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A clinical trial testing whether monitoring ctDNA clearance during treatment for nasopharyngeal cancer could be used to inform decisions about an individual’s subsequent therapeutic programme shows promising results.

This study identifies GCN5, a histone acetyltransferase, as a driver of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease progression via LXRα/SREBP1c-mediated lipogenesis, and demonstrates that pharmacological inhibition of GCN5 alleviates disease in a study with male mice.

Acute-on-chronic liver failure is a complex condition with varied definitions. Using unbiased clustering, the study identifies two distinct subtypes with markedly different 30-day mortality risks and highlights key determinants.

Direct enantioselective α-C(sp³)–H functionalization of Lewis-basic N-alkyl anilines has remained a significant challenge in synthetic chemistry. Now it has been shown that a metallaphotoredox-catalysed radical approach, with a sterically hindered aryl ketone photocatalyst, enables site-selective, enantioselective (hetero)arylation with exceptional functional group tolerance.

Boson sampling with three, four and five photons with high efficiency, purity and indistinguishability is realized using a quantum dot–micropillar as the single-photon source. A record-breaking sampling rate of 4.96 kHz is achieved.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study of blood lipid levels in roughly 1.6 million individuals demonstrates the gain of power attained when diverse ancestries are included to improve fine-mapping and polygenic score generation, with gains in locus discovery related to sample size.

Composite solid electrolytes face sluggish inter-phase Li⁺ migration. Here, authors construct a FeF₃-based anion-capturing layer onto Li_6.5La₃Zr_1.5Ta_0.5O₁₂ nanofillers within PVdF solid electrolyte, where the charge gradient layer on the interface promotes Li⁺ cross-phase conductivity.

Early-stage liver metastasis of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) makes radical surgery not efficacious. Here, the authors show that MLKL-driven necroptosis contributes to PDAC early-stage metastasis by inducing tumour CD47 upregulation and macrophage extracellular traps formation.

A genome-wide association study including over 76,000 individuals with schizophrenia and over 243,000 control individuals identifies common variant associations at 287 genomic loci, and further fine-mapping analyses highlight the importance of genes involved in synaptic processes.

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.

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.

Ruth Loos and colleagues report results of a large genome-wide association study for body mass index. They identify 18 new loci associated with this trait, some of which map near key hypothalamic regulators of energy balance.

Xue et al. develop a foundation model for spectral analysis. It excels in multiple tasks, such as denoising spectra and quantifying trace molecules, and is especially promising in identifying metabolic biomarkers of diseases such as stroke, Alzheimer’s disease and prostate cancer.

A genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI) detects 97 BMI-associated loci, of which 56 were novel, and many loci have effects on other metabolic phenotypes; pathway analyses implicate the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and new pathways such as those related to synaptic function, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

The importance of STAT5 tyrosine phosphorylation on T cells has not been investigated in vivo. Here the authors generate STAT5A and STAT5B tyrosine mutant knockin mice and show that Stat5a/b tyrosine is required for maximal IL-2 signaling and CD8 + T cell proliferation.

Erik Ingelsson and colleagues report a large-scale genome-wide meta-analysis for associations to the extremes of anthropometric traits, including body mass index, height, waist-to-hip ratio and clinical obesity. They identify four loci newly associated with height and seven loci newly associated with clinical obesity and find overlap in the genetic structure and distribution of variants identified for these extremes of the trait distributions and for the general population.

Lean body mass is a highly heritable trait and is associated with various health conditions. Here, Kiel and colleagues perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for whole body lean body mass and find five novel genetic loci to be significantly associated.

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.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association study for age at menarche followed by fine mapping and downstream analysis implicates 665 pubertal timing genes, such as the G-protein-coupled receptor 83 (GPR83) and other genes expressed in the ovaries involved in the DNA damage response.

Myocardial infarction treatment strategies remain challenged in effectiveness. Here we present a bioelectronic interface capable of producing on-demand abundant bioactive extracellular vesicles near the disease area for in situ localized treatment.

Dipterocarp trees are iconic but severely threatened species in Asian rainforests. This study assembles high-quality genomes of seven dipterocarp species to reveal the molecular basis of key adaptations and identifies a recent sharp population decline coinciding with local human activity.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Here, a draft sequence of the giant panda genome is assembled using next-generation sequencing technology alone. Genome analysis reveals a low divergence rate in comparison with dog and human genomes and insights into panda-specific traits; for example, the giant panda's bamboo diet may be more dependent on its gut microbiome than its own genetic composition.

