Nature, Published online: 25 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41586-026-10264-6
Androgen activity in the male embryonic hindbrain prolongs hindbrain differentiation in male individuals and drives sex differences in the incidence and prognosis of posterior fossa type A (PFA) ependymoma, an aggressive childhood brain tumour.
Nat Commun. 2026 Mar 20;17(1):2655. doi: 10.1038/s41467-026-70193-w.
ABSTRACT
Pulmonary fibrosis represents a progressive interstitial lung disease marked by excessive extracellular matrix deposition and architectural distortion. Vascular endothelial cells critically contribute to fibrogenesis through paracrine secretion of pro-fibrotic mediators, yet their mechanobiological regulation remains elusive. Using integrated single-cell multi-omics profiling of human pulmonary fibrosis specimens and experimental fibrosis models induced by bleomycin or silica, we identify mechanosensitive Piezo1 upregulation in Endothelial cells as a hallmark of fibrotic progression. Endothelial-specific Piezo1 knockout significantly attenuates Bleomycin-induced fibrotic remodeling in male mice, establishing its pathogenic necessity. Mechanistically, PIEZO1 activation promotes pulmonary fibrosis development via CAPN2-mediated STAT3 phosphorylation, which may regulate the secretion of the pro-fibrotic molecule interleukin-33. These findings suggest that the endothelial PIEZO1-CAPN2-STAT3-IL33 axis is a potential therapeutic target for PF intervention.
PMID:41862476 | PMC:PMC13004862 | DOI:10.1038/s41467-026-70193-w
Nature Biotechnology, Published online: 20 March 2026; doi:10.1038/s41587-026-03064-w
This Review discusses the promises and pitfalls of biological AI algorithms and presents a vision for generalist biological artificial intelligence, in which models can perform diverse tasks across biological domains.
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