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Experiments show that the progressive softening of microtubules under mechanical stress results from the enlargement of pre-existing structural defects, and that the incorporation of tubulin dimers can restore the microtubule’s initial stiffness.

Bourdon et al. demonstrate the possibility to ectopically synthesize callose, a polymer restricted to primary cell walls, into Arabidopsis and aspen secondary cell walls to manipulate their ultrastructure and ultimately reduce their recalcitrance.

While mycorrhizal-plant interactions are widely studied, other root symbionts may also be ecologically important. Here, the authors show that dark septate endophytes are a strong predictor of rhizosphere and associated soil microbiomes in broad-leaved tree across Europe.

Here, the authors demonstrate how Mrs2, critical for import of Mg²⁺ into the mitochondria, transitions from open and closed five-fold symmetric states to control the influx of Mg²⁺ using an auto-ligand-gating regulation mechanism.

A new explanation for the origin of the accreted terranes that form the mountainous Cordillera of western North America is proposed and tested: stationary, intra-oceanic subduction deposited massive slab walls in the mantle and grew volcanic archipelagos at the surface, which were overridden by and accreted to North America during Cretaceous times.

Numerous tissues are derived from the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) but how this is specified is unclear. Here, the authors identify a pan-LPM reporter activity found in the zebrafish draculin (drl) gene that also shows transgenic activity in LPM-corresponding territories of several chordates, including chicken, axolotl, lamprey, Ciona, and amphioxus.

Neuroblastoma (NB) is a frequent childhood cancer that often becomes resistant to therapy. Here, the authors perform spatiotemporal genomic profiling of NBs before and after chemotherapy and find an evolutionary process characteristic of NBs growing resistant after first responding to treatment.

Upstream land-use changes are transforming coastal environments around the globe. Mangrove removal aims at restoring estuarine ecosystems but counterintuitively enhances sediment trapping. More holistic management approaches are needed.

An analysis of 2,954 genomes from 38 cancer subtypes identified 19,166 retrotransposition events in 35% of samples. Aberrant LINE-1 retrotranspositions can lead to the deletion of tumor-suppressor genes as well as the amplification of oncogenes.

In somatic cells the mechanisms maintaining the chromosome ends are normally inactivated; however, cancer cells can re-activate these pathways to support continuous growth. Here, the authors characterize the telomeric landscapes across tumour types and identify genomic alterations associated with different telomere maintenance mechanisms.

Molecular motors destroy a microtubule lattice as they walk on it, but it is now shown that a self-healing process incorporates new dimers in the damaged regions and prevents microtubule disassembly.

CRISPR-Cas9 has potential as an efficient tool for information retrieval in DNA data storage. Here the authors present a Cas9-based random access and similarity search approach and test on DNA databases, progressing toward simpler, isothermal protocols.

Mutations affecting sialylation and galactosylation affect megakaryocyte function and thrombopoiesis. Here the authors show that the enzyme β4GalT1 regulates thrombopoiesis and hematopoietic stem cell homeostasis by controlling beta-1 integrin function.

The role of wild and domesticated animals on alpine ecosystems is unclear. Here, the authors use sedaDNA from 14 European alpine lakes to demonstrate a positive association between wild and domesticated animal and plant diversity through the past 14 thousand years.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

The SART3 gene encodes an RNA-binding protein critical for spliceosome function. Here, the authors find that bi-allelic variants in SART3 underlie a congenital condition characterised by neuro-developmental defects and 46,XY gonadal dysgenesis.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

In this study the authors consider the structural variants (SVs) present within cancer cases of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium. They report hundreds of genes, including known cancer-associated genes for which the nearby presence of a SV breakpoint is associated with altered expression.

We identify that the larval zebrafish unpaired pre-anal fin fold is derived from the lateral plate mesoderm, can be readily duplicated, and thus may represent a developmental intermediate between median and paired fins.

Gannot et al. show that Tac1 neurons in the NTS mediate an airway–vagal–brain pathway that is crucial for coughing in mice. These neurons receive direct vagal sensory inputs and coordinate downstream circuits to control coughing.

β-cell dysfunction in type 2 diabetes is associated with pathological aggregates of IAPP that accumulate in pancreatic islets. Here, the authors describe a novel antibody cloned from healthy elderly donors that selectively targets IAPP oligomers and protects from IAPP toxicity.

Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis related TDP-43 protein translocates to stress granules with a concomitant reduction in mobility. Here, the authors use single molecule tracking and find a stress-induced reduction in TDP-43 mobility also in the cytoplasm potentially relevant for TDP-43 aggregation.

