Search

Neural circuit mechanisms underlying feeding behavior regulation are not fully understood. Here authors provide quantitative mapping of the brain-wide input and output configuration of tuberal nucleus somatostatin neurons, a key player of feeding regulation, in mouse brain for a deeper understanding of the feeding regulation network.

The function and regulatory mechanism of mRNA acetylation modification in cancer progression remains largely unknown. Here the authors identify that targeting tumor N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) RNA acetyltransferase NAT10 improves anti-tumor response via MYC/CDK2/DNMT1/dsRNA/type I IFN pathway, and show the synergic anti-tumor effect of NAT10 inhibition with aPD-1.

Exfoliation of g-C₃N₄ breaks the molecular chains, causing sluggish carrier kinetics and moderate degradation activity. Here, authors address these issues by developing an ultrathin porous g-C₃N₄ with intact molecular chains via shear repair strategy, enhancing the activity of PMS-assisted water purification.

The oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) is limited by the scaling relationship in the conventional oxygen associative pathway. In this study, single p-block atoms and interstitial H are incorporated into Pd metallenes favoring the direct dissociation mechanism, leading to high alkaline ORR performance.

Stress stimulation-mediated liquid-liquid phase separation is an essential feature of living organisms, but its biophysical characteristics are poorly understood. Here, the authors report a UV-light stress stimulation behaviour in a binary community of synthetic protocells of condensates and proteinosomes, showing that condensates could behave like condensate pumps to enable a stepwise controlled transmembrane mass transfer regardless of the permeability barrier of proteinosomes.

Traditional lithographic techniques could damage organic semiconductor crystals due to high-energy beams or solvents. Here, authors employ a chemical-free nanoimprint crystallography method for fabrication of independent complex 2D patterns that exhibit good lasing performance and reproducibility.

R9AP is a key receptor for entry of Epstein–Barr virus into human epithelial and B cells, and interacts directly with the viral glycoprotein gH/gL complex to mediate virus–host membrane fusion.

Bacterial N⁶-methyladenine (6mA) is an intrinsic epigenetic marker. Here, the authors evaluate and compare eight third-generation sequencing tools for 6mA identification, assessing performance in terms of motif discovery, site-level accuracy, single-molecule accuracy, and outlier detection.

A versatile nano-adaptor is used to construct multi-specific nano-antibodies for treatment of tumours in mice.

Genetic basis of the drought tolerance of upland rice is unclear. Here, the authors report the cloning of a COBRA-like protein encoding gene DROT1 and reveal that it is repressed by ERF3 and activated by ERF71 to help control the balance between growth and drought tolerance in upland rice.

Lattice distortion in electrode materials often results in battery degradation. Here, the authors exploit a cooperative Jahn-Teller effect in a MnO2/graphene superlattice to create strain-relieving structures, improving cycling stability in aqueous zinc-ion batteries.

First-instar orchid mantis nymphs avoid predators by mimicking black-red assassin bugs, whereas those in later instars avoid predators and attract prey by camouflaging themselves as lighter-coloured flowers. Here the authors use developmental transcriptomics, evolutionary genomics and predation experiments to reveal that this ontogenetic colour change is regulated by a pigment transporter called Redboy that emerged in Polyneoptera 284–197 million years ago.

Toxic methylmercury in soil can accumulate in rice grains. Here, the authors use DNA stable-isotope probing and metagenomics to identify soil microbes and pathways potentially involved in methylmercury degradation.

A facile light-triggered doping strategy involving a series of inactive photoactivable dopants is described that facilitates tunable regionally controlled n-doping of organic semiconductors, resulting in stable patterning of the doping profile at record high resolutions.

Aberrant activation of autoreactive T cells is a hallmark of autoimmune diseases. Here, by analysing CD4 T cells from patients with polymyositis and mice with experimental autoimmune myositis, the authors show that TIGIT limits the differentiation of inflammatory Th1 and Th17 cells via a metabolic-epigenetic mechanism, which involves the inhibition of CD28-mediated PI3K/AKT/mTOR costimulatory signaling.

The authors present an efficient hot-electron generation system facilitated by the spin-exchange Auger process in Mn2 + -doped CdS/ZnS quantum dots. These hot electrons can be used in a wide range of organic reactions, such as the Birch reduction and reductive cleavage of C-Cl, C-Br, C-I, C-O, C-C, and N-S bonds.

Although Cas12f proteins benefit from compact size for delivery, their gene-editing activity remains limited. By adding an N-terminal α-helix to Cas12f, we created hpCasMINI, hpOsCas12f1, and hpAsCas12f1 variants that show improved gene activation and DNA cleavage in mammalian cells and mice.

