Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Wearable activity data show disease-linked activity patterns, in a preprint
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The authors introduce LocPA, a method that uses 24-hour wearable accelerometer data from the UK Biobank to find physical activity patterns that occur more often in people with particular diseases. Among people with hypertension and diabetes, a sleep-disrupted pattern was linked to greater disease burden and less favorable clinical and metabolic profiles. The authors describe potential uses in disease risk characterization and personalized behavioral interventions.
- Published
- Oct 26, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.22.26366260
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Estimated AI-generated text in medical journal abstracts rose after 2022
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Using a detector called GPTZero, the authors scored 15,268 abstracts from 12 general medical journals to estimate how much generative artificial intelligence (AI) text they contain. Estimated prevalence rose after 2022 and varied widely, from 5.7% in the New England Journal of Medicine to 83.5% in Frontiers in Medicine, and the authors say the findings support standardized, transparent AI reporting in medical publishing.
- Published
- Oct 26, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.24.26366055
Peer-reviewed studyPLOS Biology
A gene is essential for male Aedes aegypti mosquitoes to find females by sound
This peer-reviewed study found that disrupting the male-specific isoform of the fruitless gene in Aedes aegypti mosquitoes abolished males' attraction to female flight sounds, so mutant males failed to locate females for mating. The mutant males' ears amplified female flight sounds poorly and sent much weaker electrical signals to the brain than control males. The authors say the work identifies hearing genes shaped by this gene, which support male-specific hearing for mating.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.1371/journal.pbio.3004041
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
A gene called SMIM1 drives an alternative iron uptake pathway, a preprint reports
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In human cells, the authors report that SMIM1 mediates iron uptake through clathrin-dependent endocytosis of hemoglobin, which is carried to lysosomes where iron is released. They also say SMIM1 expression suppresses the iron deficiency caused by loss of the transferrin receptor, and that SMIM1-deficient mice show iron deficiency in early erythroid precursors under erythropoietic stress.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.23.761335
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Genomic model designs crop DNA edits that change gene activity in one context
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The authors introduce CROP-1, a model that combines DNA sequence, transcription factor binding motifs and measured expression to predict gene activity across biological states. On a held-out test set spanning six plant species, its median per-gene correlation was 0.831, compared with 0.486 for a sequence-only counterpart. The authors report that in soybean and tomato, edits of 1-20 nucleotide substitutions produced strong predicted responses in the target context, with much smaller changes elsewhere.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.23.761389
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Raising alpha-ketoglutarate in tumors helps T cells attack lung cancer in mice
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In vitro, supplementing alpha-ketoglutarate (aKG) restored T cell effector cytokine production and cytotoxic capacity despite chronic antigen stimulation and hypoxia. In mouse models of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), dietary calcium-aKG supplements raised aKG levels in serum and tumors and significantly increased the effect of immunotherapy. The authors also report that lower serum aKG levels were associated with poor immunotherapy response in patient samples.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.24.761570
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Lung cancer cells take up cysteine directly from a reduced tumor environment
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Measuring sulfur metabolites in tumor interstitial fluid, matched healthy organs and serum in mouse models of cancer, the authors find the tumor microenvironment is chemically reduced, with free cysteine predominating over cystine, especially in the lung. In a medium matched to lung tumor fluid, the authors report that cells became independent of cystine import, and they suggest standard culture conditions may overestimate cancer cells' dependence on cystine uptake.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.25.761647
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Family factors may account for much of the harm linked to ADHD, a preprint suggests
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Using a family-based genetic design, the study compares population-based estimates of the effects of genetic liability to attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) with within-sibship estimates from up to 164,220 siblings. The effects on smoking, alcohol use and depressive symptoms weakened in family-based analyses. The authors suggest much of the excess burden attributed to ADHD may reflect family and environmental context, so interventions targeting only the individual might not reduce these outcomes as much as expected.
- Published
- Oct 27, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.26366008
Peer-reviewed studyNature
Lactate import into heart mitochondria sustains cardiac metabolism in mice
This peer-reviewed study, in mouse heart muscle, shows that glucose oxidation persists when the mitochondrial pyruvate carrier is absent. The authors report that mitochondrial MCT1 imports lactate and LDHB oxidizes it to pyruvate, sustaining cardiac energetics and preventing stress-induced heart failure in mice.
