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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).

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.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

Solid organ transplant recipients are at increased risk of infectious disease and have unique molecular pathophysiology. Here the authors use host-microbe profiling to assess SARS-CoV-2 infection and immunity in solid organ transplant recipients, showing enhanced viral abundance, impaired clearance, and increased expression of innate immunity genes.

A multi-ancestry genome-wide association meta-analysis of kidney cancer identifies 63 regions associated with disease susceptibility including one locus that was associated with increased risk in individuals with African ancestry.

The advantage of living in cities compared with rural areas with respect to height and BMI in children and adolescents has generally become smaller globally from 1990 to 2020, except in sub-Saharan Africa.

The vascular, cellular and molecular changes underlying sex differences in mood disorders are unclear. Here, the authors show that blood-brain barrier dysfunction modulates anxiety- and depressive-like behaviors in female mice and endothelium-specific changes associated with maladaptive responses compared to resilience to stress.

To consider the impact of sex on adaptation to space, the European Space Agency initiated VIVALDI dry immersion microgravity simulation in female subjects. Here, the authors show marked deconditioning with 5-day exposure, and propose comprehensive multi-system physiological assessment in 18 healthy women.

In this immunological ancillary study of the PREVAC trial, the authors show that approved Ebola virus vaccines induce memory T-cell responses that persist during the five year follow-up after initial vaccination.

Analysis of HbA1c and FPG levels across 117 population-based studies demonstrates regional variation in prevalence of previously undiagnosed screen-detected diabetes using one or both measures and suggests that use of elevated FPG alone could underestimate diabetes prevalence in low- and middle-income countries.

The inhibitor of kB kinase (IKK) is a central regulator of NF-kB signalling. Here the authors identify a motif conserved in substrates of canonical and alternative NF-kB pathways which mediates docking to catalytic IKK dimers: they show that phosphorylation of the conserved tyrosine suppresses the docking interaction.

From 1980 to 2018, the levels of total and non-high-density lipoprotein cholesterol increased in low- and middle-income countries, especially in east and southeast Asia, and decreased in high-income western countries, especially those in northwestern Europe, and in central and eastern Europe.

Although vaccination drops COVID-19 mortality in older adults, post-vaccine fatal COVID-19 in nursing home outbreaks was linked to Delta, Gamma and Mu variants, persistently detected in aerosols. Mortality was predicted by IFNB1 or age, ORF7a and ACE2 mRNAs.

Analysing a database of >200,000 feeding links between >5,000 species in terrestrial and aquatic food webs, the authors show that specific trait combinations can be used to predict which predator species are characterized by high body-mass ratio interactions with their prey.

Genome-wide data from 400 individuals indicate that the initial spread of the Beaker archaeological complex between Iberia and central Europe was propelled by cultural diffusion, but that its spread into Britain involved a large-scale migration that permanently replaced about ninety per cent of the ancestry in the previously resident population.

Clinical studies have suggested that the therapeutic potential of polyclonal convalescent plasma is highest in the first days of symptoms. Here, the authors present results from a pooled analysis of two clinical trials in COVID-19 outpatients that did not provide conclusive evidence in favor of convalescent plasma.

Large genome-wide meta-analysis of clinically diagnosed late-onset Alzheimer’s disease (LOAD) from 94,437 individuals identifies new LOAD risk loci and implicates Aβ formation, tau protein binding, immune response and lipid metabolism.

Meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias identifies new loci and enables generation of a new genetic risk score associated with the risk of future Alzheimer’s disease and dementia.

Alzheimer’s disease has been associated with increased structural brain aging. Here the authors describe a model that predicts brain aging from resting state functional connectivity data, and demonstrate this is accelerated in individuals with pre-clinical familial Alzheimer’s disease.

A disturbed microbial network characterizes relapsing refractory Crohn’s disease and antedates disease recurrence after surgical removal of the active disease segment.

Asthenozoospermia is a major cause of male infertility, and multiple morphological abnormalities of the flagella (MMAF) is a particularly severe form. Here, using whole-exome sequencing of 78 MMAF patients, the authors identify mutations in two WDR proteins, CFAP43 and CFAP44, and confirm that these proteins are required for flagellogenesis in mouse and Trypanosoma brucei.

p38α MAP kinase is activated by autophosphorylation, which is promoted by the protein TAB1 during myocardial ischemia and other stresses. Now cellular, biochemical and biophysical approaches reveal that TAB1 binds p38α's C-terminal kinase lobe and induces rearrangements within the activation segment that allow autophosphorylation in cis.

Breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers varies depending on other genetic factors. Here, the authors perform a case-only genome-wide association study and highlight novel loci associated with breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers.

microbeMASST is a tool to associate known and unknown metabolites to microbial producers leveraging untargeted metabolomics data.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

Personalized medicine requires accurate and ethnicity-optimized reference genome panels. Here, the Consortium on Asthma among African-ancestry Populations in the Americas (CAAPA) evaluates typical variant filters and existing genome databases against newly sequenced African-ancestry populations.

Iris Heid, Gonçalo Abecasis, Sudha Iyengar and colleagues report the results of a large genome-wide association meta-analysis of macular degeneration based on over 43,000 subjects. They identify 16 new risk loci, including some very rare coding variants.

Sven van der Lee, Julie Williams, Gerard Schellenberg and colleagues identify rare coding variants in PLCG2, ABI3 and TREM2 associated with Alzheimer's disease. These genes are highly expressed in microglia and provide additional evidence that the microglia-mediated immune response contributes to the development of Alzheimer's disease.

Philippe Amouyel, Julie Williams, Gerard Schellenberg, Sudha Seshadri and colleagues report a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies for late-onset Alzheimer's disease in 17,008 cases and 37,154 controls with replication in an additional 8,572 cases and 11,312 controls. They identify 11 loci newly associated with Alzheimer's disease.

Nada Jabado and colleagues report identification of gain-of-function mutations in ACVR1, which encodes activin A receptor type I, in midline pediatric high-grade astrocytomas.

Joris Vermeesch, Raoul Hennekam and colleagues show that missense mutations in the SWI/SNF family member gene SMARCA2 cause Nicolaides-Baraitser syndrome, a disorder characterized by sparse hair, distinctive facial morphology, distal limb anomalies and intellectual disability. The mutations cluster to sequences encoding ultra-conserved motifs in the catalytic ATPase region of the protein and likely act in a dominant-negative or gain-of-function fashion.

The millimetre image of the Centaurus A nucleus by the Event Horizon Telescope reveals a highly collimated, asymmetrically edge-brightened jet. The source’s event horizon shadow should be visible at terahertz frequencies, consistent with the universal scale invariance of black holes.

GNPS is an open-access community-curated analysis platform for sharing natural product mass spectrometry data that enables continuous, automatic reanalysis of deposited 'living' data sets.

Using whole-genome data for single-nucleotide polymorphism and results from genome-wide association studies, the authors show that people’s preference for pairing with those with similar phenotypic traits has genetic causes and consequences.

Michel Georges and colleagues identify a founder mutation in CCDC39 associated with primary ciliary dyskinesia in Old English Sheepdogs. They further show that mutations in human CCDC39 cause a similar phenotype and that CCDC39 is required for the assembly of inner dynein arms and the dynein regulatory complex.