Browse Articles

Genome-wide association study unravels mechanisms of brain glymphatic activity

Emergent patterns of reef fish diversity correlate with coral assemblage shifts along the Great Barrier Reef

Abstract Escalating climate and anthropogenic disturbances draw into question how stable large-scale patterns in biological diversity are in the Anthropocene. Here, we analyse how patterns of reef fish diversity have changed from 1995 to 2022 by examining local diversity and species dissimilarity along a large latitudinal gradient of the Great Barrier Reef and to what extent this correlates with changes in coral cover and coral composition. We find that reef fish species richness followed the expected latitudinal diversity pattern (i.e., greater species richness toward lower latitudes), yet has undergone significant change across space and time. We find declines in species richness at lower latitudes in recent periods but high variability at higher latitudes. Reef fish turnover continuously increased over time at all latitudes and did not show evidence of a return. Altered diversity patterns are characterised by heterogeneous changes in reef fish trophic groups across the latitudinal gradient. Shifts in coral composition correlate more strongly with reef fish diversity changes than fluctuations in coral cover. Our findings provide insight into the extent to which classic macroecological patterns are maintained in the Anthropocene, ultimately questioning whether these patterns are decoupling from their original underlying drivers.

Oncogenic role of RARG rearrangements in acute myeloid leukemia resembling acute promyelocytic leukemia

Regulation of stress granule maturation and dynamics by poly(ADP-ribose) interaction with PARP13

Conformational diversity in class C GPCR positive allosteric modulation

CPSF6-RARγ interacts with histone deacetylase 3 to promote myeloid transformation in RARG-fusion acute myeloid leukemia

Author Correction: Snapshotting quantum dynamics at multiple time points

A roadmap from the bond strength to the grain-boundary energies and macro strength of metals

Abstract Correlating the bond strength with the macro strength of metals is crucial for understanding mechanical properties and designing multi-principal-element alloys (MPEAs). Motivated by the role of grain boundaries in the strength of metals, we introduce a predictive model to determine the grain-boundary energies and strength of metals from the cohesive energy and atomic radius. This scheme originates from the d-band characteristics and broken-bond spirit of tight-binding models, and demonstrates that the repulsive/attractive effects play different roles in the variation of bond strength for different metals. Importantly, our framework not only applies to both pure metals and MPEAs, but also unravels the distinction of the bond strength caused by elemental compositions, lattice structures, high-entropy, and amorphous effects. These findings build a physical picture across bond strength, grain-boundary energies and strength of metals by using easily accessible material properties and provide a robust method for the design of high-strength alloys.

Author Correction: Observation of two-dimensional time-reversal broken non-Abelian topological states

A truncated variant of the ribosome-associated trigger factor specifically contributes to plant chloroplast ribosome biogenesis

Abstract Molecular chaperones are essential throughout a protein’s life and act already during protein synthesis. Bacteria and chloroplasts of plant cells share the ribosome-associated chaperone trigger factor (Tig1 in plastids), facilitating maturation of emerging nascent polypeptides. While typical trigger factor chaperones employ three domains for their task, the here described truncated form, Tig2, contains just the ribosome binding domain. Tig2 is widely present in green plants and appears to have acquired an entirely different task than co-translational nascent polypeptide folding. Tig2 deletion results in remarkable leaf developmental defects of cold-exposed Arabidopsis thaliana plants and specific defects in plastidic ribosomes. Our data indicate that Tig2 functions during ribosome biogenesis by promoting the maturation of the large subunit. We hypothesize that Tig2 binding to the ribosomal tunnel-exit surface aids protecting this sensitive surface during assembly. Tig2 illustrates a fascinating concept of how a chaperone domain evolved individually, serving a completely different molecular task.

The mutational landscape of Staphylococcus aureus during colonisation

Abstract Staphylococcus aureus is an important human pathogen and a commensal of the human nose and skin. Survival and persistence during colonisation are likely major drivers of S. aureus evolution. Here we applied a genome-wide mutation enrichment approach to a genomic dataset of 3060 S. aureus colonization isolates from 791 individuals. Despite limited within-host genetic diversity, we observed an excess of protein-altering mutations in metabolic genes, in regulators of quorum-sensing (agrA and agrC) and in known antibiotic targets (fusA, pbp2, dfrA and ileS). We demonstrated the phenotypic effect of multiple adaptive mutations in vitro, including changes in haemolytic activity, antibiotic susceptibility, and metabolite utilisation. Nitrogen metabolism showed the strongest evidence of adaptation, with the assimilatory nitrite reductase (nasD) and urease (ureG) showing the highest mutational enrichment. We identified a nasD natural mutant with enhanced growth under urea as the sole nitrogen source. Inclusion of 4090 additional isolate genomes from 731 individuals revealed eight more genes including sasA/sraP, darA/pstA, and rsbU with signals of adaptive variation that warrant further characterisation. Our study provides a comprehensive picture of the heterogeneity of S. aureus adaptive changes during colonisation, and a robust methodological approach applicable to study in host adaptive evolution in other bacterial pathogens.

