Featured
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Article |
Recognition and maturation of IL-18 by caspase-4 noncanonical inflammasome
Activated human caspase-4 directly and efficiently processes IL-18 in vitro and during bacterial infections, cleaving the same tetrapeptide site in pro-IL-18 as caspase-1.
- Xuyan Shi
- , Qichao Sun
- & Feng Shao
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Article |
Autoimmune amelogenesis imperfecta in patients with APS-1 and coeliac disease
A large fraction of patients with APS-1 and coeliac disease develop enamel dystrophy, characterized by the presence of autoantibodies against the enamel matrix, which are generated through the breakdown of either central (APS-1) or peripheral (coeliac) tolerance to a battery of ameloblast-sepecific proteins.
- Yael Gruper
- , Anette S. B. Wolff
- & Jakub Abramson
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Research Briefing |
The highly mutated SARS-CoV-2 variant BA.2.86 is still neutralized by antibodies in the blood
The spike protein of BA.2.86 — a subvariant of Omicron — has a large number of mutations, and binds to its receptor in host cells with high affinity. Despite these characteristics, BA.2.86 is no more resistant to antibodies from vaccinated individuals than are the dominant variants that are currently in circulation.
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News Feature |
Polio is on the brink of eradication. Here's how to keep it from coming back
The campaign to eradicate polio could succeed in the next few years. But that’s just the beginning of a new challenge — keeping it away.
- Aisling Irwin
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News Explainer |
How wild monkeys ‘laundered’ for science could undermine research
Demand is fuelling an illegal trade. But smuggled monkeys carry diseases that can disrupt experiments and lead to unreliable data.
- Gemma Conroy
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Article
| Open AccessSingle-cell CRISPR screens in vivo map T cell fate regulomes in cancer
Analyses of causal gene regulatory networks have identified key checkpoints mediating the progressive differentiation of CD8+ cytotoxic T cells, findings that have implications for anticancer immunotherapies such as adoptive cell therapy and immune checkpoint blockade.
- Peipei Zhou
- , Hao Shi
- & Hongbo Chi
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Article |
Clostridioides difficile ferrosome organelles combat nutritional immunity
Ferrosome organelles produced by Clostridioides difficile are required to support colonization of the inflamed gut, highlighting the potential of targeting ferrosome formation as an antimicrobial strategy against this important pathogen.
- Hualiang Pi
- , Rong Sun
- & Eric P. Skaar
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Editorial |
Brain and body are more intertwined than we knew
A host of disorders once thought to be nothing to do with the brain are, in fact, tightly coupled to nervous-system activity.
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Perspective |
The power and potential of mitochondria transfer
The mechanisms by which mitochondria are transferred between cells and how intercellular mitochondria transfer regulates physiological processes and disease pathogenesis are discussed.
- Nicholas Borcherding
- & Jonathan R. Brestoff
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Article
| Open AccessTargeting of intracellular oncoproteins with peptide-centric CARs
Peptide-centric chimeric antigen receptors (PC-CARs) provide a platform to address the challenges involved in targeting intracellular oncoproteins, and PC-CARs based on the neuroblastoma-dependency gene PHOX2B induce elimination of aggressive tumors.
- Mark Yarmarkovich
- , Quinlen F. Marshall
- & John M. Maris
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Article |
Latent human herpesvirus 6 is reactivated in CAR T cells
Genomics analyses reveal that in vitro culture of CAR T cells can lead to reactivation of a latent herpesvirus, which might be involved in complications in patients receiving associated cell therapies.
- Caleb A. Lareau
- , Yajie Yin
- & Ansuman T. Satpathy
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Article
| Open AccessAutoantibodies against type I IFNs in humans with alternative NF-κB pathway deficiency
Inborn errors of the alternative NF-κB pathway in humans impair the development of AIRE-expressing medullary thymic epithelial cells, thereby underlying the production of autoantibodies against type I IFNs and predisposition to viral diseases
- Tom Le Voyer
- , Audrey V. Parent
- & Anne Puel
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Article
| Open AccessDeconstruction of rheumatoid arthritis synovium defines inflammatory subtypes
Single-cell transcriptomic and proteomic data from synovial tissue from individuals with rheumatoid arthritis classify patients into groups based on abundance of cell states that can provide insights into pathology and predict individual treatment responses.
