Search

Cells must  adapt to environmental changes. Here, the authors show that TM9SF3 mediates PIP₂ translocation in response to extracellular acidification,  thereby regulating cell migration through cytoskeletal remodelling.

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.

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.

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.

The Efimov effect is a universal phenomenon displaying an infinite tower of three-body bound states. Recently it was observed in an ultracold atomic gas, and now Efimov physics has been predicted to exist in a quantum magnet.

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 barcoded CRISPR base editing system isolates target clones from complex mammalian, yeast and bacterial populations.

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.

Using photosensitive caged-compound for femtosecond crystallography at X-ray free electron lasers would allow the structure determination of reaction intermediates. Here the authors demonstrate the feasibility of this approach with a caged NO-compound and present the initial NO-bound intermediate structure of cytochrome P450 nitric oxide reductase.

Nishida et al. show that DNA demethylation and super-enhancer formation upregulates the transcription of inflammation genes, thereby promoting neutrophil-mediated lung metastasis in renal cell carcinoma.

Antimicrobial resistance to currently available antibiotics requires innovation of antibiotics. Here, the authors identify a critical inhibitory site in an energy-producing enzyme, which can lead to rational design of antibiotics.

Understanding the genomic features of dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) is likely to uncover new options for management. Here, the authors reveal three prognostic groups, and highlight molecular markers associated with malignant transformation.

Resonant structures are a promising method to enhance the nonlinear response of Si, however they are typically larger than 10 μm. Here, the authors present Si nano-resonators that amplify photothermal nonlinearity, resulting in reversible and repeatable modulation.

Osteoarthritis is caused by an imbalance between extracellular matrix synthesis and degradation. Here, the authors show that both strands of microRNA-455, -5p and -3p, target HIF2α and regulate cartilage homeostasis, and show that overexpression of these miRNAs is protective against osteoarthritis in mice.

The brain is sensitive to oxygen deprivation. Here, the authors show in experimental animals that sensitivity to hypoxia is inversely related to the level of sulfide:quinone oxidoreductast (SQOR) and the capacity to catabolize sulfide in the brain.

Cold atoms have recently become a versatile platform for the study of quantum transport phenomena. Here the authors realize an alternative experimental scheme for quantum transport with cold atoms, by using spin-dependent impurity scattering in a spinful Fermi gas instead of spatially separated particle distributions.

Advanced colorectal cancers are characterised by intra-tumour heterogeneity dictated by neutral evolution. Here the authors analyse early colorectal tumours by whole-exome sequencing and find that Darwinian evolution determines the fate of early lesions in colorectal adenoma and carcinoma in situ.

Non-haem iron(III)-peroxo complexes that bind redox-inactive metal ions are synthesized to investigate the role of the Ca²⁺ ion in the oxidation of water to dioxygen in photosystem II. The electrochemical properties and reactions of these compounds with an electron donor and an acceptor are found to be markedly dependent on the Lewis acidity of redox-inactive metal ions.

Fujita et al. find that normal epithelial cells induce metabolic changes in adjacent transformed cells, causing their apical extrusion. The effect is conveyed non-cell-autonomously and relies on PDK4-mediated inhibition of mitochondrial function.

Hosen et al. identify an active conformation of integrin beta-7 as a cancer-associated antigen in multiple myeloma, and engineer a CAR-T cell that shows efficacy against MM in a mouse model. These findings describe the first conformation-specific CAR-T cell and highlight the potential of conformational targets in cancer immunotherapy.

Genome sequencing of fractionated T-, B- and natural killer cells from patients with chronic active Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) infection sheds light on the nature of the EBV-infected progenitor and suggests a link between intragenic EBV deletions and EBV-associated neoplastic proliferations.

Yuta Kochi and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for rheumatoid arthritis in a Japanese population. They identify nine loci newly associated with rheumatoid arthritis in this population and consider overlap of associations with previous studies in European populations.

Eisei Noiri and colleagues show that intronic variants in GPC5 are associated with acquired nephrotic syndrome. They further show that knockdown of Gpc5 in mice confers resistance to podocyte injury in two different models of experimentally induced nephrosis.

Palmitoleic acid as well as fatty acids isolated from bacterial cultures can be used in axenic culture of the arbuscular mycorrhizal fungus Rhizophagus irregularis to stimulate the formation of secondary spores that are able to colonize host plant roots.

Masahiro Nakatochi et al. report a genome-wide meta-analysis of serum uric acid levels in the Japanese population. They identify 36 loci, including eight previously unreported loci, suggesting key cellular processes that contribute to elevated serum uric acid levels, which can lead to gout.

Masato Kasuga and colleagues and Shiro Maeda and colleagues each report the independent identification of SNPs in KCNQ1 associated with type 2 diabetes in the Japanese population. Each group replicated the associations in other populations of East Asian and European descent.