SPP1+ macrophages and CD8 + exhausted T cells are known to crosstalk. Here, the authors discover that extrahepatic tumors facilitate liver metastasis by promoting the formation of an intermediate macrophage population in the liver that inhibits tumor-reactive CD8+ T cell function.

Allenes are versatile substrates in synthetic chemistry. Now an iron catalyst enables unusual regioselectivity by mediating an electrophilicity reversal of allenes for stereoselective alkenylzincation reactions affording 1,4-diene zinc products.

High mobility group A1 (HMGA1) has been identified to play a role in tumour progression but its involvement in anti-tumour immunity of esophagael squamous cell carcinoma (ESCC) remains unclear. Here the authors report that the inhibition of STING-mediated anti-tumour immunity by HMGA1 results in promotion of ESCC tumorigenesis.

Hong-Xuan Lin, Ji-Ping Gao, Jun-Xiang Shan and colleagues show that natural variation in a proteasome α2 subunit gene contributes to thermotolerance in African rice. Their follow-up studies suggest that the variant allele protects cells from heat stress by enhancing the elimination of cytotoxic denatured proteins and maintaining heat-response processes.

Tightly focused optical fields are essential in nano-optics, but lack tools for accurate yet efficient characterization. Here, the authors develop an in situ method to reconstruct the fully vectorial information of tightly focused fields in 3D space.

Layers of transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are generally formed by covalently bonded atoms, enabling mechanical exfoliation only in the out-of-plane direction. Here, the authors show the fabrication of fractional 2/3-layers of WTe₂ and other TMDs by applying local scanning tunneling microscopy tip pulses and controllably removing the topmost chalcogen atoms.

Riboflavin is an essential vitamin for humans. Here, authors present cryo-EM structures of human riboflavin transporter RFVT2/RFVT3, revealing the structural basis for riboflavin transport and defining the determinant for pH-dependent activity of RFVT3.

The compact Cas12f enzyme exhibits obvious delivery advantage for gene editing, but its activity remains suboptimal. Here, the authors have designed and optimized circular guide RNA (cgRNA) for Cas12f, which significantly improves the efficiency of gene activation and adenine base editing.

The authors demonstrate the role and mechanism of triacylglycerol (TAG) cycling in polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis and develop a strategy of decoupling the TAG biosynthesis and degradation to improve related biochemical synthesis.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a major cause of blindness worldwide. Here, the authors carry out a two-stage genome-wide association study for AMD and identify three new AMD risk loci, highlighting the shared and distinct genetic basis of the disease in East Asians and Europeans.

Active radiant cooling is an emerging technology that consumes less energy than traditional air conditioning. This work demonstrates an outdoor radiant cooling structure incorporating infrared-reflective surfaces that delivers enhanced thermal comfort.

Azoxy products have rarely been synthesized using enzyme catalysts. Herein, the authors report that fungal unspecific peroxygenases are promising catalysts for synthesizing azoxy products from simple aniline starting materials.

Hybrid rice cultivars are widely planted around the world. Here, the authors resequence 1,143 indica accessions, focusing on the parents of superior hybrid rice lines in China, and reveal genetic loci that are associated with heterosis via measuring frequency of parental variation difference (FPVD).

Liu et al. develop DeepRAB, a deep learning framework, to identify patient subgroups and biomarkers that predict improved response to treatment. Findings reveal that DeepRAB is successful in identifying meaningful biomarkers as validated in clinical trial data on the skin condition, hidradenitis suppurativa.

Single-cell data analysis is challenging due to inherent noise and sparsity. Here, authors introduce scMINER, a mutual information-based integrative tool to enhance clustering and reveal regulatory networks and hidden biological drivers by transforming scRNA-seq expression into activity profiles.

The use of Raman spectroscopy in biochemical applications has been hindered by several limitations. Here, the authors present a fiber-array Raman engine, termed FIRE. This tool features a dynamic single-channel photon-counting detector and is used for full Raman spectral imaging in biological samples and whole organisms.

This research highlights the role of a KNOX1 transcription factor in stalling receptacle growth in cucumber, leading to bisexual flowers with superior ovaries like those in tomatoes. These insights enhance our understanding of ovary formation and sex in cucurbits.

The authors introduce SelectID, an approach combining CRISPR-guided targeting with methylation-sensitive labeling to identify proteins interacting with methylated repetitive sequences. They suggest that CHD4 directly binds young LINE-1 retrotransposons, suppressing their activity.

Coacervate dynamics are studied to aid in understanding of phase separation cells, but obtaining sufficient stability can be challenging. Here, the authors report the development of multi-component coacervates that self-organise by protein mediated photopolymerisation, and are stable for over 300 days.