Communications Biology

Abstract Septins are cytoskeletal filaments bound to the inner leaflet of the plasma membrane, essential for cell division. They are involved in the formation of diffusion barriers for membrane-bound components. Whether septins directly function as barriers or as part of a broader regulatory cascade of events remains unclear. We addressed this using in vitro reconstituted assay of biomimetic synt…

Abstract Neuronal coding and decoding would be compromised if neuronal responses were highly variable. Intriguingly, neuronal spike counts (SCs) show a reduction in across-trial variance (ATV) in response to sensory stimulation, when SC variance is normalized by SC mean, that is, when using the Fano factor 1 . Inspired by this seminal finding, ATV has also been studied in electroencephalography (…

Abstract Flowering in day-neutral tobacco ( Nicotiana tabacum ) cultivars requires the photoperiod-dependent expression of FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT)-like floral activators, which compete with FT-like inhibitors to interact with FD proteins and induce the switch from vegetative to reproductive growth. In the short-day (SD) cultivar Maryland Mammoth (MM), vegetative growth persists under long-day (LD)…

ABSTRACT Environmental stress can limit mammalian reproduction by affecting production of sexual steroid hormones. Here we reveal a similar mechanism in the malarial mosquito Anopheles gambiae : activation of the stress-sensitive c- J un N -terminal k inase, JNK, constrains reproductive investment by suppressing production of ecdysteroids that orchestrate egg development in this species. We show …

Inflammation and sympathetic overactivity contribute to end-organ injury associated with hypertension. We previously demonstrated that targeting formylpeptide receptors (FPRs), which regulate and resolve inflammation, prevents cardiovascular damage in preclinical hypertension. Here, we investigated whether the FPR agonist Cmpd17b can reverse renovascular remodeling in established essential hypert…

Abstract Failure of inflammation resolution is a key driver of chronic skin wound pathogenesis, highlighting importance in wound healing. Although autophagy is known to regulate this process, it remains unclear whether amphibian-derived peptides exert their effects to facilitate regeneration of wounds through autophagy. Here, we identified OL-RA11, a previously unreported autophagy-regulatory pep…

Induced pluripotent stem cell-derived retinal organoids (ROs) have become promising personalized models to study inherited retinal diseases (IRDs) and develop new therapies. Although ROs mimic key retinal features and show some light responsiveness, their differentiation and maturation remain limited and lengthy. We hypothesize that standard dark culture conditions limit the expression of genes a…

Abstract Gene duplication provides raw material for evolutionary innovation, yet how duplicated genes are progressively integrated into specialized biological systems remains poorly understood. Here we investigate a sugar transporter gene cluster in the silkworm that is associated with flavonoid accumulation underlying green cocoon pigmentation. Through integrated phylogenomic, molecular evolutio…

Aberrant signaling through tumor necrosis factor receptor 1 (TNFR1) drives chronic inflammation and necroptotic cell death, yet selective therapeutic strategies remain limited. Here, humanized nanobodies targeting TNFR1 were developed and characterized. Biolayer interferometry and cell-based analyses showed that these nanobodies remained in the nanomolar affinity range to TNFR1 after humanization…

Neural control of innate immunity must balance restraint of basal immune activity with rapid activation upon pathogen encounter. Glutamate, the primary excitatory neurotransmitter in the nervous system, has been implicated in several neurological disorders associated with inflammation, suggesting a potential link to immune regulation. However, how glutamatergic signaling contributes to immune bal…

Abstract Adoptive T cell therapy targeting tumor-associated antigens offers a promising avenue for cancer immunotherapy, yet the mechanisms underlying functional heterogeneity among T cell receptors recognizing the same antigen remain poorly understood. Here, we comprehensively profile three HER2/neu-specific T cell receptor constructs using integrated multimodal analysis that combines in vitro c…

Among end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients, white matter (WM) is a particularly vulnerable area that is susceptible to various clinical risk factors. However, whether WM function is disrupted in ESRD patients and how this disruption provides valuable information for cognitive deficits and potential clinical phenotypes remain unknown. We enrolled 78 ESRD patients and 50 healthy controls. Using …

Abstract Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe respiratory illness across the lifespan, particularly in infants and older adults. Nonetheless, effective antiviral therapies remain limited. Here, we performed a clinically guided, medium-throughput screening of approved drugs used in pediatric populations and identified sparfloxacin (SPFX), a fluoroquinolone antibiotic, as a …

Abstract Understanding pathogen sharing within wildlife communities is crucial for conservation. Bees are essential pollinators of wild plants and crops, but their populations are globally declining. Human-induced disturbances may disrupt natural host-pathogen balances, leading to context-dependent virulence. Reduced floral availability could increase pathogen transmission through intensified flo…

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the third leading cause of death. While airway-recruited macrophages contribute to COPD pathogenesis, the role of embryonic alveolar macrophages (Em-AM) remains unclear. Using a cigarette smoke (CS)-induced COPD mouse model, we find that CS-triggered lung inflammation and emphysema-like tissue damage correlate with substantial changes in the lung my…

Fast, highly constrained sensorimotor acts require rapid coordination of distributed cortical systems on subsecond timescales. Here, we used source-resolved magnetoencephalography to characterise time-locked cortical connectivity during voluntary swallowing in 74 healthy adults. Cluster-based network statistics revealed focal swallowing-related connectivity changes confined to anatomically select…