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Protein channels are highly selective, but application in membranes is limited due to low protein content. Here, protein channels are embedded into block copolymers to form nanosheets using rapid solvent casting, with better water permeability and similar molecular exclusions relative to other membrane systems.

Lipophilic siRNA conjugates exert therapeutic activity in the mouse CNS.

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.

The controlled manipulation of the topological phases of electronic materials is a central goal of modern condensed matter research. Here, the authors demonstrate controllable switching between two distinct topological phases in a layered ferromagnet via thermal cycling.

How reactive oxygen species regulate neuronal stem cell (NSC) behavior is poorly understood. Here, the authors report that Ncf1-dependent oxidation of Igfbp2 cystines represses DNA repair networks to regulate NSC self-renewal and cell fate decisions.

The mechanisms regulating stem cells to give rise to human interfollicular epidermis are unclear. Here, the authors use single cell RNA sequencing to identify heterogeneity within the human neonatal interfollicular epidermis and distinct spatial positioning of at least four basal stem cell populations.

The response to infectious and inflammatory challenges differs among people but the reasons for this are poorly understood. Here the authors explore the impact of variables such as age, sex, and the capacity for controlling inflammation and maintaining immunocompetence, linking this capacity to favourable health outcomes and lifespan.

Glycosylation is an attractive strategy to functionalize natural products and peptides for biomedical use, but non-enzymatic approaches usually require organic solvent and protecting groups. Now, an aqueous phenolic O-glycosylation reaction that uses glycosyl fluoride donors and a calcium salt has been developed for a wide range of substrates, including complex unprotected peptides.

Interferon-ε is a tumour suppressor expressed in the epithelial cell of origin of ovarian cancer, which it restricts by direct action on tumour cells and especially by activation of anti-tumour immunity.

Inhibiting alpha-synuclein self-assembly into amyloid structures, associated with Parkinson’s disease, is a potential therapeutic intervention. Here, the authors identify the domains/sequences that are essential for alpha-synuclein aggregation and test the activity of foldamer-based antagonists to identify potential therapeutic targets.

Mirchandani and colleagues show that tissue hypoxia alters the number and phenotype of circulating monocytes and their differentiation into lung macrophages, with important implications for the resolution of inflammation in the lung.

1000 Genomes imputation can increase the power of genome-wide association studies to detect genetic variants associated with human traits and diseases. Here, the authors develop a method to integrate and analyse low-coverage sequence data and SNP array data, and show that it improves imputation performance.

Garry Cutting and colleagues report a genome-wide association and linkage study for loci that affect lung disease severity in cystic fibrosis. They identify two loci that influence lung function in individuals with cystic fibrosis.

A new class of stable, isolable N-silyl oxyketene imines derived from protected cyanohydrins is introduced. Utilization of these nucleophiles in Lewis-base-catalysed aldol additions allows access to either cross-benzoin or glycolate aldol-type products in good yields and exceptional selectivities by simply altering the conditions of the reaction.

Deep whole-genome sequencing of 300 individuals from 142 diverse populations provides insights into key population genetic parameters, shows that all modern human ancestry outside of Africa including in Australasians is consistent with descending from a single founding population, and suggests a higher rate of accumulation of mutations in non-Africans compared to Africans since divergence.

Transcriptomic analyses of acute phase whole blood from a large cohort of patients with COVID-19 identify molecular determinants of post-infection long-term sequelae.

Whole-genome sequencing analyses of African populations provide insights into continental migration, gene flow and the response to human disease, highlighting the importance of including diverse populations in genomic analyses to understand human ancestry and improve health.

Analyses of samples from patients with acute myeloid leukaemia reveal that drug response is associated with mutational status and gene expression; the generated dataset provides a basis for future clinical and functional studies of this disease.

Optical observations of Dimorphos, a satellite of the asteroid 65803 Didymos, before, during and after the impact of the DART spacecraft, from a network of citizen science telescopes across the world are reported.

Current methods for acquiring dissemination kinetics of rare circulating tumor cells (CTCs) that form metastases have several limitations. Here, the authors show an approach for measuring endogenous CTC kinetics by continuously exchanging CTC-containing blood between un-anesthetized, tumor-bearing mice and healthy, tumor-free counterparts.

Samples of different body regions from hundreds of human donors are used to study how genetic variation influences gene expression levels in 44 disease-relevant tissues.

A large proportion of basal cell carcinomas develop resistance independently of the canonical mutations in genes encoding hedgehog pathway components. An unbiased analysis investigating alternative pathways of resistance uncovers the role of cytoskeletal signaling in driving noncanonical activation of hedgehog signaling through nuclear translocation of SRF and MKL1. These results advance understanding of the mechanisms underlying drug resistance and provide new actionable insights for clinical translation.

