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Hepatitis C virus remains a health burden due to the lack of an effective vaccine, hindered by difficulties in replicating the native E1E2 antigen structure. Here, the authors engineer a stabilized E1E2 heterodimer using cryo-EM-guided modifications, enhancing immunogenicity and paving the way for future HCV vaccine development.

Most H₂ used in the chemical industry is derived from fossil fuels. Now it has been shown that coupling native microbial H₂ pathways with engineered alkene biosynthesis and membrane-bound Pd catalysis enables biocompatible hydrogenation of metabolic intermediates in living bacteria. This hybrid chemo-microbial platform supports the carbon-negative synthesis of industrial chemicals from waste-derived feedstocks.

‘Populations residing near nuclear power plants may experience low-level chronic exposure to ionizing radiation through environmental release pathways. In here the authors find higher cancer mortality rates in U.S. counties closer to operational nuclear power plants, with the strongest relative risks observed in older adults.’

Here, the authors show that bile salt hydrolase activity is common among human gut bacterial isolates spanning seven major phyla and identify strains capable of directly dehydrogenating conjugated bile acids via hydroxysteroid dehydrogenases to produce conjugated secondary bile acids, challenging the notion that deconjugation is a prerequisite for further bile acid modifications.

SPX1 is an inositol (pyro)phosphate-dependent negative regulator of DNA binding by the PHR transcription factor. Here the authors show that SPX1 can also bind the promoter element targeted by PHR suggesting a role for SPX1 during phosphate deficiency.

Here the authors identify nicotine-derived inhibitors of the SARS-CoV−2 main protease that outperform Paxlovid in cells and mice, remain effective against resistant variants, and show broad activity against multiple human coronaviruses.

Brief ultrasound to human frontal eye fields, but not motor cortex, rapidly biases eye movement contralaterally in a perceptual choice task. The size of this effect scales with individual baseline FEF inhibitory tone.

Spectroscopic observations of the ultra-hot Jupiter WASP-189b reveal both volatile (H₂O, CO, OH) and refractory (Fe, Mg, Si) gas in its atmosphere. Here, the authors show that the abundance ratio of refractory species reflects that of the host star.

This study mapped normative growth trajectories of 28 fetal brain phenotypes derived from 4,205 3D ultrasound scans collected across 7 international sites. The low variance between sites reinforces the principle that the brain develops similarly when environmental constraints are minimal.

How the brain meets these competing demands–and where such a veridical “ground-truth” representation is computed–remains unknown. Here authors show that the cerebellar nodulus/uvula–a region essential for postural control–provides a stable, ground-truth representation of self-motion during voluntary movement, rather than suppressing self-generated signals.

Most patients with B-cell leukemia respond to chimeric antigen receptor T cell (CAR T) therapy, yet many relapse due to loss of CAR T function. Here, the authors show that the metabolism of CAR T from short- and long-term responders is different, which may explain why CAR T lose functionality.

Supersolid phases are quantum-entangled states of matter exhibiting the dual characteristics of superfluidity and solidity. Here, the authors map the phase diagram of K₂Co(SeO₃)₂. and identify signatures of two supersolid phases separated by a 1/3 magnetization plateau.

Neurotrophic factor Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) is involved in bladder physiopathology. Here the authors report that mast-cell derived NGF sustains the pro-tumoral functions of ILC2s in bladder cancer (BC), showing that selective targeting of the NGF receptor TrkA improves survival and response to immune checkpoint blockade in BC models.

Most studies assessing food self-sufficiency look at calories and neglect nutrient gaps. Comparing food demand and potential food production under land and water constraints, this study quantifies 9 key nutrient gaps for each of African’s 54 countries.

ASXL1 is often mutated in myeloid cancers. Here, the authors describe the molecular and structural mechanism by which ASXL1 associates with the transcriptional coactivator BRD4, helping to explain their high correlation in cancers.

Plant diversity plays a key role in regulating ecosystem processes, yet its influence on global soil carbon release remains unclear. This study suggests that higher plant species richness is associated with greater soil respiration in low- to mid-productivity forests but has little effect in highly productive systems.

Subcellular compartmentalization of the glycolytic enzyme PFKM regulates cell fate and metabolic switch during skeletal muscle differentiation.

PAN2-PAN3 complexes trim poly(A) tails of mRNAs. Here, the authors show that PAN2 associates with translation initiation factors and that germline-specific deletion of Pan2 in mice causes male infertility and compromises stability of key components of the translational machinery.

The transformations for aragonite precursors in coral are not fully understood but have implications in bio, biogenic and geological mineralization. Here, the authors use high-resolution mapping and observe exponential decay from the edge of four precursors to coral aragonite skeleton in Stylophora pistillata.

DNA recognition and cleavage control in type II topoisomerases are poorly understood processes. Here, the authors determine cleaved and uncleaved structures of supercoiled DNA-bound topoisomerase VI that reveal how the enzyme activates its cleavage state and prefers to act at deformable substrates.

A shift in organic carbon to total phosphorus (C_org/P_total) ratios in marine siliciclastic strata from approximately 455 million years ago suggests an earlier-than-previously-thought spread of land plants and their impact on the Earth system, based on analogy with extant C/P ratios of terrestrial and marine organic matter.

Here, the authors show that 2’-O-methylated RNA fragments from ribosomal RNA naturally block TLR7 and TLR8, helping to avoid avoid harmful self-RNA detection and autoimmunity.

Dynamos can generate magnetic fields, which are present across various scales in space plasmas. Here, the authors show evidence for a turbulent dynamo in the terrestrial magnetosheath, indicating that Earth’s magnetosheath may be used as a natural laboratory for testing dynamo theories and simulations.

