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Mammalian genomes are scattered with repetitive sequences, but their biology remains largely elusive. Here, the authors show that transcription can initiate from short tandem repetitive sequences, and that genetic variants linked to human diseases are preferentially found at repeats with high transcription initiation level.

Early-life complications modulate the association of genomic risk and schizophrenia.

The authors summarize the data produced by phase III of the Encyclopedia of DNA Elements (ENCODE) project, a resource for better understanding of the human and mouse genomes.

Topoisomerase 1 (Top1) inhibition is believed to mediate cellular toxicity by trapping Top1 on nicked DNA, leading to double-strand break formation during replication. New studies show that clinically relevant doses of Top1 poisons lead instead to extensive replication-fork reversal that is mediated by Poly(ADP-ribose) polymerases, limiting double-strand break formation.

Magnetic order in nature is defined by the exchange interaction, however its understanding on the ultrafast- and nanometer-scales is limited. Here, the authors follow the femtosecond sub-nanometer dynamics of the antiferromagnetic order parameter in KNiF₃triggered by photo-generated exchange magnons.

Using more than 100 independent iPSC lines derived from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the authors discovered loci associated with the neuronal production of amyloid β and confirmed their influence using RNA interference.

Cloud cover and scarcity of ground-based validation hinder remote sensing of forest dynamics in the Amazon basin. Here, the authors analyse imagery from a high-frequency geostationary satellite sensor to study monthly NDVI patterns in the Amazon forest, finding support for spatially extensive seasonality.

In a GWAS study of 32,438 adults, the authors discovered five novel loci for intracranial volume and confirmed two known signals. Variants for intracranial volume were also related to childhood and adult cognitive function and to Parkinson's disease, and enriched near genes involved in growth pathways, including PI3K-AKT signaling.

Piero Carninci and colleagues report the discovery of a large class of noncoding RNAs, non-annotated stem cell transcripts (NASTs), which are implicated in the regulation of stem cell properties. The authors identify 8,873 mouse and 3,042 human NASTs and functionally validate 4 as having an important role in the maintenance of pluripotency.

Mutations in angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 are shown to predispose mice to colitis as a consequence of neutral amino acid malabsorption and a change in the resident microbiota; these results could explain how protein malnutrition — affecting up to one billion people — leads to intestinal inflammation.

This study elucidates key metabolites and immune cell traits associated with hypothyroidism. These findings provide new insights into the etiology and potential therapeutic targets for hypothyroidism.

Magnetotransport measurements show that ZrTe₅ exhibits an anomalous Hall effect without magnetic ordering, a signature of Berry curvature introduced by Weyl nodes. This indicates that ZrTe₅ may be a Weyl semimetal, even though this was not predicted.

The authors defined a roadmap for investigating the genetic covariance between structural or functional brain phenotypes and risk for psychiatric disorders. Their proof-of-concept study using the largest available common variant data sets for schizophrenia and volumes of several (mainly subcortical) brain structures did not find evidence of genetic overlap.

Rad5 is a hub connecting three replication stress tolerance pathways. Here, the authors present the 3.3 Å crystal structure of a N-terminal truncated K.lactis Rad5 construct that reveals the spatial arrangement of the HIRAN, Snf2 and RING domains and structure-guided in vitro and in vivo experiments reveal multiple activities of the yeast Rad5 HIRAN domain among them a role in binding PCNA and supporting its ubiquitination.

Kagome metal family, AV3Sb5(A = K, Rb, Cs), provide a platform to probe the interplay between superconductivity (SC) and charge density waves (CDW) and whether it is competitive or complementary. Here, the authors find a contrasting behavior that, while the superconductivity in A = Cs is susceptible to disorder, that in A = K, Rb is stabilized by disorder due to the competitive nature between the CDW and SC states. They attribute the results to the different CDW patterns in A = Cs and A = K, Rb, highlighting crucial role of CDW order to the SC order parameters in the kagome family.

Positron emission imaging without tomographic reconstruction is demonstrated. A Cherenkov radiation detector detects gamma rays produced by positron–electron annihilation. The position of a positron source is determined with a precision of 4.8 mm.

Electron filling causes a reduction of the chemical potential in (Sr_1−x La_x)₃Ir₂O₇, which suggests negative electronic compressibility. Studying the concomitant change of the bandgap provides insight into the physical mechanism behind this effect.

The molecular mechanisms determining the temporal identity patterns of self-renewing progenitors during cerebral development are largely unclear. Here, using single cell transcriptome analyses, the authors find progenitor temporal identity arises independent of cell-cycle progression and Notch activation.

An association between infertility and poor somatic health exists, and infertility could be used as an indicator of a future pathological condition. However, the bidirectional relationship between infertility and poor health needs to be elucidated. In this Perspective, the authors discuss current advances and gaps in this area, focusing on lipid peroxidation and oxidative damage as potential molecular links between infertility and somatic health.

Understanding the nature of competing phases is a key to understanding the superconducting mechanism of unconventional superconductors. Here, the authors demonstrate a three-dimensional charge ordering state which competes with superconductivity in epitaxial YBa₂Cu₃O_7-x thin films grown on La_0.7Ca_0.3MnO₃substrates.

Exosomes originating from lung-, liver- and brain-tropic tumour cells are preferentially incorporated by specific resident cells of the target organs, thus preparing the site for metastasis; the expression of distinct combinations of exosomal integrin proteins determines the exosomal targeting to each of the three organs, and blocking these integrins reduces organotropic exosome uptake by the target organs, thereby reducing the likelihood of organotropic metastasis.

High-resolution angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy reveals bosonic modes in a SrTiO₃ substrate coupling to electrons in an FeSe overlayer to facilitate high-temperature superconductivity.

Considerable attention has been given in the past few years to two-dimensional electron gases formed at the interface between two bulk insulators. It is now shown that a similar electronic system can be created on the surface of an oxide insulator simply by exposure to UV light.

The interaction between antiferromagnetic magnons and electrons sits at the heart of many strongly correlated systems, however, investigation has been hampered by a lack of clear-cut examples. Here, Yu et al directly observe a kink in the dispersion, a result of renormalization due to the electron-antiferromagnetic magnon interaction.

Noij et al. assess health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and mental health in children with pediatric Long COVID (PLC) compared to children with chronic health conditions and the general population. They find that children with PLC report worse HRQoL and higher risks of severe anxiety, depressive symptoms, and sleep-related impairment.