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Integration of data representing 35,120 brain scans from diverse global studies enables construction of reference charts that define normative microstructural and macrostructural properties across the human lifespan for research and clinical diagnosis.

A transient grey matter microgliosis is required for remyelination, the failure of which results in a chronic neuroinflammatory state seen in neurodegenerative disorders.

Global analysis of obesity trends from 1980 to 2024 in 200 countries and territories using data from 4,050 population-based studies reveals that framing obesity as a single global epidemic masks the highly varied dynamics across countries and age groups.

Nature staff take on the big topics that matter in science.

Biallelic variants in RNU4-2 cause a recessive neurodevelopmental disorder that is phenotypically and molecularly distinct from dominant ReNU syndrome and associated with reduced RNU4-2 transcript levels, consistent with a loss-of-function mechanism.

Divergent white matter metabolic patterns reveal a mechanistic basis for cognitive resilience and enhance prediction of future cognitive decline beyond established aging and dementia biomarkers.

PTCHD1-AS, which encodes a long non-coding RNA, is associated with the aetiology of autism spectrum disorder in humans through striatal molecular and circuit-level dysregulation.

Pagani et al. used cross-species fMRI to reveal two autism subtypes, characterized by lower and higher brain connectivity and linked to synaptic and immune-related pathways, respectively.

Retroelement transcripts-derived double-stranded RNAs (dsRNAs) can trigger innate immune responses in cancer through a process known as viral mimicry. Here the authors show that METTL3, the writer of m6A modification, regulates the abundance of steady-state dsRNAs and it could be targeted together with DNA methyltransferases to enhance viral mimicry in colorectal cancer therapy.

Plant community properties affect ecosystem functioning via energy fluxes in food webs, with the leaf and root resource economics of dominant tree species controlling soil food web multifunctionality.

Castro-Dopico et al. report the design of reagents to bridge F-actin and Fcγ receptors, endowing a range of antigen-presenting cells with the ability to cross-present antigens from dead tumor cells and boosting antitumor immunity in preclinical models.

A permanently porous organic framework assembled and stabilized solely by non-covalent chalcogen bonding is reported. Empirical and computational studies reveal the characteristic influence of the operative Te···N chalcogen bonds on assembly, electronic structure, framework regeneration and lattice dynamics.

In a first-in-human trial combining the transplantation of CD33-negative CRISPR-edited hematopoietic cells with the CD33-targeted antibody–drug conjugate gemtuzumab ozogamicin, all transplanted patients achieved primary engraftment, and the treatment was well tolerated.

How white matter develops along the length of major tracts in humans remains unknown. Here, the authors identify fundamental patterns of human white matter development along distinct axes that reflect brain organization.

Combined single-cell transcriptomic and chromatin accessibility sequencing analysis of mouse primary visual cortex across postnatal development reveals that the glucocorticoid receptor drives astrocyte maturation to limit neuronal plasticity.

Autorino et al. report a feedback loop between Nodal signalling and tissue phase transitions in zebrafish embryos. Nodal alters adhesion, triggering tissue rigidification and reduced porosity, which limits its diffusion and speeds up Lefty expression.

Here, the authors show that endothelial cells lining the blood vessels and red blood cells continually exchange glycocalyx sugars on their surface in health and disease. These exchanges enable the prediction of blood vessel damage by studying simultaneous red blood cell damage.

The authors have applied an eight-tissue rat multi-omic dataset to analyze the gene regulatory landscape of endurance exercise training, identifying tissue-specific regulatory patterns involved in muscle function, metabolism and immune response.

An open-label, randomized controlled phase 2 trial comparing favipiravir with ribavirin for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Lassa fever in Nigeria found that favipiravir was safe and well tolerated and supports its further optimization as a treatment alternative.

This study uses multi-omics approaches to dissect the roles of macrophage populations in the progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis. GPNMB⁺ macrophages accumulate in the portal tract in advanced disease and may have antigen-presenting capabilities.

Global Burden of Disease analysis found that in 2023, suboptimal diet was estimated to be responsible for 4 million deaths and 97 million morbidity burdens from ischemic heart disease.

Johanns and colleagues report the results (including safety, efficacy and immunogenicity) of a phase 1 clinical trial of a DNA-based personalized therapeutic cancer vaccine administered following surgical resection and radiation in patients with MGMT unmethylated glioblastoma.

Kozlova et al. report a functional role for NDRG1 in regulating R-loops and DNA repair, thereby linking cancer-associated fibroblast-derived extracellular matrix to chemotherapy responses in pancreatic cancer.

This manuscript from Choquette and colleagues finds that sclerostin gene expression is up-regulated in bone by β3-adrenergic signaling via an adipose to bone relay and acts as an endocrine factor to inhibit adipose tissue beiging in mice.

