Search

Single-crystal Ni-rich cathode materials are highly sought after in battery development. In this study the authors present a synthesis route that leverages Li₂O sublimation to facilitate the production of high-performance single-crystal cathode materials.

Si anodes could be an alternative to Li anodes in the application of solid-state batteries, but they suffer from issues such as severe volume expansion and sluggish kinetics. Here the researchers develop a Li–Si alloy anode that is stabilized by hard carbon, which leads to exceptional high-performance solid-state batteries.

Cycling lithium batteries often results in inactive lithium that no longer participates in redox reactions, leading to performance deterioration. Here the authors use an iodic species to react with inactive lithium, bringing it back to life and thus making batteries last longer.

Inspired by the role of proteins in regulating eggshell mineralization, here Tao, Liu and colleagues apply trifluoroethanol modified eggshell membrane to combat lithium dendrite. Cryo-electron microscopy reveals that the growth along the most favored crystallographic direction is suppressed.

Heterozygous loss of chromosome 17p is a common genomic event in castration-resistant prostate cancers (CRPC). Here, the authors use CRISPR-based screen to identify RBX1 as a target gene for CRPC with 17p loss and targeting RBX1 sensitizes CRPC to the treatment of α-amanitin antibody conjugates.

Worldwide, the number of only-child families is increasing. This research examines how growing up without siblings affects adult brain structure, function and connectivity, cognition, personality and mental health.

Nanonization of battery electrode particles is a usual way to enhance their conductivity, but the decreased tap density is detrimental to battery performance. Here, the authors coat micron-sized lithium iron phosphate with a conducting polymer layer and demonstrate some excellent electrochemical properties.

5-hydroxymethylcytosine, the sixth DNA base, plays a key role in brain aging and Alzheimer’s disease. Here, the authors study over 1000 deceased brains to identify genes with 5-hydroxymethylcytosine alterations linked to Alzheimer’s pathology.

Socioeconomic status is multidimensional and can change over time. Xu, Lui, Ji et al. found dimension-specific, late-stage-specific and change-specific socioeconomic effects on brain, cognition, personality and emotion.

Modules of foldable crystalline silicon solar cells retain their power-conversion efficiency after being subjected to bending stress or exposure to air-flow simulations of a violent storm.

Reactivating adult cardiomyocyte proliferation is key to heart regeneration post-injury. Here, authors show that medium from human iPSC-derived primitive macrophages (hiPM-cm) induces adult cardiomyocyte proliferation and promotes heart regeneration.

This study unravels the efficient photocatalytic route for synthesizing dimethoxymethane by coupling CO2 reduction integrated with CH3OH oxidation by using a silver and tungsten comodified blue titanium dioxide catalyst under mild conditions.

Two-dimensional (2D) bismuth oxyselenide crystals with suitable electronic band-gap and ultrahigh carrier mobility enable near-infrared photodetection. Here, the authors report an infrared photodetector based on 2D-bismuth oxyselenide with high responsivity, ultrafast photoresponse of ~ 1 ps at room temperature and a detectable frequency limit of up to 500 GHz.

Crystal growth in nature is controlled by biomolecules to produce precisely engineered crystal shapes. Now, facet-specific peptide sequences that have been rationally selected through a biomimetic evolution process are used as regulating agents for predictable synthesis of platinum nanocrystals with selectively exposed crystal surfaces.

Transamidation reactions are kinetically and thermodynamically challenging because of the stability of the amide starting materials. Here, the authors show a two-step process—activation of a secondary amide, followed by nickel-catalysed C–N bond cleavage—that allows mild and high yielding transamidation.

Immune checkpoint blockade therapy such as anti-PD-L1 is efficient for treating specific cancer types, but poor response rates remain a caveat. Here the authors generate a peptide-based, self-assembly nanomaterial that binds and aggregates PD-L1 as a fibrillar networks to enhance the anti-tumour efficacy of anti-PD-L1 in multiple mouse tumour models.

The cathode–electrolyte interphase (CEI) is vital for battery cell capacity and stability but receives less attention than the solid–electrolyte interphase. The authors review CEI properties, emphasize using model cathode materials and coin cell protocols, and address challenges and opportunities in characterizing and simulating CEI for real-world applications.

A structural analysis focusing on plant immunity reveals how LRR-containing receptor-like proteins recognize pathogenic ligands and consequently become activated, with the data suggesting that these proteins target pathogens through two different mechanisms.

Coulombic efficiency (CE) has been frequently used to assess the cyclability of newly developed materials for lithium metal batteries. The authors argue that caution must be exercised during the assessment of CE, and propose a CE testing protocol for the development of lithium metal batteries.