- Fan Zhang
- , Anna Helena Jonsson
- & Soumya Raychaudhuri
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News Explainer |
Dengue is spreading. Can new vaccines and antivirals halt its rise?
Scientists warn that it will take multiple methods to stop the disease, which is also known as breakbone fever and was once confined to the tropics.
- Mariana Lenharo
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News |
Are these moths blinding children? Nepalese researchers seek answers
Researchers are carrying out environmental surveys and genomic sequencing to try to learn more about SHAPU, a severe eye condition that mainly affects children — but funding is still scarce.
- Saugat Bolakhe
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Article |
IL-1β+ macrophages fuel pathogenic inflammation in pancreatic cancer
Single-cell and spatial gene expression analyses of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma uncover a population of interleukin-1β-expressing macrophages that drive inflammatory reprogramming of neighboring tumour cells leading to disease progression and poor prognosis for patients.
- Nicoletta Caronni
- , Federica La Terza
- & Renato Ostuni
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News |
‘Groundbreaking’: first treatment targeting ‘super-gonorrhoea’ passes trial
Antibiotic could turn the tide on drug-resistant form of the infection — if it’s used wisely.
- Ewen Callaway
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Article |
iPS-cell-derived microglia promote brain organoid maturation via cholesterol transfer
The authors seek to understand the precise roles of microglia in the early human brain by coculturing brain organoids with primitive-like macrophages generated from the same human induced pluripotent stem cells (iMac).
- Dong Shin Park
- , Tatsuya Kozaki
- & Florent Ginhoux
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Article |
Antigenicity and receptor affinity of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2.86 spike
A severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 Omicron subvariant, BA.2.86, was found to be no more resistant to human sera than the currently dominant XBB.1.5 and EG.5.1, but it had a remarkably higher receptor affinity.
- Qian Wang
- , Yicheng Guo
- & David D. Ho
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News |
Scientists deliberately gave women Zika — here’s why
‘Human challenge’ results suggest that such trials could be used to test vaccines when Zika incidence is low.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Research Highlight |
Hope rises that a vaccine can shield people with HIV from a deadly threat
Tests on monkeys with a simian version of the virus show that the BCG vaccine provides protection against the bacterium that causes TB.
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News & Views |
Clostridioides difficile infection drives neuronal inflammation
Infection by the bacterium Clostridioides difficile can be fatal in a clinical setting. Insights into the molecular mechanisms underlying such infection might offer targets for the search to develop new treatments.
- Klaus Aktories
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Editorial |
Half a million children die of malaria every year. Finally we can change that
With two vaccines available, this killer disease could now be eliminated — but will the world pull together to make it happen?
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News & Views |
Learn from the past to predict viral pandemics
The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the need to understand the emergence of viral variants, given that these can have implications for vaccination success. A bioinformatics tool offers a way to predict viral evolution.
- Nash D. Rochman
- & Eugene V. Koonin
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News |
How AlphaFold and other AI tools could help us prepare for the next pandemic
Researchers are using machine-learning programs to predict the evolution of viruses and design vaccines.
- Ewen Callaway
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News |
Monkey survives for two years after gene-edited pig-kidney transplant
Survival time is one of the longest for any interspecies transplant — and moves pig organs closer to human use.
- Max Kozlov
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Article
| Open AccessLearning from prepandemic data to forecast viral escape
EVEscape, a flexible framework using deep learning and biophysical structural information, enables early identification of concerning mutations in viruses with pandemic potential, facilitating the development of vaccines and therapeutics.
- Nicole N. Thadani
- , Sarah Gurev
- & Debora S. Marks
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News Feature |
Why rings of RNA could be the next blockbuster drug
The commercial success of RNA vaccines for COVID-19 has revved up interest in circular RNAs as the next generation of therapies.
- Elie Dolgin
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News |
Second malaria vaccine to win global approval is cheaper and easier to make
The World Health Organization has recommended a shot called R21 to prevent the disease in children.
- Miryam Naddaf
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News Explainer |
mRNA COVID vaccines saved lives and won a Nobel — what’s next for the technology?
Nature talks to experts about how messenger RNA is transforming medicine.
- Elie Dolgin
- & Heidi Ledford
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Outlook |
RSV treatments are here: now the work begins
Efforts to prevent infections and keep vulnerable people out of hospital are beginning to pay off, but deploying these strategies presents new challenges.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
The search for a connection between RSV and asthma
The consequences of respiratory syncytial virus infection sometimes linger for years — and scientists are trying to work out whether there’s a causal link.
