Search

Understanding how precise atomic structures govern catalytic activity remains a fundamental challenge. Now it has been shown that framework-encapsulated, molecularly defined polyoxometalate clusters enable clear structure–activity correlations and catalyse low-temperature CO₂ hydrogenation to methanol.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Nanoplastic contamination is a serious environmental concern and could have implications on plant life depending upon interactions. Here, the authors study the effect of size and charge on the accumulation and uptake of model polymer nanoparticles by plant roots which has implications for environmental exposure and nanoparticle delivery to plants.

Prenatal Zika virus (ZIKV) exposure can lead to a spectrum of developmental issues, but the mechanisms remain unclear. Here the authors show that prenatal ZIKV exposure in macaques disrupts neurodevelopment, causing prolonged maternal attachment and visual deficits at 3 months that normalize by 12 months, independent of sensory function.

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.

When ecologist Rachel Katz was offered a government job in a region with few academic options for her partner, herpetologist Sean Sterrett, a decision-analysis tool helped to solve their ‘two-body problem’.

This paper uses multiomics to profile a large cohort of meningioma samples to highlight the role of the tumor microenvironment in driving the epigenetic changes underpinning tumor classification and prediction of outcome.

The kinase ZAK is activated at collided ribosomes to mediate the ribotoxic stress response.

A low-loss cavity is shown to store X-ray laser pulses for >2.8 μs.

Translation initiation and elongation factors can be targets for cancer treatment. Here, the authors show that inhibiting translation elongation through eIF5A impairs mitochondrial function, slowing the proliferation of tumour cells.

Using well-calibrated statistical methods the authors jointly analyze Undiagnosed Diseases Network genomes, identifying known and novel disease genes. Software is publicly available to support future cross-cohort rare disease discovery efforts.

Nitazenes are potent synthetic opioids that are difficult to detect. Here, authors computationally redesign a plant receptor to create sensitive sensors capable of detecting diverse nitazenes and their metabolites in biological samples.

Treatment with 4′-fluorouridine (also known as EIDD-2749) in an African green monkey (Chlorocebus aethiops) model of Lassa disease resulted in complete clearance of infectious virus in a high proportion of cases and prolonged survival to the pre-determined study end-point in all cases.

Major histocompatibility complex (MHC) loss of heterozygosity, allele-specific mutation and measurement of expression and repression (MHC Hammer) detects disruption to human leukocyte antigens due to mutations, loss of heterogeneity, altered gene expression or alternative splicing. Applied to lung and breast cancer datasets, the tool shows that these aberrations are common across cancer and can have clinical implications.

Despite extensive structural studies elucidating how antigens are anchored to antigen-presenting molecules and presented to T cells, little is known about the display mechanism of the lipid-antigen-presenting molecule CD1c. Here, by combining structural immunology, lipidomics, and biophysical analysis, the authors reveal that the CD1c binding cleft accommodates two different lipids, one of them with a bulky headgroup positioned sideways for display to T cells, rather than upwards, different from the conventional upright antigen-presentation mode

How chemotherapeutic nucleoside 6-thio-2’-deoxyguanosine (6-thiodG) targets telomerase to inhibit telomere maintenance in cancer cells and tumors was unclear. Here, the authors show that telomere length and telomerase status determine 6-thio-dG sensitivity and uncover the molecular mechanism by which 6-thio-dG selectively inhibits telomerase synthesis of telomeric DNA.

Wastewater surveillance for disease outbreaks currently requires lab testing which causes delays. Here, authors develop ultra-sensitive quantum sensors enabling 2-hour near-source pathogen detection from raw wastewater with high sensitivity and specificity, creating a portable “lab-in-a-suitcase” system.

Electrically conductive hydrogels based on conducting polymers often rely on covalent and therefore irreversible crosslinking mechanisms. Here, the authors report a thermo-responsive conducting polymer that undergoes a fully reversible non-covalent crosslinking at 35 °C within less than a minute to form conductive hydrogels.

Prima is an AI foundation model for neuroimaging based on clinical magnetic resonance imaging that offers accurate and explainable diagnostics, worklist priority for radiologists and clinical referral recommendations with equitable performance on diverse groups.

A study reports whole-genome sequences for 490,640 participants from the UK Biobank and combines these data with phenotypic data to provide new insights into the relationship between human variation and sequence variation.

Multiplexed assays of variant effect can resolve clinical variants but are incompatible with secreted proteins. Here Popp et al. develop MultiSTEP, a generalizable surface-tethering method to assess variant effects in secreted proteins at scale.

