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Analysis of samples from the asteroid Ryugu provide evidence of late fluid flow in a carbonaceous asteroid, indicating that such bodies may have retained two to three times more water than previously thought.

Stoldt, Maass, and colleagues present a study where smFISH is combined with STED and MINFLUX microscopy to map mitochondrial mRNA at nanometre resolution, enabling the exploration of the structural folding and distribution of mRNAs within mitochondria.

Algae fine-tune protein synthesis to assembly demands of photosynthetic complexes. In land plants, this feedback control is conserved in Rubisco and partly in photosystem II, but varies or is absent in other complexes, revealing divergent evolution.

Consistent local activity reductions in autism co-localize with glutamatergic and GABAergic neurotransmission. These patterns resemble brain changes induced by ketamine, highlighting altered excitation-inhibition balance underlying autism’s neurophysiology.

Spotiflow uses deep learning for subpixel-accurate spot detection in diverse 2D and 3D images. The improved accuracy offered by Spotiflow enables improved biological insights in both iST and live imaging experiments.

Djeghloul, Cheriyamkunnel et al. apply chromosome sorting to isolate active and inactive X chromosomes and report a role for Hbo1 and Msl histone acetyltransferase complexes in preserving active X chromosomes in female cells during mitosis.

Lung cancer screening effectiveness can be subject to variation based on personal risk factors. Here the authors report that heterogeneity in lung cancer screening effectiveness is primarily driven by histology.

Using whole-embryo imaging and point cloud analysis, Brambach et al. reveal that global tissue diversity can be reduced to two organisational archetypes, crystalline and amorphous, each requiring specific cadherin expression during development.

Activity recognition in live-cell imaging is laborious. Here, authors present, IVEA, a fully automated AI ImageJ plugin, that efficiently detects and classifies exocytosis events, from synaptic transmission to single-vesicle fusion, across cell types and imaging setups.

A global analysis reveals regional trends of net forest ageing but also that widespread stand-replacing disturbances, such as fire and harvest, are driving declining forest age in many areas, often accompanied by substantial losses in aboveground carbon stocks and shifts in carbon sink dynamics.

Brain-wide recordings in mice reveal that prior expectations are distributed through recurrent loops across all levels of cortical and subcortical processing.

Sensory experience transforms endogenously structured cortical networks with diverse and unreliable visual responses into reliable representations. This process is proposed to involve the alignment of feedforward and recurrent networks.

Reassessment of paleodata, atmospheric and hydrologic modelling explain why some 10,000 to 5000 years ago, deep crater lakes could exist in the Tibesti volcanic complex, the highest mountain range in the today hyper-arid Sahara.

The authors find, through experimental data and computational modeling, that altruistic acts stem from a motive cocktail of up to seven social and economic motives, whose strengths explain distinct behavior patterns across individuals and situations.

Synthetic receptors are a powerful approach for engineering cell-based therapies that can sense and respond to their environment. Here cytokine receptor domains have been repurposed to develop engineered T cells that can sense and respond to cues associated with cancer or immune dysfunction.

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.

In this Stage 2 Registered Report, Buchanan et al. show evidence confirming the phenomenon of semantic priming across speakers of 19 diverse languages.

Backward replay has been linked to offline learning and is typically enhanced for rewarding sequences. Here, the authors use EEG to show that trait anxiety is associated with reduced reward-related backward replay and a diminished preference for rewarding stimuli.

Cells can regulate their mass density. Here, the authors demonstrate how eukaryotes establish and maintain a lower density in the nucleus than in the cytoplasm via pressure balance, and how deviations emerge during pathophysiological states like senescence.

The oxygen evolution reaction proceeds over a surface that undergoes (frustrated) phase transitions to accommodate bias-dependent excess charge. Now it has been shown that this excess charge is intimately linked to the interfacial solvation of ions and the pre-organization of the transition state, providing insight into intrinsic catalyst activities.

Equivariant neural networks are state-of-the-art for machine learning-driven molecular dynamics (MD) simulations but have high computational cost. Here, the authors develop a Euclidean transformer that balances accuracy, stability, and speed, enabling stable long-timescale simulations of complex molecules

The authors reveal a three-domain architecture of glycoprotein clusterin and show that the hydrophobic tails are crucial for clusterin’s functions as an extracellular molecular chaperone and apolipoprotein, as well as for receptor binding and cellular uptake.

The transcription factors TCF1 and LEF1 promote self-renewal and regulatory functions in B-1a cells.

Unlike cortical progenitors, ventral telencephalic progenitors retain the ability to generate diverse neuron types during neurogenesis. Here, the authors show that ventral telencephalic progenitor maturation is gated by developmental timing, revealing a distinct regulatory logic underlying the development of inhibitory neurons.

Phytochrome photoreceptors are master regulators of plant development. This paper describes 3D structures of soybean phytochrome A in both Pr (inactive) and Pfr (signalling) states, revealing changes that might transmit the light signal to the cell.

Two high-redshift post-starburst galaxies are in the process of quenching, although their quasars remain active, indicating the complex co-evolution between black hole activity and star formation.

