Search

Analysis of the blood DNA virome in patients with COVID-19 and autoimmune disease associates endogenous HHV-6 (eHHV-6) and high anellovirus load with increased disease risk, most notably for systemic lupus erythematosus. eHHV-6 carriers show a distinct immune response.

Genetic mechanisms influencing COVID-19 susceptibility are not well understood. Here, the authors analyzed whole blood RNA-seq data of 465 Japanese individuals with COVID-19, highlighting thousands of fine-mapped variants affecting expression and splicing of genes, as well as the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs.

A genome-wide association study highlights a variant in DOCK2, which is common in East Asian populations but rare in Europeans, as a host genetic risk factor for severe COVID-19.

Manganese oxides are extensively investigated as analogues of nature's oxygen-evolving complex, but they rarely function at neutral pH. Here, the authors investigate the induction and regulation of the proton-coupled electron-transfer mechanism involved in water oxidation by manganese oxides.

Exploring the hyperfine-coupled quantum Hall (QH) system facilitates the nuclear spintronic applications. Here the authors reveal the origin of the nonequilibrium QH phenomena by mapping the spatial distribution of nuclear and electron spin polarization in a GaAs quantum well with scanning probe incorporated nuclear resonance technique.

The upper atmosphere of Venus rotates much faster than the planet itself. An anomalous stationary structure observed by the Akatsuki mission at the cloud tops of Venus could be an atmospheric gravity wave induced by mountain topography below.

Understanding the genomic features of dedifferentiated liposarcoma (DDLPS) is likely to uncover new options for management. Here, the authors reveal three prognostic groups, and highlight molecular markers associated with malignant transformation.

Carbon quantum dots are of interest for a range of applications thanks to their unique physical and eco-friendly properties, and facile bottom-up methods to synthesize these are thus in demand. Here, the authors report the bottom-up synthesis of carbon quantum dots and microparticles via the thermal decomposition of supercritical acetone, in the absence of any external precursors/starting materials

Peripheral blood mononuclear cells from 73 Japanese patients with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and 75 healthy controls were analyzed using single-cell transcriptomics. Combining these data with genotyping data highlights the interplay between host genetics and the immune response in modulating disease severity.

Tardigrades are resistant to extreme environmental conditions including dehydration, radiation and the vacuum of space. Here the authors present a high-quality genome which displays minimal horizontal gene transfer, and identify the unique tardigrade protein Dsup which suppresses DNA damage.

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.

Engineering of the Ca²⁺-sensing ___domain in existing yellow Cameleon Ca²⁺ indicators is used to create indicators with a range of increased Ca²⁺ affinities capable of detecting subtle changes in intracellular Ca²⁺ at low resting levels.

Hoshino et al., engineer a human virus receptor, hACE2, and demonstrate its potential for overcoming SARS-CoV-2 mutations that otherwise hinder therapeutic interventions. Overall, the data provide insights in to the therapeutic potential of engineered receptors.

Primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) is highly heritable, yet not well understood from a genetic perspective. Here, the authors perform a meta-analysis of genome-wide association studies in 34,179 POAG cases, identifying 44 previously unreported risk loci and mapping effects across multiple ethnicities.

Collided ribosomes are marked by ubiquitination to induce quality control mechanisms. Here, authors show that mammalian disomes form a distinct structural interface, in which uS10 K63-linked polyubiquitination is critical for ribosome dissociation.

In response to injury, satellite cells (SCs) asymmetrically divide to self-renew and repair muscle. Here the authors show that a cytokine G-CSF is crucial for long-term expansion of activated SCs and muscle regeneration in mice, suggesting that G-CSF treatment may have beneficial effect in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

The role of macrophages in hypertension-induced arterial remodeling is poorly understood. Here, Sumida et al. show that high blood pressure drives the alternatively activated macrophages to secrete complement C1q protein, which in turn elicits proliferative β-catenin signalling in the arterial smooth muscle cells.

Placental dysfunction has been implicated in abnormal neurodevelopment. Vacher et al. found that loss of a neuroactive hormone from the placenta alters brain development in a regional and sex-linked manner, resulting in autism-like behaviors in male offspring.

Mohammad et al. show that prenatal alcohol exposure increases Kcnn2 activity in the mouse cerebral cortex. Blockade of Kcnn2 improves learning deficits in a mouse model of fetal alcohol spectrum disorders.

Impairments of cerebellar-dependent motor control and learning are implicated in some forms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). In this study, the authors provide a characterization of the motor deficits and cerebellar function abnormalities in a transgenic mouse model of ASD.

Mammalian genomes are scattered with repetitive sequences, but their biology remains largely elusive. Here, the authors show that transcription can initiate from short tandem repetitive sequences, and that genetic variants linked to human diseases are preferentially found at repeats with high transcription initiation level.

Using more than 100 independent iPSC lines derived from patients with Alzheimer’s disease, the authors discovered loci associated with the neuronal production of amyloid β and confirmed their influence using RNA interference.

This study shows that SARS-CoV-2 infection induces paracrine senescence in adjacent uninfected cells via virus-induced cytokine secretion. This resulted in a persistent inflammatory response associated with senescence even after SARS-CoV-2 disappearance.