Search

Conventional slurry electrodes limit high-energy lithium batteries. This work shows that dry-processed electrodes with molecularly coupled carbon–binder networks enable high mass and active material loading, supporting stable high-voltage operation and enhancing battery energy density.

The nature of the defects in amorphous materials, analogous to vacancies and dislocations in crystals, remains a matter of debate. Scalliet et al. show that localized and extended defects coexist in a wide range of conditions, yet are associated with distinct energy scales in a prototypical glass model.

Photonic time crystals (PTCs) have unveiled unusual band structures and phenomena due to temporal modulation of optical properties. Here, the authors address non-Hermitian features of PTCs within a purely Hermitian Hamiltonian description, bridging classical and quantum approaches.

Intermolecular interactions underpin an array of physical and chemical phenomena. Here, the authors probe the three dimensional potential between fullerene molecules in different orientations showing that the positional variation in the intermolecular binding energy is dominated repulsive interactions.

A precise structure measurement of liquid carbon at pressures of around 1 million atmospheres obtained by in situ X-ray diffraction at an X-ray free-electron laser shows a complex fluid with transient bonding and approximately four nearest neighbours on average.

In this study, the capabilities of fragment-based Grand Canonical Nonequilibrium Candidate Monte Carlo (GCNCMC) to uncover experimentally validated, occluded fragment binding sites is demonstrated. The method also accurately samples multiple binding modes and calculates binding affinities without any prior structural knowledge.

The metal-organic framework TAMOF-1 offers high performance for CO₂ capture and purification from model biogas streams, thanks to its high CO₂ adsorption potential, good stability in humid conditions, and energy-efficient regeneration.

The frequency scaling exponent of low-frequency vibrational excitations in glasses remains controversial in the literature. Here, Schirmacher et al. show that the exponent depends on the statistics of the small values of the local stresses, which is governed by the detail of interaction potential.

AQP3 facilitates the transport of hydrogen peroxide. Here the authors report cryo-EM structures of AQP3 under different pH and in the presence of hydrogen peroxide. Along with molecular dynamics simulations, the study reveals how AQP3 maintains redox balance in endocrine pancreas.

Here, authors provide a molecular view of a clustered saccharide patch on mucins as recognized by a bacterial binding module. This work provides insights into how microbes can remain attached to mucins in the mucus while grazing on their glycans.

The structure of crystalline materials plays a central role in materials science, but the disordered structure of metallic glass is difficult to characterize and describe. Here, the authors use diffusion maps on atomistic data to obtain general structural descriptors tied to atomic positions.

Understanding liquid friction on solid surfaces is key for fluid transport, with recent findings highlighting the role of solid internal excitations. Authors use AFM to show that supercooled glycerol’s slip length on mica increases unexpectedly strongly with decreasing temperature. The observations suggest that resonating vibrations within surface play a key role in liquid friction, challenging existing models.

Whether and when a material deforms elastically or plastically depends on its microstructure. Experiments on two-dimensional colloidal systems show that in disordered materials, packing density, stress and a microstructure-related entropy govern deformations.

Here authors investigate the effects of different metals incorporated in the structures and possible additional phases have on the CO₂ uptake of pyrene-based MOFs. Results show that when additional phases are present, the pore volume is reduced and CO₂ binding sites in the structure are different, leading to different adsorption properties.

IRMOF-74 materials have thus far been thought to undergo only simple crystal lattice expansion upon gas adsorption. Here, Smit and co-workers demonstrate that these MOFs undergo a unique complex deformation upon argon uptake, changing how we view the fundamentals of adsorption in this series.

LEVA is a label-free immobilization method for studying surface-bound extracellular vesicles.

Bacteria are increasingly known to employ internal organization strategies. Here, authors demonstrate that bacterial encapsulation peptides cause self-condensation of associated protein domains. These peptides may allow for programmable spatial control of metabolism.

Although amorphous calcium carbonate represents an important biomineralization precursor, its structure has been difficult to understand. Now, amorphous calcium carbonate’s structure is shown to arise from the different bridging modes available to the calcium ions. This effective multi-well potential that drives calcium arrangements creates a geometric incompatibility between preferred Ca–Ca distances and frustrates crystallization.

