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Schizophrenia is a complex brain disorder with its underlying protein changes generally not well understood. Here, authors show widespread alterations in the prefrontal cortex, marked by reduced energy production and disrupted synaptic function.

Humanity’s Last Exam, a multi-modal benchmark at the frontier of human knowledge, is designed to be an expert-level closed-ended academic benchmark with broad subject coverage.

Large-effect variants in autism remain elusive. Here, the authors use long-read sequencing to assemble phased genomes for 189 individuals, identifying pathogenic variants in TBL1XR1, MECP2, and SYNGAP1, plus nine candidate structural variants missed by short-read methods.

Chronic inflammation hinders the repair of muscle injury, and macrophages are known to play roles in reparative processes. Here the authors show in an nlrc3l-mutant zebrafish model, chronic inflammation drives repression of a mannose-receptor-dependent reparative pathway in macrophages and results in the loss of discrete macrophage states.

STING–type-I interferon pathway regulates the immunogenicity of several cancer types, including head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Here the authors describe that glutamine metabolism in the tumour microenvironment dampens the STING–type-I interferon pathway by epigenetically silencing the expression of BATF2, which functions as a tumour suppressor.

A single-cell epigenomic atlas of human immune cells highlights cell-type-specific features associated with genetic or environmental exposures.

Wei et al. perform spatial transcriptomic profiling on synovial tissue biopsy samples from individuals with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis, finding TGFβ signaling and fibrogenic fibroblast activation drive a treatment-refractory tissue phenotype.

A soft robotic probe enables continuous in utero monitoring of fetal physiological parameters, including heart rate, blood oxygen saturation, temperature and electrocardiogram data, during open or fetoscopic surgery to provide real-time information on fetal condition and distress.

cellSTAAR advances noncoding rare variant association analysis by integrating single-cell genomics data.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

Generation of orbital currents in a non-magnetic material can be useful to build efficient orbitronic devices. Now, the interplay of chiral phonons and electrons is shown to produce orbital currents in α-quartz.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

A randomized controlled trial found that eliminating opioids after minimally invasive gynecologic surgery did not compromise pain control at postoperative day 1, with similar pain scores and recovery outcomes between opioid-free and restrictive opioid groups up to day 7.

Semaglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, may offer neuroprotective benefits after stroke, but its effects in large vessel occlusion (LVO) are unknown. Here the authors show, in a phase 2 randomized trial, that semaglutide is safe after endovascular therapy and may improve recovery in patients not receiving intravenous thrombolysis.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Antimicrobial resistance poses a significant global health threat, necessitating swift and precise diagnostic solutions. Here, the authors introduce a culture-free diagnostic platform integrating microfluidic cell enrichment, single-cell Raman spectroscopy, and deep learning, that identifies bacterial and fungal infections directly from clinical samples within 20 minutes.

Elevated levels of IL-33 induce the production of autoantibodies through an unknown mechanism. Here, the authors show that IL-33 disrupts splenic architecture and germinal center organization, causing an expansion of antibody-secreting plasmablasts and plasma cells. In multiple mouse models of inflammation, administration of IL-33 exacerbates the pathology, increasing the production of autoantibodies, whereas IL-33 blockade reverses autoantibody production in a model of lung inflammation.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

Ghatbale et al. adapted a co-evolutionary technique to develop Klebsiella pneumoniae phages to be highly active longitudinally against K. pneumoniae clinical isolates, including drug resistant isolates.

Chronic care manages long-term, progressive conditions, while acute care handles short-term ones. Here, authors show chronic conditions account for most of the global health burden, with 68% of DALYs and 93% of YLDs attributed to chronic care needs.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

The existence of phosphatases specialized in regulating the axon initial segment (AIS) was unclear. Here, the authors show that a PP2A-B55 subunit is selectively enriched at the AIS and contributes to its local phospho-regulation.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Variation in SARS-CoV-2 viruses results in newly emergent virus lineages. Here, the authors characterize the BNT162b2 mRNA vaccines, adapted to two SARS-CoV-2 lineages, JN.1 and KP.2, measure responses elicited by these vaccines against contemporary and older SARS-CoV-2 variants in naive and antigen experienced animal models and describe the biophysical and structural properties of the spike proteins expressed by these vaccines.

Rossi and colleagues assemble an in vitro enzymatic pipeline using enzymes from distinct domains of life to recapitulate eukaryotic N-glycosylation. This work advances the synthesis of bespoke glycopeptides with biomedical and biotechnological applications.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.

In a phase 3 trial for Huntington’s disease, pridopidine did not meet its primary endpoints but was safe and favored in some prespecified subgroup analyses.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

The majority of human genes can produce multiple isoforms, but studying their functional relevance requires tools to target specific isoforms. Here, the authors develop a CRISPR-based exon-exon junction-targeting strategy to achieve isoform-specific RNA knockdown.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Exome-wide analysis identifies rare and low-frequency coding variants associated with body mass index. Gene-based meta-analysis and functional studies implicate 13 genes, eight of which are novel, and neuronal pathways as factors in human obesity.

Identifying genes involved in MYC-driven lymphoma reveals therapeutic vulnerabilities. Here, the authors show by using CRISPR knockout screens in primary cells in vivo that the GATOR1 complex suppresses MYC-driven lymphomagenesis, and that GATOR1-deficient lymphomas are sensitive to mTOR inhibitors.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

Chemically induced protein degradation is a powerful alternative to classical inhibition, but some proteins have deeply masked binding pockets that make the development of degrader molecules difficult. Here, the authors discover an alternate site on nuclear receptors that can be targeted by degraders.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.