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Diorganozinc reagents (ZnR₂, e.g. R = Et, Ph, C₆F₅) are widely used as Lewis acid catalysts or Lewis base reagents, however, descriptors for predicting the influence of the R substituent are scarce. Here, by using liquid-phase X-ray spectroscopy, the authors have identified the geometric structures of diorganozincs in weakly coordinating solvents and then established Zn-specific descriptors to quantify the properties of their underlying Lewis acidity/basicity.

This study introduces an ion mobility–mass spectrometry method for de novo glycan structure identification, using a self-expanding database that reduces reliance on synthetic reference standards.

The efficacy of CAR-T cells against solid tumors is still limited by immunosuppressive factors. Here, the authors show that engineering of CAR T cells with A1R enhances their efficacy against solid tumors in vitro and in vivo.

From 2014–2017, marine heatwaves caused global mass coral bleaching, where the corals lose their symbiotic algae. The authors find, this event exceeded the severity of all prior global bleaching events in recorded history, with approximately half the world’s reefs bleaching and 15% experiencing substantial mortality.

Here the authors report the synthesis of defect-rich boron nitride by flux reconstruction method, which exhibited good reactivity for semihydrogenation of low concentration acetylene in ethylene-abundant gas stream.

Wei et al. perform spatial transcriptomic profiling on synovial tissue biopsy samples from individuals with recent-onset rheumatoid arthritis, finding TGFβ signaling and fibrogenic fibroblast activation drive a treatment-refractory tissue phenotype.

Activation of the adenosine receptor A2AR is associated with suppression of T cell function in the tumor microenvironment. To overcome immunosuppression, here the authors show that CRISPR/Cas9 mediated deletion of A2AR enhances CAR T cell effector functions without altering memory or persistence properties, improving CAR-T mediated tumor control in pre-clinical models.

cellSTAAR advances noncoding rare variant association analysis by integrating single-cell genomics data.

The [1,2]-Wittig rearrangement of allylic ethers is traditionally considered to proceed via formation and recombination of radical pairs. Now it has been shown that an alternative reaction cascade, involving initial enantioselective [2,3]-rearrangement followed by base-promoted anionic fragmentation–recombination that proceeds with high enantiospecificity, allows a catalytic enantioselective [1,2]-Wittig process.

Catalytic deconstruction offers a route from waste plastics to monomers and oligomers that can be repolymerized into new plastics. Zeolite catalysts engineered with extra-large pores, hierarchical pore networks or nanoscale dimensions can help to address the diffusion limitations of conventional microscale zeolites in plastic upcycling — an important step towards a more circular plastic economy.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

An analysis of 24,202 critical cases of COVID-19 identifies potentially druggable targets in inflammatory signalling (JAK1), monocyte–macrophage activation and endothelial permeability (PDE4A), immunometabolism (SLC2A5 and AK5), and host factors required for viral entry and replication (TMPRSS2 and RAB2A).

Increased effectiveness of anti-cancer chimeric antigen receptor T cell therapy is associated with a stem-like phenotype through increased expression of FOXO1.

Energy budget and climate model estimates of transient climate response match when model output is processed in the same manner as an observational record. Removal of observational sampling biases infers an estimate of 1.66 °C, consistent with model estimates.

Streptococcal siglec-like binding regions (SLBRs) selectively bind cell surface glycans, but the basis for this selectivity is not understood. Here, the authors identify selectivity-modulating SLBR regions and study how changes in SLBR glycan selectivity affect interactions with human glycoprotein receptors.

mRNA vaccines targeting SARS-CoV-2 also sensitize tumours to immune checkpoint inhibitors.

Kevin Padian applauds a book on the planet’s role in our biological and cultural development.

A global network of researchers was formed to investigate the role of human genetics in SARS-CoV-2 infection and COVID-19 severity; this paper reports 13 genome-wide significant loci and potentially actionable mechanisms in response to infection.

Females are more sensitive to social exclusion and loneliness, risk factors for anxiety and stressrelated disorders. Here, the authors identified molecular signals in the amygdala that make females more susceptible to effects of chronic social isolation in mice.

Synovial sarcoma (SS) is a difficult-to-treat cancer, driven by the fusion oncoprotein SS18::SSX. SS18::SSX alters the BAF (mammalian SWI/SNF) chromatin remodelling complex to create an oncogenic transcriptome. Here, the authors identify SS18::SSX-driven SMARCE1 SUMOylation as a therapeutic vulnerability in SS and show that SUMOylation inhibition stabilizes the cBAF complex, inducing cell death and sensitization of SS to chemotherapy.

