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Using blood-based genome sequence data, non-genetic and genetic factors associated with control of Epstein–Barr virus during persistent infection are reported.

By using phylogenetic analyses of multiple microdissected samples from both cancer and non-cancer lesions, unique evolutionary histories of breast cancers harbouring a common driver alteration are shown, providing new insight into how breast cancer evolves.

Polygenic scores for body mass index and obesity constructed using data from 5 million people with different ancestries were associated with distinct weight gain trajectories from early childhood to adulthood.

The recently reported results of the IPASS trial showed superior progression-free survival for gefitinib compared with carboplatin and paclitaxel chemotherapy as first-line treatment in Asian patients with non-small-cell lung cancer who were non-smokers and had adenocarcinoma histology. Saijo et al. examine the reasons for the differences in the effects of molecular-targeted drugs and cytotoxic antineoplastic agents observed in this trial and other studies, and consider how this could affect future clinical trial design and analysis.

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.

Nagano et al. identify the third mitotic cohesin complex, STAG3–cohesin, which, with its unique biophysical properties, weakens insulation and rewires regulatory interactions of spermatogonial stem cells, shaping the male germline nucleome.

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.

The sample taken from carbonaceous asteroid Ryugu and brought back to Earth by the Hayabusa2 spacecraft contains outer Solar System-derived materials uncontaminated by terrestrial processes. Even CI carbonaceous chondrites, despite their closeness to solar abundances, are not pristine.

A large genome-wide association study of more than 5 million individuals reveals that 12,111 single-nucleotide polymorphisms account for nearly all the heritability of height attributable to common genetic variants.

Recent research efforts have aimed at discovering thermoelectric materials with high efficiency in the middle-low temperature range, where a majority of waste heat is lost to the ambient. Here, the authors discover colossal Seebeck coefficient values in metallic copper selenide from 340 K to 400 K.

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.

Observations of a luminous quasar from the high-resolution spectrometer Resolve aboard XRISM revealed highly inhomogeneous wind structure outflowing from a supermassive black hole, which probably consists of up to a million clumps.

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.

A close-up look at the action of space weathering on carbonaceous asteroids, provided by Ryugu’s returned samples, highlights its role on the dehydration of the first micrometre-thick layer of the surface, possibly hiding a water-rich interior. The depth of the 2.7 µm hydration band may be an indication of the level of space weathering withstood by a C-type asteroid.

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.

Iron nitride (Fe₄N) is detected on magnetite particles within the Ryugu sample returned by Hayabusa2. It is probably the product of impacts of nitrogen-rich dust from the outer Solar System on the surface of Ryugu, indicative of a flux of N-rich dust in the inner Solar System.

An intragenic open chromatin region in human T cell leukaemia virus type 1 functions as a transcriptional silencer and regulates transcriptional burst by recruiting the host transcription factor RUNX.

Radical initiators are useful chemical reagents for synthesis, but rapidly decompose on exposure to light. Here, the authors report a supramolecular nanocapsule capable of encapsulating radical initiators and imparting excellent photochemical stability.

Blood pressure (BP) is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and more than 200 genetic loci associated with BP are known. Here, the authors perform discovery GWAS for BP in East Asians and meta-analysis in East Asians and Europeans and report ancestry-specific BP SNPs and selection signals.

Multiancestry genome-wide association analyses identify new risk loci for stroke and stroke subtypes. Fine mapping and bioinformatics analyses of these risk loci point to mechanisms not previously implicated in stroke pathophysiology.

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 meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies of type 2 diabetes (T2D) identifies more than 600 T2D-associated loci; integrating physiological trait and single-cell chromatin accessibility data at these loci sheds light on heterogeneity within the T2D phenotype.

In patients with ulcerative colitis, chronic inflammation can lead to remodelling of the colorectal epithelium through positive selection of clones with mutations in genes related to IL-17 signalling, which, however, might be negatively selected during colitis-associated carcinogenesis.

Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have improved our understanding of the genetic basis of lung adenocarcinoma but known susceptibility variants explain only a small fraction of the familial risk. Here, the authors perform a two-stage GWAS and report 12 novel genetic loci associated with lung adenocarcinoma in East Asians.