The xylosyltransferase isoenzymes XT1 and XT2 catalyze the first glycosylation step in the biosynthesis of proteoglycans. Now, bump-and-hole engineering of XT1 and XT2 enables substrate profiling and modification of proteins as designer proteoglycans to modulate cellular behavior.

Nitric oxide has been shown to target mitochondrial aconitase 2 and pyruvate dehydrogenase to reprogramme macrophage metabolism. Here, the authors extend these findings to show that lipoate is used to generate nitroxyl in this process.

Fundamental biophysical principles that govern particle inclusion in or exclusion from condensates are discovered, wherein arbitrarily large particles controllably partition into condensates given sufficiently strong condensate-particle interactions.

Static protein structures can capture the association of lipids, but it is unclear whether the association is due to lipids acting as long-lived ligands or the solvation of preferred lipids around the protein. A computational-experimental framework has now shown that for the protein CLC-ec1, it is the change in lipid solvation energies that drives dimerization, with preferred lipids around the protein modulating this driving force.

Severe ulcerative colitis is considered a medical emergency, the management of which requires close collaboration between gastroenterologists and surgeons. The authors of this Review discuss the identification of prognostic factors and intensive medical treatment for both uncomplicated and complicated ulcerative colitis, as well as the timing of surgery.

Metal–organic frameworks featuring unsaturated metal sites have emerged as promising materials for CO₂ capture, but the host–guest interactions at play have remained poorly understood. An approach based on quantum chemical calculations has now been devised to generate force fields that accurately describe a MOF's metal sites and predict its gas uptake abilities.

Two novel algorithms for nanostructure reconstruction from precise unassigned interatomic distances makes sub-ångström resolution structure solution of nanomaterials possible.

Adapting statistical physics tools to study active systems is challenging due to their non-equilibrium nature. Here the authors use simulations to present a phase diagram of a 2D active system, showing a two-step melting scenario far from equilibrium along with gas-liquid motility-induced phase separation.

Dinoflagellates and cyanobacteria produce saxitoxin (STX) congeners that block voltage-gated sodium channels. Here authors show how amphibians may sequester STX congeners using a ‘lock and key’ mode, expanding the understanding of toxic sponge action.

The obligate supercomplex from M. Tuberculosis has emerged as a promising drug target. Here the authors employ structural experiments, activity assays, and multiscale molecular simulations, to elucidate the mechanism of charge transfer in this enzyme.

The authors develop a computational method to design small DNA-binding proteins (DBPs) that target specific sequences. Designed DBPs show structural accuracy and function in both bacterial and mammalian cells for transcriptional regulation.

The dynamic structure of supramolecular polymers is challenging to determine both in experiments and in simulations. Here the authors use coarse-grained molecular models to provide a comprehensive analysis of the molecular communication in these complex molecular systems.

The unexpectedly long-ranged interface stress observed in recent delamination experiments is yet to be clarified. Here, the authors develop an analytical approach to show the wavelike atomic deformation as the origin for the observed ultra long-range stress in delamination of graphene from various substrates.

Neutron scattering on a model system of highly concentrated solutions of charged carbon nanotubes reveals a strong solvent ordering up to ∼40 Å around the charged nanoscale surface.

Molecular simulations reveal how diamond and graphite crystallize from molten carbon. Following Ostwald’s step rule, the liquid’s low density drives metastable graphite formation even within the diamond thermodynamic stability zone, explaining discrepancies in high-pressure carbon phase experiments.

Non-addictive treatments for pain are much needed. Here, the authors identify in vivo active leads for inflammatory pain using large library docking against the EP4 prostaglandin receptor.

STING is a promising drug target, but selective activation is necessary for safety and efficacy. Researchers have developed a two-component prodrug system for potent pharmacological activation of STING that offers excellent tumour targeting.

Induced proximity by molecular glues is a strategy that leverages the recruitment of proteins to facilitate their modification or degradation. Here the authors present unbiased quantitative proteomic, biochemical and computational workflows that uncover hundreds of CRBN molecular glue targets using recombinant protein and cell lysate.

Here the authors develop a pipeline combining atomic force microscopy and deep learning to trace and quantify the structure of complex DNA molecules like replication intermediates and recombination products. Furthermore, they characterise surface deposition effects using simulations.