Search

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) associated uveitis can cause vision loss in children, but mechanisms remain unclear. The authors here identify elevated CD19⁺IgD^-CD27^- double negative type 1 B cells in JIA-uveitis and show that targeting B-T cell interactions suppresses disease in mouse models of uveitis.

Municipal solid waste (MSW) could power sustainable aviation fuel (SAF), but costs and technical hurdles such as gasification hinder its adoption. A study now shows that MSW can be turned into SAF with 80–90% lower lifecycle emissions while offering a 16% reduction in aviation greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists disagree about area-based conservation’s role in addressing biodiversity loss. This Perspective examines how conservation scientists, land systems scientists and political ecologists approach these debates differently and argues that environmental data justice frameworks can bridge epistemic divides, helping researchers to develop more effective and equitable conservation interventions.

Long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) regulate key steps of cell division. Here, the authors perform a comprehensive RNAi imaging screen targeting more than 2,000 human lncRNAs, and suggest a role of chromatin-associated linc00899 in regulation of cell division by suppressing the transcription of microtubule-binding protein TPPP/p25.

BPTF is known to regulate chromatin accessibility and self-renewal in mammary epithelial stem cells. Here, the authors discover that BPTF inhibition delays tumor formation, re-activates ERα expression, increases sensitivity to tamoxifen treatment, and inhibits metastatic development.

LYMTACs are heterobifunctional small molecules that take advantage of lysosomal membrane proteins to degrade membrane targets via relocalization and lysosomal degradation, offering a modular approach to drug otherwise intractable membrane proteins.

Sharks’ dorsal fins are thought to assist propulsion and turns while pectoral fins are thought to oppose sharks’ negative buoyancy. Here, Payne and colleagues show that hammerhead sharks use an exaggerated dorsal fin to generate lift by swimming on their side.

Constantinides et al., perform a recall study from a British South Asian genetic cohort to explore the genetic and phenotypic risk of cholestatic liver disease. 55.6% of participants with rare heterozygous ABCB4/ABCB11 variants or a history of intrahepatic cholestasis of pregnancy showed evidence of liver involvement, highlighting the utility of genetic screening and monitoring.

Leucine-rich repeat (LRR) domains are commonly present in immune regulatory proteins. Here the authors show that LRR exonic modularity and alternative splicing of an LRR-containing protein, NLRP3, modulate the ratio of functional/afunctional NLRP3 isoforms to instill a stochastic regulation of NLRP3-mediated inflammation and innate immunity.

The insecticidal protein Mpf2Ba1 shows potent control against corn rootworm. Here, the authors present detailed structural analyses revealing transitions between its three main stages of pore formation. These findings uncover molecular mechanisms of bacterial pore assembly and advance both crop biotechnology and food security.

Genome-wide ancient DNA data from individuals from the Middle Bronze Age to Iron Age documents large-scale movement of people from the European continent between 1300 and 800 bc that was probably responsible for spreading early Celtic languages to Britain.

An unusual family of bifunctional terpene synthases has been identified in which a prenyltransferase assembles 5-carbon precursors to form C20 geranylgeranyl diphosphate (GGPP), which is then converted into a polycyclic product by a cyclase. Here, the authors report the cryoEM structure of a 495-kD bifunctional terpene synthase, variediene synthase from Emericella variecolor, in which GGPP is not channeled intramolecularly, but can be channeled intermolecularly to a non-native cyclase.

Nanotechnology researchers have recently been targeted by armed eco-terrorists. Chris Toumey examines the motivation of these attackers.

Substrate channeling can improve biosynthetic efficiency and has been implicated in the reactions of fusicoccadiene synthase. Here, the authors analyze this bifunctional enzyme complex by cryoEM, cross-linking MS and integrative modeling, providing structural insights into how substrate channeling is achieved.

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.

Cofactor F₄₂₀ plays crucial roles in bacterial and archaeal metabolism, but its biosynthetic pathway is not fully understood. Here, the authors present the structure of one of the enzymes and provide experimental evidence for a substantial revision of the pathway, including the identification of a new intermediate.

An integrated analysis of de novo and inherited coding variants in 42,607 individuals with autism spectrum disorder identifies 60 risk genes of which five have not previously been associated with neurodevelopmental disorders.

An MBA can unlock progress to the higher ranks of a company — and many firms are willing to pay for one.

Assembled helical maquettes have been used to mimic basic oxidoreductase activities, but the requisite design symmetry limited advanced functions. Construction of a single-chain protein now enables intra- and interprotein electron transfer and complex cofactor interactions at rates comparable to those of natural proteins.

Tomonaga-Luttinger liquid behavior has been observed within 1D defects in transition metal dichalcogenides. Here, using complementary experiments and engineered defects, the authors demonstrate the importance of graphene as a substrate and its role in the formation of this quasiparticle excitation in 2D WS₂.

