T. Ueno

Dining in the daylight: Nocturnal rhinoceros beetles extend feeding periods on host trees with reduced sap exudation

The paper compares feeding rates and sap exudation rates of rhinoceros beetles on three host trees, finding lower feeding rates on ash trees correlate with extended feeding periods during the day.

High-throughput structure determination of an intrinsically disordered protein using cell-free protein crystallization

This paper develops a cell-free protein crystallization method to determine the structure of an intrinsically disordered protein and identifies key residues stabilizing its helical conformation.

Structural insights into a single semi-clathrate hydrate formed in a confined environment of porous protein crystal.

The paper identifies a single semi-clathrate structure formed on a ferritin crystal surface and shows how temperature affects its stability and formation mechanism.

Virological characteristics of the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.75

This study investigates the virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.2.75, finding it has higher transmissibility and pathogenicity compared to BA.2 and BA.5, but similar sensitivity to antiviral drugs.

The SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 spike G446S potentiates HLA-A*24:02-restricted T cell immunity

Cell-free Protein Crystallization for Nanocrystal Structure Determination

The paper develops cell-free protein crystallization (CFPC) to produce high-quality protein nanocrystals for structure determination, achieving a 2.11 Å resolution structure for CipA.

SARS-CoV-2 spike S375F mutation characterizes the Omicron BA.1 variant

This study identifies the S375F mutation in the Omicron spike protein as responsible for its reduced cleavage efficiency, fusogenicity, and rapid spread.

Virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 variant

This study compares the virological characteristics of SARS-CoV-2 BA.2 and BA.1 variants, finding BA.2 has higher transmissibility, different antigenicity, greater replicative capacity, and higher pathogenicity in hamsters.

SARS-CoV-2 Omicron spike mediated immune escape, infectivity and cell-cell fusion

This study investigates the immune escape, infectivity, and cell-cell fusion properties of SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 compared to Delta, showing higher ACE2 affinity and antibody evasion but similar antiviral drug efficacy.

Retrovirus-induced leukemia - hijack of T-cell activation mechanisms revealed by single-cell analysis

This study uses single-cell RNA-Seq and TCR-Seq to show HTLV-1-infected T-cells transition into highly activated ATL cells with Treg signatures and upregulated HLA class II, enabling immune evasion.

The oncogenic Runx3-Myc axis defines p53-deficient osteosarcomagenesis

This study identifies the Runx3-Myc axis as a driver of p53-deficient osteosarcomagenesis in human and mouse models.

An emerging SARS-CoV-2 mutant evading cellular immunity and increasing viral infectivity

This study identifies two SARS-CoV-2 mutations, L452R and Y453F, that evade HLA-restricted cellular immunity and increase viral infectivity.

Naturally mutated spike proteins of SARS-CoV-2 variants show differential levels of cell entry

The paper examines how naturally occurring mutations in SARS-CoV-2 spike proteins affect cell entry via ACE2 and TMPRSS2, finding that the D614G mutation increases infectivity but remains neutralization-sensitive.

High-Throughput Functional Evaluation of BRCA2 Variants of Unknown Significance

The paper develops a high-throughput method to evaluate BRCA2 variants of unknown significance, classifying 186 variants into neutral, intermediate, or deleterious categories with high sensitivity and specificity.