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Gold has a vital role in human society and the global economy, but its production currently causes high levels of environmental pollution. This work reports an approach that can effectively produce gold from both primary and secondary resources without the use of toxic substances such as mercury or cyanide.

A scanning electron microscope operated at 20 keV with distortion corrected ptychography achieves sub-ångström resolution, thus offering a compact and lower-cost alternative TEM imaging method that is well-suited to 2D materials and small proteins.

Gold redox catalysis is an attractive synthetic method but challenging due to the high redox potential of Au(I)/Au(III). Now, a bidentate N-ligand-assisted gold redox catalysis using H₂O₂ as oxidant has been developed. It can be applied to various coupling reactions, including C(sp)–C(sp) cross-coupling, alkynylative cyclization and bicyclization coupling.

Vasomotor function is regulated by the autonomic nervous system, but its electrophysiological basis remains poorly captured, especially post-stenting. Here, the authors develop a bioadhesive bioelectronic interface for precise monitoring and modulation of vasomotor activity.

In this study, the authors present optimization and efficacy testing of apolipoprotein-based lipid nanoparticles for delivering various nucleic acid therapeutics in vivo to immune cells and their progenitors in the bone marrow.

Limited diagnostic capacity for asymptomatic individuals hinders malaria elimination efforts in Africa. Here, the authors present a near point-of-care method based on colorimetric LAMP detection that outperforms expert microscopy and commercial rapid diagnostic tests for Plasmodium detection in asymptomatic and submicroscopic individuals.

Adsorbed carbon monoxide typically acts to poison the oxidation of alcohols on heterogeneous catalysts and electrocatalysts. Here, it is shown that carbon monoxide that has been adsorbed irreversibly on a Au(111) surface can act as a promoter for this process by enhancing the scission of C–H bonds in the alcohol to yield the corresponding aldehyde.

A two-coordinate monovalent gold complex that features a highly polarized aluminium–gold covalent bond, Al^δ+–Au^δ−, has been synthesized using a very strongly electron-donating aluminyl ligand. In solution, the complex reacts as a nucleophilic source of gold towards heteroallenes such as carbodiimides and CO₂.

The electrooxidation of 5-hydroxymethylfurfural to 2,5-furandicarboxylic acid is noteworthy for polymer synthesis. Here, authors study how well-defined gold surfaces in alkaline media control selectivity, revealing that differences in activity relate to the crystallographic structure of the surface.

By combining left- and right-handed DNA-PAINT probes, Unterauer et al. achieve simple, robust, and highly multiplexed super-resolution. They show 13-plex neuronal maps, revealing nanoscale organization of cytoskeleton, organelles, and synapses.

The equilibrium structures and dynamics of a nanoscale system are regulated by a complex potential energy surface (PES), a key target of theoretical calculations but experimentally elusive. Here, the authors report the measurement of a key PES parameter for size-selected Au nanoclusters soft-landed on amorphous silicon nitride supports.

While the connectivity of VTA dopamine neurons is well studied, less is known about the connectivity of VTA glutamate and GABA neurons. Here, authors show that these neurons form local circuits to modulate reward, aversion, feeding and locomotion.

Accurate quantum mechanical benchmarks modeling ligand interactions with protein pockets are key in drug design. Here, such a large dimers dataset is created, analyzed, and probed with many methods

Plasmonic effects can turn reflective metals into strong absorbers, although this is usually realized within narrow wavelength ranges near resonances. Using arrays of ultra-sharp convex grooves, Søndergaardet al. show that nonresonant absorption can lead to effective broadband light absorption.

Duan and Kaushik et al. reveal the structural basis of how Escherichia coli and Thermus thermophilus RNA polymerases initiate transcription from Np₄A alarmones producing Np₄-capped transcripts. The caps form various interactions with a polymerase during initial steps, influencing capping efficiency.

The potential use of graphene in spintronic devices is limited by its weak spin–orbit coupling. Marchenko et al. report an enhancement of the spin splitting in graphene due to hybridization with gold 5dorbitals, showing a very large Rashba spin–orbit splitting of about 100 meV.

Application of supramolecular chemistry in living systems is challenging because of the inherent chemical complexity of cellular environments. Now, the use of a carefully designed host–guest system featuring diaminohexane-terminated gold nanoparticles and complementary cucurbit[7]uril macrocycles has been shown to provide triggered activation of a therapeutic system in living cells.

The authors conducted prospective multimodal monitoring of simultaneous brain and heart function to define physiological changes during the human dying process leading to circulatory arrest.

Optical nanoantennas can be used for spectroscopic investigations at previously unattainable dimensions. Schumacheret al.describe time-resolved antenna-enhanced ultrafast nonlinear optical spectroscopy and determine the transient absorption signal of a single gold nanoparticle.

Many synthetic processes rely on the ability to selectively couple oxygenated molecules. Here a study of low-temperature selective cross-coupling of aldehydes with methanol on a gold surface is presented. The results allow the construction of a mechanistic model for such coupling reactions that will be applicable under a wide range of reaction conditions.