Animals alternate between active periods and periods of rest or sleep. This study in fruit flies points to brain metabolism as a cause for this and shows that a network of glial cells interacting with neurons links brain function with the need for rest and sleep.

WISDEM is a hybrid detector for simultaneous EEG and fMRI recordings without artifacts or crosstalk, which allows access to neural activity at high temporal and spatial resolution, respectively, as demonstrated in rats.

Graphene nanoribbons with zigzag edges are key candidates for spintronic applications due to their tunable bandgaps and spin-polarized edge states. Now it has been shown that hybrid ribbons embedded with metalloporphyrins enable strong electronic and magnetic coupling between distant metal centres, positioning such hybrids as promising materials for quantum devices.

Aminoacyl-thiols reacting selectively with RNA diols over amine nucleophiles and demonstration of chemically controlled formation of peptidyl-RNA in water at neutral pH suggest an important role for thiol cofactors before the evolution of enzymes.

Patients with different small round cell sarcoma (SRCS) often receive the same treatment regimen but for some SRCS subtypes, response to chemotherapy is poor and targeted treatment options are limited. Here, the authors establish a biobank of paediatric patient-derived SRCS tumoroids and perform drug screening, identifying MCL inhibition as a potential therapeutic strategy in CIC::DUX4 sarcomas.

Directional, non-vesicular lipid transport is responsible for fast, species-selective lipid sorting into organelle membranes.

How the bones of the skull vault expand to cover the brain is poorly understood. Here, the authors demonstrate that such bones grow through a mechanical feedback mechanism that propagates a wave of differentiation and emergent cell motion.

In this work, authors study a molecular signature in STING protein that is critical for distinguishing activation from inhibition and demonstrates therapeutic potential in correcting STING-related mutations in autoimmune conditions like STING-Associated Vasculopathy with onset in Infancy (SAVI).

Tong et al. chemically trapped the structure of the E4 enzyme Ufd2, which mediates K48 branched ubiquitination on K29diUb and K29triUb, identifying Ufd2’s core region as a K29diUb binding domain and a dimeric conformation for distal ubiquitin stabilization.

A modelling approach predicts SARS-CoV-2 variant dynamics on the basis of immunity and cross-neutralization, which was shaped by a region’s SARS-CoV-2 infection history.

Jupiter’s radiation belt exhibits complex electron distributions shaped by wave–particle interactions and moon absorption. Here, the authors identify an electron slot region and quantify its formation driven by whistler waves via Juno mission data and simulations.

Biomolecular phase separation arises from collective molecular interactions and is emerging as a key theme for biological function. Here the authors propose a broadly applicable method to quantify these interactions based on compositional and energetic parameters.

A trail-blazing astronomer, a climate revolutionary and a transplant pioneer are some of the people behind this year’s big stories.

Dual-scale chemical ordering in CoNiV-based alloys improves the synergy of strength and ductility at cryogenic temperatures, providing an approach for obtaining high-performance metallic materials for cryogenic applications.

Our understanding of how post-translational modification—protein phosphorylation—impacts the complexity of eukaryotic signalling pathways is continuously expanding. Now, protein oligophosphorylation has been characterized as an additional phosphorylation mode. Structural and mass spectrometry methods revealed that NME1 catalysed its own oligophosphorylation, leading to altered protein–protein interactions.

Exploration is vital for efficient and successful learning. Here, the authors propose a normative account of the role of hippocampal replay in generating approximately optimal exploratory choices.

CLPP-deficiency-driven mitochondrial dysfunction in brown adipose tissue leads to the accumulation of d-2-hydroxyglutarate, in turn promoting lipid-droplet enlargement by altering gene expression and epigenetically regulating nuclear stiffness.

Molecular recorders based on kinase activity-dependent protein labeling track specific kinase activities to understand their link to cellular phenotypes in heterogeneous cell populations and in vivo.

WHaloCaMP is a chemigenetic calcium indicator that can be combined with different rhodamine dyes for multiplexed or FLIM imaging in vivo, as demonstrated for calcium imaging in neuronal cultures, brain slices, Drosophila, zebrafish larvae and the mouse brain.

Cobalt–iron–lead oxide electrocatalysts show promise for the low-pH oxygen evolution reaction—an essential reaction in proton-exchange water electrolysis—but can suffer from corrosion. This study uncovers that the mechanism of cobalt site corrosion is decoupled from the oxygen evolution reaction, paving the way for more stable catalyst designs.

Anodic pulsing during electrocatalytic CO₂ reduction has been shown to enhance activity and selectivity towards hydrocarbons and alcohols on copper yet the nature of the active sites remains unclear. Here, correlated spectro-microscopy in a quasi in situ experimental set-up provides information on the formation of specific facets and oxidation states under reactive conditions.

The authors previously developed a mouse model ABab-A2 transduced with complete human TCR gene loci and HLA-A*02:01, termed ABab-A2 mice. Here the authors introduce a complete HLA-I haplotype into ABab-A2 mice and make the ABab-I mice, which manifest higher peripheral CD8 counts, broader TCR repertoire and stronger epitope response compared to ABab-A2 mice.