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Materials that can generate physical unclonable functions (PUF) are needed for anti-counterfeiting applications. Here, self-assembly of liquid crystals with ionic liquids in a gelatin matrix is used to generate biodegradable optical PUF tags.

Amino acids possess a new and broad colloidal property: they stabilize patchy nanoscale colloids, such as proteins, by adsorbing onto their surfaces through weak interactions.

The immune response to tumour development is frequently targeted with therapeutics but remains largely unexplored in diagnostics. Here this groups designs an immunodiagnostic platform targeting amino acid residue biomarkers associated with tumour development and distinct from autoimmune and infectious diseases.

A quinone-mediated hydrogen anode design shows that hydrogen can be used as the electron source in non-aqueous reductive electrosynthesis, for a more sustainable way to make molecules at larger scale.

Frontal polymerization spin mode dynamics is used to autonomously fabricate patterned crystalline domains in poly(cyclooctadiene) with multiscale organization.

Multisystem inflammatory syndrome following SARS-CoV-2 infection results from increased serum levels of TGFβ, which impairs the reactivation of virus-specific T cells.

Earthquakes enhance dissolved carbon production and fuel the microbial activities in hadal trench subsurface sediments, and ultimately strengthen carbon accumulation and transformation in the subduction zones.

Combining field data from 83 sites on five continents, together with microcosm experiments, the authors show that nutrient cycling, decomposition, plant production and other ecosystem functions are positively associated with a higher diversity of a wide range of soil organisms.

The global ecological predictors of soil priming remain unclear. Here the authors conducted a global survey of soils from 86 global locations using an isotopic approach and find that in more mesic sites with high SOC concentrations, soil priming effects are more likely to be negative.

Most conventional tuberculosis diagnostic tests rely on difficult to obtain sputum samples. In this proof-of-concept study, authors analyse whether pulmonary tuberculosis can be detected using exhaled breath condensate samples.

Graphene’s properties are well known, but turning this atomically thin material into three-dimensional devices remains a challenge. Here, the authors report an assembly process for chemically modified graphene into three-dimensional cellular networks, with control over the physical properties of the resulting materials.

Severe malaria is a life-threatening infection with limited treatment options. Here, using a medicinal chemistry approach starting from amicarbalide, Pegoraroet al. identify a compound that, when delivered intravenously, can cure Plasmodium falciparuminfection in a humanized mouse model.

A high-throughput screen identifies NGI-1 as an inhibitor of oligosaccharyltransferase, preventing transfer of N-linked glycans to proteins. NGI-1 blocked EGFR signaling in non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines and promoted cell-cycle arrest and senescence.

Single-cell transcriptomics and protein expression analyses of salivary glands and gingiva, along with the detection of infectious virus and virus-specific antibodies in saliva from SARS-CoV-2-infected individuals, support a potential role for the oral cavity in COVID-19 pathogenesis.

In patients with advanced melanoma, fecal microbiota transplantation from healthy donors combined with the anti-PD-1 inhibitors nivolumab or pembrolizumab was well tolerated with an encouraging objective response rate of 65% in the first-line treatment setting.

The seasonal vertical migration of copepods in polar oceans can be considered as a dispersal throughout the water column rather than a translocation to depth, according to field sampling of copepods that overwinter in the Central Arctic Ocean.

Bacteria often express multiple adhesive proteins (adhesins) for biofilm formation, but it is often unclear whether adhesins have specialized or redundant roles. Here, the authors show that Vibrio cholerae uses two adhesins with overlapping but distinct functions to achieve robust adhesion to diverse surfaces.

In a zebrafish model of human cutaneous and acral melanomas, CRKL amplification causes tumours to favour a fin location, indicating that tumour location is determined by both the driver oncogenes and the pre-existing positional identity gene program.

Soil age is thought to be an important driver of ecosystem development. Here, the authors perform a global survey of soil chronosequences and meta-analysis to show that, contrary to expectations, soil age is a relatively minor ecosystem driver at the biome scale once other drivers such as parent material, climate, and vegetation type are accounted for.