Thanks to its immunosuppressive activity and complex molecular architecture, the natural product palau’amine has attracted continuous attention over a number of years. Here, the authors report a new synthetic strategy which includes the formation of multiple rings in a single key step.

The development of a process whereby silicon can be prepared from a liquid allows the printing of semiconductor devices directly from solution.

A trans-ancestry meta-analysis of GWAS of glycemic traits in up to 281,416 individuals identifies 99 novel loci, of which one quarter was found due to the multi-ancestry approach, which also improves fine-mapping of credible variant sets.

Genome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in ancestrally diverse populations implicate candidate causal genes and mechanisms underlying type 2 diabetes. Trans-ancestry genetic risk scores enhance transferability across populations.

Distillation of entangled photons is essential for applications such as long-distance quantum communication and high-fidelity quantum teleportation. Distillation from Gaussian input states is experimentally realized, resulting in a large gain in entanglement.

Anti-EGFR therapy plus doublet chemotherapy is standard of care for patients with RAS wild-type metastatic colorectal cancer (mCRC) but the role of triplet chemotherapy is unclear. Here, the authors report a randomised phase 2 trial testing the superiority of adding cetuximab (anti-EGFR) over bevacizumab (anti-VEGF) to modified FOLFOXIRI (5-FU, leucovorin, oxaliplatin and irinotecan) in patients with RAS wild-type mCRC.

A total of 1074 patients with a history of ischemic stroke enrolled in The Recurrent Stroke Prevention Clinical Outcome (RESPECT) Study were assigned to intensive blood pressure (BP) control group (blood pressure < 120/80 mmHg) or standard blood pressure control group (blood pressure < 140/90 mmHg) and were followed up for a mean of 3.9 years. Seventy-eight first recurrent strokes occurred, including 70 ischemic stroke and 8 intracerebral hemorrhage. Intensive treatment did not change annual risk of ischemic stroke (1.74% vs. 1.75%, P = 0.999), but markedly reduced risk of hemorrhagic stroke (0.00% vs. 0.39%, P = 0.005). Beneficial effect of intensive BP control were observed for risk of hemorrhagic stroke in the patients with a history of ischemic stroke.

Checkpoint blockade is effective in only a subset of patients; therefore, biomarkers that can predict efficacy would be clinically highly valuable. Nishkawa and colleagues develop a biomarker based on PD-1 positivity of effector and regulatory T cells in the tumor microenvironment that accurately predicts the effectiveness of checkpoint blockade in patients.

John Chambers, Jaspal Kooner, Pim van der Harst, Shyong Tai, Paul Elliott, Jiang He, Norihiro Kato and colleagues performed a genome-wide association study of blood pressure phenotypes in individuals of European, East Asian and South Asian ancestry. They find trait-associated SNPs at 12 loci, some of which are associated with methylation at nearby CpG sites.

A meta-analysis of genome-wide association study data from 77,418 individuals of East Asian ancestry with type 2 diabetes identifies novel variants associated with increased risk of type 2 diabetes.

Sodium carbonates, chloride and sulfate have been found in samples from asteroid Ryugu. The formation of these compounds from alkaline brines through freezing or evaporation accounts for the loss of liquid water from the parent carbonaceous body.

The zinc-finger transcription factor IKAROS is essential for B cell development. Taniuchi, Morio and colleagues identify a human kindred presenting with B cell immunodeficiency that was caused by a heterozygous missense mutation in IKZF3 encoding the related AIOLOS protein. AIOLOS^G159R is a mutant protein that interferes with both wild-type AIOLOS and IKAROS by forming heterodimers that bind to aberrant DNA-binding sites and prevent normal expression of IKAROS-dependent genes.

In-cell NMR is a relatively new technique that can be used to examine the conformations of proteins in living cells at the atomic level. This method has been successfully used in bacteria and Xenopus laevis oocytes, but wider application of the technique to living eukaryote cells has been limited by the inefficient delivery of isotope-labeled proteins into eukaryote somatic cells. This study shows that it is possible to deliver suitably labelled proteins into the cytosol of human cells through the pyrenebutyrate-mediated action of cell-penetrating peptides that have been linked covalently to the proteins of interest.