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This study spatially maps MoS2 monolayer photoactivity, revealing static holes and mobile electrons with distinct redox zones. Bound excitons show higher efficiency, providing insights for designing advanced photocatalysts with improved performance.

What are the mechanisms that control gain in the cortex during distinct behavioral states? In this article, the authors record from cortical excitatory and inhibitory neurons from the visual cortex of mice running on a spherical treadmill and find that cholinergic and noradrenergic modulatory inputs play distinct roles in the dynamics of the membrane potential of these neurons during locomotion and immobility.

Neurons make homeostatic adjustments to the strength of their synapses on the basis of their activity levels. Here the authors show the microRNA miR-92a represses the translation of the AMPA receptor subunit GluA1 and that, during activity blockade, its levels are reduced to increase the incorporation of new AMPA receptors.

A challenge in cell therapy for photoreceptor degeneration is inducing the grafted cells to grow and maintain light sensitive outer segments. Here, the authors use optogenetics to circumvent this problem and restore visual function in blind mice.

The authors seek to understand the precise roles of microglia in the early human brain by coculturing brain organoids with primitive-like macrophages generated from the same human induced pluripotent stem cells (iMac).

Synaptic structures disintegrate and fragment as ageing progresses. Here the authors find that miniature neurotransmission is required to maintain adult motor synapse structures in Drosophila and that increasing miniature events can preserve motor ability during ageing.

Downregulation of the anoctamin 1 calcium channel in airway epithelial cells contributes to pathology in cystic fibrosis. Here the authors show that microRNA-9 targets anoctamin 1 and that inhibiting this interaction improves mucus dynamics in mouse models.

Carbo-Tano and colleagues investigate the mesencephalic locomotor region in larval zebrafish and its role in triggering forward locomotion by activating specific sets of hindbrain V2a reticulospinal neurons.

Sonogenetics provides neuron-specific activation at high spatiotemporal resolution ex vivo in retina and in vivo deep in the visual cortex using the AAV gene delivery of a mechanosensitive ion channel and low-intensity ultrasound stimulations.

Neuroligins are postsynaptic cell adhesion molecules thought to play roles in synaptic development and function. Here, authors show that phosphorylation of Y782 in neuroligin-1 modulates its role in differentiation and ability to recruit AMPARs including during long-term potentiation.

Mate preference and copulatory behavior in female rodents are coordinated with the ovulation cycles of the animal. This study shows that hypothalamic kisspeptin neurons control both mate choice and copulation, and therefore, that sexual behavior and ovulation may be synchronized by the same neuropeptide.

Nematode bacterial symbionts were evolved in vitro to resist insect-sequestered plant toxins to improve the insect-killing efficacy of their nematode host.

Seamless integration of single-molecule localization microscopy and STED allows for correlative live imaging of protein position and movement at the nanoscale in the context of fine morphological features.

Ependymal cell cilia regulate cerebrospinal fluid flow through the cerebral ventricles. Here the authors show that the metabolic peptide melanin-concentrating hormone (MCH) increases cilia beat frequency in the third ventricle, and a lack of the MCH receptor increases ventricle size.

Fine-mapping of causal variants and integration of epigenetic and chromatin conformation data identify likely target genes for 150 breast cancer risk regions.

Stig Bojesen, Georgia Chenevix-Trench, Alison Dunning and colleagues report common variants at the TERT-CLPTM1L locus associated with mean telomere length measured in whole blood. They also identify associations at this locus to breast or ovarian cancer susceptibility and report functional studies in breast and ovarian cancer tissue and cell lines.

Benamer et al. develop a knock-in mouse model carrying the E1799del otoferlin mutation to study the atypical DFNB9 variant form of deafness. They show the mouse model exhibits abnormal otoferlin distribution, failure of synaptic transmission in inner hair cells, and profound hearing loss, all of which can be restored with AAV gene therapy.

Retinoic acid (RA) regulates the maintenance of somitogenesis symmetry. Here, the authors use a proteomic approach to identify a protein complex of Wdr5, Hdac1, Hdac2 that act together with RA and coactivator Rere/Atrophin2 and a histone methyltransferase Ehmt2 to regulate embryonic symmetry.

Observations from the Lucy spacecraft of the small main-belt asteroid (152830) Dinkinesh reveals unexpected complexity, with a longitudinal trough and equatorial ridge, as well as the discovery of the first contact binary satellite.

A region on chromosome 19p13 is associated with the risk of developing ovarian and breast cancer. Here, the authors genotyped SNPs in this region in thousands of breast and ovarian cancer patients and identified SNPs associated with three genes, which were analysed with functional studies.

Genome-wide association analyses identify new susceptibility loci for Brugada syndrome. Functional studies implicate microtubule-related trafficking effects on sodium channel expression as an underlying molecular mechanism.

There is no universal reference material to develop extracellular vesicle (EV) separation methods and carry out calibration and normalization. Here the authors use HIV-derived gag proteins to assemble recombinant fluorescent EV as a trackable reference material resembling the physical and biochemical properties of sample EV.

Roger Milne and colleagues conduct a genome-wide association study for estrogen receptor (ER)-negative breast cancer combined with BRCA1 mutation carriers in a large cohort. They identify ten new risk variants and find high genetic correlation between breast cancer risk for BRCA1 mutation carriers and risk of ER-negative breast cancer in the general population.

Near-Earth asteroid Bennu has a top-like shape with longitudinal ridges, macroporosity, prominent boulders and surface mass wasting, suggesting that it is a stiff rubble pile, according to early observations by the OSIRIS-REx mission.

Fergus Couch and colleagues report a genome-wide association study for modifiers of breast cancer susceptibility in BRCA1 mutation carriers. They identify a locus at 19p13 associated with breast cancer risk in BRCA1 mutation carriers, and further replication studies identify this locus as associated with estrogen receptor–negative breast cancer in the general population.