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Tobias Eckle et al. describe a new regulatory circuit in the heart by which adenosine receptor signaling controls expression of the circadian protein Per2, which stabilizes the transcription factor Hif-1α, promotes glycolytic metabolism and has cardioprotective effects. Exposing mice to intense light was able to stabilize Per2 in the heart and reduce cardiac injury after myocardial ischemia.

Fixed nitrogen is lost from oxygen minimum zones. Experimental data from an anoxic lake show that the presence of Fe(II) limits this loss, suggesting that ancient anoxic and iron-rich oceans may not have been nitrogen limited.

Declining Arctic sea ice is increasing polar bear land use. Here, the authors follow 20 different polar bears on land over 3 years and measure daily energy expenditure finding that despite behavioural and diet plasticity the bears are at risk of starvation.

An enduring question in ecology is how new ecosystems form. Studying retreating glaciers, this study shows that life’s first foothold in these new environments is not established by photosynthetic organisms as long assumed, but rather by versatile microbes that harvest chemical energy from soil and thin air.

Observations from the JWST MIRI/LRS show the detection of SO₂ spectral features in the 5–12-μm transmission spectrum of the hot, Saturn-mass exoplanet WASP-39b, suggesting that photochemistry is a key process in high-temperature exoplanet atmospheres.

Metabolic strategies of cave microorganisms are poorly studied. Here, the authors show that cave microbes use atmospheric trace gases hydrogen, carbon monoxide and methane as energy and carbon sources, sustaining primary production and revealing how life can thrive in oligotrophic and dark ecosystems.

In this work, researchers address a key question for maternal group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine assessment: What newborn antibody concentrations protect against invasive infant GBS disease? They present serologic thresholds by age at onset and serotype based on a large U.S. case-control study.

Reconstructing Holocene range and extinction dynamics of moa (order Dinornithiformes), the authors determine that despite interspecifically different dynamics, spatial patterns of collapse were probably similar. They also find that the likely final refugia for moa were in the same areas and ecological conditions where New Zealand’s remaining flightless birds persist today.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

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.

Estimates from the Global Dietary Database indicated that 2.2 million new type 2 diabetes and 1.2 million new cardiovascular disease cases were attributable to sugar-sweetened beverages worldwide in 2020, with the highest burdens in sub-Saharan Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

Geophysical and geological data reveal increased ice-sheet variability and surface meltwater—possibly analogous to future conditions—offshore of the Aurora subglacial basin of East Antarctica during warm climate intervals of the past 50 million years.

Corals may vary in their ability to regulate reactive oxygen species (ROS) that can influence coral health. Diaz and colleagues conductin vivomeasurements of the ROS superoxide at the surface of corals and find substantial species-level variation in superoxide regulation that is independent of bleaching status.

How ocean acidification will impact coastal biogenic habitats is unclear. This study predicts that indirect effects on habitat-forming organisms, combined with direct effects on biodiversity, will cause changes in structural complexity and extent of these habitats.

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

Iron-laden microglia assume a disease-relevant, ferroptosis-associated signature and cause neurotoxicity. CRISPR screen uncovered regulators of ferroptosis in microglia. This ferroptosis–microglia–neurodegeneration axis could be targeted therapeutically.

An analysis of tree survival data from forest sites worldwide shows that in the tropics, rare tree species experience stronger stabilizing density dependence than common species, wheras no correlation of stabilizing density dependence and abundance exists in the temperate zone.

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.

Integrated multi-omic analyses using samples from the TRACERx study highlight cross-talk between DNA hypermethylation and genomic lesions in non-small cell lung cancer.

Carbon fluxes in the central Himalaya did not change after the 2015 Gorkha earthquake and its accompanying landslides, according to observations of riverine sediment and carbon fluxes over four monsoon seasons spanning the event.

The physical organization of the genome in non-bilaterian animals and their closest unicellular relatives is characterized; comparative analysis shows chromatin looping is a conserved feature of genome architecture and spatial genome regulation emerged early in animal evolution.

Multi-omics datasets pose major challenges to data interpretation and hypothesis generation owing to their high-dimensional molecular profiles. Here, the authors develop ActivePathways method, which uses data fusion techniques for integrative pathway analysis of multi-omics data and candidate gene discovery.

Integrative analyses of transcriptome and whole-genome sequencing data for 1,188 tumours across 27 types of cancer are used to provide a comprehensive catalogue of RNA-level alterations in cancer.

Proteins evolve through the modular rearrangement of domains. Here the authors introduce MISER, a minimization by iterative size-exclusion and recombination method to make all possible deletions of a protein, uncovering functions for Cas9 domains involved in DNA binding.

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.

Analysis of cancer genome sequencing data has enabled the discovery of driver mutations. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium the authors present DriverPower, a software package that identifies coding and non-coding driver mutations within cancer whole genomes via consideration of mutational burden and functional impact evidence.

A pan-cancer genomic analysis reports the effects of structural variations on chromatin domains (TADs). Most TAD disruptions do not result in appreciable changes in expression of nearby genes.

Understanding deregulation of biological pathways in cancer can provide insight into disease etiology and potential therapies. Here, as part of the PanCancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) consortium, the authors present pathway and network analysis of 2583 whole cancer genomes from 27 tumour types.

Analyses of 2,658 whole genomes across 38 types of cancer identify the contribution of non-coding point mutations and structural variants to driving cancer.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

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.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

The 12 January 2010 M_w 7.0 Haiti earthquake exhibited primarily strike-slip motion but unusually generated a tsunami. An extensive field survey reveals that coastal strike-slip fault systems produce relief conducive to rapid sedimentation, erosion and slope failure, so that even modest predominantly strike-slip earthquakes can cause potentially catastrophic slide-generated tsunamis.

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.

Hawaiian coral reef organisms (macroalgae, corals, coralline algae) show host-specific correlation of lipids and specific bacterial groups, and distinct microbiomes are observed between calcifiers and erect macroalgae.

Whole-genome sequencing data from more than 2,500 cancers of 38 tumour types reveal 16 signatures that can be used to classify somatic structural variants, highlighting the diversity of genomic rearrangements in cancer.

Viral pathogen load in cancer genomes is estimated through analysis of sequencing data from 2,656 tumors across 35 cancer types using multiple pathogen-detection pipelines, identifying viruses in 382 genomic and 68 transcriptome datasets.

Many tumours exhibit hypoxia (low oxygen) and hypoxic tumours often respond poorly to therapy. Here, the authors quantify hypoxia in 1188 tumours from 27 cancer types, showing elevated hypoxia links to increased mutational load, directing evolutionary trajectories.

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.

Global landings of wild-caught seafood have plateaued in recent years. Analysing trends in global fisheries catches, Watson et al.find that distance between sourcing and consumption has increased steadily since the 1950s, with ocean productivity unlikely to meet current consumption rates by 2100.

Recent estimates of sugar-sweetened beverages (SSBs) intake are generally unavailable. Here the authors show a global SSBs intake of 2.7 servings/week in 2018 in adults (range: 0.7 South Asia, 7.8 Latin America/Caribbean); intakes were higher among males, younger, more educated, and urban adults.

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.

Mass cytometry can be used to scale up multiplexed serology testing, as shown for the simultaneous detection of antibody levels against multiple SARS-CoV-2 proteins in hundreds of serum samples.