Transcriptomic, proteomic and immune repertoire profiling reveals distinct peripheral features of MIS-C and pediatric COVID-19, including elevated soluble spike protein levels, more pronounced type II IFN-dependent gene expression and a higher B cell mutation rate in patients with MIS-C.

PfCRT is a chloroquine resistance transporter from malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum, which is sensitive to acidic pH. Here, the authors show that residue E207 is critical for pH sensing by PfCRT, using alanine-scanning mutagenesis, MD simulations and drug uptake assays.

Boron nitride nanotubes (BNNTS) have only been shown to dissolve in chlorosulfonic acid (CSA) at low concentrations. Here the authors successfully demonstrate the formation of liquid crystals of BNNTs in CSA that can be used to produce macroscopically aligned neat fibers of BNNTs.

A hierarchical model of melanoma tumour growth mirrors the cellular and molecular logic of cell-fate specification and differentiation of the underlying embryonic neural crest, and suggests that the ability to support growth and metastasis are limited to distinct pools of cells.

Pigs are important large animal models for biomedical research. Here, the authors construct a single-cell landscape of pig tissues, unravelling the phenotypic heterogeneity of blood endothelial cells in adipose tissues and the evolutionally conserved regulons of microglia in brains.

Proinflammatory activation of liver macrophages and their secretion of proinflammatory cytokines have been linked to obesity. Here Morgantini et al. report a mechanism through which liver macrophages can impair liver metabolism and promote insulin resistance in obesity in the absence of an overt proinflammatory phenotype, through secretion of non-inflammatory factors such as IGFBP7.

Chileans are genetically admixed. Here, the authors find that the average admixing time is around 10 generations ago and show the contribution of European men and Native-American women to the Chilean population.

Traumatic brain injury is associated with changes to the metabolome. Here the authors show that acute traumatic brain injury has distinctive serum metabolic patterns which may suggest protective changes of systemic lipid metabolism aiming to maintain lipid homeostasis in the brain.

Transcriptomic and proteomic profiling of blood samples from individuals with COVID-19 reveals immune cell and hematopoietic progenitor cell alterations that are differentially associated with disease severity.

A method that identifies patterns of tumour heterogeneity in intact biopsy samples using 3D light-sheet microscopy stratifies patients by tumour stage.

Heymut Omran, Joseph LoTurco and colleagues show that mutations in the dyslexia susceptibility candidate gene DYX1C1 cause primary ciliary dyskinesia. Their functional studies suggest that DYX1C1 is required for the cytoplasmic preassembly of axonemal dynein complexes.

The structure of the hydrogenase-maturation protein HydF in the holo form with its [4Fe-4S] cluster reveals a labile glutamate ligand that allows binding of artificial 2Fe subcluster mimics, thus endowing HydF with its own hydrogenase activity.

Resnik-Docampo et al. demonstrate that depletion of the tricellular junction protein Gliotactin in young flies leads to hallmarks of ageing, including an increase in intestinal stem cell proliferation and a block in terminal differentiation.

Epitopes derived from two regions of α-synuclein elicit immune responses in patients with Parkinson’s disease, involving IL-5-secreting CD4⁺ T cells, as well as IFNγ-secreting CD8⁺ cytotoxic T cells.

Study of the genetically diverse Collaborative Cross (CC) mouse system reveals that early life history impacts mouse gut microbiome composition and although dietary changes have only a moderate effect on the microbiome, it does shape the gut metabolome.

A new protocol for solid-state NMR of soluble and membrane proteins in E. coli, in both whole cells and isolated membrane fractions. The procedure describes conventional ¹³C/¹⁵N ssNMR as well as sensitivity-enhanced DNP-ssNMR and ¹H-detected ssNMR.

Community-generated online templates for harmonized data reporting ensure that data and metadata associated with experiments are findable, accessible, interoperable, reusable and compiled for consistency in experimental design and test performance.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) have vital functions and promise diagnostic and therapeutic applications. In this Primer, Hendrix and colleagues discuss tools for isolating and characterizing EVs obtained from various sources, including the body and the environment.