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Intact single crystals of the enzyme lysozyme can be used to study the time-dependent, protein-directed growth of gold nanoparticles.

Tailoring the composition of organic cations enables manipulating the recombination rates of perovskites. Optimized solution-processed perovskite emitters fabricated on silicon exhibit up to 42.6-MHz modulation bandwidth and 50-Mbps data rate.

Design of artificial photosynthetic systems that mimic the complex supramolecular structures in natural systems remains a grand challenge. Here self-assembled nanomicelles containing Zn porphyrins and Co porphyrins as photosensitizer and catalyst achieve selective photocatalytic CO₂-to-CH₄ conversion in water.

Detailed structures of both solvated corona chains and sub-nanometre crystalline core lattice of polymer-based nanofibres in solution are obtained using high-resolution cryo-electron microscopy.

X-ray crystallography and NMR analysis demonstrate that, contrary to previous observations, ^fC does not significantly alter DNA structure, thus suggesting an alternative basis for recognition of ^fC-DNA by epigenome-modifying enzymes.

Capture of CO₂ from the air requires substantial amounts of energy. Here the authors report molten-carbonate membranes to concentrate CO₂ from 400 ppm input streams that exploit ambient energy in the form of humidity differences.

Oxygen is the most limiting factor in cell transplantation. Here, the authors present an on-site oxygen production platform for implantable cell therapeutics via electrocatalytic water electrolysis, demonstrating the maintenance of high cell loading in hypoxic incubation and a rat model.

Metal nanocrystals are used in an ever growing list of applications, but precise control and understanding of their formation can be difficult. Here, the authors show a route that allows the controlled formation of metal nanocrystals to be carried out and observed at an atom-by-atom level.

Perovskite-based photovoltaics have already reached high efficiency levels but their stability under operating conditions remains a challenge. Here, Li et al. use defective TiO₂with reduced photocatalytic efficiency to increase the stability of high efficiency solar cells under illumination

A major goal of HIV-1 vaccine development is to produce antigens that can induce broadly neutralizing antibodies. Here the authors examine the underlying causes of HIV-1 envelope metastability and design uncleaved, prefusion-optimized gp140 trimers with potential for use as HIV-1 vaccine antigens.

Metal–organic frameworks that undergo structural transitions in response to external stimuli are promising for gas storage, but the mechanisms of such dynamics are poorly understood. Here the authors show that the structural transformation of ZIF-7 is induced by CO₂ migration through its non-uniform porous structure.

BiFeO₃ has a wide application but the impact of rare-earth substitution for the evolution of the coupling mechanism is unknown. Here, the authors reveal the correlation between ferroelectricity, antiferromagnetism, a weak ferromagnetic moment, and their switching pathways in La-substituted BiFeO₃.

In this work, using a combination of Cryo-EM, in-cell experiments and biophysical analysis, the authors decoded the aggregation propensity of tau, revealing 5 central hot spots in its primary sequence and identify PAM4 as short segment that determines both the structure, as well as the cellular propagation of tau aggregates extracted from Alzheimer’s disease, corticobasal degeneration, and progressive supranuclear palsy patients.

Gandhi, Zivkovic, Østergaard and colleagues describe a bispecific antibody, HMB-001, which could be used for the prophylactic treatment of patients with genetic bleeding disorders, currently treated acutely with recombinant coagulation factor VIIa. HMB-001 can bind and accumulate endogenous FVIIa and localize it to sites of vascular injury by targeting it to the TREM-like transcript-1 receptor selectively expressed on activated platelets.

By determining the crystal structure of the Na + /H + antiporter NhaA at active pH, the authors show how substrate accessibility to the ion-binding site can be controlled by pH sensitive switch located on the cytoplasmic surface.

Dynamics of peralkaline rhyolite eruptions remain elusive due to the lack of direct observations. Here the authors provide X-ray Computed Tomography, thermal modelling and field data of fluidal shaped pyroclasts and show that peralkaline rhyolite pumice cones are the product of moderate to intense eruptions.

Syncrip is a conserved RNA-binding protein that mediates selective miRNA loading into cell-secreted exosomes, which is important for cell–cell communication. Here the authors provide mechanistic insights into how Syncrip recognises its target miRNAs by combining NMR and crystallography.

Cation exchange membranes embedded with MnO₂ nanoparticles form selective outer-sphere complexes with phosphate ions imparting an extremely selective permeation pathway.

The study of rare isotopes is hampered by their scarcity, cost and sometimes toxicity. Now polyoxometalate ligands have been shown to facilitate the capture of f-block elements and their characterization. Single-crystal X-ray diffraction structures have been obtained for several molecular complexes, including three of the rare curium-248, from minute amounts (micrograms) of material.

Park et al. redesigned the abscisic acid-induced dimerization module to respond to diverse ligands and function orthogonally to the natural modules, enabling synthetic biological circuit design in plants and yeast.

The envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer is the only antigenic target for broadly neutralizing antibodies on the surface of the HIV-1 virus. Here the authors show that two related monoclonal antibodies bind between gp41 protomers and neutralize HIV-1 by accelerating Env trimer decay.

