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Highly pathogenic avian influenza H5N1 viruses are of global concern. This study shows that a low-dose H5N1 clade 2.3.4.4b Alum/CpG-adjuvanted vaccine elicits broad, durable antibody and T cell responses and protects female mice against lethal homologous and heterologous H5N1 challenges.

This study reports that de novo germline missense variants in SF3B1, distinct from the somatic variants frequently observed in cancer, cause a neurodevelopmental disorder and disrupt global RNA splicing.

Plastids, photosynthetic organelles in plants and algae, originated from cyanobacterial endosymbiosis. Here, Shrestha et al. use metagenomics to expand plastid diversity and provide evidence for two independent origins of secondary red-algal plastids.

A platform using matched patient-derived lung tumouroids and healthy lung organoids enables accurate examination of patient responses to CAR T therapy and offers a faithful framework for improved CAR T design.

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

The distinct architecture of the Escherichia coli membrane transporter LetA mediates lipid trafficking across the bacterial envelope in partnership with the tunnel-like complex LetB.

The authors previously pinpointed OLAH (oleoyl-ACP-hydrolase) as a driver of life-threatening viral diseases. Here, the authors identify increased IL-18Rα expression on CD8⁺ T cells, which acquire a reduced cytotoxic signature, correlates with severe respiratory viral infection of influenza A virus, RSV and COVID-19.

Transcriptomic and clinical data analyses from multiple cohorts of patients with cancer receiving immunotherapy find that PD-1 blockade potentiates tumor-specific IgG1 plasma cell responses that complement cellular immunity and contribute to clinical benefit.

Rathmell and colleagues show that metabolic reprograming of regulatory T cells is associated with severity of critical illness in patients with and without sepsis.

This study surveyed key informants across 26 countries on burning plastic for waste management and energy needs. It finds high awareness of this practice, with potential drivers including inadequate waste collection and a lack of affordable fuels.

Vaginal birth, exclusive breastfeeding and early contact with siblings promote colonization of the infant gut with bifidobacteria capable of producing aromatic lactates, a microbial and metabolite signal that is inversely related to the risk of allergen-specific sensitization and dermatitis later in life.

Neonatal brain injury from intermittent hypoxemia increases fatty acid oxidation and causes long-term changes in hippocampal lipid profile. Here authors demonstrate oral treatment with glycerol-triacetate restores lipid fatty acid profile and promotes functional recovery.

Crystal structures of HIV Env trimer with native glycosylation in complex with neutralizing antibodies reveal a glycan shield of high-mannose and complex-type N-glycan and indicate a path for germline-targeting vaccine design.

Carbapenemase-producing Enterobacterales cause healthcare-associated infections but modes of transmission are not well understood. Here, the authors find evidence of transmission without direct patient contact, indicating presence of undetected environmental reservoirs, whilst half of the transmission events are likely due to plasmid-mediated transmission.

How the complex interplay between multiple nutrients within the microenvironment dictates potential sites of metastatic cancer growth is explored.

Here, the authors analyze the microbiome composition and resistome pre-, during- and post-antibiotic exposure in Malawian adults, and find that commonly used antibiotics, such as ceftriaxone, exert strong off-target effects, both increasing abundance of opportunistic pathogens and the prevalence of a wide number of antibiotic resistance genes.

Chan and colleagues report that tumor ecosystem and microbiome features are associated with response to anti-PD-L1 avelumab plus chemoradiotherapy in patients with locally advanced head and neck cancer.

Here the authors show that transient cell cycle arrest reprograms CD8⁺ T cells into a highly energized state, increasing proliferation and antitumor activity and boosting efficacy of immunotherapies in cancer models.

Glioblastoma is characterised by high levels of intratumoural heterogeneity and plasticity, hindering treatment. Here, the authors develop an analytical framework, scFOCAL, to predict the sensitivity of glioblastoma cell subpopulations to therapies based on reversal of disease transcriptional signatures to identify synergistic therapeutic combinations.

Microflora Danica—an atlas of Danish environmental microbiomes—reveals that although human-disturbed habitats have high alpha diversity, species reoccur, revealing hidden homogeneity.

