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Lytic polysaccharide monooxygenases are proteins involved in the degradation of plant biomass and are promising biotechnological tools for biofuel production. Here, the authors show that their catalytic activity is significantly boosted when they are combined with photopigments and exposed to light.

Available methods to identify species from fragmented archaeological bone and remains suffer a trade-off between cost and resolution. Here, the authors present a workflow that uses automated sample preparation, 10 to 20 times faster data acquisition, and computerized data interpretation to make the technology applicable to large-scale studies.

Ferroptosis is lipid peroxidation-dependent cell death that has potential to be harnessed as a cancer therapeutic. Here, the authors show that the translation initiation factor eIF4E can repress ALDH1B1 independent of translation, increasing lipid peroxidation levels to promote ferroptosis.

Response rates to immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICI) in patients with head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) remain low. Here the authors show that ablative treatment of tumor-draining regional lymphatics, a standard of care approach in patients, impairs the tumor response to ICI in preclinical HNSCC models.

The cold-water coral Desmophyllum dianthus benefits from stable environmental conditions in deep waters of Comau Fjord (Chile) and is able to acclimatise quickly to new environmental conditions after transplantation.

The epithelial protein Coxsackievirus Adenovirus Receptor (CAR) is a virus receptor but may have other functions. Here the authors show that deletion of CAR in mice leads to reduced house dust mite-induced lung inflammation, reduced neutrophil accumulation and alterations in airway remodelling.

While the organelle genome is commonly considered to be a single circular DNA molecule, extensive variation exists. Here, the authors report multipartite minicircular genomes in red algae and indicate an origin driven by recombination due to loss of DNA replication, recombination, and repair genes.

Identifying the frequency, temporal location, duration, and amplitude of finite oscillation packets in neurophysiological signals with high precision is challenging. The authors present a method based on multiple wavelets to improve the detection of localized time-frequency packets.

Classical non-homologous end-joining (cNHEJ) is the dominant pathway used by human cells to repair DNA double-strand breaks (DSBs) and maintain genome stability. Here the authors show that PARP1-driven chromatin expansion allows the recruitment of ZNF384, which in turn recruits Ku70/Ku80 to facilitate cNHEJ.

Kinetic rates of protein–protein interactions can be measured with high throughput via biolayer interferometry.

Multidrug-resistant Enterobacteriaceae (MRE) represent a major threat for patients’ health. Here, the authors describe how cooperation between gut commensal bacteria (Lactobacillus spp. And Clostridiales) restrict MRE colonization in mice and patients

The mammalian SWI/SNF nucleosome remodeler is required for spermatogenesis. Here, the authors show that PBAF is essential for meiotic cell division in males and required to activate the expression of critical genes involved in spindle assembly and nuclear division in spermatocytes.

A subset of inflammatory group 3 innate lymphoid cells, here termed iILC3s, infiltrate the central nervous system and promote neuroinflammation and disease progression in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

Antibody responses to SARS-CoV-2 are critical in the immune response to infection, but the potential cross-reactivity to other human corona viruses is poorly appreciated. Here the authors apply a systems based approach to characterise the antibody response in pre-pandemic cohorts and assess heterotypic reactivity to SARS-CoV-2.

Large spin–orbit coupling can be induced when graphene interfaces with semiconducting transition metal dichalcogenides, leading to strongly anisotropic spin dynamics. As a result, orientation-dependent spin relaxation is observed.

Gamma-ray ‘glows’ are long duration high-energy emissions from thunderclouds. Here, the authors present observations of these emissions using the ADELE array of detectors and suggest that gamma ray emissions are related to relativistic runaway electron avalanches.

Pessina et al. report that DNA damage induces the assembly of a functional promoter at double-strand breaks and the transcribed RNAs promote phase separation of damage-response factors such as 53BP1.

Duy and Weise et al. combined human functional integrative genomics with mouse experimental biology to reveal a neuroprogenitor-based genetic subtype of human hydrocephalus with defective neurogenesis and altered brain–fluid biomechanics.

A machine-learning tool can predict the distribution of histone post-translational modifications using nascent transcription data. Inhibiting transcription impacts H3K4me3, H3K27ac and H3K27me3 dynamics.