Although uranium-nitrogen multiple bonding is well developed, there are far fewer uranium-phosphorus and -arsenic multiple bonds, and none for antimony, even in spectroscopic scenarios. Here, the authors report syntheses of uranium-stibido, -stibinidiide, -distibene, and -stibinidene derivatives containing single, double, and pseudo-triple bond interactions.

Transfer hydrogenation is challenging to apply to aryl halide reductive cross-couplings because of competing hydrogenolysis. Now aryl halide cross-couplings mediated by sodium formate have been developed. These processes display orthogonality to Suzuki and Buchwald–Hartwig couplings as pinacol boronates and anilines are tolerated and, owing to chelated intermediates, effective for challenging 2-pyridyl systems.

Nanoscale patterning methods based on self-assembly promise to revolutionize the fabrication of high-tech devices, but suffer from a limited number of possible lattice symmetries. Here, the authors use a laser zone annealing technique to pattern block copolymers into any 2D mesh motif they desire.

Authors review the involvement of glycosylation in pulmonary vascular disease and outline gaps in knowledge to provide a foundation for future efforts focused on advancing glycosylation pathway-targeted treatments.

The transcription factor COUP-TFII plays a critical role in regulating endothelial cell (EC) identity. Here the authors report that the ectopic expression of COUP-TFII in endothelial cells induces molecular programs of post-capillary venules in tumor EC, associated with enhanced recruitment of anti-tumour T cells, inhibition of tumour growth, and sensitized responses to immune checkpoint blockade and adoptive T cell transfer therapies.

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.

With the generation of large pan-cancer whole-exome and whole-genome sequencing projects, a question remains about how comparable these datasets are. Here, using The Cancer Genome Atlas samples analysed as part of the Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes project, the authors explore the concordance of mutations called by whole exome sequencing and whole genome sequencing techniques.

A living passivation strategy enables dynamic self-healing of perovskite solar cells to ensure device performance and stability on exposure to heat or moisture.

There’s an emerging body of evidence to show how biological sex impacts cancer incidence, treatment and underlying biology. Here, using a large pan-cancer dataset, the authors further highlight how sex differences shape the cancer genome.

Whole-genome sequencing data for 2,778 cancer samples from 2,658 unique donors across 38 cancer types is used to reconstruct the evolutionary history of cancer, revealing that driver mutations can precede diagnosis by several years to decades.

Some cancer patients first present with metastases where the location of the primary is unidentified; these are difficult to treat. In this study, using machine learning, the authors develop a method to determine the tissue of origin of a cancer based on whole sequencing data.

The authors present SVclone, a computational method for inferring the cancer cell fraction of structural variants from whole-genome sequencing data.

Cancers evolve as they progress under differing selective pressures. Here, as part of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes (PCAWG) Consortium, the authors present the method TrackSig the estimates evolutionary trajectories of somatic mutational processes from single bulk tumour data.

The flagship paper of the ICGC/TCGA Pan-Cancer Analysis of Whole Genomes Consortium describes the generation of the integrative analyses of 2,658 cancer whole genomes and their matching normal tissues across 38 tumour types, the structures for international data sharing and standardized analyses, and the main scientific findings from across the consortium studies.

A catalytic process is reported that begins with a highly selective copper–boron addition to a monosubstituted allene, and in which the resulting boron-substituted organocopper intermediate then participates in a chemoselective, site-selective and enantioselective allylic substitution; this approach is used in the enantioselective synthesis of gram quantities of two natural products.

Slippery covalently attached liquid surfaces are useful in many applications that require low-static friction to droplets. This review compares six prominent methods for preparing polydimethylsiloxane bound to silica surfaces and highlights pitfalls and time savers.

Results of the TRACERx study shed new light into the association between body composition and body weight with survival in individuals with non-small cell lung cancer, and delineate potential biological processes and mediators contributing to the development of cancer-associated cachexia.

A CRISPR knock-in strategy that uses endogenous gene regulatory mechanisms can engineer ‘armoured’ CAR T cells that secrete proinflammatory cytokines directly within a tumour without causing toxicity, leading to prolonged survival in mice.

In lung adenocarcinoma, antibodies against endogenous retroviruses promote anti-tumour activity, and expression of endogenous retroviruses can predict outcomes of immunotherapy.

Bilateral vestibular schwannomas (VS) are the main feature of NF2-related schwannomatosis, but the immunological landscape of VS is poorly understood. By performing imaging mass cytometry, the authors assess the cellular heterogeneity in VS tumours and reveal niche-dependent modes of T-cell regulation in these neoplasms.