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A gB/MF59 vaccine candidate for human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) provided partial protection in organ transplant patients. Here, the authors identify antibody responses in trial participants that target virally infected cells to control cell-to-cell spread of HCMV, providing a potential mechanism for the observed protection.

Here the authors digested chromatin with DNA fragmentation factor (DFF) prior to chromatin immunoprecipitation (DFF-ChIP) to depict transcription complex interactions with neighboring nucleosomes in cells. Applying this method to human cytomegalovirus (HMCV)-infected cells, they find that the viral genome is underchromatinized, leading to fewer transcription complex interactions with nucleosomes.

Epstein–Barr virus (EBV) is a widespread herpesvirus linked to cancer and autoimmune disease. The authors in this work design and characterize a stabilized prefusion form of gB, an essential viral fusion protein, advancing EBV vaccine and therapeutic development.

TCR-engineered T cells have shown limited efficacy in part due to the absence of co-stimulation leading to limited accumulation in solid tumors. The authors here show engineering the CD8β coreceptor with an intracellular CD28 domain enhances cytokine production, persistence, and tumor control in vivo independent of tumor-associated co-stimulatory ligand encounter.

This Review provides a comprehensive and contemporary overview of the interleukin-1 (IL-1) family: their expression and regulation, their effects on innate immune cells, their regulation of adaptive immune responses and their roles in immune-mediated diseases.

This Review outlines the fundamental role of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapy for children, adolescents and young adults (CAYAs) with relapsed and/or refractory B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, emphasizing the crucial need to further exploit CAR T cells and other immunotherapies to improve survival with broadened access across disease states. Opportunities and challenges for expanding CAR T cell therapy to other haematological and non-haematological malignancies in CAYAs are also discussed.

The RNA methyltransferase activity of SPOUT1/CENP-32 is crucial for accurate mitotic spindle organization. Here, the authors describe a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by bi-allelic pathogenic SPOUT1 variants with reduced activity and compromised function in spindle organization.

A panel of neutralizing human monoclonal antibodies targeting human cytomegalovirus offers a combination approach geared toward virus entry and replication to prevent viral dissemination.

The authors report a computational framework for determining the meiotic/mitotic origin of nondisjunction (NDJ) in trisomies without parental data. Applying this to Down syndrome, they uncover links between NDJ error stage and leukemia genomics.

This paper describes a single-vector strategy for flexible intersectional expression of genetically encoded reporters and tools in precisely defined cell types in the mouse.

In the final report of a phase 1 trial evaluating intracerebroventricular B7-H3-targeting CAR T cells in children and young adults with diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma, repeated intracranial infusions were feasible and well tolerated with a median overall survival of 19.8 months and 3 patients surviving over 40 months from diagnosis.

Proteinase-activated receptors (PARs) regulate thrombosis, inflammation, and wound healing. Here, authors present PAR1 and PAR2 structures, revealing conserved activation mechanisms and ligand interactions within their orthosteric pockets, providing insights into PAR functionality.

Simon, Bugos and colleagues report the design and characterization of monospecific and bispecific synthetic chimeric T cell receptors, conferring increased antigen sensitivity and antitumor activity in B cell malignancies and multiple myeloma models.

A lipid named DOTMA has been created that forms unilamellar liposomes which complex with DNA and RNA for the transfection of mammalian cells, including suspension cells and hybridomas.

Targeted protein degradation (TPD) can be employed to eliminate disease-causing proteins. Here, the authors present CYpHER, a TPD tool that uses molecules engineered for intracellular target release with drug recycling via transferrin receptor. CYpHER induces depletion of extracellular targets in vitro and in xenograft tumours.

A genome-wide association meta-analysis study here shows novel genetic loci to be associated to body fat percentage, and describes cross-phenotype association that further demonstrate a close relationship between adiposity and cardiovascular disease risk.

Federated learning (FL) has emerged as a potential solution to train machine learning models in multiple clinical datasets while preserving patient privacy. Here, the authors develop an MRI-based FL platform for pediatric posterior fossa brain tumors—FL-PedBrain—and evaluate it on a diverse multi-center cohort.

Grasslands have always experienced drought, but future drought conditions are likely to be more severe and frequent as climates change. This study shows that many of the world’s grasslands probably have drought-tolerant grasses that can maintain ecosystem functions, and the resilience of grasslands globally requires the maintenance of grass diversity.

James Lupski and colleagues provide evidence that a replication-based mechanism termed FoSTeS/MMBIR can mediate rearrangements in humans ranging in size from a few hundred base pairs to several megabases. They propose that FoSTeS/MMBIR could be an important mechanism for generating structural variation.

Comprehensive genomic and transcriptomics analyses of more than 1,300 cases of childhood T-lineage acute lymphoblastic leukaemia identify 15 distinct subtypes that are associated with specific outcomes.

The OX₂ orexin receptor (OX₂R) is a brain GPCR that regulates wakefulness and circadian rhythms in humans, and a potential drug target in insomnia and narcolepsy. Here, the authors use cryo-EM to determine how the first clinically tested OX₂R agonist TAK-925 can activate OX₂R in a selective manner.

Oncogenic gene fusions are frequent in childhood cancers but remain poorly understood and untargeted. Here, the authors identify 272 oncogenic fusions in transcriptomics data from 5190 childhood cancer patients, revealing their possible etiologies, their links with tumor progression and evolution, and their potential as therapeutic targets.

In an interim analysis of a phase 1 trial, repeated intracranial infusions of HER2-specific CAR T cells were well tolerated with no observed dose-limiting toxicities in three young adult patients with CNS tumors.

This Review focuses on the cytomegaloviruses and the sophisticated strategies they have evolved to evade immune recognition. The authors suggest a better appreciation of these pathways could have clinical implications beyond antiviral immunity, for instance in understanding immune evasion in cancer.