Search

Depression is correlated with many brain-related traits. Here, Shen et al. perform phenome-wide association studies of a depression polygenic risk score (PRS) and find associations with 51 behavioural and 26 neuroimaging traits which are further followed up on using Mendelian randomization and mediation analyses.

Although hydrogen gas could serve as a promising future fuel, its high-capacity storage is a challenge. Now, a nanoporous magnesium borohydride framework is shown to store hydrogen as densely packed penta-dihydrogen clusters having well-defined orientations and directional interactions with the framework.

Relatives of patients with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis have an unexpectedly high incidence of schizophrenia. Here, the authors show a genetic link between the two conditions, suggesting shared neurobiological mechanisms.

Here, combining diagnostic imaging modalities and in vivo assays, Windfelder and colleagues established tobacco hornworm larvae Manduca sexta as an alternative high-throughput platform to study the innate immunity of the gut and host-pathogen interactions. Using the platform, the authors identify mediators of gut inflammation, differentiate pathogens from gut mutualist bacteria, and demonstrate pharmacological interventions.

Biallelic loss-of-function variants in FOCAD cause a syndromic form of pediatric liver disease by compromising the SKI messenger RNA surveillance pathway.

Single-cell B cell repertoire analysis identifies the expansion of a naive-derived population of antibody-secreting cells contributing to de novo autoreactivity in patients with severe COVID-19 and those with post-COVID symptoms.

The transcription factor PU.1 is an essential regulator of the pro-fibrotic gene expression program in fibroblasts; PU.1 expression is upregulated in various fibrotic diseases, whereas inactivation of PU.1 induces regression of fibrosis in a number of organs.

Agricultural intensification may negatively impact biodiversity via a number of mechanisms. Here, Gámez-Virués et al.show that landscape simplification acts as an environmental filter to homogenise grassland arthropod communities into pools of species with less specialised functional traits.

Accurate capacity estimation is crucial for lithium-ion batteries' reliable and safe operation. Here, the authors propose an approach exploiting features from the relaxation voltage curve for battery capacity estimation without requiring other previous cycling information.

Mendoza and colleagues provide insights into the specificity of the NoCut checkpoint, showing that although different types of chromosomal defects delay cytokinetic abscission, only after replication stress does this prevent DNA damage.

Patrick Sullivan and colleagues report a multi-stage genome-wide association study for schizophrenia in a Swedish population. They identify 13 loci newly associated with schizophrenia.

FlyWire presents a neuronal wiring diagram of the whole fly brain with annotations for cell types, classes, nerves, hemilineages and predicted neurotransmitters, with data products and an open ecosystem to facilitate exploration and browsing.

Structural variants in more than 17,000 human genomes are mapped and characterized using whole-genome sequencing, showing how this type of variation contributes to rare deleterious coding and noncoding alleles.

Understanding the human exposome is now possible with clinics, communities and cities acting as real-world testbeds to understand what drives human healthspan, resilience and flourishing.

Though tractography is widely used, it has not been systematically validated. Here, authors report results from 20 groups showing that many tractography algorithms produce both valid and invalid bundles.

Emission enhancement and extraction from quantum emitters is a major challenge for photon sources in e.g. quantum photonic networks. Here the authors propose a broadband waveguide platform which allows to boost, extract, and guide quantum emission within integrated photonic networks.

Photonic crystals (PhCs) are artificial periodic materials that can be used to manipulate the flow of light. Here, the authors report the realization of asymmetric PhCs based on in-plane hyperbolic phonon polaritons in perforated α-MoO₃, showing low-symmetry deep-subwavelength Bloch modes that are robust against lattice rearrangement in specific directions.

A proteolytically derived fragment of the epigenetic regulator HDAC4 protects the heart through transcriptional repression of the hexosamine biosynthetic pathway, thereby inhibiting protein O-GlcNAcylation and maintaining normal calcium handling and contractility of cardiomyocytes.

An analysis of the interactions between 15 drugs and 25 gut bacterial strains shows that bioaccumulation of drugs within bacterial cells is another mechanism through which gut microorganisms can alter drug availability and efficacy.

Cytokine storm seems to be a common feature of severe COVID-19 pathology. Here, the authors show a reduced rate of SARS-CoV2 positivity in a large population of patients with immune-mediated inflammatory diseases if they are already being treated with cytokine or JAK inhibitors, indicating these treatments are safe to continue and are possibly protective against COVID19.

Modelled supply curves show that, with policy reform and technological innovation, the production of food from the sea may increase sustainably, perhaps supplying 25% of the increase in demand for meat products by 2050.

Schizophrenia is a highly heritable genetic disorder, however, identification of specific genetic risk variants has proven difficult because of its complex polygenic nature—a large multi-stage genome-wide association study identifies 128 independent associations in over 100 loci (83 of which are new); key findings include identification of genes involved in glutamergic neurotransmission and support for a link between the immune system and schizophrenia.

A genome-wide-association meta-analysis of 18,381 austim spectrum disorder (ASD) cases and 27,969 controls identifies five risk loci. The authors find quantitative and qualitative polygenic heterogeneity across ASD subtypes.

Hyperbolic metamaterials exhibit interesting optical phenomena that could provide useful functionalities, if the losses can be reduced. Here Caldwell et al.show that hexagonal boron nitride supports hyperbolic polaritons, presenting a natural alternative to metamaterial systems.

