infected humanized mice while overcoming classical V3 escape mutations.

Prior hypoglycemia alters the paracrine interaction between islet α and δ cells, leading to impaired counter-regulatory glucagon secretion through somatostatin hypersecretion, increasing the risk of recurrent hypoglycemia.

Neuroinflammation triggers DNA damage and subsequent parthanatos-mediated neuron death. Inhibiting parthanatos in a mouse model of autoimmune inflammation is neuroprotective and reduces disease-associated paralysis.

Kumar et al. show that large language models (LLMs) nearly match expert reliability and outperform laypeople when assessing empathic communication across multiple frameworks. The performance of both LLMs and experts depends on clear and specific evaluation criteria.

Rathmell and colleagues show that metabolic reprograming of regulatory T cells is associated with severity of critical illness in patients with and without sepsis.

MK-7762 is a new oxazolidinone antitubercular agent that is structurally similar to linezolid, and demonstrated in vivo efficacy, lesion penetration and limited toxicity compared to linezolid, indicating it could be used in broad tuberculosis regimens.

Insights into regulatory T cell biology are accelerating therapeutic innovation in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.

Bacteria use diverse defence systems against phages, including a 164-residue prophage-encoded protein, Rip1, which senses conserved phage assembly rings to form membrane pores that block virion maturation and trigger premature host cell death.

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.

Cosgun et al. show that, in B cell leukemia, β-catenin expression is maintained at low levels through glycogen synthase kinase 3B (GSK3β)-mediated phosphorylation. Inhibition of GSK3β results in β-catenin–Ikaros–NuRD complex formation, leading to B-ALL cell death through MYC repression.

An alternative mating system, termed parasex, produces progeny with high levels of genotypic diversity and is able to fulfil the roles of meiosis when it is absent in the fungal pathobiont Candida albicans.

Tree cover gains in the moist tropics (1982–2015) were 56% naturally regenerated forests and 27% managed tree systems, with forest type influencing carbon recovery. Effective forest restoration requires robust tracking of forest types established by restoration efforts.

The PCRCR complex of Plasmodium spp. binds basigin on the erythrocyte surface. While Rh5 of the complex is restricted to P. falciparum, PTRAMP, CSS and Ripr orthologs are present across the genus, for which the authors report common features.

The lowest-frequency gravitational wave background may be shaped by supermassive black hole binaries that scatter nearby stars or dark matter. In this case, the NANOGrav 15-year dataset favours dense galactic centres with 10⁶ solar masses per cubic parsec.

In the nucleus accumbens, acetylcholine boosts dopamine release to promote effortful behaviour.

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.

Muscularis macrophages, housekeepers of enteric nervous system integrity and intestinal homeostasis, modulate α-synuclein pathology and neurodegeneration in models of Parkinson’s disease, and understanding the accompanying mechanisms could pave the way for early-stage biomarkers.

An in-depth analysis of tissue biopsies from patients with multiple myeloma and CAR T cell therapy-associated immune-related adverse events (CirAEs) after treatment with commercial BCMA-targeted CAR T cell therapy shows that CD4⁺ CAR T cells mediate off-tumor toxicities and that high CD4:CD8 ratio at apheresis, robust early CAR T cell expansion, ICANS and ciltacabtagene autoleuce treatment are independently associated with the development of CirAEs.

The LGN is a critical stage between the retina and visual cortex, but the properties of human LGN neurons are not fully understood. Here the authors report that they closely resemble those in monkeys and that closure of one eye increases the activity of putative inhibitory neurons connected to that eye.

CDK4/6 inhibitors are promising treatments for ER+ breast cancer, however resistance remains a challenge. Here, the authors analyse the NeoPalANA cohort and indicate that a 33 gene signature was predictive of response to neoadjuvant anastrozole and palbociclib.

Asexual-to-sexual switching underpins malaria transmission. Prajapati et al. identify an AP2-G loss-of function mutation and use it as a genetic tool to show that GDV1 is essential for initial ap2-g activation and sexual commitment initiation.

The identification of cellular targets for natural products that potently inhibit the growth of cancer cell lines implicates oxysterol-binding proteins in the growth of cancer cells. These natural products, termed ORPphilins, also affect sphingomyelin biosynthesis.

Here the authors present NCATS-SM0225, a small molecule that inhibits ERAD and selectively kills cancer cells by binding VDACs, disrupting calcium homeostasis, and triggering the PERK-STIM1 pathway to degrade ERAD regulators.

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.

Radiation reaction (RR) on particles in strong fields is the subject of intense experimental research, but previous efforts lacked statistical significance due to the extreme regimes required. Here, the authors report a 5σ observation of RR and obtain strong, quantitative evidence favouring quantum models over classical, using an all-optical setup where electrons are accelerated by a laser in a gas jet before colliding with a second, intense pulse.

MedHELM, an extensible evaluation framework including a new taxonomy for classifying medical tasks and a benchmark of many datasets across these categories, enables the evaluation of large language models on real-world clinical tasks.

Low oxidation state aluminium complexes have gained wide recognition as discrete and versatile 2-electron reductants, but neutral trimeric structures remain elusive. Here the authors report the synthesis and characterization of two neutral Al(I) trimers whose trimeric structure is retained in solution.

Rare cells are often biologically and clinically important, but their low abundance makes them challenging to study using single-cell transcriptomics. Here, the authors develop PURE-seq which integrates FACS and PIP-seq to directly sequence ultra-rare cells. It captures cells at 1 in 1,000,000 rarity, which the authors demonstrate by profiling circulating tumor cells and identifying Egr1 as a regulator of mouse hematopoietic stem cell aging.

Projected impacts of climate change on malaria burden in Africa by 2050 highlight the urgent need for climate-resilient malaria control strategies and robust emergency response systems to safeguard progress towards malaria eradication.

Sheep producers face growing expectations to produce more food, conserve biodiversity, stay profitable and cut emissions. The authors find that interventions work best when addressing underperforming environmental, economic, or psychological areas.

Structural, genetic, functional and biochemical analyses of the complex flagellar motor of Campylobacter jejuni reveal structural adaptations with an ancient origin also found more widely across bacterial species, including elements exapted from the type IV pilus machinery.