Macrophages have the inherent capacity to recognise pathogenic microorganisms, highlighting their potential to be used in biosensing applications. Herein, the authors report a method to transform normally fragile macrophages into robust gelated cell particles for efficient bacterial capture and detection.

Inhibiting POLR2A expression upon siRNA delivery represents a promising therapeutic strategy for triple negative breast cancers characterized by p53 inactivation.

Analysis of 43,191 genomes obtained from publicly available marine bacterial and archaeal metagenome data provides insights into marine bacterial evolution, CRISPR–Cas defence and antibiotic resistance genes, and demonstrates the potential of marine metagenomes for biotechnological applications.

The differentiation of Th17 cells is central to infection and autoimmunity. Here, the authors show that expression of MST1 by dendritic cells limits IL-6 production and thereby controls Th17 differentiation in immunity to fungal infection and experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis.

Use of ether-based electrolytes in Na-ion batteries is challenged with oxidation at high voltages. Here, authors report passivation of vulnerable ether solvents, enabling cathode electrolyte interphase enriched with NaF and NaN_xO_y and elevating the oxidation resistance of the electrolyte to 4.8 V.

Outer membrane vesicles (OMVs), non-replicative particles secreted by Gram-negative bacteria, are known for their immunostimulatory and adjuvant properties. Here, by employing a Plug-and-Display technology, the authors engineer OMVs to display tumor antigens on the surface, a platform that promotes anti-tumor immune responses in preclinical cancer models.

GPR84 is an important GPCR regulating macrophage function. Here, the authors show the pro-phagocytic function of the GPR84-Gi signaling axis in native macrophages and determine a cryo-EM structure of the GPR84-Gi complex with a synthetic agonist.

Cross-ancestry genome-wide association studies of 3,414 brain imaging phenotypes in Chinese Han and white British participants identify autosomal and X-chromosomal associations in more diverse populations.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are important in plant-microbe interactions. Here we show that the divergent sequences within tetraspanins localized at EV membranes enable plant innate immune system to distinguish between self and non-self EVs.

The role of most plant leucine-rich repeat (LRR) receptors in innate immunity is unknown. Here, the authors develop virus-based constructs to silence LRR receptor-like genes in the Nicotiana benthamiana genome and identify Response to XEG1 that specifically recognizes the glycoside hydrolase 12 protein XEG1.

The development of catalysts that operate under low concentration CO₂ resembling industrial waste gases holds promise for CO₂ reduction. Here, the authors report a vacuum calcination approach for regulating the Cu⁰/Cu¹⁺ density on Cu-based catalysts that can electro-catalyze low-concentration CO₂.

Using a human forebrain organoid model of fragile X syndrome, Kang et al. reveal a critical role of FMRP in human brain development and identify a large number of human-specific mRNAs that could be regulated by FMRP.

Little is known about the regulation of RNA interference (RNAi). Shan et al. constructed a reporter system to monitor RNAi activity and identified a small molecule that increases RNAi by facilitating the interaction between small RNAs and a protein involved in small RNA loading and processing.

Partial loss of psychiatric risk gene Mir137 in mice causes repetitive behavior and impairs sociability and learning via increased Pde10a.

The prokaryote defence system Dnd relies on phosphorothioation (PT) of DNA backbone to distinguish between self and non-self DNA. Here, Xiong et al. describe a previously uncharacterized PT-based antiviral system that is independent of the canonical Dnd and is widespread in Archaea and Bacteria.

In single-atom catalysts (SACs), little is known about how the coordination structure of single atoms affects the catalytic performance. Here, the authors discover that in Pt₁/Fe₂O₃ SAC, the coordination number of the first shell Pt-O is well correlated with the Pt electronic property and the hydrogenation activity.

Unveiling the regulation of mitotic protein degradation is crucial for cancer therapy. Here, the authors reveal that a reciprocal inhibition of PIN1-APC/C^CDH1 controls the cell cycle and mitotic protein degradation, offering a synergistic anti-tumor strategy.

Fuel cells rely on costly and scarce platinum-group metals to catalyse both anodic and cathodic reactions. Here a catalyst consisting of atomically dispersed iridium and phosphorus on carbon is presented, where adjacent iridium and phosphorus sites work as integrative catalytic pairs to synergically boost the performance for the hydrogen oxidation reaction.

An individual-particle passivation strategy that reduces ion migration in perovskite nanocrystal film can be used to make high-refresh-rate active-matrix displays with microsecond response times reduced by three orders of magnitude compared with typical perovskite light-emitting diodes.

Genome-wide association meta-analyses in populations of East Asian and European ancestries identify variant–trait associations for 44 hippocampal traits and provide insight into the genetic architectures of hippocampal and subfield volumes.