The fusion peptide (FP) of HIV envelope (Env) is critical in the cell entry process. Here, Kumar et al. present crystal structures of B41 SOSIP.664 Env trimer and show the dynamic nature of the FP and proximal region, which likely relates to conformational rearrangements required for membrane fusion.

Assessment of the health risks of exposure to anthropogenic nanomaterials is crucial to maximize their potential applications. This double-blind, randomized controlled study in healthy humans evaluates the impact of inhalation of graphene oxide nanosheets on acute pulmonary and cardiovascular functions.

Long-range order is normally related to an entropy decrease. Yet, an increase in entropy in one part of a system can induce long-range order in another. A new form of such entropy-driven order is now demonstrated in an artificial spin-ice system.

The Legionella collagen-like protein (Lcl) is important for host adhesion in Legionella pneumophila. Here, the authors provide structural and biochemical data, which provides insights into a distinct “fuzzy” glycosaminoglycan binding mechanism.

A synthetic tool that uses living polymerizations driven by epitaxial crystallization is shown to create a range of complex micelle architectures made from diblock copolymers. Platelet micelles act as initiators for the formation of scarf-like structures with micellar tassels of controlled length, grown from specific locations.

The transmission spectrum of the exoplanet WASP-39b is obtained using observations from the Single-Object Slitless Spectroscopy mode of the Near Infrared Imager and Slitless Spectrograph instrument aboard the JWST.

Small molecule antagonists of CCR6 are potential drugs for autoimmune disorders. Here the authors present inactive structures of CCR6 bound by different allosteric antagonists from two series simultaneously, offering multiple approaches to inhibit CCR6.

Self-assembled monolayers of thiols have applications ranging from surface coatings to nanomechanical sensors, where they transmit analyte-induced stress to a cantilever detector. For gold nanocrystals it is now shown that the adsorption of propanethiol alone can induce large chemical stress, with different directionality on curved and flat surfaces.

Whole-genome sequencing, transcriptome-wide association and fine-mapping analyses in over 7,000 individuals with critical COVID-19 are used to identify 16 independent variants that are associated with severe illness in COVID-19.

O-methylated stilbenes are promising nutraceutical candidates. Here, the authors reveal that sorghum and wild sugarcane accumulate different types of O-methylated stilbenes due to major differences in catalytic regioselectivities of O-methyltransferases.

Development of diamond-based quantum and electronic technologies requires heterogeneous integration, which has remained challenging. This work realizes direct bonding of single crystal diamond membranes to a broad range of technology-relevant substrates while maintaining quantum coherence for hosted qubits.

Hydrogen evolution and oxidation on platinum surfaces are central reactions in electrochemical devices. Sun et al. show that they can be promoted by introduction of the organic molecules, N-methylimidazoles, and explore the underlying phenomena at play through in situ spectroscopy and computation.

In retroviruses, the capsid protein (CA) forms a shell surrounding the viral core. Here the authors combine cryo-electron microscopy with NMR and X-ray crystallography to examine the CA structure from the human endogenous retrovirus HML2 (HERV-K) and determine the structures of four Fullerene CA closed shells that reveal the molecular basis of capsid assembly.

Enzymes with identical sequences of amino acids can display varying activities when encoded with mRNA with different properties, but why this is the case has been a mystery. Now, it has been shown that synonymous mutations in mRNA alter the partitioning of proteins into long-lived soluble misfolded states with varying activities.

In photosynthesis the oxidation of water is a requirement for providing sufficient protons and electrons for fuel formation. A biphasic water splitting catalyst tailored for integration with high-performance semiconductor photoanodes is now reported.

A high-throughput chemical screen followed by structure-guided chemical design leads to the first potent and selective small-molecule BCL-X_L inhibitor.

Fernando Rivadeneira and colleagues in the Genetic Factors for Osteoporosis Consortium report a large-scale meta-analysis identifying new loci associated with bone mineral density (BMD) and risk of fracture. Thirty-two new loci are found to be associated with BMD, and 6 loci confer higher risk for low-trauma bone fracture.

Polymers featuring p-block elements other than carbon are of interest for a range of applications, but access to highly-substituted examples remains challenging. Here the authors demonstrate that cyclic (alkyl)(amino)carbenes can mediate the dehydropolymerisation of phosphine-boranes, leading to the construction of P-disubstituted polyphosphinoboranes.

The differential effects of targeting individual domains of multidomain enzymatic proteins are generally poorly understood. Here, the authors demonstrate lineage-specific sensitivities to domain-specific inhibition of EP300/CBP proteins across cancer and link these effects in group 3 medulloblastoma to control of a transcriptional dependency network.

Microtubule-targeting agents are used successfully as anticancer therapeutics. Here authors develop a fluorescence-anisotropy-based assay to identify and characterize ligands for the maytansine site of tubulin and provide crystal structures of identified ligands in complex with tubulin.

Around 31,000 years ago, a young individual from Borneo had part of their left lower leg surgically amputated, probably as a child, and lived for another 6–9 years after amputation.