Scourzic et al. show that germinal centre B cells display an enhanced ability to reprogram to induced pluripotent stem cells compared to mature B cells. This ability indicates their higher plasticity level and is T follicular helper cell-dependent.

Jonaitis et al demonstrate that serotonin differentially modulates feedforward inhibitory neurons in the olfactory system of Drosophila which likely reflects odor categorization in higher order brain regions.

Current diagnostics for UTIs rely on culturing, which can take up to four days. In this work, authors present a culture-independent method for sample preparation, which incorporates real-time sequencing, and delivers results in approximately four hours.

While oral bacteria rarely colonize the healthy gut, they dominate the gut microbiome of patients with chronic liver disease. Here a bacterial gene encoded by microbial translocators is linked to gut barrier disruption and fibrosis.

Here, the authors sample air and surfaces in hospital rooms of COVID-19 patients, detect SARS-CoV-2 RNA in air samples of two of three tested airborne infection isolation rooms, and find surface contamination in 66.7% of tested rooms during the first week of illness and 20% beyond the first week of illness.

This work presents a unified MS/MS spectral library of drugs and metabolites integrated with standardized pharmacologic metadata, enabling scalable, individualized profiling of drug exposure and metabolism directly from untargeted metabolomics data.

Sebaceous tumours are a rare skin tumour which have highly variable outcomes. Here, the authors analyse tumours from 222 patients to identify genomic mutations to assess the molecular portrait of the spectrum of tumours.

The authors present scRR-seq, a single-cell multi-omics tool that directly links DNA changes to gene expression and enables simultaneous analysis of DNA replication, DNA copy number variation, and transcription.

Induction of CD11b-positive regulatory B cells and low expression of CD40 in melanoma cells have been associated with resistance to agonist CD40 (aCD40) and immune checkpoint blockade (ICB). Here the authors show that the addition of RAS/MEK/PI3K inhibitors to aCD40 abrogates these effects and reverses ICB resistance in preclinical melanoma models.

The effect of new viral mutations on T cell responses remains unclear. Here, Balogh et al. show that most new mutations in SARS-CoV-2 are C > U, a bias that leads to an enhanced T cell response.

Neo et al. map blood emergence from three hemogenic endothelial (HE) populations biased toward distinct blood fates. HE primed for stem progenitors shows elevated chromatin and RNA splicing gene expression and greater isoform diversity.

Metagenomes from prairie soils in Kansas, USA, show how historical exposure to water stress impacts soil microorganisms and subsequently drought responses in plants.

In this work, authors show how the enterotoxigenic Escherichia coli (ETEC) protease EatA cleaves the human mucus protein MUC2 at a C-terminal site, allowing bacteria to cross the intestinal mucus, reach epithelial cells, and promote infection, as demonstrated using a human MUC2 transgenic mouse model.

Metagenomics shows that viral diversity and community structure are shaped by geography and ecosystem health status, positioning viruses as unexpected players in peatland restoration.

SARS-CoV-2 has resulted in multiple outbreaks in hospitals, but identifying transmission events is challenging. Here, the authors combine whole genome sequencing and epidemiological data from the first two waves of the pandemic at a UK hospital trust and characterise transmission chains.

Clade 2.3.4.4b highly pathogenic H5N1 is currently causing a panzootic and has the potential to become a pandemic. Here, Peña Alzua and colleagues develop specific monoclonal antibodies against this virus that could be used to prevent or treat human infections.

Grosjean et al. present a network-aware, self-supervised learning approach for screening neuronal activity dynamics. They demonstrate its applicability across a range of neural interventions.

This study used whole-genome and metagenomic sequencing to trace foodborne pathogens across humans, animals, and environments in four African countries, revealing persistent transmission routes and highlighting new opportunities for surveillance.

Mantle cell lymphoma (MCL) is a form of B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma with a high degree of genetic and clinical heterogeneity. Here, using a multi-omics approach, the authors investigate genetic alterations in association with the tumour microenvironment to identify potential therapeutic vulnerabilities.