Featured
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News |
Alzheimer’s drug slows mental decline in trial — but is it a breakthrough?
Researchers are cautiously optimistic following companies’ announcement of positive results for lecanemab.
- McKenzie Prillaman
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Outlook |
Psychedelic medicine faces the acid test
Mind-bending drugs are entering the therapeutic arena
- Herb Brody
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Outlook |
Finding medical value in mescaline
After millennia of sacramental use, mescaline is finally entering fully powered clinical trials.
- Eric Bender
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Outlook |
Taking the tripping out of psychedelic medicine
Drugs under development offer the mental-health benefits of psilocybin and similar substances without inducing strong hallucinatory effects.
- Elie Dolgin
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Outlook |
How MDMA resensitizes the brain
Gül Dölen explains how psychedelics restore the brain’s capacity for plasticity, which fades with age, and make possible new mental-health therapies.
- Alla Katsnelson
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Outlook |
Psychedelic microdosing hits a rough patch in clinical trials
Recent results cast doubt on claims that small amounts of these drugs can benefit mental health.
- Benjamin Plackett
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Outlook |
Research round-up: psychedelic medicine
Predicting bad trips, treating depression without hallucinations, and other highlights from studies of psychedelics.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outlook |
The psychedelic escape from depression
Clinical trials suggest that psilocybin — the active ingredient in magic mushrooms — can provide durable remission from an increasingly common mental health condition.
- Michael Eisenstein
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Outlook |
Hope that psychedelic drugs can erase trauma
Some researchers are finding clues that MDMA might be able to treat post-traumatic stress disorder. But the science has yet to catch up with the optimism.
- Lauren Gravitz
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Outlook |
Psychedelic research and the real world
Clinical trials of psychedelic drugs impose constraints that make it difficult to judge how effective they will be in treating people.
- Paul S. Appelbaum
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Outlook |
The psychedelic remedy for chronic pain
Drugs best known for their hallucinogenic properties, such as psilocybin, could help people beat the agony of migraines and other painful maladies.
- Clare Watson
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Research Briefing |
Innovative chemistry yields potential antidepressant drugs
Computational simulation of interactions of each of 75 million molecules with a model structure of the 5-HT2A receptor, which mediates the actions of psychedelic drugs, identified molecules that selectively activate the receptor. When tested in mice, two of these compounds had antidepressant-like actions without the side effects of psychedelic drugs.
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Article |
Bespoke library docking for 5-HT2A receptor agonists with antidepressant activity
New agonists of the serotonin 5-HT2A receptor (5-HT2AR) confer high brain permeability and antidepressant activity and—in contrast to classic 5-HT2AR agonists—lack psychedelic activity.
- Anat Levit Kaplan
- , Danielle N. Confair
- & Jonathan A. Ellman
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Article |
Methotrexate recognition by the human reduced folate carrier SLC19A1
Cryo-EM structures provide insight into how the antifolate methotrexate, a chemotherapy drug, is recognized by the reduced folate carrier.
- Nicholas J. Wright
- , Justin G. Fedor
- & Seok-Yong Lee
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News |
Billion-dollar project aims to prep drugs before the next pandemic
A centre in Australia, set up with a Aus$250-million donation, will focus on creating therapies for future infectious-disease outbreaks.
- Felicity Nelson
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Clinical Briefing |
Non-viral, precisely engineered immune cells tested in lymphoma
An improved approach has been developed for producing precisely designed immune cells called CAR T cells that recognize and kill cancer cells. CAR T cells generated in this way were safe and showed potential therapeutic effects in individuals with a relapsed or treatment-resistant form of the immune-cell cancer called B-cell non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.
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News Round-Up |
Memory boost, forever chemicals and dark-matter signal
The latest science news, in brief.
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Article
| Open AccessNon-viral, specifically targeted CAR-T cells achieve high safety and efficacy in B-NHL
Non-viral CAR-T cells with gene-specific targeted integration are safe and effective in patients with lymphoma.
- Jiqin Zhang
- , Yongxian Hu
- & He Huang
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News Explainer |
Can a smallpox drug treat monkeypox? Here’s what scientists know
Tecovirimat, a little-known antiviral, shows promise against monkeypox. But human data and supplies of the drug are limited.
- Max Kozlov
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Outlook |
Psychedelic drugs take on depression
Mind-altering drugs might provide relief for those who don’t respond to conventional therapies — but does the hype outweigh the hope?
- Cassandra Willyard
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Nature Podcast |
How to make water that’s full of holes
Embedded ‘nanocages’ help water dissolve large amounts of gas, and potential evidence that hominins walked on two legs seven million years ago.
- Benjamin Thompson
- & Shamini Bundell
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News |
How to destroy ‘forever chemicals’: cheap method breaks down PFAS
Disposing of these persistent substances often requires high pressures and temperatures.
- Giorgia Guglielmi
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News Feature |
Long-COVID treatments: why the world is still waiting
After a slow start, researchers are beginning to test ways to combat the lasting symptoms of the disease.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
Inhibition of ASGR1 decreases lipid levels by promoting cholesterol excretion
Inhibiting the asialoglycoprotein receptor ASGR1 increases cholesterol excretion to the bile and then faeces, providing a unique way to lower cholesterol, and therefore providing a safe and effective way to treat cardiovascular disease.
- Ju-Qiong Wang
- , Liang-Liang Li
- & Bao-Liang Song
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News |
China approves first homegrown COVID antiviral
The country’s drug regulator has granted conditional authorization for an HIV drug to be used to treat COVID-19.
- Yvaine Ye
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Article |
Mechanisms and inhibition of Porcupine-mediated Wnt acylation
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of human Porcupine in complex with palmitoleoyl-coenzyme A, the inhibitor LGK974 and its peptide substrate suggest a mechanism for Wnt acylation.
