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Genome-wide analysis identifies variants associated with the volume of seven different subcortical brain regions defined by magnetic resonance imaging. Implicated genes are involved in neurodevelopmental and synaptic signaling pathways.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses identify 26 risk loci for epilepsy, including 19 loci specific to genetic generalized epilepsy. Prioritized candidate genes implicate synaptic processes and overlap with targets of antiseizure medications.

Adaptive mutations in the avian influenza virus permit replication in mammals but how these mutations enable this effect is unclear. In this study, mutations found in the nuclear export protein of human isolates of H5N1 are shown to enhance the replication of viral RNA in human cells in culture.

Atmospheric methane-oxidizing bacteria constitute the sole biological sink for atmospheric methane. Here, Schmider et al. assess the ability and strategies of seven methanotrophic species to grow with air as sole energy, carbon, and nitrogen source, showing that these bacteria can grow on the trace concentrations of methane, carbon monoxide, and hydrogen present in air.

Most studies of the genetics of the metabolome have been done in individuals of European descent. Here, the authors integrate genomics and metabolomics in Black individuals, highlighting the value of whole genome sequencing in diverse populations and linking circulating metabolites to human disease.

Astrocytes are important players in ischemic stroke. Here, the authors use single nuclei transcriptomics to characterise marmoset astrocytes following brain injury. At functional level, they show that NogoAexpressing astrocytes limit macrophage infiltration.

DNA-programmed colloidal assembly of macroscopic crystals for photonic applications remains elusive. Here, the authors use insights from studies of nucleation and seeded growth to develop a two-step method for assembling macroscopic photonic crystals.

Grass pea is a multi-stress tolerant orphan crop and developing cultivars with decreased accumulation of the neurotoxin β-L-oxalyl-2,3-diaminopropionic acid (β-L-ODAP) is one of its breeding objectives. Here, the authors assemble its genome and reveal genes involved in the biosynthesis of β-L-ODAP.

Detection of primary aldosteronism, the most common form of secondary arterial hypertension, is essential for targeted management and prevention of cardiovascular complications. Here, the authors identify genetic loci associated with primary aldosteronism, suggesting new mechanisms of disease.

A theoretical framework is developed to show that interactions among organisms are limited by the availability of sensory information, and that the dynamical properties of a wide variety of interacting populations depend on responses to this information.

A study generates a clinicogenomics dataset resource, MSK-CHORD, that combines natural language processing-derived clinical annotations with patient medical data from various sources to improve models of cancer outcome.

Polymorphisms in the avian influenza A virus (IAV) polymerase restrict its host range during transmission from birds to mammals. Here, the authors investigate differences in the host chromatin regulator ANP32A regarding IAV polymerase adaptation, and profile ANP32A splicing to predict avian species associated with pre-adaptive human-signatures in the virus.

A hydrogel-based modular lymphoma organoid identifies how lymphoid microenvironment cues dampen the effect of MALT1 inhibitors and informs effective combination therapies to rescue the treatment response

There is a genetic component to the risk of severe COVID-19, but the genetic effects are difficult to separate from social constructs that covary with genetic ancestry. To address this, the authors identify determinants of COVID-19 severity using admixture mapping, viral phylodynamics, and host immune and metagenomic sequencing.

A robust, cost-effective technique based on whole-exome sequencing data can be used to characterize immune infiltrates, relate the extent of these infiltrates to somatic changes in tumours, and enables prediction of tumour responses to immune checkpoint inhibition therapy.

Trachoma is targeted for global elimination as a public health problem by 2030. Here, the authors combine data from 14 African populations to show that IgG in children is a robust approach to monitor transmission as populations approach elimination.

Hanno Glimm, Jan Korbel and colleagues present a computational framework called cis expression structural alteration mapping (CESAM), which they use to identify somatic copy-number alterations affecting cis-regulatory elements in cancer. They find that enhancer hijacking leads to overexpression of IRS4 and IGF2 in cancer.

ADHD is often found to be comorbid with disruptive behavior disorders, but the genetic loci underlying this comorbidity are unknown. Here, the authors have performed a GWAS meta-analysis of ADHD with disruptive behavior disorders, finding three genome-wide significant loci in Europeans, and replicating one in a Chinese cohort.

The Tyrolean Iceman is 5,300 years old and his mitochondrial genome has been previously sequenced. This study reports the full genome sequence of the Iceman and reveals that he probably had brown eyes, was at risk for coronary disease and may have been infected with the pathogen Lyme borreliosis.

The peripheral nervous system uses neuroimmune cardiovascular interfaces to assemble a structural artery–brain circuit, and therapeutic intervention in the artery–brain circuit attenuates atherosclerosis.

Mechanical signals regulate tissue differentiation but how this triggers downstream biochemical signals is unclear. Here, the authors place micro-magnets in theDrosophilaembryonic epithelia and show this triggers apical pulsations, in turn stabilizing Myosin-II, resulting in mesoderm invagination.

Modelling of aggressive lymphomas, such as double hit lymphoma, has been challenging. Here the authors engineer a CRISPR activation mouse to enable the generation of these aggressive lymphomas and identify the pro-survival BCL-2 protein A1 as a venetoclax resistance factor.

Disease signatures in high-dimensional biomedical data are detected with a visualization algorithm.

