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Several transmission-blocking vaccine candidates based on Pfs230 and Pfs48/45 are in clinical development, but it remains unclear whether they will demonstrate high efficacy. Here, the authors develop a stabilized chimeric antigen presenting potent epitopes from Pfs230 and Pfs48/45 in a single construct and demonstrate induction of transmission-reducing antibodies when female mice are immunized with the antigen in a self-assembling protein nanoparticle formulation.

Here, the authors combine three different antibody specificities and an Fc domain on a single multivalent molecule, resulting in high neutralization activity despite viral sequence variability.

Kucharska, Ivanochko and Hailemariam and colleagues solved cryo-EM structures of Pfs48/45, needed for Plasmodium falciparum development, with potent antibodies. The work revealed conformational epitopes, with implications for design of therapies against malaria.

Pfs25 is a transmission-blocking vaccine candidate for Plasmodium. Here, McLeod et al. analyze the antibody response to Pfs25 in sera from a clinical trial evaluating a Pfs25 vaccine candidate, identify a potent transmission-blocking antibody and determine recognized epitopes on Pfs25.

Whether maximizing rewards and minimizing punishments rely on distinct brain learning systems remains debated. Here, using intracerebral recordings in humans, the authors provide evidence for brain regions differentially engaged in signaling reward and punishment prediction errors that prescribe repetition versus avoidance of past choices.

The inducible co-stimulator (ICOS) is a member of the CD28/B7 superfamily, binding its ligand (ICOS-L) on activated T cells. The structure of the ICOS/ICOS-L complex reveals a distinct receptor binding orientation. The structures of ICOS and ICOS-L in complex with potentially therapeutic antibodies suggest the structural basis of such antibodies’ efficacies and high binding affinities.

Characterization of 200 antibodies that bind a malaria parasite protein provides insights that could enable better vaccine design.

Malaria protein Pfs48/45 is a promising transmission-blocking antigen targeted by antibodies. Here, the authors determine the structure of its transmission-blocking epitope I, and generate a humanized monoclonal antibody that binds Pfs48/45 with high affinity.

Plasmodium falciparum protein Pfs25 is a promising malaria transmission blocking vaccine antigen. Here, Scally et al. determine the crystal structure of Pfs25 and identify antigenic sites that are recognized by transmission-blocking antibodies elicited in human immunoglobulin loci transgenic mice.

An analysis of 2,173 individuals from the MetaCardis cohort quantifies the individual and combinatorial effects of a range of drugs on host health, metabolome and gut microbiome in cardiometabolic disease.

Researchers use pulse front curvature and temporal chirp to control the group velocity of a soft X-ray laser pump beam, resulting in improved energy extraction and reduced pulse duration.

The B-cell-specific co-receptor CD22 is a therapeutic target for depleting dysregulated B cells. Here the authors structurally characterize the ectodomain of CD22 and present its crystal structure with the bound therapeutic antibody epratuzumab, which gives insights into the mechanism of inhibition of B-cell activation.

Specific binders to peptide–MHC class II are rapidly generated without laborious screening.

The polarization direction of a ferroelectric-like state can be used to control the conversion of spin currents into charge currents at the surface of strontium titanate, a non-magnetic oxide.

Emergence of drug tolerant cells drives adaptive targeted therapy resistance in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Here, the authors identify a common molecular event underpinning resistance to multiple targeted therapies in a panel of mutant NSCLC models that can be targeted with farnesyltransferase inhibition.

Gut microbial metabolism of nutrients contributes to metabolic diseases, and the histidine metabolite imidazole propionate (ImP) is produced by type 2 diabetes (T2D) associated microbiome. Here the authors report that circulating ImP levels are increased in subjects with prediabetes or T2D in three European populations, and this increase associates with altered gut microbiota rather than dietary histidine.

TMAO is known to be atherothrombotic. Here the authors show that i) kidney function is the main determinant of serum TMAO, ii) TMAO increases kidney scarring with TGF-β1 signalling and iii) anti-diabetic drugs with reno-protective properties such as GLP1R agonists reduce plasma TMAO.

Coupling of laser-plasma waveguides and controlled injection techniques produce high quality GeV electron beams for the first time.

Broadly neutralizing antibodies targeting the Env protein of HIV-1 are being used to guide vaccine design. Here, Guttman et al.show that highly potent antibodies bind to the ‘closed’, prefusion form of Env, whereas less potent antibodies bind only to the ‘open’ form (typical of receptor-bound virus).

The Membrane-Proximal External Region (MPER) of the HIV Env gp41 subunit is a target for broadly neutralizing antibodies. Here, the authors apply super-resolution stimulated emission depletion (STED) microscopy on single virions and provide insights into how the MPER epitope is recognized.

Sialic acid-binding immunoglobulin-type lectins (Siglecs) are a family of immunomodulatory receptors expressed on cells of the hematopoietic lineage. Here the authors demonstrate an approach for the identification of the glycan ligands of Siglecs, which is also applicable to other families of glycan-binding proteins.

Though tractography is widely used, it has not been systematically validated. Here, authors report results from 20 groups showing that many tractography algorithms produce both valid and invalid bundles.

The crystal structure of V1/V2, the only unresolved portion of the HIV-1 gp120 envelope glycoprotein, is reported in complex with human antibody PG9 and reveals a paradigm of antibody recognition with implications for vaccine development.

Asthenozoospermia is a major cause of male infertility, and multiple morphological abnormalities of the flagella (MMAF) is a particularly severe form. Here, using whole-exome sequencing of 78 MMAF patients, the authors identify mutations in two WDR proteins, CFAP43 and CFAP44, and confirm that these proteins are required for flagellogenesis in mouse and Trypanosoma brucei.

Recent advances in single-cell antibody cloning technologies have enabled the molecular characterization of monoclonal antibodies against Plasmodium falciparum parasites, which has significantly enhanced our understanding of how these antibodies are generated, as well as their epitope specificity and binding modes.

Although splice isoforms have been observed to change in cancerous cells, the effect of these changes has not always been clear. Using antisense technology, cancer-associated isoforms have now been manipulated in cell lines. The results indicate that shifting splicing patterns of SYK can contribute to cell-cycle changes and anchorage-independent growth and that this change is also triggered by EGF signaling.

Some broadly neutralizing antibodies to HIV-1 recognize glycan-dependent epitopes on gp120. Now X-ray crystallography and EM approaches, along with functional analyses, reveal how one particular antibody (PGT135) recognizes three glycan groups and can accommodate their conformational and chemical diversity.

Anthracyclines can induce a type 1 interferon response in tumor cells that may predict clinical response to these drugs.

Hybrid quantum optomechanical systems interface a single two-level system with a macroscopic mechanical degree of freedom. In a microwire with a single embedded semiconductor quantum dot, not only can the wire vibration modulate the excitonic transition energy, but the optical drive of the quantum dot can also induce motion in the wire.

Acetylome and transcriptome in hIPSCs derived neurons identified delayed neuronal maturation with 25 specific acetylated histone residues altered in Rubinstein-Taybi syndrome during the differenciation process.

A cryo-electron microscopy structure of the DNA damage repair protein 53BP1 bound to a nucleosome illuminates the way 53BP1 recognizes two types of histone modifications (a methyl group and a ubiquitin moiety), and provides insight into the highly specified recognition and recruitment of 53BP1 to modified chromatin.