Latest research

1. 1. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

   Unexpected plasticity in the life cycle of Trypanosoma brucei

   Sarah Schuster et al.

   Parasite life cycles may be more flexible than traditionally thought, potentially allowing single-cell infections of insect vectors and transmission between hosts even at very low parasite densities.
2. 1. Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

   N501Y mutation of spike protein in SARS-CoV-2 strengthens its binding to receptor ACE2

   Fang Tian et al.

   Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2 with mutation N501Y shows a faster association rate, slower dissociation rate, and higher binding probability and unbinding force to its human receptor protein ACE2, leading to higher transmission.
3. 1. Developmental Biology
   2. Neuroscience

   Spinal lumbar dI2 interneurons contribute to stability of bipedal stepping

   Baruch Haimson et al.

   Spinal dI2 interneurons relay peripheral and intraspinal feedback to premotor networks in the spinal cord and the cerebellum to ensure the stability of bipedal stepping.
4. 1. Medicine

   Aorta smooth muscle-on-a-chip reveals impaired mitochondrial dynamics as a therapeutic target for aortic aneurysm in bicuspid aortic valve disease

   Mieradilijiang Abudupataer et al.

   An aorta smooth muscle-on-a-chip model indicated that NOTCH1 insufficiency in HAoSMCs induced phenotypic switching from a contractile to a synthetic phenotype accompanied by an impairment of mitochondrial fusion, implying its potential role as a therapeutic target for BAV-TAA.
5. 1. Computational and Systems Biology

   Inequalities in the distribution of National Institutes of Health research project grant funding

   Michael S Lauer, Deepshikha Roychowdhury

   Funding inequalities for NIH-supported research project grant investigators and organizations have increased over the past 25 years, but have modestly decreased over the past 3 years.
6. 1. Cell Biology
   2. Neuroscience

   Glycolytic preconditioning in astrocytes mitigates trauma-induced neurodegeneration

   Rene Solano Fonseca et al.

   Promoting a Warburg-like shift in astrocytic metabolism through reduced mitochondrial electron transport accommodates the energetic burden caused by brain trauma without overwhelming cellular respiration and redox to salvage dopaminergic neurons.
7. 1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
   2. Cell Biology

   Endothelial pannexin 1–TRPV4 channel signaling lowers pulmonary arterial pressure in mice

   Zdravka Daneva et al.

   Endothelial pannexin 1-P2Y2 purinergic receptor-TRPV4 channel signaling, facilitated by caveolin-1, is a novel pathway for lowering pulmonary arterial pressure.
8. 1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
   2. Neuroscience

   Precise optical control of gene expression in C elegans using improved genetic code expansion and Cre recombinase

   Lloyd Davis et al.

   A method combining optimised genetic code expansion and optogenetics allows dissection of neural circuits with single-cell precision in freely moving animals.
9. 1. Developmental Biology
   2. Evolutionary Biology

   Gamete expression of TALE class HD genes activates the diploid sporophyte program in Marchantia polymorpha

   Tom Dierschke et al.
10. 1. Computational and Systems Biology
    2. Epidemiology and Global Health

    Characterizing human mobility patterns in rural settings of sub-Saharan Africa

    Hannah R Meredith et al.

    Mobile phone data reveal aspects of human mobility patterns in Sub-Saharan Africa missed by standard spatial models however, model estimates can be improved by accounting for trip urbanicity and region.