The authors performed computational and experimental analyses to reveal how Smoothened directly inhibits PKA through an intrinsically disordered region, defining a central step in Hedgehog signaling and a mechanism of G-protein-coupled receptor–kinase regulation.

N-desethyl-fluornitrazene is a µ-opioid receptor agonist derived from nitazenes that has supramaximal intrinsic efficacy that produces analgesia with minimal adverse effects in rodent models.

NG101 treatment for acute cervical spinal cord injury mitigates structural degeneration compared to placebo. Stratifying patients via MRI and electrophysiology identifies clinical responder subgroups, optimizing future trial designs.

Crystal structures of HIV Env trimer with native glycosylation in complex with neutralizing antibodies reveal a glycan shield of high-mannose and complex-type N-glycan and indicate a path for germline-targeting vaccine design.

Previous studies suggested that glycogen metabolism played a role in beiging of subcutaneous adipocytes. This work identifies a β-adrenergic–driven transcriptional program that promotes glycogen synthesis and turnover during thermogenic activation of adipocytes. PGC1α and estrogen-related receptors (ERRs) cooperatively sustain this program by regulating chromatin accessibility and gene expression.

Retron-based systems for genome editing are functional across bacterial species.

Androgens have distinct roles in the brain, acting as immune-based tumour suppressors through neuroinflammation and neuroendocrine mechanisms.

The animal welfare impacts of biological invasions is a neglected research topic. Here the authors developed a framework to assess their severity and type, and apply it to bird and ant invasions, finding some ant species to cause widespread suffering of animals.

An absolute photon upconversion efficiency of 8.2% is demonstrated using a liquid triplet fusion medium that behaves as solid on excitonic timescales. The findings may drive higher efficiencies in nanoscale solid-state photochemical upconversion devices.

This study introduces ProteoCast, which uses protein sequence conservation to predict mutation effects proteome-wide. Validated on 400,000 Drosophila variants and genome editing experiments, it accurately identifies functionally critical sites in any organism.

The buffer pool designed to compensate for unintended carbon losses from the largest forest climate mitigation programme in the United States is too small when considering the impact of future climate change scenarios.

JWST phase-curve observations reveal that the two innermost TRAPPIST-1 planets emit thermal radiation consistent with bare rocky surfaces, indicating that both lack thick atmospheres.

Here, Wulczynski et al. find fewer small-intestinal fiber-degrading bacteria in CeD patients, independent of the gluten-free diet, while inulin-supplemented diet in gluten-sensitized mice facilitates microbial saccharolytic function and SCFAs, accelerating mucosal healing in the small intestine.

Little is known about the ecology and evolution of the nosocomial pathogen Acinetobacter baumannii outside the hospital. Here, Wilharm et al. show that the lifestyle of A. baumannii includes soil-dwelling and airborne dissemination, which helps to explain its adaptability and predisposition to establish within hospitals.

Proteomic data from natural isolates of Saccharomyces cerevisiae provide insight into how these cells tolerate aneuploidy (an imbalance in the number of chromosomes), and reveal differences between lab-engineered aneuploids and diverse natural yeasts.

Peritoneal metastasis of ovarian cancer is often accompanied by the accumulation of ascitic fluid. Here, the authors find that ascites protects ovarian cancer cells against ferroptosis, thus enabling their spread in the peritoneum.

A single-cell spatial atlas identifies a B cell-predominant microenvironment within the profibrotic tubular niche that marks a subset of patients with diabetic kidney disease with rapid progression.

Functional and structural characterization of PtmA2 reveals that it is an unusual non-adenylating acyl-CoA ligase and part of a system wherein the canonical acyl-CoA ligase reaction is separated into two half-reactions performed by distinct enzymes.

A large-scale study on the replicability of claims from social and behavioural science journals reports that about half of the results replicate in the same patterns as the original study.

Gram-negative bacteria use diverse virulence factors to infect eukaryotic cells. Here, the authors perform structure-function analyses on the S. negevensis deSUMOylase SnCE1 and provide mechanistic insights how lysine acetylation reprograms virulence adjusting it to the host cells’ metabolic state.

By studying 23 neurodevelopmental disorder genes across model systems and brain cell types, the authors uncovered shared downstream effects that converge on synaptic biology, epigenetic regulation and mitochondrial function.

Higher-order interactions are shown to contribute to the decrease in species diversity from low to high latitudes in global forests, potentially explaining why this intricate phenomenon cannot be adequately explained by pairwise interactions alone.

Reis and colleagues demonstrated that targeting fibroblast activation protein by CD40 agonist was feasible and safe in patients with advanced solid tumors.