Articles

The function of T regulatory cells in the tissue fibrosis in chronic pancreatitis is not fully understood. Here the authors use a mouse model of chronic pancreatitis to show that Treg cells reduce IL-4 mediated chronic inflammation in the pancreas associated with M2-like macrophages in vivo.

Phonon polaritons in anisotropic van der Waals materials enable subwavelength confinement and controllable flow of light at the nanoscale. Here, the authors exploit correlated perovskite oxide (SmNiO₃) substrates with tunable conductivity to obtain real-time modulation and nanoscale reconfiguration of hyperbolic polaritons in hBN and α-MoO₃ crystals.

Series of machine learning models, relevant for tasks in biology, medicine, and finance, usually involve complex feature attribution techniques. The authors introduce a tractable method to compute local feature attributions for a series of machine learning models inspired by connections to the Shapley value.

Hematopoietic stem cells produce diverse cell lineages. Here, the authors apply single-cell RNA-seq, computational integration of non-perturbative approaches for fate-mapping, and mitotic tracking to chart lineage decisions in native hematopoiesis and identify megakaryocyte progenitors that directly link HSCs to megakaryocytes.

Aortic distensibility is a risk factor for multiple cardiovascular events, but the genetic etiology is not well understood. Here, the authors identify genetic variants linked to aortic distensibility, highlighting mechanistic pathways and causal relationships between distensibility and both aortic aneurysms and brain small vessel disease.

DNMT3A is known to methylate DNA at histone H3 lysine 36 (H3K36me3)-marked transcriptionally active regions in mouse oocytes. Here the authors show that DNMT3A is also guided by H3K36me2 to methylate broad domains in genic and intergenic loci, as well as on the X chromosome. These two histone marks together comprise the minimal chromatin signature for global DNA methylation in mouse oocytes.

Microscopic origins of thermopower are investigated to design efficient thermoelectric devices. Here, the authors report thermopower and phonon puddles in the charge density wave states in 1T-TaS₂ by scanning thermoelectric microscopy.

Next generation smart lighting requires high colour rendering and wide colour controllability. Here, Jung et al. realise, via a systematic colour optimisation and a computational charge transport simulation, white quantum dot light-emitting diodes with high colour performance.

Coral responses to ocean warming depend not only on the coral themselves, but also on their symbionts. Here, the authors experimentally assess how symbiosis and gene expression plasticity contribute to the heat stress responses of a common coral.

HIV-1 vaccine design aims to induce broadly neutralizing antibodies such as IOMA, the only described antibody in its class. Here, the authors present the isolation, characterisation and structure of three additional antibodies within the IOMA class

Macrocyclization is an important process in bioactive natural product synthesis. Here, the authors report on the study of a macrocyclic ring constructing enzyme in the biosynthesis of alchivemycin A and using gene deletion, biochemical assays and isotope labelling show the enzyme catalyses tandem dehydration and Michael-type addition.

Drug delivery implants suffer from diminished release profiles due to fibrous capsule formation over time. Here, the authors use soft robotic actuation to modulate the immune response of the host to maintain drug delivery over the longer-term and to perform controlled release in vivo.

Though models describing the operating mechanism of organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs) have been developed, these models are unable to accurately reproduce OECT electrical characteristics. Here, the authors report a thermodynamic-based framework that accurately models OECT operation.

The separation of the rare-earth elements is a significant scientific challenge. Here, the authors report the selective precipitation of the light rare-earths as supramolecular capsules from acidic, industrially relevant, mixed-metal solutions.

The REACT-1 study measures the community prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 in England through repeated cross-sectional surveys. Here, the authors present data from REACT-1 that document the increase in infection prevalence, particularly among children, associated with the Omicron variant in January 2022.

The spin exchange, which is central to spintronics, has been restricted to devices with long-range magnetic ordering to date. Here, Pei et al. design a single-molecule-magnet and utilize its internal spin exchange to control the current through a single-molecule junction with high spin polarization (>95%).

Despite approved vaccines and anti-virals to prevent and treat SARS-CoV-2 infection, there is a need for further development of efficient antiviral therapeutic strategy. Here, Zhu et al. develop locked nucleic acid antisense oligonucleotides (LNA ASOs) targeting the 5’ leader sequence of SARS-CoV-2 RNA to interfere with replication of wildtype virus and variants of concern. Daily intranasal administration in K18-hACE2 humanized mice suppresses viral infection in lung.

Spatially and temporally resolved data can improve our understanding of evolution and treatment resistance in multiple myeloma (MM). Here, the authors analyse spatial and longitudinal heterogeneity in MM patients using multi-region sequencing, and identify subclones associated with relapse and therapy resistance.

Previous hypotheses cannot fully explain the large lightning excess over land compared to ocean. It is found that coarse sea spray that create large drops precipitates cloud water before it can freeze, thus robbing the fuel for cloud electrification

REGEN-COV is a SARS-CoV-2 combined monoclonal antibody treatment which has been shown to be effective in randomised controlled trials. Here, the authors assess its real-world effectiveness using data from Israel during the Delta wave and find that it reduced the risk of hospitalisation, severe disease and death.