- Yang Liu
- , Xiaofeng Qi
- & Xiaochun Li
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News |
Major wildlife report struggles to tally humanity’s exploitation of species
People use roughly 50,000 plants and animals for food and income, but scientists say the estimate is conservative.
- Smriti Mallapaty
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News Feature |
COVID antibody drugs have saved lives — so why aren’t they more popular?
Drugs made from antibodies are huge money-makers for some conditions — but they have gained little traction in infectious diseases, including COVID.
- Asher Mullard
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Article
| Open AccessStructural basis for SHOC2 modulation of RAS signalling
Cryo-electron microscopy structure, molecular dynamics and biochemical analyses of the SHOC2–PP1C–MRAS complex demonstrate the dependence of the complex formation on RAS–GTP and identify the determinants of RAS isoform preference for SHOC2–PP1C and specificity of the complex for RAF dephosphorylation.
- Nicholas P. D. Liau
- , Matthew C. Johnson
- & Jawahar Sudhamsu
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Technology Feature |
Cloud labs: where robots do the research
A host of companies provide a remote, automated workforce for conducting experiments around the clock.
- Carrie Arnold
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News |
New COVID drugs face delays as trials grow more difficult
Fewer people are eligible for the massive studies needed to test treatments for severe COVID-19.
- Saima May Sidik
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Technology Feature |
How engineers and drug developers are working to change childhood cancer’s deadly calculus
A non-profit organization merges engineering and biology to accelerate drug development for childhood cancers.
- Esther Landhuis
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Article
| Open AccessStructural insights into the HBV receptor and bile acid transporter NTCP
Cryo-electron structures of the hepatitis B virus receptor NTCP show a distinct membrane topology compared with other SLC10 proteins, but a common bile acid transport mechanism that is shared with related mammalian and bacterial proteins.
- Jae-Hyun Park
- , Masashi Iwamoto
- & Sam-Yong Park
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Book Review |
Rise of drug-resistant tuberculosis is hidden in plain sight
A history of TB infections homes in on India to illuminate the racism that denies treatment to millions around the world.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article |
Synthesis and target annotation of the alkaloid GB18
A synthetic route to GB18, an alkaloid from the bark of hallucinogenic Galbulimima sp., is developed, enabling its identification as an antagonist of κ- and μ-opioid receptors.
- Stone Woo
- & Ryan A. Shenvi
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Technology Feature |
Methods combine to decode the biology of tuberculosis
Scientists are fusing sequencing, chemistry and imaging techniques to probe interactions between pathogens and their host cells.
- Amber Dance
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Article
| Open AccessCCNE1 amplification is synthetic lethal with PKMYT1 kinase inhibition
Genome-scale CRISPR–Cas9-based synthetic lethality screens identify PKMYT1 as a potential therapeutic target in tumours with CCNE1 amplification.
- David Gallo
- , Jordan T. F. Young
- & Daniel Durocher
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News Feature |
What's next for AlphaFold and the AI protein-folding revolution
DeepMind software that can predict the 3D shape of proteins is already changing biology.
- Ewen Callaway
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Outlook |
Developing a cure for chronic hepatitis B requires a fresh approach
The prevailing dogma for drug development is insufficient; it’s time to recentre efforts around the immune system.
- Matteo Iannacone
- & Luca G. Guidotti
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Outlook |
Closing in on a cure for hepatitis B
Finite courses of treatment could get the virus under control — with the right combination of drugs.
- Elie Dolgin
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Outlook |
Facing the challenge of eliminating hepatitis B
Public-health expert Corinna Dan charts a course to free the United States from the virus.
- Eric Bender
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Article |
Targeting Xist with compounds that disrupt RNA structure and X inactivation
A molecule identified in a screen for compounds that bind the non-coding mouse RNA Xist blocks Xist-dependent X-chromosome inactivation, demonstrating the utility of this approach for identifying drugs that target RNA.
- Rodrigo Aguilar
- , Kerrie B. Spencer
- & Jeannie T. Lee
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Article
| Open AccessA TMPRSS2 inhibitor acts as a pan-SARS-CoV-2 prophylactic and therapeutic
A small-molecule inhibitor of TMPRSS2 is effective against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern in human lung cells and in donor-derived colonoids, and also shows prophylactic and therapeutic benefits in a mouse model of COVID-19.
- Tirosh Shapira
- , I. Abrrey Monreal
- & François Jean
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Nature Podcast |
The coin toss of Alzheimer's inheritance
Marty Reiswig talks about his experience in a clinical trial that hopes to delay the onset of Alzheimer's symptoms.
- Lorna Stewart
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News & Views |
Promising reversible protein inhibitors kept on target
Compounds that form reversible covalent bonds with lysine amino-acid residues in proteins have high potential for drug discovery. A chemical group has been reported that prolongs the time for which such compounds bind to their targets.
- Stephan M. Hacker
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News Feature |
Could drugs prevent Alzheimer’s? These trials aim to find out
Researchers are giving drugs to healthy people in hope of clearing away toxic proteins in the brain and warding off neurodegeneration.
- Alison Abbott
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News Feature |
Hundreds of COVID trials could provide a deluge of new drugs
Two years into the pandemic, the COVID-19 drugs pipeline is primed to pump out novel treatments — and fresh uses for familiar therapies.
- Heidi Ledford
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Article
| Open AccessEffective drug combinations in breast, colon and pancreatic cancer cells
A survey of potency and efficacy of 2,025 clinically relevant two-drug combinations against 125 molecularly characterized breast, colorectal and pancreatic cancer cell lines identifies rare synergistic effects of anticancer drugs, informing rational combination treatments for specific cancer subtypes.
- Patricia Jaaks
- , Elizabeth A. Coker
- & Mathew J. Garnett