Advances in proteomics research have enhanced our understanding of disease biology. In a recent issue of Cell, Malmström et al. constructed a comprehensive proteome atlas linking proteins to specific tissues and blood cells to enable tracking of pathological changes and paving the way for broader applications in plasma proteomics across diverse diseases.

Transcription factors can form nuclear condensates at genomic sites, and condensates are thought to enhance transcriptional activity. In this issue of Cell, Saad et al. suggest that DNA binding prevents rather than facilitates condensate formation of particularly aggregation-prone transcription factors.

Red blood cell (RBC) lysis can cause morbidity and mortality. However, the molecular mechanisms underlying RBC lysis are not fully characterized, limiting therapeutic options. In this issue of Cell, Chen et al. identify a crucial role for the NLRP3-ASC-caspase-8 complex in driving programmed lytic cell death in RBCs.

Despite promising evidence in diagnostics and therapeutics, microbiome research is not yet implemented into clinical medicine. Several initiatives, including the standardization of microbiome research, the refinement of microbiome clinical trial design, and the development of communication between microbiome researchers and clinicians, are crucial to move microbiome science toward clinical practice

Human DNA is unavoidably present in metagenomic analyses of human microbiomes. While current protocols remove human DNA before submission to public repositories, mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) has been overlooked and frequently persists. We discuss the privacy risks and research opportunities associated with mtDNA, urging consideration by the scientific, ethics, and legal communities.

Several organs undergo changes during pregnancy to accommodate fetal growth, including the small intestine. However, the signals that trigger this intestinal remodeling are not well understood. In a recent study, Ameku et al. describe an anticipatory intestinal growth program that is partially irreversible and supported by SGLT3a-dependent increase of Fgfbp1-positive progenitor cells.

The inhibitory receptor LAG3 is the target of the FDA-approved mAb relatlimab, but its mechanism of signaling is not well understood. In this issue of Cell, Jiang et al. demonstrate that ubiquitination of its cytoplasmic domain is essential for the inhibitory function of LAG3. Co-expression of LAG3 and the CBL E3 ligases represents a biomarker of clinical response to LAG3 inhibition in human melanoma

Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential (CHIP) promotes adverse outcomes in age-related diseases. However, the impact of CHIP on solid tumors has yet to be elucidated in large-scale cancer-focused cohorts. In a recently published article in the New England Journal of Medicine, Pich et al. provide evidence for a tumor-promoting role of CHIP in solid malignancies.

(Cell 188, 2738--2756.e22; May 15, 2025)

(Cell 188, 2505--2520.e22; May 1, 2025)