- Sandy Ong
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Outlook |
Antibody therapies set to transform respiratory syncytial virus prevention for babies
Drugs that counter RSV infection can safeguard newborns, offering another mode of protection alongside vaccines.
- Elie Dolgin
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Outlook |
Better awareness of RSV in older adults is needed to fight a growing burden
Respiratory syncytial virus is usually associated with babies, but the virus can also cause serious disease in older adults and people with chronic medical conditions.
- Rachel Nuwer
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Outlook |
Tracking RSV in low- and middle-income countries
By surveilling respiratory syncytial virus, the World Health Organization is hoping to understand who the virus infects and the burden it has.
- Pratik Pawar
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Outlook |
Vaccines could offer fresh hope against respiratory syncytial virus
If deployed effectively and equitably, this latest generation of vaccines could help to prevent countless deaths and hospitalizations among the young and old.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outlook |
For Indigenous infants, RSV prevention is better than a cure
Governments need to put remote communities at the forefront of strategies to prevent the respiratory disease.
- Anna Banerji
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News |
COVID vaccines linked to unexpected vaginal bleeding
A large cohort study measured how frequently women reported bleeding after receiving COVID-19 jabs.
- Katharine Sanderson
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Article
| Open AccessDistinguishing features of long COVID identified through immune profiling
Individuals with long COVID show marked biological changes in cortisol and immune factors relative to convalescent populations.
- Jon Klein
- , Jamie Wood
- & Akiko Iwasaki
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Book Review |
Vaccine specialist Peter Hotez: scientists are ‘under attack for someone else’s political gain’
The physician-researcher who spoke out against misinformation during the COVID-19 pandemic says attacks against science are formidable — and getting worse.
- Julian Nowogrodzki
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Article |
The β1-adrenergic receptor links sympathetic nerves to T cell exhaustion
Stress-associated catecholamines promote CD8+ T cell exhaustion through the β1-adrenergic receptor, and blocking β-adrenergic signalling may help restore anti-tumour functions.
- Anna-Maria Globig
- , Steven Zhao
- & Susan M. Kaech
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Research Briefing |
Sympathetic nerves suppress T-cell responses in infection and in cancer
T cells that are chronically stimulated in viral infection or cancer enter a dysfunctional state known as T-cell exhaustion. Sympathetic nerves in tissues and tumours drive T-cell exhaustion through the action of the neurotransmitter noradrenaline on the β1-adrenergic receptors of T cells, with implications for cancer treatment.
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Article |
Reductive carboxylation epigenetically instructs T cell differentiation
Reductive carboxylation of glutamine by isocitrate dehydrogenase 2 (IDH2) has a role in determining the fate of T cells, and inhibiting this enzyme promotes the differentiation of memory T cells.
- Alison Jaccard
- , Tania Wyss
- & Mathias Wenes
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Nature Video |
Neuroimmunology: Can you think yourself healthy?
Link between brain and immune system could lead to innovative new treatments.
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Research Briefing |
Genetic dissection of plants’ airborne defences
Plants communicate with neighbouring plants to activate an airborne defence against aphids. However, the genetic pathway underlying this defence mechanism is unknown. A signalling cascade centred around the gaseous form of the chemical methyl salicylate was found to control this interaction between plants.
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Article |
Structural basis for thioredoxin-mediated suppression of NLRP1 inflammasome
Structural and mutational studies and cellular assays show that the inflammasome sensor NLRP1 forms a complex with thioredoxin, which acts as a negative regulator of inflammasome activity.
- Zhikuan Zhang
- , Takuma Shibata
- & Toshiyuki Shimizu
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News |
COVID boosters are back: what scientists say about whether to get one
As many countries head into autumn, they are targeting vaccinations at people in high-risk categories, leaving those at lower risk uncertain about what to do.
- Mariana Lenharo
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Nature Video |
How to supercharge T cells against cancer
For over a decade immunologist Lionel Apetoh has been working on how to improve T cells' cancer fighting abilities.
- Nick Petrić Howe
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Nature Index |
Four ways research aims to outwit cancer’s evasion tactics
From AI-enabled drug discovery to therapeutic vaccines, science is opening up fresh angles of attack against the disease.
- Michael Eisenstein
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