Scientists built bispecific antibody constructs that link cell-surface receptors such as AT1R, APJ, A2AR and CCR6 to transferrin receptor 1, redirecting the GPCRs into internalization and degradation pathways. The constructs, described through detailed plasmid and vector engineering, used nanobody and scFv binding domains along with modified antibody Fc regions to test this trafficking-based antagonism approach in cell-based reporter assays.
Researchers studied how somatic hypermutation, the process that diversifies antibody genes in B cells, is controlled by proteins that regulate RNA polymerase pausing and elongation, including NELF and the Integrator complex subunit INTS8. Using mouse models with Nelfb deleted specifically in germinal center B cells, alongside Ramos and CH12F3 B-cell lines, they mapped how these transcriptional regulators influence mutation patterns in immunoglobulin genes.
A newly published review compiles evidence that cells across the body gradually lose their defined molecular identity as organisms age, with this drift appearing alongside known age-related functional decline in tissues. The paper draws on decades of research spanning cellular turnover rates, epigenetic memory maintenance, chromatin organization and stress-response pathways to build its case.
A multi-institution research team reports achieving wafer-scale epitaxial growth of p-type boron carbon nitride (BCN) that exhibits high carrier mobility. The work involved collaborators from Japanese and Taiwanese institutions, including support from JSPS, JST, Academia Sinica and Taiwan's NSTC, with computational resources provided by Taiwan's National Center for High-performance Computing.
Researchers extracted insoluble tau aggregates from postmortem brains of five Alzheimer's disease patients and six corticobasal degeneration patients, then injected these seeds into the striatum of wild-type mice. Nine to twelve months later, the mice's brains were analyzed using immunohistochemistry and cryo-electron microscopy to assess how the human tau propagated.
Researchers combined genome-wide association data from multiple cohorts—including general population groups and sickle cell disease patients from Tanzania, Brazil, the US and Thailand—to study genetic variants influencing fetal haemoglobin (HbF) levels. The analysis identified a BACH2–NRF2 gene axis as implicated in activating fetal haemoglobin production, drawing on differing study designs across ancestries and disease status.
Researchers using mouse models traced osteoclast-lineage cells (tdTomato+, CtskCre) in bone marrow and dura mater tissue, comparing their marker expression to invading tumour cells. Using confocal imaging and single-cell RNA sequencing, they characterized osteoclasts and infiltrating tumour cells (ITCs) for markers including DLX5, SCX, TNMD, RUNX2 and COL1A1, showing these cells intersect with meningeal lymphatic structures during dural metastasis.
Scientists cultivated the archaea Candidatus Lokiarchaeum ossiferum and Candidatus Micrarchaeum peptidophilum under strict anaerobic conditions and used live-cell imaging to observe their behavior. The study documents that these organisms extend dynamic, arm-like protrusions that enable them to physically crawl, a first direct visual record of locomotion in Asgard archaea.
Researchers at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai used male and female C57BL/6J and GAD2-IRES-Cre mice to study a neural circuit linking the amygdala to the anterior hypothalamus. Using whole-brain imaging, optogenetic silencing and calcium imaging, they examined how this circuit influences an animal's sensitivity to stress. No sex differences were found in behavioral or neuronal measures, so sex was dropped as a variable in the final analysis.
Researchers report that thianthrenium ylides can act as effective carbene donors for cyclopropanation, a reaction where conventional sulfonium and sulfoxonium salts have largely failed. They attribute this failure in prior chemistry to strong carbon-sulfur bonding in typical sulfur ylides, which prevents formation of a sufficiently electrophilic metal-carbene intermediate needed for broad olefin reactivity.
Researchers report that the histone-reader proteins MLLT1 and MLLT3 help concentrate the enzyme AID at particular genomic locations in B cells. This targeting mechanism appears to explain how AID achieves locus specificity during processes such as somatic hypermutation, rather than acting broadly across the genome.
Researchers used time-resolved X-ray liquidography at South Korea's PAL-XFEL free-electron laser facility to track the structural changes azobenzene molecules undergo when switched from trans to cis form by a laser pulse. The experiment combined a 400 nm pump laser with X-ray probe pulses to capture molecular motion with a measured time resolution of about 169 femtoseconds, using a single-pass capillary jet of the dissolved sample rather than a recirculated solution.
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