ERC Advanced Grant, recent awardees

Protein Dynamics with Generalized machine-learned potentials

FREIE UNIVERSITAET BERLIN · DE · €3,036,526

After breakthroughs in protein sequencing and structure prediction, the accurate and scalable characterization of biomolecular dynamics and function is the next frontier in molecular biology. This project aims to transform the simulation of macromolecular systems by developing a general-purpose machine-learned coarse-grained (MLCG) model that enables accurate and efficient molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of large biomolecular complexes over biologically relevant timescales. While all-atom

Development and validation of a dementia risk prediction model for low- and middle-income countries: the 10/66 study

Eduwin Pakpahan · Northumbria University · GB

BACKGROUND: Most people with dementia live in LMICs, underscoring the need for LMIC-specific identification of high-risk individuals. This study aimed to develop and validate a simple dementia risk prediction model for these settings. METHODS: Data from seven 10/66 Study sites were analyzed. Over 100 candidate predictors were screened based on existing models and the 2024 Lancet Commission, including LMIC-specific variables (eg, food insecurity and household assets). Predictors were selected usi

TCF3::HLF orchestrates an enhancer-promoter network with activation of MEF2C to promote immature HSC gene expression in leukemia

Raffaella Santoro · University of Zurich · CH

Abstract Oncogenic fusion transcription factors (TFs) frequently drive hematopoietic malignancies by altering gene expression in key developmental programs. TCF3::HLF is a fusion TF that characterizes a rare, treatment-resistant subtype of B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia (t(17;19) TCF3::HLF-positive B-ALL). Despite its clinical significance, the mechanisms by which TCF3::HLF induces leukemia are unclear. We used HiChIP mapping and genetic interference to analyze TCF3::HLF at the 3D-genome le

LPL-Positive Endothelial Cells Control T-cell Homing in Liver Metastasis

Hellmut G. Augustin · German Cancer Research Center · DE

Combination therapies involving vascular targeting drugs have shown promise in overcoming resistance to immunotherapy. However, the prerequisite for vascular modulation to evoke an effective antitumor T-cell response remains elusive. Tracing the transcriptional response of liver metastasis-associated peritumoral and tumor endothelial cells (TEC) to T-cell intervention, we discovered an immunomodulatory TEC subpopulation that highly expressed lipoprotein lipase (LPL). LPL+ TECs facilitated intrat

LHCSR1 Functions as a Dimmer Switch for Light Harvesting

Roberto Bassi · University of Verona · IT

In oxygenic photosynthesis, high light leads to a set of photoprotective processes, known as nonphotochemical quenching, that are required for fitness. In moss and algae, the pigment-protein complex, light-harvesting stress-related (LHCSR), is crucial for photoprotection. Acidification of the thylakoid lumen under high light triggers the activation of LHCSR and the conversion of the xanthophyll violaxanthin into zeaxanthin, which is found within LHCSR. These interrelated molecular components com

The Spatial Politics of Blockades: Disrupting Phosphate Industrial Production in Post‐2011 Tunisia

Diane Robert · Délégation Provence et Corse · FR

ABSTRACT This article examines blockades targeting the phosphate‐processing industry in the Gabes region of Tunisia following the uprisings of 2010–2011, questioning their contributions and limitations. Drawing on fieldwork conducted between 2017 and 2019, it foregrounds the spatial dimensions of blockades, conceived as ‘generative refusals’ that simultaneously intervene in industrial flows and produce socio‐political space. By focusing on territorially embedded and relational spatial practices,

The psychosocial impact of receiving a polygenic risk score informing risk of prostate cancer

Elizabeth K. Bancroft · Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust · GB

BACKGROUND: Use of polygenic risk scores (PRS) as a risk-stratification tool in cancer screening is an area of increasing interest. The BARCODE1 study is an observational prostate cancer screening study, investigating the use of PRS to risk-stratify people by risk of prostate cancer, with those identified as higher risk invited for prostate cancer screening. Participants of BARCODE1 were invited to take part in a psychosocial sub-study aiming to explore the effect of receiving a polygenic risk s

Limited efficacy of a therapeutic anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody to inhibit activated CD4 T cell autoimmunity in vitro

Bart O. Roep · Leiden University Medical Center · NL

Iscalimab is a nondepleting anti-CD40 monoclonal antibody, expected to suppress immune responses by blocking the costimulation by antigen-presenting cells through CD40-CD40L ligation. This therapeutic antibody indeed inhibited proliferation of B lymphocytes and TNF production by dendritic cells and is being tested in clinical trials to treat B cell mediated autoimmune diseases. Since iscalimab showed limited clinical benefit and did not improve kidney and liver transplantation outcomes compared

Chemical Maturation Controls Bioavailability of Fetuin‐A‐Mineral Complexes in Biomineralization

Nico Sommerdijk · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

ABSTRACT Living organisms must transport calcium and phosphate at high concentrations to enable bone formation without triggering uncontrolled mineral precipitation. Fetuin‐A binds calcium phosphate to form soluble calciprotein complexes, but how these complexes contribute to physiological mineralization has remained unclear. Here we show that Fetuin‐A‐based mineral complexes exist in functionally distinct states that determine mineral bioavailability. Using cryogenic and liquid‐phase electron m