- Published
- Oct 28, 2026
DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-11182-3
Peer-reviewed studyNature
Brain activity does not show a shared signature of emotion regulation capacity
This peer-reviewed study analysed 40 task-based functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) datasets from a preregistered consortium of 2,175 participants. It found that three common indicators of reappraisal capacity, namely trait questionnaires, task-based affective ratings and amygdala down-regulation, do not converge on a common core and do not show the expected associations with prefrontal regulatory circuits. The authors caution against using activity in putatively regulatory brain regions to infer how well a person regulates emotions.
- Published
- Oct 28, 2026
DOI 10.1038/s41586-026-11203-1
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
New typology classifies rural and coastal urgent and emergency care sites in England
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Using NHS England Emergency Care Data Set records from 2021 to 2024, the authors classified urgent and emergency care sites by the rurality and coastal proximity of the areas their patients live in, rather than by hospital location. Rural-coastal sites had lower average attendance with pronounced summer increases, while urban sites had higher proportions of ambulance arrivals and high-acuity attendances. The authors say the typology gives a transparent basis for service planning and for monitoring geographical inequalities.
- Published
- Oct 28, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.26366554
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Obesity linked to higher nighttime and lower afternoon glucose, in a preprint
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In a cross-sectional analysis of AI-READI data, continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) profiles were compared for 261 matched pairs of lean adults and adults with obesity, whose mean glucose and glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) were comparable. Obesity was associated with higher nighttime glucose and lower afternoon glucose, which the authors say persisted in sensitivity analyses with tighter matching. They conclude that glucose timing should be examined alongside conventional measures of average glycemia.
- Published
- Oct 28, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.26366601
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Gene therapy restores heart cell function in a lab model of heart failure
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) treated with endothelin-1 (ET-1) to model heart failure, the authors delivered the Cav1.3 C-terminus with AAV6 (adeno-associated virus type 6). The authors report that this restored CACNA1D and KCNH2 gene expression and normalized calcium and potassium currents and action potential duration, while restoring beating rate and contraction amplitude to control levels. The study was done in cell monolayers and describes the approach as a potential therapeutic strategy for heart failure.
- Published
- Oct 28, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.762268
Peer-reviewed studyPNAS
Leptin receptor signaling regulates endothelial PD-L1 in mice
This peer-reviewed study shows that endothelial programmed cell death ligand-1 (PD-L1) expression depends on leptin receptor signaling in male mice, and that leptin resistance affects it. The authors report that a lack of leptin receptors causes PD-L1 degradation in vascular endothelial cells, and that silencing or deleting endothelial PD-L1 slows cell cycle progression and proliferation through inactivation of RAS/MAPK signaling. In obesity, the authors say endothelial PD-L1 deficiency impairs endothelial turnover and worsens vascular function.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.1073/pnas.2609322123
Peer-reviewed studyScience
Stimulated protein degradation may protect mitochondria and neurons in disease models
This peer-reviewed study describes stimulated protein degradation (SPD), which uses agonists of stress-responsive E3 ubiquitin ligases to boost degradation of several pathogenic factors at once. The authors report that activators of the CUL2 FEM1B ligase improve mitochondrial import and electron transport chain assembly. In models of neurodegenerative COX deficiency syndrome and Friedreich’s ataxia, they say these compounds preserved mitochondrial function and neuronal survival.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.1126/science.aed2525
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
MyD88 binds double-stranded DNA and promotes inflammation, a preprint reports
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Using cryogenic electron microscopy (cryo-EM) structures of the Toll/IL-1R homology (TIR) domain of MyD88, both wild-type and the cancer-specific L252P mutant, the authors show that the filaments bind double-stranded DNA. The authors report that MyD88 directly binds DNA and promotes inflammatory cytokine expression after DNA transfection or viral infection, and that about half of cGAS-dependent genes are also MyD88-dependent. They say the findings support a role for MyD88 in cytosolic DNA sensing, cooperating with cGAS.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.21.760499
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Benchmark shows large language models differ in type 2 diabetes education