The IFNγ response pathway is associated with response to immunotherapy in cancer. Here the authors show that high levels of the IFNγ-receptor (IFNγ-R1) affect the outcome of immunotherapy in a context-dependent fashion and identify the E3 ubiquitin ligase STUB1 as a negative regulator of IFNγ-R1/JAK1 expression in cancer cells.

Here, the authors report the development of a versatile academic, SARSCoV-2 RT-qPCR molecular diagnostic test that uses 3D printed technology for sample collection, is implemented in rural setting in the US state of Virginia and validated in its population.

Here, de Vries et al. perform a pre-clinical characterization of the antimalarial compound MMV693183: the compound targets acetyl-CoA synthetase, has efficacy in humanized mice against Plasmodium falciparum infection, blocks transmission to mosquito vectors, is safe in rats, and pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic modeling informs about a potential oral human dosing regimen.

Griess et al. determine the lipid signatures of pancreatic islets in type 2 diabetes models. They define a lipid environment linking the endoplasmic reticulum–Golgi transport protein Tmed2 to the proinsulin processing enzyme Pcsk1 to ensure insulin production.

A circuit in the amygdala uses thyrotropin-releasing hormone to suppress male mating when a female mouse is unhealthy.

The authors identify adult neurogenesis in individuals with epilepsy that declines with disease duration and epileptiform activity. Additionally, astrogenesis persists and immature astrocyte activity is inversely associated with neuronal hyperactivity.

This paper shows that maternal immune activation in mice induces changes in the mRNA translation machinery in the fetal brain and activates the integrated stress response in male fetuses, which mediates neurobehavioral abnormalities.

Here, the authors report the isolation and characterization of two human monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from immunized mice with trimeric spike ectodomains of three human betacoronaviruses HCoV-OC43, SARS-CoV and MERSCoV, and show that while exhibiting cross-reactivity, the mAbs only neutralize MERS-CoV but not SARS-CoV nor SARS-CoV-2, likely due to the subtle epitope differences in the spike S2 fusion subunit.

Morphological changes in kidney glomerular ultrastructure and altered compression of the glomerular basement membrane are shown to correlate with albuminuria.

Satb1 is a master regulator of multiple cellular processes. Here the authors find that Satb1 preferentially targets nucleosome dense regions and combinatorially uses multiple selection criteria including DNA torsion, flanking DNA shape, motif density and periodicity to streamline binding choices.

ALS is a neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of motor neurons. Here, the authors showed that reduced levels of the VSP35 subunit in the retromer complex is a conserved ALS feature and identified a new lead compound increasing retromer stability ameliorating the disease phenotype.

The I-BAR protein IRSp53 senses membrane curvature but its physiological role is unclear. Here, the authors show that during early lumen morphogenesis, IRSp53 controls the shape of the apical plasma membrane and polarized trafficking and ensures the correct epithelial tubular architecture and if deleted, affects renal tubules morphogenesis in various organisms.

Acute respiratory distress in macaques and baboons recapitulates COVID-19 disease progression in humans, making them suitable as models to test vaccines and therapies.

This protocol describes a proteomic approach for efficient affinity capture, identification and quantification of endogenous phosphoprotein phosphatases and associated proteins from cells and tissues.

STING ER exit is the rate-limiting step in STING signaling, but the mechanism that drives this process is not understood. Paludan and colleagues identify CxORF56, called STEEP here, as a positive regulator of STING signaling.

Microglia, the brain’s immune cells, suppress neuronal activity in response to synaptic ATP release and alter behavioural responses in mice.

Exposure to a novel experience can ‘reset’ connections between the hippocampus and prefrontal cortex in mice, allowing them to overcome an existing learned behaviour and to replace it with a new one.

Members of the CHD chromatin remodeler family are implicated in human pathologies, however CHD6 remained poorly studied. Here, the authors show that CHD6 binds to and regulates autophagy and stress response genes across cell types. They identify a clinical mutation that affects its ability to recruit cofactors, leading to impaired autophagy induction and DNA repair.

An abnormal cardiac action potential underlies different types of cardiac arrhythmias. Here the authors show that microRNA-365 regulates the cardiac action potential by modulating key cardiac repolarizing channels.

Fragment screening and medicinal chemistry optimization led to development of a small-molecule inhibitor of RING1B–BMI1 E3 ligase, blocking the H2A ubiquitination activity of the Polycomb repressive complex 1 and inducing differentiation in leukemia cells.