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A large-scale multi-omics analysis reports oncogenic alterations that drive medulloblastoma progression, rather than initiation, and the findings show how single-cell technologies can be used for early detection and diagnosis of medulloblastoma.

Rettkowski, Romero-Mulero et al. show that myocardial infarction impacts bone marrow haematopoietic stem cells and leads to inflammatory myelopoiesis, which can be dampened by treatment with 4-oxo-retinoic acid, promoting cardiac recovery.

In the Arctic, the risks of the permafrost thaw are perceived differently by communities, and key hazards include infrastructure failure, mobility disruption, decreased water quality and food security, and exposure to diseases, according to a transdisciplinary analysis based on workshops and a thematic network approach.

Copy number alterations in stem cells impair neural crest differentiation and set the stage for neuroblastoma-like traits and tumours. This study hints at early tumourigenesis mechanisms and finds developmental gene signatures linked to prognosis.

Myosins have roles in many biological processes that go beyond muscle contraction and vesicle transport, including furrowing during cytokinesis, signal transduction and RNA polymerase I–dependent transcription. Studying these various complex processes will require the use of isoform-specific small molecules that alter motor activity. The marine natural product pentabromopseudilin is now shown to act as an allosteric effector of myosin function and potent inhibitor of vertebrate myosin-5a–dependent motor activity.

Activation of telomere maintenance mechanisms—caused by novel somatic rearrangements of TERT, by MYCN amplification, or ATRX mutations—is a hallmark of high-risk neuroblastomas.

Bennu’s surface has experienced continuous changes, mostly induced by its accelerating spin rate, which could have resulted in a collapse of its interior in the past. This scenario is also supported by the heterogeneity of Bennu’s internal mass distribution.

The production of secreted polymers in bacterial biofilms is costly, and therefore mechanisms preventing invasion of non-producing mutants are hypothesized. Here, the authors show that non-producers can evolve the ability to better incorporate into biofilms via phage-mediated interference.

Siberian Arctic permafrost contains vast stores of carbon, the fate of which is dependent on the climate. Here the authors use models of future scenarios to show that under the direst climate changes up to 2/3 of the stored organic carbon could thaw.

Interactions between germline variants and somatic mutations is a relatively unexplored topic in cancer. Here, in Ewing sarcoma, the authors show that binding of the oncogenic EWSR1-FLI1 fusion transcription factor to a polymorphic enhancer-like DNA element controls MYBL2, whose high expression correlates with prognosis.

Analyses of genomes from 914 children, adolescents, and young adults provide a comprehensive resource of genomic alterations across a spectrum of common childhood cancers.

Some bacteria can form nanotubes to transfer proteins and plasmids between neighbouring cells. Here, the authors show that nanotubes can also mediate the exchange of cytoplasmic amino acids between cells of the same or different bacterial species.

ApoE is a direct checkpoint inhibitor of unresolvable inflammation in neurodegenerative and cardiovascular diseases

Alexander Schramm, Johannes Schulte and colleagues characterize 16 paired samples from patients with neuroblastoma at diagnosis and relapse using whole-exome sequencing, mRNA expression profiling, array CGH and DNA methylation analysis. Their data show the frequency, identity and evolution of genetic alterations in neuroblastoma.

Epsilonproteobacteria, such as Sulfurospirillum, can use molecular hydrogen as an electron donor for respiration. Here, the authors show that Sulfurospirillum can, in addition, release hydrogen during fermentation, allowing metabolic interactions with other hydrogen-consuming microorganisms.

Extracellular vesicles can carry immunoregulatory cytokines such as TGF-β. Here the authors use CD11b-deficient mice and macrophages to show that such vesicles carrying TGF-β are produced in response to Candida albicans infections and can limit the proinflammatory response partly via a positive feedback on TGF-β production by endothelial cells.

Individuals with the disease hereditary hemorrhagic telangiectasia have vascular defects that lead to frequent hemorrhages. Franck Lebrin et al. now show that thalidomide, tested as a therapy in a small set of individuals with this disease, lowers the frequency of hemorrhaging and the need for blood transfusions. The authors tie the antihemorrhagic effects of thalidomide to its ability to promote blood vessel maturation through effects on PDGF-B expression by endothelial cells and on pericyte cell proliferation (pages 370–372).

Vicinity of small bodies might be dangerous to the spacecrafts and to their instrumentation. Here the authors show the operational environment of asteroid Bennu, validate its photometric phase function and demonstrate the accelerating rotational rate due to YORP effect using the data acquired during the approach phase of OSIRIS-REx mission.

Signatures of phyllosilicate-like hydrated minerals are widespread on Bennu’s surface, indicating significant aqueous alteration. The lack of spatial variations in the spectra down to the scale of ~100 m indicates both a relatively uniform particle size distribution and a lack of compositional segregation, possibly due to surficial redistribution processes.

Wanner et al. demonstrate SARS-CoV-2 liver tropism and identify transcriptional and proteomic profiles of SARS-CoV-2 liver samples that show similarities to previously characterized hepatotropic viruses.

It has been postulated that there is a threshold temperature above which permafrost will reach a global tipping point, causing accelerated thaw and global collapse. Here it is argued that permafrost-thaw feedbacks are dominated by local- to regional-scale processes, but this also means there is no safety margin.

Bennu’s surface presents evidence of a variety of particle sizes, from fine regolith to metre-sized boulders. Its moderate thermal inertia suggests that the boulders are very porous or blanketed by thin dust. Bennu’s boulders exhibit high albedo variations, indicating different origins and/or ages.

The Microarray Quality Control consortium pitted 36 teams against each other to evaluate methods for creating genomic classifiers, computational tools for interpreting gene expression profiles. The performance of the classifiers on blinded validation data—and metadata on the analytic methods—reveal the challenges facing the field.

Near-Earth rubble-pile asteroid Bennu has an unexpectedly old surface, with numerous candidate impact craters and morphologically diverse boulders, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a top-like shape with longitudinal ridges, macroporosity, prominent boulders and surface mass wasting, suggesting that it is a stiff rubble pile, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Differential increased cardiac expression of Cpxm2 was assigned to cardiac hypertrophy in SHRSP rats. Cpxm2 knock-out (KO) in mice reduced cardiac hypertrophy and remodeling in DOCA salt hypertension

Using super-resolution microscopy and cryo-electron microscopy, Stoldt et al. show that mitochondrial transcript translation and OXPHOS complex assembly are spatially partitioned within the mitochondrial membrane.

Observations of asteroid (101955) Bennu with NASA’s OSIRIS-REx spacecraft reveal an unexpected surficial diversity that poses a challenge to the success of the sample-return mission.

Püllmann et al developed a modular Golden Gate-based secretion system, which enabled production and one-step purification of active fungal unspecific peroxygenases (UPOs) in yeast. Their system was applied to an enantioselective conversion on a preparative scale and may be used in the future for other genes of interest that are suitable for production in yeast.

Ultrahigh-resolution views of PIP₂ in freeze-fractured plasma membranes of dendritic spines during induction of long-term depression reveal spatial and temporal cues set by PIP₂ and reveal the molecular mechanisms behind the observed PIP₂ dynamics