The mechanisms underlying adaptation of bacteria to changing environmental conditions remain poorly understood. Here, the authors show bacteria using lysine acetylation of transcriptional regulators to adjust gene expression to changing conditions.

K2P channels are important regulators of cellular electrical activity. Here the authors show how nanobody fragments can be used to detect and modulate TREK2 K2P channel activity to provide insight into the mechanism of gating.

Domain walls of topological materials may be good candidates to study topological interfacial states. Here, Huang et al. discover polar domain walls which can be manipulated by electron beams and phase domain walls where possible signature of a conducting hinge state is detected in Weyl semimetal MoTe₂.

The end of the green Sahara in the mid-Holocene was gradual, but punctuated by rapidly changing episodes of extreme drought and wetness, to which human societies were exposed and had to adapt to, as a lake record from southern Ethiopia suggests.

PFAS and OH-PCBs are associated with health effects. Here, the authors present an association between OH-PCB exposure and increased risk of multiple sclerosis, while increased PFAS levels were associated with reduced risk of disability worsening.

Proteasomal degradation of cellular proteins generate defence peptides constitutively and in response to bacterial infection. Such peptides might provide a source of natural antibiotics that could lead to biotechnology applications and therapeutic interventions.

Mechanisms coupling Hox genes to neural crest are largely unknown. Here, the authors use cross species regulatory comparisons between the Hox2 genes of jawed vertebrates and lamprey, a jawless vertebrate, finding a conserved ancestral mechanism for Hox2 neural crest regulation.

The X-ray crystal structure of the potassium channel TASK-1 reveals the presence of an X-gate, which traps small-molecule inhibitors in the intramembrane vestibule and explains their low washout rates from the channel.

Here, the authors provide evidence that, unlike other arboviruses, the initial site of orthobunyavirus replication is the panniculus carnosus muscle layer within the skin. However, virus infection does not damage or kill these cells, allowing them to produce virus over a longer period of time.

Microtubules can self-repair in vitro in response to stress. Théry and colleagues now show that such repair can occur in cells, as free tubulin dimers can be incorporated into a damaged microtubule lattice to promote rescue events.

The characterization of 4,645 whole-genome and 19,184 exome sequences, covering most types of cancer, identifies 81 single-base substitution, doublet-base substitution and small-insertion-and-deletion mutational signatures, providing a systematic overview of the mutational processes that contribute to cancer development.

Natural and synthetic networked systems can be characterized by synchrony or asynchrony of groups of their nodes (clusters) and undergo different scenarios of synchronization transitions. The authors propose an approach to predict the entire sequence of events that are taking place during the synchronization transition in networks of identical elements with any preferrable architecture.

Direct interaction between the small GTPase Rab7a and the cation channel TPC2 has been reported but the functional regulation is less clear. Here, the authors show that Rab7a enhances the activity of TPC2 to promote melanoma progression through the GSK3β/β-Catenin/MITF axis.

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.

Here, Olari et al show that alpha-synuclein enhances HIV-1 entry and replication in human T cells, macrophages and microglia which may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disease.

Hydrogenosomes and mitosomes are mitochondria-related organelles with distinct properties. Here the authors find that the mitochondria-related organelle of the salmon parasite Spironucleus salmonicidahas characteristics of both diplomonad mitosomes and of parabasalid hydrogenosomes, suggesting the presence of hydrogenosomes in the last common ancestor.

Immune thrombocytopenia (ITP) is caused by autoantibody-mediated platelet clearance, but refractoriness to current immunomodulatory therapies is common. Here the authors show that desialylated platelets can be cleared via hepatic Ashwell–Morell receptor, a process that can be attenuated by sialidase inhibitors, suggesting a new therapy for ITP.

Saçma, Pospiech and co-workers show that sinusoidal niches are uniquely preserved on ageing, that they are the predominant niche for label-retaining (LR)-HSCs in aged mice and display higher reconstitution capacity compared with non-LR HSCs.

IgA⁺ B cells expressing programmed death ligand 1 (PD-L1) and interleukin 10 accumulate in the inflamed livers of humans and mice with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease where they promote the progression to hepatocellular carcinoma by limiting the local activation of PD-1-expressing CD8⁺ T cells.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Thymic epithelial cells (TECs) are essential for T cell development but how they develop from progenitors in humans is difficult to study. Here authors set up an in vitro system for thymus organogenesis in which induced pluripotent stem cells give rise to mature and diverse TECs that fully support T cell differentiation.

van Lengerich et al. developed a human TREM2 antibody with a transport vehicle (ATV) that improves brain exposure and biodistribution in mouse models. ATV:TREM2 promotes microglial energetic capacity and metabolism via mitochondrial pathways.