The innate immune response in epithelial cells after SARS-CoV-2 infection is not fully understood. Here the authors use human air-liquid interface culture and show single cell transcription changes and delayed type I Interferon responses after SARS-CoV-2 infection compared with other respiratory viruses.

WbbB is a structurally unusual retaining glycosyltransferase. Here, the authors show that WbbB forms an Asp232-Kdo adduct prior to transfer to the saccharide acceptor. Therefore, unlike any previously studied glycosyltransferase, WbbB uses the double-displacement mechanism first proposed in 1953.

The authors found that white blood cells plug about 2% of capillaries in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease mouse models. When the adhesion of these cells was blocked, cerebral blood flow immediately increased and cognitive performance rapidly improved.

Cryptochrome 1 (CRY1) is a transcriptional coregulator associated with the circadian clock. Here the authors reveal that CRY1 is hormone-regulated, stabilized by genomic insult, and promotes DNA repair and cell survival through temporal transcriptional regulation.

Here the authors describe multiple structures of the replicative helicase MCM2-7 in complex with Dbf4-dependent kinase (DDK). These structures reveal why the kinase specifically recognizes the MCM2-7 double-hexamer over the single-hexamer and explain how DDK can phosphorylate distantly located Mcm tails.

Shukla and colleagues study the genomic and transcriptomic data of exceptional responders to immunotherapy in renal cell carcinoma and find that such responses could be related to tertiary lymphoid structures, clonal neoantigen load and altered metabolism.

Inbreeding depression has been observed in many different species, but in humans a systematic analysis has been difficult so far. Here, analysing more than 1.3 million individuals, the authors show that a genomic inbreeding coefficient (FROH) is associated with disadvantageous outcomes in 32 out of 100 traits tested.

Little sulfur from the 2022 Hunga submarine eruption reached the atmosphere due to seawater–magma interactions, indicating that the climate impact of this type of eruption may be underestimated, according to analysis of ash collected throughout the event.

Hanssen et al. show that CTCF–cohesin binding sites at the α-globin gene cluster function as boundaries to restrict the interaction of enhancers with the flanking chromatin, thus preventing abnormal gene expression.

Developments in electron microscopy are generating more realistic views of catalysts, allowing optimization of their structure to improve their performance.

Here the authors present an approach that can reveal the full complement of mRNA isoforms encoded by individual genes, and they identify a major isoform of the retinal degeneration gene CRB1 which functions at the cell-cell junctions of the outer limiting membrane to promote photoreceptor survival.

Viral infection is shown to trigger CREB-mediated upregulation of miR-132. The interferon response is then downregulated by miR-132 through direct targeting of p300, a transcriptional co-activator, thereby facilitating viral replication.

A cavity optomechanics model accounting for the intrinsic dynamics of the interaction between plasmons and molecular vibrations reveals a parametric amplification mechanism that may provide an explanation for features recently observed in nonlinear Raman spectroscopy experiments.

Mutations in proteins that localize to primary cilia cause devastating diseases, yet the primary cilium is a poorly understood organelle. Here the authors use interaction proteomics to identify a network of human ciliary proteins that provides new insights into several biological processes and diseases.

Genetic variants at the FTO gene are associated with obesity in humans. Now, Roger Cox and colleagues analyze mice globally overexpressing Fto and show that increased Fto expression leads to obesity in mice.

The bacterium Helicobacter pylori, often found in the human stomach, can be classified into distinct subpopulations associated with the geographic origin of the host. Here, the authors provide insights into H. pylori population structure by collecting over 1,000 clinical strains from 50 countries and generating and analyzing high-quality bacterial genome sequences.

Timothy Frayling, Joel Hirschhorn, Peter Visscher and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for adult height in 253,288 individuals. They identify 697 variants in 423 loci significantly associated with adult height and find that these variants cluster in pathways involved in growth and together explain one-fifth of the heritability for this trait.

Glomerular filtration rate usually decreases with advancing age as a result of structural and functional changes in the aging kidney, but women are substantially protected against the age-dependent decline in renal function. This sexual dimorphism is the product of differences in chromosomes, perinatal programming and gonadal hormones (sex steroids) that create sexual phenotype. In this Review, Chris Baylis focuses on the role of the sex steroids, with a particular emphasis on the effects of sex and age on the nitric oxide system.

Using a multi-omics approach, the authors examine the molecular drivers of sexual dimorphism in the subcutaneous adipose tissue from sedentary and endurance-trained rats. These data provide a valuable resource for adipose tissue-related research.

There is a need for effective antiviral drugs against RSV infection. Conducting an RSV repurposing screen using the ReFRAME library Sake et al. identify lonafarnib as an RSV fusion protein inhibitor, characterize its binding site within the viral protein and show its antiviral effects in a mouse model.

De novo genome assemblies of four European flint maize lines and comparison with two US Corn Belt genomes provide insights into the dynamics of intraspecies variation in repeat and gene content in maize genomes.