Wastewater surveillance can be used to track infectious diseases. A six-plex digital PCR assay is shown to provide information on four respiratory diseases at the same time, with data that have a high level of agreement with reported case numbers.

Mitochondria play roles in sensing environmental and physiological stress, but their response can become maladaptive during chronic stress. Here they identify a protective miRNA response in C. elegans that maintains tissue health by attenuating mitochondrial stress signaling.

Here the authors provide an explanation for 95% of examined predicted loss of function variants found in disease-associated haploinsufficient genes in the Genome Aggregation Database (gnomAD), underscoring the power of the presented analysis to minimize false assignments of disease risk.

A high-resolution transcriptomic and epigenomic cell-type atlas of the developing mouse visual cortex from embryonic to postnatal development is presented, providing a real-time dynamic molecular map associated with individual cell types and specific developmental events.

A study that combines in vivo systems neuroscience with synaptic physiology and Drosophila genetics identifies a presynaptic form of lateral inhibition in the olfactory system. The mechanism allows for a flexible form of gain control, which promotes coding efficiency when stimuli are strong and unambiguous, but maximizes sensitivity when stimuli are weak and ambiguous.

A DNA sequencing method with single-molecule fidelity detects mismatches and damage present in only one of the two DNA strands with patterns that are both similar and distinct compared to known mutation patterns.

Walmsley and colleagues report that systemic hypoxia induces persistent loss of histone H3K4me3 marks and epigenetic reprogramming in neutrophil progenitors, resulting in long-term impairment of subsequent neutrophil effector functions.

War and political unrest can force staff members and students to uproot their lives, exacting a heavy personal and professional toll.

Sharks’ dorsal fins are thought to assist propulsion and turns while pectoral fins are thought to oppose sharks’ negative buoyancy. Here, Payne and colleagues show that hammerhead sharks use an exaggerated dorsal fin to generate lift by swimming on their side.

Here we show how PFL2 and PFL3 neurons in the Drosophila brain compare a representation of direction with internal spatial goals, both anchored in world-centric coordinates, and produce body-centric steering commands that act to correct deviations from the goal direction. 

Here the authors reveal how an incoherent feedforward C/EBPα–Notch circuit times lung cell fate, guiding alveolar development, repair after injury, and shifts between protective and reparative states.

The authors analyze rare coding variants in 1990 individuals with congenital kidney anomalies, finding diagnostic variants in 14.1% of cases. They identify two new causal genes, ARID3A and NR6A1, along with 38 candidate genes, providing evidence for shared genetics with other developmental disorders.

Spin-enhanced lateral flow tests use nanodiamonds for the sensitive, robust detection of disease biomarkers. Here, authors report a clinical evaluation of a test for SARS-CoV-2 antigen, finding 95.1% sensitivity (Ct ≤ 30) and 100% specificity, with detection 2.0 days earlier than conventional tests.

Water thermodynamics drive changes in macromolecular assembly that rapidly restore intracellular water availability in response to physiological fluctuations in temperature, pressure and osmotic strength.

This study demonstrates that guanfacine immediate release enhances cognitive control circuit function and behavioral performance in a neurobiologically defined cognitive biotype of depression, achieving a 76.5% clinical response rate and improving life satisfaction, marking a promising advance in precision medicine.

Whole-genome sequencing analysis of individuals with primary immunodeficiency identifies new candidate disease-associated genes and shows how the interplay between genetic variants can explain the variable penetrance and complexity of the disease.

Immune lymphocyte estimation from nucleotide sequencing (ImmuneLENS) infers B cell and T cell fractions from whole-genome sequencing data. Applied to the 100,000 Genomes Project datasets, circulating T cell fraction provides sex-dependent and prognostic insights in patients.

A study demonstrates that plasticity in the head direction system in Drosophila is modulated by dopamine, which increases learning when reorienting movements are bringing in new spatial information.

Virus-assisted directed evolution of tRNAs (VADER) enables selection of improved suppressor tRNAs in mammalian cells. Improved pyrrolysyl- and tyrosyl-tRNA variants enhance unnatural amino acid incorporation in mammalian systems.

Vaccination efficiency in HIV infection is hampered by the low immunogenicity of HIV-1 Env glycoprotein (Env). Here authors optimise the neutralising antibody response to Env by stabilizing the Env trimers in the context of expressing them in a Newcastle Disease Virus-like particle and providing conditions that mimics replicating virus infection.

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.

Africa’s savannahs and shrublands have been assumed to provide a large area for the expansion of cropland with relatively little damage to the environment. Research now shows that conversion would be likely to have high carbon and biodiversity costs.