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Arginine addiction induced by argininosuccinate synthase (ASSN1) deficiency has been exploited to treat ASS1-deficient cancers. Here, the authors show an alternative therapeutic approach where ASS1 activity is increased by the pesticide spinosyn A and is shown to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation.

Thermogenic proteins like PGC1α are downregulated under thermal stress, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here, the authors show that chaperone-mediated autophagy, regulated by PARK7, controls PGC1α stability and BAT function at thermoneutrality.

Reducing critical materials such as indium and silver is of high importance for photovoltaics. Yu et al. demonstrate a certified 25.94% efficiency silicon heterojunction solar cell replacing part of indium-based electrodes with undoped tin oxide and using copper for contacts.

Topochemical polymerization (TCP) emerges as a leading approach for synthesizing single crystalline polymers, but the untapped potential of performing TCP in a liquid medium with solid-state structural fidelity presents unsolved challenges. Here, the authors reveal details of single-crystal-to-single-crystal transformation during the TCP of chiral azaquinodimethane monomers through in situ crystallographic analysis while spotlighting a rare metastable crystalline phase.

Based on the correlation analysis of various omics data from Brassica napus L., authors identify one Flavobacterium strain C2 which mitigates P deficiency by regulating fatty acid metabolism and enhancing P uptake, indicating potential strategies to improve P utilization in rapeseeds.

High-entropy alloy nanoparticles (HEA-NPs) are emerging advanced oxidation processes catalysts. Here, authors successfully load HEA-NPs onto a carbon-based carrier and demonstrate enhanced PMS activation, low oxidant consumption, and a rapid and efficient pollutant removal process.

Mechanical stiffness and self-healing properties are difficult to combine in synthetic hydrogels. Using polymer entanglements in co-planar nanoconfinement, stiff and self-healing hydrogels are fabricated, with applications in biology and engineering.

Promyelocytic leukemia protein (PML) is the scaffolding protein that organizes PML nuclear bodies. Here the authors determine the crystal structure of a PML B1-box multimer and characterise the oligomerisation behaviour of the PML RBCC construct and show that disrupting B1-B1 interactions precludes promyelocytic leukemia leukemogenesis in transgenic mice.

Achieving successful in vivo cartilage regeneration remains challenging. Here they present a cell-free, multiple hydrogen-bond crosslinked hydrogel loaded with tannic acid and Kartogenin with ultra-durable mechanical properties and stage-dependent drug release behavior to promote cartilage regeneration.

A biomimetic antigen-presenting system uses hexapod heterostructures to probe T-cell recognition at single-cell resolution.

Conventional managements for nerve stumps have demonstrated limited efficacy. Here, the authors present a spatially confined conduit strategy, designed to enhance the self-organization of regenerating nerves after truncation

Aberrant hypertranscription in cells can affect development and disease. Here, the authors show that DNA topoisomerase I prevents hypertranscription; not through its catalytic function, but through a DNA binding mechanism.

Genome assemblies for the SunUp transgenic papaya and its progenitor Sunset identify three transgene-insertions in SunUp. Resequencing of 86 papaya genomes highlights the impacts of breeding and geographic origin.

With widespread generation and availability of synthetic data, AI systems are increasingly trained on their own outputs, leading to various technical and ethical challenges. The authors analyse this development and discuss measures to mitigate the potential adverse effects of ‘AI eating itself’.

Vascular protein disulfide isomerase (PDI) regulates thrombosis and targeting extracellular PDI remains a promising antithrombotic approach. Here, the authors show that PDI cleaves allosteric disulfides on histidine-rich glycoprotein to influence its functions during coagulation and thus fine-tune the kinetics of thrombus formation.

ROAM, based on large regions of interest and a pyramid transformer, can automatically capture key morphological features consistent with the experience of pathologists to provide accurate, reliable and adaptable clinical-grade diagnoses of gliomas while advancing the discovery of molecular and morphological markers related to glioma diagnosis.

Multiple sclerosis and some other neuroinflammatory diseases are associated with aberrant CD4⁺ T cell differentiation and regulatory T cell function. Here authors show that the E3 ubiquitin ligase RNF213 is central to both physiological and pathologic CD4⁺ T cell differentiation, and finetunes IFN-β responses in multiple sclerosis.

