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Quantum lock-in detection (QLID) is crucial for extracting oscillating signals from noise, while quantum entanglement is vital to surpass the standard of quantum limit in precision measurement. Here, the authors experimentally realise entanglement-enhanced QLID using two trapped ions, achieving frequency measurement precision at the Heisenberg limit and demonstrating an improved inverse-quadratic temporal scaling.

Rak et al. report the visualisation of internal domain boundaries in perovskite single crystals, revealing that electric fields produced by localised flexoelectricity separate electric charges, reducing recombination of charge carriers, and leading to long-lived photocurrent under zero bias.

Z-lock is introduced as a new method to control protein activity with light. It relies on a steric block placed over important regions of the target protein that can be released reversibly. Z-lock was applied to regulate cofilin and αTAT activity.

Here, using cryo-EM, the authors reveal the mechanism by which RecA filamented on single-stranded DNA binds to and induces LexA cleavage, the key signal governing the bacterial DNA damage response pathway implicated in antibiotic resistance.

The influenza virus life cycle relies on sialidases, which are classified as group-1 or group-2, depending on the flexibility of the '150-loop'. In this study, chemical compounds are developed, which lock open the '150-loop', selectively inhibiting the activity of group-1 sialidases.

The plant hormone abscisic acid (ABA) is a regulator of plant growth, development and responses to environmental stresses. Recently, the PYR/PYL/RCAR family of START proteins was found to bind ABA and mediate inactivation of downstream effectors. The crystal structures of apo and ABA-bound receptors as well as a ternary PYL2–ABA–PP2C complex is now reported and analysed, revealing a gate–latch–lock mechanism underlying ABA signalling.

Semaphorin-plexin cell-cell signaling is important in tissue development, with roles in axon guidance, immunity and cancer. The structure of the complex formed between semaphorin-3, plexin-A and their co-receptor neuropilin, combined with mutagenesis, reveals how neuropilin contributes to stabilizing the signaling complex.

Multiregion sequencing is needed to better capture the heterogeneity of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma (iCCA). Here, the authors analyse HCC and iCCA tumours with multiregion single-cell RNA-seq, revealing cellular dynamics and communication networks with immune cells.

A recently developed class of magneto-sensitive fluorescent proteins are engineered to alter the properties of their response to magnetic fields and radio frequencies, enabling multimodal sensing of biological systems.

Many functional materials can be created by directing the assembly of colloidal particles into a desired structure. Control over particle assembly usually involves the use of molecules such as DNA that can recognize and bind each other. Here, a simple and effective alternative is described. Colloidal spheres serve as keys, and monodisperse colloidal particles with a spherical cavity as locks. These will spontaneously and reversibly bind to each other via the depletion interaction if their sizes match.

New cryo-EM structures of the FANCD2–FANCI complex provide insights into how phosphorylation of FANCI facilitates DNA clamping to prime the complex for monoubiquitination and recruitment of downstream factors in the Fanconi anemia pathway of DNA damage repair.

Chemoproteomics-enabled identification of the targets of a hydroxylated cholesterol metabolite, 20(S)-hydroxycholesterol, reveals it to be the first reported endogenous ligand of the sigma-2 receptor, a drug target for neurodegeneration and neuropathic pain.

The authors study microstructured UTe₂ by high-field transport, focusing on the field-reinforced superconducting phase. They reveal a highly-directional vortex pinning force typical of quasi-2D superconductors, indicating a vortex lock-in state and consistent with a change of order parameter from the low-field superconducting phase.

An algorithm that combines deep learning, Bayesian optimization and computer vision techniques can be used to autonomously tune a semiconductor spin qubit from a grounded device to Rabi oscillations.

The P2X4 receptor, an ATP-activated ion channel, plays a role in chronic pain, inflammation, and cancer. Authors in this work discover an extracellular allosteric binding site that interacts with anthraquinone derivatives, and is narrowed by ionic lock formation.

G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) are critically involved in signal transduction. Structural views of several GPCRs have recently been obtained, but the structural principles determining subtype selectivity are still mostly elusive. Now, a combined solid-state NMR and molecular-modeling approach reveals how bradykinin GPCRs distinguish between closely related peptide ligands.

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.

Stranded assets could pose a challenge to food system transformation. Estimates of the stranded agricultural assets that may arise from a shift to plant-based diets in the European Union and UK underscore the need to refocus support mechanisms for ensuring a just transition.

Symmetry breaking is key to numerous notable effects, for instance, the emergence of a Rashba interaction at interfaces between two materials. Here, Zhang, Ding, and coauthors succeed in breaking in-plane mirror symmetries via crystallographic engineering, and observe a giant non-linear Hall effect and current induced magnetization at room temperature.

Examples of materials with non-trivial band topology in the presence of strong electron correlations are rare. Now it is shown that quantum fluctuations near a quantum phase transition can promote topological phases in a heavy-fermion compound.