Improved conversion of carbon dioxide to methane via photohydrogenation using Gd2NiMnO6 with a dendritic fibrous architecture

Hydrocephalus in primary brainstem hemorrhage risk predictors and management

A novel cobalt oxide nanoparticle conjugated with ellagic acid arrests the cell cycle in human liver cancer cell line

Blood cancer prediction model based on deep learning technique

Abstract Blood cancer is among the critical health concerns among people around the world and normally emanates from genetic and environmental issues. Early detection becomes essential, as the rate of death associated with it is high, to ensure that the rate of treatment success is up, and mortality reduced. This paper focuses on improving blood cancer diagnosis using advanced deep learning techniques like ResNetRS50, RegNetX016, AlexNet, Convnext, EfficientNet, Inception_V3, Xception, and VGG19. Among the models assessed, ResNetRS50 had better accuracy and speed with minimal error rates compared with other state-of-the-arts. This work will exploit the power of ResNetRS50 in contributing to early detection and reducing bad outcomes for blood cancer patients. Blood cancer is currently one of the deadliest diseases worldwide, resulting from a combination of genetic and non-genetic factors. It stands as a leading cause of cancer-related deaths in both developed and developing nations. Early detection of cancer is pivotal in reducing mortality rates, as it increases the likelihood of successful treatment and potential cure. The objective is to decrease mortality rates through early diagnosis of blood cancer, thus offering individuals a better chance of survival from this disease.

Illuminating the impact of CD38-induced adenosine formation in B-cell lymphoma

Abstract The expression of CD38 by cancer cells may mediate an immune-suppressive effect by producing Extracellular Adenosine (ADO) acting through G-protein-coupled cell surface receptors on cellular components and tumor cells. This can increase PD-1 expression and interaction with PD-L1, suppressing CD8 + cytotoxic T cells. This study examines the impact of heightened CD38 expression and extracellular ADO on various hematological and clinical parameters in patients with mature B-cell lymphoma, alongside their correlation with the soluble counterparts of the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Our study was conducted on 90 patients, CD38-positive and CD38-negative (measured by flow cytometry), with mature B-cell lymphoma divided into CLL and B-NHL subtypes. Their serum ADO, soluble PD-1, and PD-L1 levels were measured using a sandwich ELISA. Our study revealed a positive correlation between CD38 expression, sADO, sPD-1, and sPD-L1 in mature B-cell lymphoma patients. CD38-positive patients had higher sADO, sPD-1, and sPD-L1 levels. Higher CD38 expression and extracellular ADO negatively affected HB level and PLT count and positively correlated with the higher risk stratification in mature B-cell lymphoma patients. This study explored the potential impact of CD38 expression and elevated extracellular ADO on B-cell lymphoma alongside their link with the PD-1/PD-L1 axis. Our findings underscore the influence of extracellular ADO on the neoplastic process of mature B-cell lymphoma. We also propose targeting the CD38-induced-ADO formation pathway, which could serve as a promising therapeutic immune target with multifaceted effects within mature B-cell neoplasms.

The known genetic variants of BRCA1, BRCA2 and NOD2 in pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer risk assessment

Efficient adsorptive removal of Congo Red dye using activated carbon derived from Spathodea campanulata flowers

Abstract This report investigates the preparation, characterization, and application of activated carbon derived from Spathodea campanulata flowers (SCAC) to remove Congo Red (CR) dye from aqueous streams. SCAC was synthesized using orthophosphoric acid activation which yielded a mesoporous material with a specific surface area of (986.41 m2/g), significantly exceeding values reported for flower-derived activated carbons in the available literature. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) image revealed an irregular, rough surface morphology pre-adsorption, which became smoother post-adsorption, indicating successful CR attachment. Elemental analysis through energy-dispersive x-ray spectroscopy (EDS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirmed an increase in carbon content and the appearance of sulfur, verifying CR uptake. Adsorption kinetics obeyed the pseudo-second-order equation, signifying chemisorption, while the equilibrium dataset fitted better to the Langmuir model, with R2 of 0.9944, suggesting a monolayer adsorption mechanism with a maximum adsorption capacity of 59.27 mg/g. Thermodynamic analysis revealed spontaneous and endothermic adsorption process. Desorption studies showed methanol as the most effective desorbing agent, with SCAC retaining considerable adsorption capacity across six cycles, highlighting its reusability. In tests with real water matrices, SCAC demonstrated significantly higher removal efficiency in natural waters than control, suggesting enhanced adsorption in complex matrices. These findings underscore the practical applicability of SCAC in real-world wastewater treatment, offering a promising solution for large-scale industrial applications.

The integration of self-efficacy and response-efficacy in decision making

Substituted piperazine conjugated to quinoline-thiosemicarbazide as potent α-glucosidase inhibitors to target hyperglycemia