The molecular basis of the clinically important MAM blood group antigen present in most humans is unknown. We identify EMP3 as its encoding gene, establishing MAM as a new blood group system, and demonstrate the role of EMP3 in erythropoiesis through its interaction with the signalling molecule CD44.

Magnetic skyrmions are topological spin textures that hold potential for the development of post-von Neumann computing schemes. In coupled ferrimagnetic insulators, pinning effects and intentional distortions can lead to a ratchet-like current-driven motion of skyrmion bubbles.

A multi-ancestry meta-regression study analyses diverse genome-wide association studies and genome loci associated with tobacco and alcohol use.

Here, the authors isolate several nanobodies from a synthetic library that bind the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein (S) and neutralize S pseudotyped viruses. Cryo-EM structure of Spike with one nanobody and further biophysical analysis shows competition with ACE2 binding.

CV2CoV, a second-generation mRNA COVID-19 vaccine with non-modified nucleosides but optimized non-coding regions, is demonstrated to be effective against SARS-CoV-2 challenge when tested in non-human primates.

Temporal multi-omic analysis of tissues from rats undergoing up to eight weeks of endurance exercise training reveals widespread shared, tissue-specific and sex-specific changes, including immune, metabolic, stress response and mitochondrial pathways.

The presence of disorder makes it difficult to determine the intrinsic properties of graphene in its ideal form. Measurements of high-quality bilayer graphene flakes suspended above a substrate identify the persistence of quantum Hall behaviour at magnetic fields an order of magnitude lower than seen before, and previously unseen symmetry breaking of the lowest Landau level is also observed.

Researchers describe a mechanism capable of compressing fast and intense X-ray pulses through the rapid loss of crystalline periodicity. It is hoped that this concept, combined with X-ray free-electron laser technology, will allow scientists to obtain structural information at atomic resolutions.

There is increasing incidence of vaccine-derived poliovirus (VDPV) in countries thought to be polio free. Here, the authors report detection of VDPV in 2 UK children with primary immunodeficiency. The children did not develop paralysis, but isolated viruses showed intra-host evolution and neurovirulent potential.

The carbon balance in Southeast Asia is highly uncertain. Here, the authors show that land use changes and occurrence of strong El Niño control decadal shifts in the carbon balance of this region.

Better analytical methods are needed to extract biological meaning from genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of psychiatric disorders. Here the authors take GWAS data from over 60,000 subjects, including patients with schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression, and identify common etiological pathways shared amongst them.

An international team of researchers finds high potential for improving climate projections by a more comprehensive treatment of largely ignored Arctic vegetation types, underscoring the importance of Arctic energy exchange measuring stations.

Trans-ethnic analyses of exome array data identify new risk loci for type 2 diabetes. Fine-mapping analyses using genome-wide association data show that the index coding variants represent the likely causal variants at only a subset of these loci.

Cecilia Lindgren and colleagues report results of a large-scale genome-wide association study for waist-to-hip ratio, a measure of body fat distribution. They identify 13 new loci associated with this trait, several of which show stronger effects in women than in men.

Sexual reproduction in eukaryotes involves gamete fusion, mediated by fusogenic proteins. Here, the authors identify fusogenic protein homologs encoded within mobile genetic elements in archaeal genomes, solve the crystal structure of one of the proteins, and show that its ectopic expression can fuse mammalian cells, suggesting potential roles in cell-cell fusion and gene exchange.

Carbon dioxide enrichment of a mature forest resulted in the emission of the excess carbon back into the atmosphere via enhanced ecosystem respiration, suggesting that mature forests may be limited in their capacity to mitigate climate change.

Mitophagy activation is mediated by mitochondrial depolarization. Here, the authors show that mitochondrial protein misfolding can activate mitophagy in a depolarization-independent manner mediated by a protein import reduction.

Mycorrhizal symbioses have evolved repeatedly in diverse fungal lineages. A large phylogenomic analysis sheds light on genomic changes associated with transitions from saprotrophy to symbiosis, including divergent genetic innovations underlying the convergent origins of the ectomycorrhizal guild.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

Genome assembly of durum wheat cultivar Svevo enables genome-wide genetic diversity analyses highlighting modifications imposed by thousands of years of empirical selection and breeding.

It is unclear why different antibiotics vary in their ability to shorten treatment of tuberculosis. Here, the authors show that a measure based on ribosomal RNA synthesis in Mycobacterium tuberculosis correlates with treatment shortening in culture, in mice and in human studies.

Topological insulators are a unique class of materials characterized by exotic metallic states at their surface, while remaining insulated in the bulk. Sacépéet al. show how to manipulate normal and superconducting electronic transport at the surface of the topological insulator Bi₂Se₃, by tuning a gate-voltage to vary the electronic density.

Cross-disorder genetic association analyses identify five loci differentiating attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Individuals diagnosed with both ADHD and ASD are double-loaded with genetic risk for both disorders.

A high-throughput screen of substances generally recognized as safe identifies species-specific materials that stabilize live microbial therapeutics as powders, making them robust to pharmaceutical manufacturing workflows.

Large-scale sequence-based analyses identify novel risk variants and susceptibility genes for Crohn’s disease, and implicate mesenchymal cell-mediated intestinal homeostasis in disease etiology.