Quantum communication requires quantum correlations between the information processing units and the information carrying units. Here, the authors use time-bin encoding and frequency downconversion to telecom wavelengths to achieve kilometre-scale spin-photon correlations.

Bipolar disorder (BD) is a severe mood disorder, which has been shown to have a large genetic component. Here the authors identify two previously unreported BD risk loci and provide further insights into the biological mechanisms underlying BD development.

On 1–2 November 2024, the annual Biomarkers of Aging conference welcomed academic and industry scientists, and partners from governmental and nongovernmental organizations, to Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA, to discuss new insights into measuring and monitoring human aging, with the aim of clinical translation. In this Meeting Report, we summarize the conference and offer potential future directions for the Biomarkers of Aging Consortium and the longevity science community at large.

By utilizing spatially resolved fluorescence (-lifetime) measurements and high precision X-ray nanodiffraction, the authors correlate the influence of structural misalignment and fluorescence (-lifetime) properties of all-inorganic CsPbX₃ (X^– = Br^–, Cl^–) perovskite superlattices.

Computational search identifies dynobactin A which is a systemically active, natural-product peptide antibiotic that kills Gram-negative bacteria.

Single-cell multi-omic analysis of 300,000 cells from 29 patients representing peripheral immune cells and colon mucosal immune, epithelial and mesenchymal cells reveals crosstalk between circulating and tissue-resident immune cells with epithelial cells in checkpoint inhibitor colitis and identifies potential therapeutic targets.

Kinship behavior in rodents has been documented in the laboratory setting but the neural mechanisms that mediate kinship behavior are not known. Here, the authors show that the lateral septum has a key role in organizing mammalian kinship behavior.

Chemical optimization of arylomycins results in an inhibitor of bacterial type I signal peptidase that shows activity both against multidrug-resistant clinical isolates of Gram-negative bacteria in vitro and in several in vivo infection models.

Import of proteins into specific cellular compartments is critical for organelle function and several proteins are known to be imported into multiple compartments. Here, the authors report that the protein Ptc5 is first sorted to and processed in the mitochondria before being targeted to peroxisomes, which may influence mitochondria-peroxisome interorganellar contact.

Julie Williams, Michael Owen and colleagues report staged follow-up and meta-analyses of genome-wide association studies for Alzheimer's disease from the GERAD+ consortium. They identify common variants at ABCA7 and MS4A6A/MS4A4E associated with Alzheimer's disease and support for several additional susceptibility loci.

How chromatin structure and gene accessibility changes during monocyte differentiation is not clearly defined. Here the authors characterize the chromatin changes during macrophage or dendritic cell maturation from monocytes and the dependence of this upon cohesin and CTCF.

Kathy Sivils and colleagues report results of a large-scale association study of Sjögren's syndrome, a common autoimmune disease. They confirm strong associations with the HLA region and establish genome-wide significant associations at several non-HLA loci implicated in both innate and adaptive immunity.

The G-protein-coupled receptor GPR124, acting through the canonical Wnt pathway, is required for the maintenance of blood–brain barrier function in mouse models of stroke and glioblastoma.

Knapp and colleagues show that elevated heme levels following hemolysis impair the control of bacterial proliferation by inhibiting phagocytosis and migration of human and mouse phagocytes independently of heme-iron acquisition by bacteria as a source of nutrients.

Ferroelectric polymeric materials possess intermixture of crystalline and amorphous regions with complex Curie transition. Here, the authors demonstrate that the semi-crystalline morphology of the ferroelectric copolymer of P(VDF-TrFE) strongly affects its Curie transition.

The full extent of the genetic basis for hearing impairment is unknown. Here, as part of the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium, the authors perform a hearing loss screen in 3006 mouse knockout strains and identify 52 new candidate genes for genetic hearing loss.

Antibody-mediated immune responses rely on antigen recognition by the B cell antigen receptor (BCR) and SLP65 is a key scaffold protein mediating BCR signaling. Here authors show that effective B cell activation requires tripartite phase separation of SLP65, CIN85, and lipid vesicles.

Activation of brown adipose tissue can ameliorate obesity and diabetes. Here the authors show that chemical inhibition of hyaluronan synthesis by 4‐methylumbelliferone or genetic deletion of hyaluronan synthases 2 and 3 decreases body-weight gain and improves glucose homeostasis by inducing the thermogenic capacity of brown adipose tissue in mice.

The genetic basis of metabolic diseases is incompletely understood. Here, by high-throughput phenotyping of 2,016 knockout mouse strains, Rozman and colleagues identify candidate metabolic genes, many of which are associated with unexplored regulatory gene networks and metabolic traits in human GWAS.

The structure of turbidity currents has remained unresolved mainly due to lack of observations. Here the authors present data from a high-resolution monitoring array deployed for 18 months over Monterey Bay, that suggests turbidity currents are driven by dense near-bed layers.

Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) is critical for normal development and metabolism. Here, the authors conduct a GWAS and suggest protective effect of higher TSH on risk of thyroid cancer and goitre.

A PROTAC termed P4B targeting BRAF V600E mutant has been developed, which displays enhanced inhibitory function in cell lines carrying BRAF mutations that impart resistance to conventional BRAF inhibitors.