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Haloscopes aim at detecting axions by converting them into photons using high-quality resonant cavities, where the cavity resonance should be tuned with the unknown axion mass. Here, the authors improve exclusion limits using four phase-matched resonant cavities and a fast frequency scanning technique.

Hypothetical axions provide a compelling explanation for dark matter and could be emitted from the hot solar interior. The CERN Axion Solar Telescope has been searching for solar axions via their back conversion to x-ray photons in a 9-T 10-m long magnet directed toward the Sun. We report on an extended run with the International Axion Observatory pathfinder detector, doubling the previous exposure time. The detector was operated with a xenon-based gas mixture for part of the new run, providing technical insights for future configurations. No counts were detected in the 95% signal-encircling region during the new run, while 0.75 were expected. The new data improve the axion-photon coupling limit to 5.8×10^{-11}  GeV^{-1} at 95% CL (for m_{a}≲0.02  eV), the most restrictive experimental limit to date.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) remain the leading cause of death worldwide. Most cardiovascular deaths are caused by ischaemic heart diseases such as myocardial infarction (MI). Hereby atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries often precedes disease manifestation. Since tissue remodelling plays an important role in the development and progression of atherosclerosis as well as in outcome after MI, regulation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) as the major ECM-degrading enzymes with diverse other functions is crucial. Here, we provide an overview of the expression profiles of MMPs in coronary artery and left ventricular tissue using publicly available data from whole tissue to single-cell resolution. To approach an association between MMP expression and the development and outcome of CVDs, we further review studies investigating polymorphisms in MMP genes since polymorphisms are known to have an impact on gene expression. This review therefore aims to shed light on the role of MMPs in atherosclerosis and MI by summarizing current knowledge from publically available datasets, human studies, and analyses of polymorphisms up to preclinical and clinical trials of pharmacological MMP inhibition., (© 2023. The Author(s).)

Acute cardiac injuries occur in 20%-25% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients. Herein, we demonstrate that human cardiac organoids (hCOs) are a viable platform to model the cardiac injuries caused by COVID-19 hyperinflammation. As IL-1β is an upstream cytokine and a core COVID-19 signature cytokine, it was used to stimulate hCOs to induce the release of a milieu of proinflammatory cytokines that mirror the profile of COVID-19 cytokine storm. The IL-1β treated hCOs recapitulated transcriptomic, structural, and functional signatures of COVID-19 hearts. The comparison of IL-1β treated hCOs with cardiac tissue from COVID-19 autopsies illustrated the critical roles of hyper-inflammation in COVID-19 cardiac insults and indicated the cardioprotective effects of endothelium. The IL-1β treated hCOs thus provide a defined and robust model to assess the efficacy and potential side effects of immunomodulatory drugs, as well as the reversibility of COVID-19 cardiac injuries at baseline and simulated exercise conditions., (© 2022 The Authors. Journal of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.)

Extrapulmonary manifestations of COVID-19 have gained attention due to their links to clinical outcomes and their potential long-term sequelae 1 . Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) displays tropism towards several organs, including the heart and kidney. Whether it also directly affects the liver has been debated 2,3 . Here we provide clinical, histopathological, molecular and bioinformatic evidence for the hepatic tropism of SARS-CoV-2. We find that liver injury, indicated by a high frequency of abnormal liver function tests, is a common clinical feature of COVID-19 in two independent cohorts of patients with COVID-19 requiring hospitalization. Using autopsy samples obtained from a third patient cohort, we provide multiple levels of evidence for SARS-CoV-2 liver tropism, including viral RNA detection in 69% of autopsy liver specimens, and successful isolation of infectious SARS-CoV-2 from liver tissue postmortem. Furthermore, we identify transcription-, proteomic- and transcription factor-based activity profiles in hepatic autopsy samples, revealing similarities to the signatures associated with multiple other viral infections of the human liver. Together, we provide a comprehensive multimodal analysis of SARS-CoV-2 liver tropism, which increases our understanding of the molecular consequences of severe COVID-19 and could be useful for the identification of organ-specific pharmacological targets., (© 2022. The Author(s).)