Heparan sulfates (HS) contain functionally relevant structural motifs, but determining their monosaccharide sequence remains challenging. Here, the authors develop an ion mobility mass spectrometry-based method that allows unambiguous characterization of HS sequences and structure-activity relationships.

Image-based simulation for obtaining physical quantities is limited by the uncertainty in the underlying image segmentation. Here, the authors introduce a workflow for efficiently quantifying segmentation uncertainty and creating uncertainty distributions of the resulting physics quantities.

Evidence synthesized from 252 large-herbivore exclusion studies suggests that herbivore-induced change in dominance, independent of site productivity or precipitation, best predicts herbivore effects on biodiversity in grassland and savannah sites.

Previous work has identified several genes where mutations lead to breast cancer, but other genetic and environmental factors must still be accounted for. A large study of genetic association with breast cancer points to four novel genes and many more genetic markers that should be pursued for their link to cancer susceptibility.

Anterior Uveitis is a common inflammatory eye disease that can result in vision loss. Here, the authors perform GWAS and whole-exome analyses of Anterior Uveitis to identify the underlying genetics of HLA-B*27 positive and negative forms of the disease.

After two doses of the BNT162b2 vaccine, virus-specific antibodies and T cells were reduced in patients with solid tumors as compared to individuals without cancer, but neutralizing antibodies increased in most patients who received a third vaccine dose.

Disease signatures in high-dimensional biomedical data are detected with a visualization algorithm.

Spatial transcriptomics aims to pair omic data with tissue structure. Here the authors report Spatially PhotoActivatable Colour Encoded Cell Address Tags (SPACECAT) to track and isolate live cells by location; this enables spatially informed downstream assays like scRNA-seq and flow cytometry.

Using a multi-omics approach, the authors examine the molecular drivers of sexual dimorphism in the subcutaneous adipose tissue from sedentary and endurance-trained rats. These data provide a valuable resource for adipose tissue-related research.

The GEMM riboswitch is conserved in diverse bacteria and recognizes the second messenger c-di-GMP which mediates many processes, such as the transition between sedentary and motile behavior. The structure of the GEMM riboswitch with ligand now elucidates ligand recognition and specificity.

Water temperature is a critical variable for lakes, but its spatial and temporal patterns are not well characterised globally. Here, the authors use surface temperature dynamics to define lake thermal regions that group lakes with similar patterns, and show how these regions shift under climate change.

An exome-wide association study of six smoking phenotypes in up to 749,459 individuals identifies associations of rare coding variants in CHRNB2 that may reduce the likelihood of smoking.

Comprehensive integration of gene expression with epigenetic features is needed to understand the transition of kidney cells from health to injury. Here, the authors integrate dual single nucleus RNA expression and chromatin accessibility, DNA methylation, and histone modifications to decipher the chromatin landscape of the kidney in reference and adaptive injury cell states, identifying a transcription factor network of ELF3, KLF6, and KLF10 which regulates adaptive repair and maladaptive failed repair.

‘The timing and ecological dynamics of extinction in the late Pleistocene are not well understood. Here, the authors use sediment ancient DNA from permafrost cores to reconstruct the paleoecology of the central Yukon, finding a substantial turnover in ecosystem composition between 13,500-10,000 years BP and persistence of some species past their supposed extinctions.’

A synthesis of empirical and theoretical literature shows the extent to which food production has homogenized and rewired food webs to increase productivity but with negative consequences for stability.

The giant planet KELT-9b has a dayside temperature of about 4,600 K, which is sufficiently high to dissociate molecules and to evaporate its atmosphere, owing to its hot stellar host.

During embryogenesis, the cytoplasmic protein Myomarker (MYMK) mediates muscle fibre formation by fusion of myoblasts. Here, the authors identify autosomal recessive mutations in MYMK that cause Carey-Fineman-Ziter syndrome in humans, and model the disease variants in zebrafish.

The histone variant H3.3 is phosphorylated at Ser31 in induced genes, and this selective mark stimulates the histone methyltransferase SETD2 and ejects the ZMYND11 repressor, thus revealing a role for histone phosphorylation in amplifying de novo transcription.

The genome of the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon (Brachypodium), a member of the Pooideae subfamily, is sequenced. The Pooideae are one of three subfamilies of grasses that provide the bulk of human nutrition and may become major sources of renewable energy. Availability of the genome sequence should help establish Brachypodium as a model for developing new energy and food crops.

Three techniques for estimating mass losses from the Greenland Ice Sheet produce comparable results for the period 1992–2018 that approach the trajectory of the highest rates of sea-level rise projected by the IPCC.

Copy number variants (CNVs) account for a major proportion of human genetic diversity and may contribute to genetic susceptibility to disease. Here, a large, genome-wide study of association between common CNVs and eight common human diseases is presented. The study provides a wealth of technical insights that will inform future study design and analysis. The results also indicate that common CNVs that can be 'typed' on existing platforms are unlikely to contribute much to the genetic basis of common diseases.