Lipid concentration in the serum is one of the most important risk factors for coronary artery disease and can be targeted for therapeutic intervention. A genome-wide association study in >100,000 individuals of European ancestry now finds 95 significantly associated loci that also affect lipid traits in non-European populations. Among associated loci are those involved in cholesterol metabolism, known targets of cholesterol-lowering drugs and those that contribute to normal variation in lipid traits and to extreme lipid phenotypes.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Chronic spontaneous urticarial is an inflammatory skin disease which has been linked to intestinal dysbiosis. Here the authors implicate intestinal dysbiosis with the inflammatory response in a murine model of urticaria.

Using whole-genome data for single-nucleotide polymorphism and results from genome-wide association studies, the authors show that people’s preference for pairing with those with similar phenotypic traits has genetic causes and consequences.

A remote water source helps giant sand dunes to stand their ground in a windy desert.

Hydrogen-assisted dehydrochlorination (HaDHC) is an attractive route for the production of fluorine-containing olefins under relatively mild conditions, but highly efficient metal-based catalysts for this reaction remain underexplored. Here, the authors report a nano-MgF2-supported Pd-Ag catalyst with tunable Pd dispersion that is optimized by tuning of the Pd-Ag alloy degree in the fresh catalyst, followed by in situ restructuring, and demonstrate its performance in the HaDHC of 1,1,1,2-tetrafluoro-2-chloropropane (HCFC-244bb) to 2,3,3,3-tetrafluoropropene (HFO-1234yf), a hydrofluoroolefin refrigerant with reduced global warming impact.

Reduced glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) is a hallmark of chronic kidney disease. Here, Pattaro et al. conduct a meta-analysis to discover several new loci associated with variation in eGFR and find that genes associated with eGFR loci often encode proteins potentially related to kidney development.

This very large genome-wide association study identifies hundreds of new genetic variants influencing adult height in at least 180 loci enriched for genes involved in skeletal growth defects. The results show that the likely causal gene is often located near the most strongly associated variant, that many loci have multiple independently associated variants and that associated variants are enriched for likely functional effects on genes.

A genome-wide association study of the human hypothalamus discovers 23 unique loci and examines genetic associations with neuropsychiatric behaviours and disorders.

The sequencing and assembly of the highly polymorphic oyster genome through a combination of short reads and fosmid pooling, complemented with extensive transcriptome analysis of development and stress response and proteome analysis of the shell, provides new insight into oyster biology and adaptation to a highly changeable environment.

The genome of the scallop Patinopecten yessoensis is sequenced. This bivalve mollusc has a slow-evolving genome with features such as karyotype and Hox gene expression that may be close to that of the ancestral bilaterian.

Muscle weakness has been associated with morbidity and mortality in older people. Here, the authors have investigated this trait further by performing a genome-wide meta-analysis of grip strength and Mendelian randomization to discover causal relationships between muscle weakness and other diseases.

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.

A genome-wide association study of cerebral ventricle phenotypes finds 62 unique loci and reveals a genetic overlap between ventricular and neuropsychiatric traits.

Patricia Munroe, Christopher Newton-Cheh, Andrew Morris and colleagues perform association studies in over 340,000 individuals of European ancestry and identify 66 loci, of which 17 are novel, involved in blood pressure regulation. The risk SNPs are enriched for cis-regulatory elements, particularly in vascular endothelial cells.

Understanding the critical scaling behaviors of quantum phase transitions can provide profound physical implications. Here, the authors report temperature dependence of the derivative of longitudinal resistance at a magnetic-field induced quantum phase transition between the quantum anomalous Hall insulator to the axion insulator in magnetic topological insulator sandwich samples.

Hypoxia can promote tumor escape from immune surveillance and immunotherapy. Here, the authors show that hypoxia induces T and NK cell dysfunction through HIF1α-mediated epigenetic suppression of effector gene expression, conferring resistance to anti-PD1 blockade in triple negative breast cancer models.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of phenotypic variation for height and body mass index in human populations using 170,000 samples shows that one single nucleotide polymorphism at the FTO locus, which is associated with obesity, is also associated with phenotypic variation.

Photochromic molecules offer the unique opportunity to demonstrate multifunctional devices with light-tunable electrical characteristics. Gobbi et al. build light-switchable electronic heterojunctions based on atomically precise, photo-reversible molecular superlattices on graphene and MoS₂.

The onset of seafloor spreading in the northern South China Sea was marked by the rapid onset of magmatism and mantle upwelling, suggests an analysis of International Ocean Discovery Program core material.

Here the authors show that the human gut microbiome can recover after a clinically relevant, broad-spectrum antibiotic treatment and characterization of the resistome indicates that antibiotic resistance genes can impact the recovery process.

Sub-nano clusters with atomic precision provide a compelling platform for bridging heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis, but their synthesis remains a great challenge. Here, the authors report a precursor-preselected wet-chemistry strategy to synthesize highly dispersed Fe₂ clusters supported on mesoporous carbon nitride.