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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.

In an exploratory preplanned biomarker analysis of the phase 3 PARADIGM trial, a lack of resistance gene alterations in baseline circulating tumor DNA (negative hyperselection) was associated with prolonged overall survival after first-line panitumumab with chemotherapy in patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer.

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 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.

In a large cohort with a 23-month median follow-up of the CIRCULATE-Japan GALAXY observational study, ctDNA-based detection of molecular residual disease was predictive of survival outcomes and benefit of adjuvant chemotherapy in patients with resectable colorectal cancer.

An observational study on a large cohort of patients with gastrointestinal cancer demonstrates the utility of ctDNA analysis for accelerating the enrollment of patients in clinical trials with no accompanying deterioration in treatment efficacy.

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.

Whole-transcriptome sequencing of a subset of 75 non-small-cell lung cancer specimens in a multi-institutional genome screening study identified a fusion of the CLIP1 and LTK genes with transformational potential due to constitutive LTK kinase activity.

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.

A stack of silver nanorods could, according to calculations, be the answer to performing subwavelength colour imaging over far-field distances. The metallic nanolens is designed to operate in the visible wavelength range and by tapering the nanorods, image magnification is also shown to be feasible. If realized such a lens could be useful for imaging applications in the biomedical sciences and other fields.

Emotional experience evokes signalling in astrocytes, which form an ensemble that is reinforced by secondary astrocytic state changes resulting from repeated experience, leading to memory stabilization.

On the basis of the whole-genome sequences of cultivated and wild hops, this study describes the evolution of sex chromosomes, including degeneration and dosage compensation, and identifies a candidate gene for the X–A balance sex-determination system in these species.

Here, the authors identify the microbiota-derived corisin as a driver of diabetic kidney fibrosis via cellular aging and show that targeting corisin with a monoclonal antibody alleviates disease in mice, suggesting a potential therapeutic avenue.

Clinical manifestations in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) are highly heterogeneous, and identifying the root causes of clinical symptoms is challenging. Here, by performing single-cell profiling of peripheral blood from SSc patients, the authors identify distinct immune abnormalities associated with acute organ complications, including interstitial lung disease and scleroderma renal crisis.

The multicenter phase 2 TRIUMPH trial shows the utility of ctDNA genotyping as a screening platform to select patients with HER2-amplified metastatic colorectal cancer who benefit from dual-HER2 blockade with trastuzumab and pertuzumab

The ciliary margin of the eye functions as a source of multipotent progenitor cells in certain organisms but whether it plays this role in humans has not been easy to study. Here the authors culture human embryonic stem cells that self-organize into retinal tissue, and show that ciliary margin-like growth zones emerge from the developing human retinal tissue and contain stem cell niches.

Researchers report sub-ångström fundamental-wavelength lasing at the SPring-8 Angstrom Compact Free-Electron Laser in Japan. The output has a maximum power of more than 10 GW, a pulse duration of 10⁻¹⁴ s and a lasing wavelength of 0.634 Å.

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.

Neutrophils are early mediators for inflammation, but their functions in autoimmunity is still unclear. By using single cell analyses to compare patients with microscopic polyangiitis (MPA) and controls, here the authors find increased IFN-II-related neutrophils induced by IFN-γ and TNF signaling as a relapse risk marker for small vessel vasculitis.

Volatiles from herbivore-infested plants can function as chemical warning signals to neighbouring plants. Here the authors show that a tomato UDP-glycosyltransferase can convert a volatile signal emitted by infested plants to promote plant defense.

A cross-ancestry genomic and transcriptomic cohort of gastric cancer highlights significantly mutated genes and mutational signatures, some of which are ancestry-specific.

The tumor suppressor p53 prevents malignant transformation and regulates stem cell function and differentiation. Here, the authors discover a p53-induced lncRNA, LOC644656, that regulates genotoxic stress-induced stem cell maldifferentiation and chemoresistance in cancer cells.

This study shows that the preferential use of gluconeogenic pathways in the liver depends on exercise load.

Here, the authors perform cross-trait analyses of respiratory and cardiometabolic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, and smoking and identify negative genetic correlations between respiratory and cardiometabolic diseases in individuals of East Asian ancestry, in opposition from the positive association in European ancestry individuals.

After the regulatory rejection of obeticholic acid, peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor (PPAR) agonists have emerged as the leading second-line candidates for primary biliary cholangitis, pending definitive approval. Of these, only bezafibrate — a low-cost, widely available generic — has demonstrated long-term efficacy, a fact largely disregarded.

Sesame seeds contain phenylpropanoid-derived lignans that are potentially beneficial to human health. Here, the authors clone a cytochrome P450 enzyme that is responsible for the last steps of sesame lignan biosynthesis and show that it acts through a novel oxidative rearrangement mechanism.