Chemical Maturation Controls Bioavailability of Fetuin‐A‐Mineral Complexes in Biomineralization

Nico Sommerdijk · Radboud University Nijmegen · NL

ABSTRACT Living organisms must transport calcium and phosphate at high concentrations to enable bone formation without triggering uncontrolled mineral precipitation. Fetuin‐A binds calcium phosphate to form soluble calciprotein complexes, but how these complexes contribute to physiological mineralization has remained unclear. Here we show that Fetuin‐A‐based mineral complexes exist in functionally distinct states that determine mineral bioavailability. Using cryogenic and liquid‐phase electron m

Energy Shields for Fairness

Konstantin Kueffner · Institute of Science and Technology Austria · AT

Runtime fairness is not a one-time constraint but a dynamic property evaluated over a sequence of decisions. To ensure fairness at runtime, it is necessary to account for past decisions, information neglected by conventional, static classifiers. Traditional fairness shields enforce runtime fairness abruptly, by intervening deterministically whenever a sequence of decisions violates the target for a running fairness measure. This motivates our main conceptual contribution: energy shields. An ener

Arf1 is involved in Neisseria meningitidis-induced cortical branched F-actin network reorganization

Guillaume Duménil · Inserm · FR

Cells experience external forces that deform the plasma membrane to which they adapt by reorganizing their actin cytoskeleton. Here, using the extracellular bacterium Neisseria meningitidis as a model system, we explore how this bacterium reorganizes the cortical actin cytoskeleton subsequently to mechanical membrane deformations. Meningococci trigger the formation of tubular cellular plasma membrane protrusions by a previously described adhesion-driven process known as one-dimensional wetting.

OMA1 protects from liver injury and tumorigenesis during aging by controlling hepatic immunogenicity

José Antonio Enrı́quez · Spanish National Centre for Cardiovascular Research · ES

Abstract Hepatic inflammation and immunosurveillance play major roles in the progression of liver cancer. A common trigger for hepatic inflammation is oxidative stress, which stems from mitochondrial dysfunction. Here, we demonstrate that deletion of the mitochondrial stress integrator OMA1 increases hepatic primary tumor incidence and impairs survival in mice. Persistent activation of the KEAP1-Nrf2 oxidative stress pathway in the absence of OMA1 promotes early liver injury, which progresses in

DATA for: AI versus humans as authority figures: Evidence from a rule-compliance experiment

Sebastian Kube

DATA AND ANALYSIS FILES for: "Can AI tell us what to do? Experimental evidence on rule compliance", by Dominik Suri, Simon Gächter, and Sebastian Kube. ABSTRACT: Interactions between humans and artificial intelligence are becoming increasingly common across social and economic domains, yet the behavioral consequences of AI as an authority figure remain poorly understood. We investigate whether individuals differ in their willingness to comply with arbitrary rules depending on whether these rules

SplineSplat: 3D Ray Tracing for Higher-Quality Tomography

Michaël Unser · Laboratoire d’Imagerie Biomédicale · FR

We propose a method to efficiently compute tomographic projections of a 3D volume represented by a linear combination of shifted B-splines. To do so, we propose a ray-tracing algorithm that computes 3D line integrals with arbitrary projection geometries. One of the components of our algorithm is a neural network that computes the contribution of the basis functions efficiently. In our experiments, we consider well-posed cases where the data are sufficient for accurate reconstruction without the

Pyroelectric power generator for autonomous systems

Emmanuel Defaÿ · University of Luxembourg · LU

Optical spin glasses

Claudio Conti · Sapienza University of Rome · IT

Spin-glass theory emerged in the 1980s as a merger between theoretical physics and condensed matter. Soon, physicists realized that spin glasses serve as a paradigm for complex systems, as underscored by the 2021 Nobel Prize in Physics, and for applications in machine learning and neuroscience, with a profound connection with the Hopfield model and Boltzmann machines, subjects of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics. However, the connection with optics and photonics is even more profound and fundamen

Orbital instability and spanwise vortex structure of unstable periodic orbits in large-eddy simulations of plane Couette flow

Genta Kawahara

From Neanderthals to Homo sapiens: New palaeoecological and tephrocronological data from the MIS3 layers of Grotta-Riparo di Uluzzo C (Apulia, southern Italy)

Juan Ochando · University of Siena · IT

The southern Italian Peninsula plays a crucial role as a biogeographical hotspot in Southern Europe, influenced significantly by the Mediterranean climate. This environment acted as a glacial refuge for diverse flora and fauna, humans included. This study employs pollen analysis on Mousterian and Uluzzian sediments from Grotta-Riparo di Uluzzo C in the Salento Peninsula (southern Italy) to reconstruct the vegetation landscapes encountered by the late Italian Neanderthals (thus far associated wit