Continuously trapped atoms provide advantage for atom interferometry, yet current schemes are limited by dephasing. Here, the authors develop a Floquet-engineered atom interferometry platform for quantum force sensing purposes, unveiling regimes where the interferometric phase is insensitive to noise.

Visible-light-mediated intramolecular [2+2] cycloaddition of aza-1,6-dienes gives bridged, not fused, heterocycles, in violation of the ‘rule-of-five’, which dictates that five-membered rings are preferentially formed. This method allows a variety of bridged bicyclic scaffolds to be accessed, enabling drug-relevant properties to be readily tuned.

Here researchers reveal a microexon in the Ank3 gene encoding Ankyrin G allows cortical interneurons to fine-tune calcium signaling and firing, revealing the contribution of alternative splicing to the functional diversity among different types of neurons.

A better understanding of post-treatment control after therapy cessation can help design therapeutic strategies for people living with HIV. Here the authors show in a SIV macaque model that intestinal CX3CR1⁺ macrophages are preserved in SIV post-treatment controllers, while their loss is associated with increased CD4⁺ T cell activation and viral persistence, linking mucosal immune balance to long-term viral remission.

A technique called condense-seq has been developed to measure nucleosome condensability and used to show that mononucleosomes contain sufficient information to condense into large-scale compartments without requiring any external factors.

Neuropathic pain is commonly treated with opioids due to limited alternatives. Here, authors determine cryo-EM structures of the neuronal glycine transporter GlyT2 and develop a reversible inhibitor that provides analgesia in vivo without side effects.

Here, the authors show that early-life high-fat/high-sugar diet induces sex-specific alterations in adult feeding behavior, hypothalamic transcriptome and blood metabolome, with Bifidobacterium longum and prebiotic FOS + GOS administration restoring these effects via distinct mechanisms, highlighting their therapeutic potential.

Gestational exposure of mice to the obesogen tributyltin alters 3-D chromatin interactions in primordial germ cells leading to stable reduction of hepatic Ide expression and predisposing male descendants to insulin dysregulation and obesity.

Large biospecimen banks are limited by a lack of fast, flexible, database-like retrieval. Here, authors encode metadata as DNA barcodes on silica-encapsulated samples and demonstrate numerical range, categorical, and Boolean queries, enabling rapid, precise recall from pooled DNA/RNA archives.

Exhaustion is a functional state that hampers anti-cancer and antiviral CD8 T cell activity, and is preceded by a stem-like state, maintained by the transcription factor TCF1. Here authors develop mouse models that allow a precise understanding of the developmental trajectory between the stem-cell-like and exhausted states of CD8 T cells and find that while constitutive overexpression of TCF1 expands the stem-like T cell pool, TCF1 expression specifically in already exhausted cells is unable to promote dedifferentiation.

In this study, the authors develop a stoichiometric-thermodynamic model linking seismic decarbonation to Mw 5.9–6.5 earthquakes. They demonstrate that seismic CO₂ pressurization can sustain dynamic slip and enhance the destructive potential of earthquakes.

Native top-down proteomics reveals epidermal growth factor receptor–estrogen receptor-alpha (EGFR–ER) signaling crosstalk in breast cancer cells and dissociation of nuclear transport factor 2 (NUTF2) dimers to modulate ER signaling and cell growth.

Achieving toroidal magnetic moments in molecular systems is challenging. Now homochiral toroidal magnetic ground states have been realized in propeller-shaped chiral Dy(III)-based single-molecule toroics, enabling toroidal spin states to be detected through magneto-chiral dichroism.

Here, the authors show that myoferlin is a crucial host factor that helps move viral genetic cargo to the cell surface, boosting influenza, RSV and Sendai virus spread, highlighting a common weak spot for future antivirals.

High spatial resolution is essential for resolving cellular and subcellular organization in tissues. Here, authors present Seq-Scope-X, which integrates tissue expansion with Seq-Scope to achieve an order-of-magnitude improvement in resolution of spatial transcriptomics and proteomics.

The study shows that incorporating information on pre-existing moisture conditions into the atmospheric river scale improves early-warning identification of flood-generating events.

Werner et al. present the results of the 201 Trial, a 12-week randomized, double-blind placebo-controlled phase 2a study of risvodetinib, in patients with early untreated Parkinson’s disease. Risvodetinib was found to be safe and well tolerated.

This study shows how the bacterial retron Eco2 defends against viruses. Phage nucleases trigger activation of Eco2, which cuts RNAs, shuts down protein production and stops phage replication.

The existence of multi-centennial natural variability in the North Atlantic is demonstrated over the last millennia by compiling proxy data. This variability mode will potentially amplify northern Europe warming by up to 30% over 2000-2035.

2D covalent organic frameworks usually possess a polycrystalline nature as well as lower porosity and surface area than 3D counterparts, limiting their gas storage application. Here, the authors report the formation of single-crystal 2D covalent organic frameworks isomers with atom-resolution structures for methane storage.

Multiple myeloma involves alterations to T cell function, but mechanisms underlying disease evolution remain unclear. Here the authors find that, unlike solid cancers, multiple myeloma lacks exhausted T cells and is instead characterized by antigen-driven terminal memory T cell differentiation, which may be driven by tumour-intrinsic features including tumour burden and antigen-presentation gene expression.

De novo Calcineurin (CN) variants cause DEE91, with E282K being the most common. E282K alters CN’s acidic substrate binding pocket to basic, thus shifting substrate preference and dephosphorylation signaling, subsequently impacting neurodevelopment.

This study shows O₂-producing cyanobacteria likely prospered in silica- and iron-rich ancient oceans prior to the emergence of free O₂. Silica and day-night light cycles helped the microbes to overcome toxicity effects caused by oxygen radicals.