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The authors built DiaBench, a benchmark of 96 question-and-answer pairs from real patient encounters, converted into multiple-choice questions, to test seven large language models (LLMs) on type 2 diabetes (T2D) patient education. Most models reached high accuracy on the first two configurations, but all models degraded on the third, and Mistral-Large-2.0, Llama 4 and Perplexity Sonar showed lower self-consistency. The authors say Gemini, GPT-5 and DeepSeek-R1 performed strongly, while the other models were suboptimal.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.26.26366562
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Engineered bacteria tolerate higher doses and attack tumours in mouse models
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The authors describe a bacterial strain, called a tumorobe, with reduced immunogenicity, tumour-restricted growth and enhanced payload release, which expanded the maximum tolerated dose by up to 1,000-fold depending on route. In mouse models of colorectal cancer and glioblastoma, the authors report strong antitumour efficacy, and complete responses in up to 75% of colorectal tumours when the strain was armed with a cytokine payload.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.761579
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Engineered probiotics reach granulomas and reduce mycobacterial burden in mice
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The authors engineered probiotic Escherichia coli Nissle 1917 (EcN) to colonize granulomas and release antimycobacterial payloads in response to the hypoxic environment. In mice, the engineered probiotics reduced mycobacterial burden, and in a rifampicin-resistant infection model, combination with pretomanid achieved greater bacterial reduction than either drug alone.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.762313
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Conventional cigarette smoke affects COPD airway cells more than slim cigarettes do
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. Using airway epithelial stem cells from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), the authors exposed air-liquid interface cultures to high-tar conventional smoke, low-tar slim smoke or filtered air. Both smokes induced IL-1β inflammation, ciliary changes and oxidative stress, but conventional smoke produced stronger effects across ciliated, basal and secretory cells in single-cell RNA sequencing, which the authors say shows greater influence than slim smoke.
- Published
- Oct 29, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.762365
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Arousal and dopamine utility shape task engagement along separate axes in mice
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In mice performing a decision-making task with shifting reward size, the authors found that pupil-linked arousal and dopaminergic utility coding predict transitions between engagement states along separable axes. Orexin antagonism with almorexant disengaged mice at low reward, an effect the authors say was mediated by arousal rather than dopamine. A glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist, semaglutide, reduced how accumbal dopamine integrates reward history, which predicted progressive disengagement.
- Published
- Oct 30, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.25.761642
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Alzheimer's risk variant lowers PYK2 and raises tau phosphorylation in human neurons
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In isogenic human neuronal cultures derived from stem cells, the authors report that the homozygous CC genotype of the rs28834970 variant in PTK2B reduced total PYK2 levels by more than 80%, while increasing the phosphorylated, activated fraction. The authors also report higher Tau phosphorylation and amyloid-β levels, and say the variant links Alzheimer's susceptibility to these changes, though the work was done in cultured neurons.
- Published
- Oct 30, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.26.761842
Preprint, not peer-reviewedbioRxiv
Bri2 BRICHOS chaperone counteracts tau condensation and fibril formation
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. The study examines how phosphorylation levels change the phase separation and aggregation of Tau, a protein involved in tauopathies including Alzheimer's disease. The authors report that phosphorylation enhances droplet formation and fibrillation, while the molecular chaperone-like Bri2 BRICHOS domain shifts phase boundaries and inhibits fibril formation regardless of phosphorylation level, which they say may facilitate future treatment strategies using chaperone-based inhibitors.
- Published
- Oct 30, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.27.762205
Preprint, not peer-reviewedmedRxiv
Repetitive negative thinking linked to faster amyloid accumulation in a preprint
This is a preprint, not peer-reviewed. In a longitudinal neuroimaging study of 94 cognitively healthy adults over a 3-year period, higher repetitive negative thinking (RNT) was associated with faster accumulation of cortical amyloid, even after accounting for anxiety and depression symptoms. The faster accumulation was seen in regions vulnerable to early amyloid build-up in Alzheimer's disease, such as the precuneus, and RNT was not associated with change in glucose metabolism or brain atrophy. The authors say RNT may be an early marker or driver of Alzheimer's pathology, and that future research is needed to test whether modifying RNT reduces risk.
- Published
- Oct 31, 2026
DOI 10.64898/2026.10.29.26366526