Molecular design is key to the power conversion efficiency in organic photovoltaics. Jiang, Sun, Xu et al. develop a non-fullerene acceptor with asymmetric structure and phenyl-substituted side chains that minimizes photon and carrier losses, enabling 20.2% efficiency.

Sequencing of haploid sugarcane, Saccharum spontaneum, allows assembly of a prototypical version of the sugarcane chromosome set. This new reference genome will serve as a resource to accelerate sugarcane improvement.

A photonic Terahertz source based on injection-locking an integrated dual-laser chip generates and transmits a 131 Gbps THz signal over 10.7-m distance, showing great potential towards fully integrated and energy-efficient THz transmitters for 6G.

Rapid summer Russian Arctic sea-ice decline is responsible for about 80% of the increase in vapor pressure deficit controlling wildfires over eastern Siberia. The rest is controlled by internal atmospheric variability related to changes in Siberian blocking events.

Xiong et al. demonstrate the effects of non-covalent interactions between counterions and n-doped polymers on charge transport properties. They propose an approach, namely “counterion docking”, for selecting optimal counterions in doping of organic semiconductors.

Liquid biopsies are emerging as a useful method for diagnosis and prognosis in cancer. Here, the authors show the prognostic value of monitoring the level of circulating Epstein-barr virus DNA throughout induction chemotherapy and chemo-radiotherapy and its potential utility for risk-adapted individualised therapy in nasopharyngeal carcinomapatients.

Botulinum neurotoxins (BoNTs), the causative agents of the disease botulism, are potent biological toxins. Here the authors use Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (DARPins) to probe BoNT structure and function: DARPin-F5 that completely blocks SNAP25 substrate cleavage by BoNT/A1 in vitro was identified.

MLL5 is an essential epigenetic modifier involved in cell cycle progression, chromatin architecture and hematopoiesis. Here the authors establish that MLL5 suppresses the innate immune response in a murine model of virus infection by targeting and promoting degradation of RIG-I.

Efficient delivery of extracellular vesicles to the injured spinal cord, with minimal damage, remains challenging. Here, the authors fabricate a minimally invasive microneedle device, which provides efficient and sustained extracellular vesicle delivery for spinal cord injury treatment.

Fluorescent supramolecular coordination complexes are of interest for chemical sensing and optical devices. Here the authors synthesize nine organoplatinum metallacycles with high quantum yields, whose fluorescence wavelengths are tuned through manipulation of their photoinduced electron transfer and intramolecular charge transfer properties.

Semiconducting polymers with high-spin at their neutral ground state are rarely reported. Here the authors synthesize three semiconducting polymers with different spin ground states and high hole/electron mobility, by appropriate choice of the building blocks’ singlet-triplet energy gap, spin distributions and solid-state interchain interactions.

Calcium cycling induced by the SERCA2b–RyR2 pathway in beige fat cells allows for thermogenic activity independent of UCP1.

In a cerebral amyloid angiopathy rat model, the authors show that spinal fluid moves more rapidly but partly bypasses the brain, thereby reducing and delaying waste removal via the glymphatic and lymphatic systems.

A material design strategy and fabrication process is described to produce all-polymer light-emitting diodes with high brightness, current efficiency and good mechanical stability, with applications in skin electronics and human–machine interfaces.

Next-generation skin-inspired electronics require enhanced mechanical robustness and device complexity including elasticity, solvent resistance, and facile patternability. Here, the authors show a molecular design concept that simultaneously achieves all these requirements by covalently linking an in-situ formed rubber matrix with polymer electronic materials.

Solution shearing of semiconducting polymers with a patterned blade induces improved alignment of the polymeric chains at the nano- and macroscale. This leads to increased charge transport in stretchable, roll-to-roll deposited organic transistors.

Ray Ming, Robert Paull, Qingyi Yu and colleagues report the genome sequences of two cultivated pineapple varieties and one wild pineapple relative. Their analysis supports the use of the pineapple as a reference genome for monocot comparative genomics and provides insight into the evolution of crassulacean acid metabolism photosynthesis.