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DNA double-strand breaks endanger genome stability. Here, the authors present cryo-EM structures showing how Ku70/80 and DNA-PK bind DNA ends on nucleosomes, offering a mechanistic model for break recognition within chromatin.

The apoptosome is known as a protein complex that initiates cell death. Here Borgeaud et al. reveal that in living cells, the apoptosome protein components assemble into dynamic meshwork-like structures that dissociate in cells surviving apoptosis.

Analysis of snRNA genes in individuals with rare disorders identifies de novo and recurrent variants in RNU5B-1 and RNU5A-1, in addition to previously unreported cases with pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in RNU4-2.

Neurons are shown to use fatty acid β-oxidation as a fuel source for memory formation upon intensive learning in Drosophila, challenging the view that neurons are unable to use fatty acids for energy production.

Previous research has suggested that pDCs are required for an effective antiviral immune response, but direct experimental evidence to support this is lacking. Here Ngo et al. develop a pDC knockin mouse model and find that pDCs are dispensable for an antiviral immune response to mouse cytomegalovirus and may be detrimental during influenza or SARS-CoV-2 infection.

Heterologous expression in the Drosophila empty neuron system, coupled with transcuticular calcium imaging and electrophysiology, allowed to deorphanize two odorant receptors of the honey bee which detect constituents of the alarm pheromone.

The bacterium Brucella abortus is an intracellular pathogen that modulates autophagy in host cells. Here, the authors identify two B. abortus effectors that interact with host protease SENP3, thus promoting cytoplasmic accumulation of nucleolar proteins associated with ribosomal biogenesis and facilitating intracellular replication of the pathogen

The relationship between lipid dyshomeostasis and tau pathology in FTLD and AD remains unclear. Here, the authors demonstrate that GRAMD1B contributes to lipid dyshomeostasis, autophagy impairment, and tau hyperphosphorylation in neurons.

Cell and tissue polarity mechanisms organize functional domains at the surface of many cells. Here, authors reveal that a Wnt-Ror-Dvl signalling cascade forms planar-polarized membrane compartments in C. elegans muscle cells.

A region on chromosome 19p13 is associated with the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. Here, the authors genotyped SNPs in this region in thousands of breast and ovarian cancer patients and identified SNPs associated with three genes, which were analysed with functional studies.

A supercomplex comprising all four respiratory chain components contributes to the induction of mitochondrial membrane curvature and tubulation of cristae.

Patients with myotonic dystrophy (MD) suffer from severe cardiac issues of unknown aetiology. Freyermuth et al. show that fatal changes in cardiac electrophysiological properties in humans and mice with MD may arise from misregulation of the alternative splicing of the cardiac Na⁺ channel SCN5Atranscript, resulting in expression of its fetal form.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Omecamtiv mecarbil and Mavacamten are small molecules directly modulating the force produced by β-cardiac myosin. In this work, the authors describe how the modulators Omecamtiv mecarbil and Mavacamten can have opposite effects on cardiac myosin force production despite occupying the same pocket.

Breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers varies depending on other genetic factors. Here, the authors perform a case-only genome-wide association study and highlight novel loci associated with breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers.

Bacterial DNA from Listeria monocytogenes infection is packaged within extracellular vesicles and induces paracrine cGAS–STING signalling in bystander cells to subvert host responses.

Wastewater surveillance of SARS-CoV-2 at the national scale tracks emerging variants.

An environmentally safe means of mosquito control is the application of Bacillus thuringiensis israelensis, which produces a cocktail of four naturally crystalline proteins exclusively toxic to mosquito. Here the authors report the atomic-resolution structures of Bti Cry11Aa and related Btj Cry11Ba solved de novo through Serial Femtosecond Crystallography on naturally-occurring nanocrystals.

Research on pain often relies on animals, and there is always a need for more precise and more ethical tools. Here, authors present a light-activatable molecule that induces pain in freely moving animal models in a reversible, non-invasive, and spatiotemporally defined way.

Human CD45 serves as a receptor for the Staphylococcus aureus Panton–Valentine leukocidin (PVL) F-component LukF-PV and contributes to the species specificity behind PVL intoxication of human immune cells.

Plasmodium malariae is a cause of malaria in humans and related species have been identified in non-human primates. Here, the authors use genomic analyses to establish that human P. malariae arose from a host switch of an ape parasite whilst a species infecting New World monkeys can be traced to a reverse zoonosis.

The establishment of symbiotic interaction between Aeschynomene evenia and photosynthetic bradyrhizobia doesn’t involve the canonical Nod factors and infection threads. Here, the authors assemble the draft genome of A. evenia and identify a receptor-like kinase in mediating the symbiotic interaction.

Disruptions in epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) trafficking has been linked to tumor progression. Here the authors show that sortilin limits cell proliferation and tumor growth by promoting EGFR internalization.

Noradrenergic and mesenchymal cell states have been proposed in neuroblastoma, but their contributions to the tumour are not clearly understood. Here, the authors used in vitro and in vivo models, as well as single-cell RNA-seq, to characterise noradrenergic and mesenchymal cells and their phenotypic plasticity in neuroblastoma.

Netrin-1 is upregulated in cancer models that undergo spontaneous epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, and its targeting blocks the progression of tumour cells to a late mesenchymal state, suggesting possible therapeutic applications.

Lipid A from some bacteria is sensed differently by humans and mice for the activation of the inflammasomes and inflammatory responses, but the mechanisms are not clear. Here, the authors show that murine caspase-11 and human caspase-4/5 contribute to this differential response via their distinct recognition of under-acylated lipid A.

A microcosm experiment replicated across 14 laboratories shows that deliberate inclusion of genetic variation enhances the reproducibility of an ecological study.

Assessing person-level human brain maps across 18 fMRI studies, the authors identify separable representations of pain, cognitive control, and negative emotion in the medial frontal cortex that generalize across different studies and tasks.

The Deep Decarbonization Pathways Project develops a framework to design low-emission development pathways. This Perspective discusses the framework and how it can support the development of national strategies to meet climate targets, as well as help achieve stakeholder engagement.

Nada Jabado, Jacek Majewski, Annie Huang and colleagues show that embryonal tumors with multilayered rosettes are characterized by a recurrent fusion of TTYH1 with the C19MC microRNA cluster. They further show that this fusion results in massive overexpression of a brain-specific isoform of DNMT3B, suggesting that this pediatric brain tumor is driven by epigenetic reactivation of an early developmental neurogenesis program.