Genetic and linguistic landscapes of Gansu-Qinghai populations

Mengting Xu · Xiamen University · CN

The Gansu-Qinghai (GQ) region is a critical Eurasian contact zone with exceptional linguistic and genetic diversity. However, genomic studies integrating genetic and linguistic evidence in areas with intensive language mixing remain limited. We conducted fine-scale genomic analyses on 153 new samples from four linguistically mixing or mixed regions: Linxia and Xiahe in Gansu, and Gan'gou and Wutun in Qinghai. Our findings reveal three primary ancestral components: Yellow River, western Eurasian

Hydrogen Bonding within Dynamic ¹⁹ F-Tagged Oligothiourea Foldamers in Solution and in Membranes

Lucia Trevisan · University of Bristol · GB

High Resolution Image Download MS PowerPoint Slide Molecular conformation plays an integral role in biological signal transduction, with several classes of biomolecules using conformational changes to translate local inputs into spatially remote outputs. This natural communication mechanism has inspired the development of dynamic foldamers with the ability to use conformational changes as a communication mechanism. These foldamers include ethylene-bridged hydrogen-bonded oligo(thio)urea foldamer

The Pestov Identity on the Frame Bundle and Associated Homogeneous Fibrations

Andrei Moroianu · Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique · FR

ABSTRACT We prove a global Pestov identity on the (orthonormal) frame bundle of a Riemannian manifold and deduce similar identities on associated homogeneous fibrations. As a particular example, this provides a concise proof of the Pestov identity on the unit tangent bundle of the manifold.

Ultra‐Wideline 2D Correlations Among Low‐ <i>γ</i> Species in Solid‐State NMR via the Progressive Saturation of a Common Proton Reservoir

Rihards Aleksis · Latvijas Organiskās Sintēzes Institūts · LV

ABSTRACT Ultra‐wideline nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectra arising from large chemical shift anisotropy and/or quadrupolar broadening can span several MHz, rendering two‐dimensional (2D) correlations between low‐γ nuclei subject to these interactions exceptionally challenging. The limited pulse excitation bandwidth, poor sensitivity, and weak internuclear couplings make correlations between such spins nearly impossible in practice. To deal with such cases, this study introduces the PROgres

miRNA-26b Is Associated with Increased Connexin-40 Expression in Endothelial Cells Under Flow Conditions

Marcus Igl · Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München · DE

Endothelial cell dysfunction is the initial step in atherosclerosis, in which gap junction proteins such as connexin 40 (Cx40) might play an important role. Previously, we could demonstrate that miRNA-26b, a 21-nucleotide miRNA, is highly expressed in human atherosclerotic plaques and plays a key causal role in atherogenesis. There is evidence that miRNA-26b and Cx40 play crucial roles in sustaining endothelial health. However, their potential effects on atherosclerosis-related processes remain

Dynamic bidirectional coupling of membrane morphology and rod organization in flexible vesicles

Stijn van der Ham · Inspire Institute · US

The ordering of rod-like particles in soft, deformable containers emerges from the interplay of anisotropic interactions, geometric confinement, and boundary compliance. This competition couples internal particle organization to container morphology, producing behavior distinct from both rigid confinement and bulk systems. Such coupling is also relevant to biological contexts in which filamentous structures are confined by deformable membranes. Using a minimal model combining experiments and sim

NR2F6-modified CAR T cells drive extrinsic immunogenic cell death and antigen-agnostic immunity in solid tumors

Victoria Klepsch · Innsbruck Medical University · AT

Chiral symmetry restoration effects onto the meson spectrum from a Dyson-Schwinger and Bethe-Salpeter approach

Anonymous · University of Graz · AT

Light meson spectra are studied in a Dyson-Schwinger/Bethe-Salpeter approach to quantum chromodynamics (QCD). By varying the interaction strength of three sets of models for the quark-antiquark interaction, the transition from the chiral symmetric to the chirally broken regime in the vacuum is studied. The simplest type of these models leads to degenerate meson spectra for a large domain of the strength parameter. The more sophisticated and thus more realistic models show significantly smaller p

Achieving cell-type specific transduction with adeno-associated viral vectors in pigeons

Noemi Rook · Ruhr University Bochum · DE

Birds are valuable models for studying learning, cognition, song, and vision, yet tools for controlling and recording brain activity with millisecond precision remain underutilized in avian research. Advances in methods such as chemogenetics, optogenetics, and in vivo imaging have transformed rodent studies but require gene delivery techniques, like adeno-associated viruses (AAVs), in non-transgenic species. This study validates AAV tools for precise gene expression in pigeons. We identified bot

Inventory of User Expectations for Technology (iExpect)

Steeven Villa

The characterisation and reactivity of a Rh ^{<scp>iii</scp>} η ¹ -σ-alkane complex and the role of a structurally responsive phosphine ligand in solid-state molecular organometallic chemistry

Joe C. Goodall · University of York · GB

to a weakly coordinating σ-alkane. These reversible bond activations of the chelating ligand in response to changes in the co-ligands demonstrate that significant structural reorganisation is possible in the crystalline environment.