Spectroscopic measurements confirm that when water is adsorbed on drops of an alkali alloy at low pressure a gold-coloured metallic layer forms as electrons rapidly move from the drop into the water.

Gold peroxide-derived complexes are important in oxidation catalysis, although structural information on these species is sparse. Here, the authors have synthesized a range of gold complexes and have shown a reaction pathway from peroxides to hydrides, via oxygen-transfer events.

Garnet-type LLZO electrolytes are considered among the most promising solid-state electrolytes for all-solid-state batteries; however, numerous challenges need to be addressed before they are integrated into a cell. By precipitating amorphous zirconium oxide onto grain boundaries, increased ionic conductivity is observed and dendrite growth is suppressed.

This study presents real-time observation of plasmon-driven hot carrier creation. Auger heating is operative in enhancing carrier energy beyond single-photon excitation. These findings open new avenues in plasmonic energy conversion and photocatalysis.

Implant-associated infections with Staphylococcus aureus pose serious clinical challenges. Here, the authors develop a biosensor based on toxin-responsive liposomes encapsulating gold nanoclusters, providing a non-invasive, colourimetric diagnostic tool for bacterial infection detection with urinary readout.

The photocatalytic production of hydrogen from renewables such as ethanol and water could be a key means of future fuel production. There are few, if any, catalysts available for such a reaction, and our understanding of photocatalytic reactions generally remains poor. It is now demonstrated that gold–titania nanoparticles are effective catalysts for producing hydrogen from ethanol, and the rate is independent of gold particle size.

Using cryo-EM, the authors identified 42 MIPs, including outer junction protein CFAP77 and outer dense fibers, in native doublet microtubules of Tetrahymena thermophila. Knockout of CFAP77 reduced ciliary beat frequency and led to outer junction damage.

A high-resolution antigenic map of influenza A(H5) haemagglutinin (HA) enables the design of immunogenic and antigenically central vaccine HA antigens that elicit antibody responses broadly covering the A(H5) antigenic space.

For fertilization, sperm migrate through the utero-tubal junction (UTJ) and bind to the zona pellucida (ZP). Here the authors identify sperm expressed GALNTL5 as a GalNAc binding factor required for migration though the UTJ and attachment to the ZP.

Gold-siRNA clusters boost the immune response of radiotherapy against primary and distant tumors.

The authors report that an AS03-adjuvanted chimeric hemagglutinin-based influenza vaccine induces persistent stalk-specific serum antibody and bone marrow plasma cell responses in nonhuman primates, offering promise for broader and durable flu protection.

The characterization of surface ligands around nanoparticles is challenging and often limited to static studies. Now, the structure of the ligand shell around gold nanoparticles, and at the ligand–gold interface, has been investigated by transmission electron microscopy in a liquid environment by using high-quality graphene liquid cells.

Studying microorganisms at high temperatures is challenging on conventional optical microscopes. Here, the authors introduce the concept of microscale laser heating over the full field of view by using gold nanoparticles as light absorbers, and study thermophile species up to 80 °C.

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 separation of metals from electronic waste is an enduring technological and societal challenge, and new metal extraction, refining and recycling solutions are needed. Here the authors report a recyclable and tuneable chemical reagent that separates valuable metals such as gold by direct and selective precipitation from various acidic, mixed-metal solutions of relevance to extraction and recycling industries.

Toxoplasma gondii forms membrane contact sites with the endoplasmic reticulum of the host cell to facilitate the transfer of biomolecules to its vacuole.

It is of high interests to develop new catalysts for selective CO2 electroreduction. Here the authors investigate two-dimensional transition metal carbides for CO2 to methane conversion with superior activity, selectivity and low overpotentials.

Mutation of conserved prolines enhances correct pairing of light and heavy chains for bispecific IgG-like antibody production.

The source of pre-Inca agriculture in the Atacama Desert of Chile has been the subject of multiple theories, but this Article uses preserved maize remains to deduce that coastal guano deposits were utilized in an impressive display of social and ecological sophistication.

ALL-conformations, a dataset capturing the full range of experimentally observed conformations of CDR loops, T cell and antibody regions interacting with antigen targets, is introduced. ITsFlexible—a deep learning tool trained on this new dataset—advances predictions of immune receptor structural dynamics.

Simple methods for attaching polynucleotides to gold nanoparticles are of interest for simplifying conjugation in a range of applications. Here, the authors report a microwave heating-based method for the fast, one-step attachment of a range of thiolated or non-thiolated DNA and RNA to gold nanoparticles.

MsbA mediates the transport of lipopolysaccharide across the inner membrane. Here, the authors show specific MsbA-lipid interactions can tune the selectivity for binding ATP over ADP and present five structures of MsbA with one bound to lipid.

Some bacterial species display gliding motility associated with slime secretion through nozzle-like structures at the cell poles. Here, Zuckerman, So & Hoiczyk show that the nozzles are composed of PilQ/GspD proteins usually associated with protein secretion, thus suggesting that secretins may be required for the secretion of non-proteinaceous polymers in these bacteria.