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One of the agency’s largest and most storied research facilities will be closed along with most forest research stations

Findings speak to the dramatic impact ants and termites can have on mammalian evolution

Mitophagy is a selective type of autophagy that removes damaged mitochondria to maintain mitochondrial homeostasis and regulate the antiviral immune response. Despite increasing evidence that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) infection causes mitochondrial damage, the regulatory mechanisms governing mitochondrial homeostasis and its biological implications in the context of HSV-1 infection and viral encephalitis remain unclear. In our recent work, we find that HSV-1 infection causes the...

Network hyperexcitability is one of the hallmarks of the early stage of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this issue of Neuron, Papanikolaou¹ and coworkers show that AD-mediated alterations start at the excitatory-inhibitory subcircuit in the deep layers of the cortex.

Despite the increasing availability of biomarkers in clinical settings, diagnosing individuals with subtle cognitive/behavioral symptoms and normal structural brain imaging remains challenging. In real-world settings, it is not feasible to subject all such patients to costly and invasive second-level assessments, and there are no clear guidelines for identifying those who should undergo these procedures beyond clinical follow-up and structural imaging. The present study explores the potential of...

In this issue of Neuron, Graves et al.¹ report that genetically reducing senescent cells by deleting p16 in a tauopathy mouse model significantly lessens tau pathology, neurovascular dysfunction, and behavioral deficits. Their study highlights the crucial role of p16-dependent senescence in microglia and endothelial cells as active drivers of neurodegeneration.

The human cortex exhibits remarkable morphometric similarity between regions; however, the form and extent of lifespan network remodeling remain unknown. Here, we show the spatiotemporal maturation of morphometric brain networks, using multimodal neuroimaging data from 33,937 healthy participants aged 0-80 years. Global architecture matures from birth to early adulthood through enhanced modularity and small worldness. Early development features cytoarchitecturally distinct remodeling: sensory...

Stem cells maintain tissue architecture by replacing differentiated cells at steady state and upon injury. Implementing this cornerstone role requires protection of stem cells from pathogens and from the toxic effects of immune system activation. However, the pro-inflammatory innate immune mechanisms that protect differentiated cells from infection are poorly functional in stem cells. Instead, stem cells employ other specific defence mechanisms, such as antiviral RNA interference. At steady...

Urbanization has introduced multiple factors that promote circadian clock dependent or independent disruption of physiology. Conditions such as late-night light (ALAN) exposure, shift working, cross-continental traveling may lead to circadian dysregulation leading to obesity, metabolic disorders and physiological alterations. As ALAN affects the circadian clock with concomitant effects on stress and free radical physiology, we hypothesised that night exposure to artificial light may affect the...

This cross-sectional investigation seeks to examine the association between dietary omega-3 fatty acids (including α-linolenic acid [ALA], eicosapentaenoic acid [EPA], and docosahexaenoic acid [DHA]) and biomarkers of cellular aging, specifically DNA methylation age (Horvathage) and telomere length (Horvathtelo), in older adults. Our analysis leveraged nationally representative data from 2,136 participants aged ≥ 50 years in the 1999-2002 NHANES cycles. Multivariable linear regression models...

Synthetic biology enabled the systematic engineering of bacteria for diverse applications, but their deployment in open environments raises concerns about their persistence and unintended ecological impacts. To address these challenges, genetic "expiry-date" circuits were designed to impose a tunable lifespan on bacteria. These circuits, structured as a feedforward activation network, regulate the timing of cell death by controlling the expression of Lysis E, enabling a programmed lifespan...

CONCLUSIONS: The MitoFit scientific communication was well received and should be considered in behavior change strategies that promote physical activity in community-dwelling older adults.

Controlled experiments suggest that the seasonal build-up of nitrogen (N) limitation constrains the responses of forest autumn phenology to elevated temperatures. Therefore, rising soil N is expected to increase the delaying effects of elevated temperature on the end of the season, i.e., leaf senescence. However, the interactive effects of temperature, soil N, and aridity on xylem autumn phenology remain unknown. We conducted a wide spatial analysis from 75 conifer sites in the Northern...

Immune aging is associated with decreased vaccine responses, but biomarkers for vaccine responsiveness remain unidentified. We analyzed immunotypes describing pre-vaccination immune cell profiles and their associations with triple vaccine responsiveness to influenza, pneumococcal, and SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in adults aged 25-78 years. Additionally, we developed an innovative measure, immune entropy, to quantify cumulative perturbations in the immune cell subset network. Specific immunotypes were...

An increasing number of physically active adults are taking the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin off label with the goal of extending healthspan. However, frequent rapamycin dosing disrupts metabolic health during sedentary conditions and abates the anabolic response to exercise. Intermittent once-weekly rapamycin dosing minimizes many negative metabolic side effects of frequent rapamycin in sedentary mice. However, it remains unknown how different rapamycin dosing schedules impact metabolic, physical,...

Relief that NIH funding will be restored mingles with fears that academic independence will suffer—and that other universities will make similar concessions