Viral ribonucleoprotein–viral protein networks form pre-replication centres that nucleate viral factories and drive respiratory syncytial virus replication.

Electron transfer in molecular wires is typically dominated by tunnelling at short lengths. Now it is shown that conjugated molecular wires anchored to indium tin oxide electrodes exhibit a hopping mechanism even at 1-nm lengths, enabling charge extraction in tin perovskite solar cells and improved device performance.

Insights into regulatory T cell biology are accelerating therapeutic innovation in cancer immunotherapy, autoimmune diseases and transplant rejection.

Polyamines prevent the action of kinases on acidic phosphorylatable motifs in spliceosomal proteins, thus providing a mechanism for metabolite-mediated regulation of alternative splicing in cells.

Perforin monomers self-assemble into pre-pores that first insert into the membrane and then recruit additional subunits to grow in size.

Circulating tumor cell (CTC) clusters are key drivers of metastasis, yet their formation in tumors lacking classical adhesion molecules is unclear. Here, the authors discover that hyaluronic acid promotes homotypic and heterotypic CTC clustering by initiating early cell contacts and stabilizing mature interactions.

Previous work on periodically driven many-body systems has demonstrated the formation of time crystals that break time-translation symmetry. Now, more general phases with partial temporal ordering have been realized.

Rapid immune activation requires tight control of mRNA stability in CD8⁺ T cells. Here, the authors show that a compositive RNA motif – m⁶A sites positioned next to AU-rich elements - marks mRNAs for rapid decay during activation, revealing a coordinated mechanism that shapes T-cell immunity.

The buildup and operation of a custom single-molecule localization microscope with state-of-the-art performance and advanced features bridges the gap between entry-level open-source projects and costly commercial systems.

Cholesterol-dependent cytolysins (CDCs) are bacterial pore-forming virulence factors. Cryo-EM structure of an early conformation of the CDC ILY from Streptococcus intermedius, bound to the human immune receptor CD59, provides insight into ILY oligomerization and role of cholesterol in membrane lysis.

Electron avalanche multiplication can enable an all-optical modulator controlled by single photons.

Provencio and colleagues reported the exploratory efficacy outcomes and safety results from the CheckMate 77T phase 3 trial in patients with stage III resectable non-small-cell lung cancer.

Frequency comb synthesizers are important for metrology, but they have been difficult to use as frequency rulers in the terahertz region due to their low power. Consolinoet al. phase-lock a quantum cascade laser to a free-space-propagating terahertz comb, demonstrating that they can overcome this limitation.

Coherent spin waves—quantized into magnons—can be emitted as Cherenkov radiation, but their experimental realization is hindered by the lack of fast-moving magnetic perturbations. Now, a picosecond strain pulse is shown to induce this effect.

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.

In a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial comparing autologous mRNA-engineered BCMA-targeting CAR T cell therapy versus placebo in patients with generalized myasthenia gravis, a significantly higher percentage of patients exhibited a reduction in disease activity in the treatment arm than in the placebo arm.

TIRTL-seq is a high-throughput method for paired T cell receptor sequencing at the cohort scale.

Graphene systems have the potential to host Wigner crystal states at zero magnetic field. Here, the authors report transport signatures consistent with Wigner crystallization in AB-stacked bilayer graphene at both zero and finite magnetic fields.

Transcription–replication conflicts can threaten genome stability. Here, the authors show that RNA polymerase II (Pol II) is a stronger roadblock to a DNA fork in the head-on orientation, and an RNA–DNA hybrid can form in front of Pol II, creating a topological lock trapping Pol II at the fork.

Short-lived RNA folding intermediates have important roles in the folding of RNA. Here, the authors combine ¹⁵N relaxation dispersion NMR with chemical probing to visualise one of these intermediates, and are able to show it is a secondary structural switch, that might help with folding.

Here the authors show that transient cell cycle arrest reprograms CD8⁺ T cells into a highly energized state, increasing proliferation and antitumor activity and boosting efficacy of immunotherapies in cancer models.

Table-top measurements of magnetic structures and dynamics in thin films are typically limited by temporal or spatial resolution. Here, the authors present a heat-based spatiotemporal magnetic microscopy method based on the anomalous Nernst effect, which may potentially overcome such limits.

Researchers demonstrate two-stage laser stabilization based on a combination of Fabry–Pérot and spectral-hole burning techniques. The laser was first pre-stabilized using Fabry–Pérot cavities and then modulated to address a spectral-hole pattern in Eu³⁺:Y₂SiO₅. Taking advantage of the low sensitivity of the spectral holes to environmental perturbations, the researchers obtained a fractional frequency stability of 6 × 10⁻¹⁶

Transcription factor osr2 is identified as a specific marker and regulator of mural lymphatic endothelial cell (muLEC) differentiation and maintenance, and muLECs and border-associated macrophages share functional analogies but are not homologous, providing an example of convergent evolution.