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Conductive films with a coherent gradient nanolayered architecture that consists of alternating stacked silver and aluminium layers can suppress crack nucleation and propagation, leading to increased resistance to mechanical cyclic fatigue.

Experimental evidence demonstrates long-distance remote epitaxial interactions of thin films even through thick amorphous carbon buffer layers and shows that these can be induced through dislocations in the substrate.

After transplantation into the brain of patients with Parkinson’s disease, allogeneic dopaminergic progenitors derived from induced pluripotent stem cells survived, produced dopamine and did not form tumours, therefore suggesting safety and potential clinical benefits for Parkinson’s disease.

A new group of multi-principal-element alloys, designed through machine learning and extreme microstructural heterogeneities, achieve high strength (1.8-GPa yield strength) and ductility (25% uniform elongation) at room temperature.

Noncoding variants in a TTTG microsatellite on 15q26.1 are identified in Japanese patients with childhood and adult-onset thyroid abnormalities. Functional analyses suggest that these variants affect the role of the microsatellite as a potential regulator of thyroid cell growth.

Iron alloys are essential but are limited by high thermal expansion. This work reports a strategy to reduce thermal expansion by in-situ forming negative thermal expansion phases within iron alloys, while maintaining high mechanical properties.

Crystalline dispersoids are commonly used to strengthen metals by obstructing dislocation movement, but this often comes at the cost of ductility. Here, the authors demonstrate that amorphous nanoparticles, introduced via additive manufacturing, enhance both the tensile strength and fatigue resistance of metallic materials.

A nanocrystalline metallic alloy with ultrahigh tensile strength and good ductility is achieved by introducing compositional undulation in a highly concentrated solid solution.

A single-cell multiomic immune cell atlas from 235 Japanese, including patients with COVID-19 and healthy individuals, linked with host genetics including germline and somatic mutation, plasma proteomics and metagenomics data reveals that immune cells are dynamically regulated in a cell state-dependent manner.

Genetic mechanisms influencing COVID-19 susceptibility are not well understood. Here, the authors analyzed whole blood RNA-seq data of 465 Japanese individuals with COVID-19, highlighting thousands of fine-mapped variants affecting expression and splicing of genes, as well as the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs.

A genome-wide association study highlights a variant in DOCK2, which is common in East Asian populations but rare in Europeans, as a host genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19.

Whole-genome sequencing identifies noncoding CGG repeat expansions in neuronal intranuclear inclusion disease, oculopharyngodistal myopathy and oculopharyngeal myopathy with leukoencephalopathy, three disorders with overlapping clinical features and neuroimaging findings.

Diabetes is a major cause of kidney disease. Here Kikuchi et al. show that phenol sulfate, a gut microbiota-derived metabolite, is increased in diabetic kidney disease and contributes to the pathology by promoting kidney injury, suggesting phenyl sulfate could be used a marker and therapeutic target for the treatment of diabetic kidney disease.

The authors used a multi-omic approach in a mouse unilateral nephrectomy model to identify signaling processes associated with compensatory hypertrophy of the renal proximal tubule. The results indicate that PPARα is an important determinant of proximal tubule cell size and is a likely mediator of compensatory proximal tubule hypertrophy.

An ultrahigh fatigue-resistant AlSi10Mg alloy is achieved by additive manufacturing, with its three-dimensional dual-phase cellular nanostructure acting as a strong volumetric nanocage to inhibit fatigue damage accumulation.

Subcentimetre-size black phosphorous and its alloy films have been achieved on conventional substrates through sustained feedstock release design, and exhibit high crystalline quality and composition-dependent bandgap tunability.

Analysis of the blood DNA virome in patients with COVID-19 and autoimmune disease associates endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and high anellovirus load with increased disease risk, most notably for systemic lupus erythematosus. eHHV-6 carriers show a distinct immune response.

Layered materials are held together by weak van der Waals forces facilitating layer-by-layer cleavage. Here, the authors demonstrate mechanical exfoliation of a naturally occurring franckeite mineral heterostructure, possessing p-type conductivity and remarkable electrochemical properties.

For optical control of plasmons metals require a large amount of power in the control pulse, yielding a small modulation depth. Here, Sim et al. fabricate arrays of Bi₂Se₃ and report a modulation depth of 2,400% at 1.5 THz with an optical fluence of 45 μJ/cm², demonstrating a novel route for controlling plasmons.

Previous genome-wide association studies have identified risk loci for pancreatic cancer but were centered on individuals of European ancestry. Here the authors identify GP2 gene variants associated with pancreatic cancer susceptibility in populations of East Asian ancestry.

Human reference genomes are typically constructed from few individuals, and are biased towards European and African genomes. Here, the authors assemble three Japanese genomes to create a population-specific reference genome. They then demonstrate improved variant calling from exome sequencing with this reference genome.

Aging is associated with cellular senescence, mitochondrial dysfunction, chronic inflammation, and impaired regenerative capacity across multiple tissues. Hedgehog signaling, through coordinated canonical and non-canonical pathways, suppresses senescence-associated phenotypes, supports metabolic and transcriptional homeostasis, and promotes tissue protection and regeneration in diverse organs, thereby contributing to the maintenance of organismal healthspan.

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 73 Japanese patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 75 healthy controls were analyzed using single-cell transcriptomics. Combining these data with genotyping data highlights the interplay between host genetics and the immune response in modulating disease severity.

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.

Induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) derived dopaminergic neurons are a promising source for cell-based Parkinson’s disease (PD) therapy. Here the authors report a comprehensive pre-clinical evaluation of the safety and efficacy of dopaminergic progenitors derived from a clinical-grade human iPSC line.