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MXenes are two-dimensional materials with promising applications, but their oxidation mechanisms under electrochemical conditions are poorly understood. Here, the authors use theoretical simulations to investigate how the oxidation of MXenes is influenced by the electrode potential.

Though coronary arteries are crucial for heart function, the mechanisms guiding their formation are largely unknown. Here, Wang et al. identify a unique, endocardially-derived angiogenic precursor cell population for coronary artery formation in mice and show that a DLL4/NOTCH1/VEGFA/VEGFR2 signaling axis is key for coronary artery development.

Plant microbiome confers fitness benefits upon drought. By integrating plant genetic, microbial genetic and multi-omics approaches, this work reveals the critical role of root hair developmental regulators in shaping drought alleviating microbiome.

Nanoscale optoelectrodes hold the potential to optically stimulate individual neuron. Here, the authors form nanoscale capacitive optoelectrodes by incorporating zinc porphyrin into nanorods, coated by TiO2, a design that allows for far-field optical modulation of neurons with efficiency and negligible side effects.

Huanming Yang, Zhiming Cai, Jun Wang and colleagues report whole-exome sequencing of 10 clear cell renal cell carcinomas followed by a screen of ~1,100 genes in a total of 98 tumors. They found 12 new disease-associated genes and detected frequent alterations in the ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway.

Disruption of CREB/CRTC2, a key gluconeogenic transcriptional complex, has been shown to ameliorate insulin resistance in mice. Here, the authors show that the inhibitor artipllin C and the synthetic compound A57, which presents with higher inhibitory activity, improve insulin sensitivity in obese mice by inhibiting CREB-CRTC2 interaction.

Nanoconfined water has unique properties, often leading to the discovery of unexpected phenomena, which play key roles in applications such as sensing, filtration, and catalysis. Here authors report electrically controlled gating in cation (K⁺/Li⁺) intercalated multilayer Ti₃C₂ and describe anomalous water dynamics in electrical angstrom-scale channels.

This study reveals that short-term acute heat stress causes vacuolation of the Golgi apparatus, whereafter autophagy-related protein 8 (ATG8) translocates to the cisternal membrane and recruits CLATHRIN LIGHT CHAIN 2 (CLC2) to facilitate Golgi reconstruction by promoting the budding of ATG8-positive vesicles.

Wang et al. present the human universal senescence index (hUSI), a robust transcriptome-based tool that accurately predicts cellular senescence across diverse conditions, offering insights into aging and therapeutic strategies.

Li_6.5La₃Zr_1.5Ta_0.5O₁₂ (LLZO) is a promising solid electrolyte but suffers from severe surface degradation in air. Here, authors use mapping of resonant Auger spectroscopy and various ambient pressure X-ray spectroscopies to elucidate the dynamical evolution of CO₂ and H₂O on clean LLZO surfaces.

Vibrational strong coupling controls the ground-state reactivity of molecules in optical cavities, but the underlying theory is still elusive. The authors analyze a molecular system coupled to a cavity mode and find that the reaction rate is suppressed for a particular cavity frequency, related to the topology of the reaction barrier region, analogously to a solvent caging effect.

In situ transmission electron microscopy observations reveal atomistic mechanism of water-vapour-enhanced oxidation of Ni–Cr alloys. Protons derived from water promote vacancy formation, migration and clustering.

The therapeutic benefits of biomaterials-based treatments for oral ulcer have been limited by the materials’ poor adhesion and short-time retention in oral cavity. Here, the authors report a polymer binary elastomer adhesive patch that allows water-responsive sustainable delivery of bioactive small molecules and durable adhesion to oral mucosal wounds to achieve efficient therapy of oral ulcer.

Gorman et al. designed a Lassa virus prefusion-stabilized soluble glycoprotein complex trimer (GPC), with which they identified a Lassa virus-neutralizing nanobody that bound the GPC apex and elicited neutralizing antibody responses in guinea pigs.

Power factor and figure-of-merit values are normally low in flexible thermoelectric materials. Here, the authors fabricate high-performance ductile thermoelectric materials with high power factor and figure-of-merit values near the morphotropic phase boundary in Ag₂Se-Ag₂S pseudobinary compound.

This study demonstrates that tuning the grain boundary density in nanoparticle assemblies by controlling nanoparticle collisions significantly enhances their activity, selectivity, and stability towards electrocatalytic reactions.

FXR agonists have been investigated for the treatment of non-alcoholic steatohepatitis and liver fibrosis but the clinical efficacy is not optimal. Here the authors show that enhanced FXR SUMOylation in activated hepatic stellate cells reduces FXR signaling and that this can be rescued by SUMOylation inhibitors.

Early identification of COVID-19 patients at risk of progression may facilitate more individually aligned treatment plans. Here the authors develop an online nomogram incorporating CT severity score and clinical characteristics for early predicting the disease progression risk among COVID-19 pneumonia patients.

Defect density reduction is pertinent for halide perovskite solar cells but a universal strategy has not been exploited. Here Chen et al. show that by fine tuning the alkaline environment in precursor solution, they can greatly suppress defects density and obtain high certified efficiency of 20.87%.

Chemo-enzymatic tandem processes allow access to more complex non-racemic products. Here, the authors show that non-ionic surfactants, especially the tailor-made surfactant TPGS-750-M, enhance the activity of alcohol dehydrogenase to afford stereopure products in a 1-pot reaction.

The residual strains in the mixed halide perovskite thin films and their effects on the solar cell devices are less understood. Here Zhu et al. study the impact of the gradient in-plane strain on the carrier dynamics of the strained perovskite films and optimize the device efficiency.

Xiao et al. report a weaker adaptive immune response in older adults after inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccination compared to young adult controls, identifying altered immune cell function and decreased antigen-specific receptor repertoire diversity as potential underlying mechanisms.

Precious metal free catalysts for aerobic oxidation of hydrocarbons are industrially useful materials. Here, the authors report a mesoporous maganese-cerium oxide solid solution that is highly active for the selective oxidation of C-H bonds in hydrocarbons under mild conditions.

The mechanisms regulating cardiomyocyte proliferation during development and cardiac regeneration are incompletely understood. The authors show that the transcription factor REST regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation by binding and repressing the cell cycle inhibitor p21.

Conductive materials with tissue-matched softness are needed for ultra-soft electronics. Here, the authors report ultra-soft and conductive bottlebrush elastomer composites and fabricate them into electronics with laser cutting and 3D printing methods.

The activation of TGF-β signaling has been implicated in cancer metastasis. Here, the authors show that OTUD1 suppresses metastasis by antagonizing the TGF-β pathway via the deubiquitination of SMAD7, and its loss correlates with poor prognosis in breast cancer.

Multivalent nanobodies against SARS-CoV-2 from mice engineered to produce camelid nanobodies recognize conserved epitopes that are inaccessible to human antibodies and show promise as a strategy for dealing with viral escape mutations.

A novel attosecond-scale streaking method was proposed and demonstrated to determine the tunneling time of an electron with a precision of a few attoseconds.

For many neurodevelopmental disorder (NDD) risk genes, the significance for mutational burden is unestablished. Here, the authors sequence 125 candidate NDD genes in over 16,000 NDD cases; case-control mutational burden analysis identifies 48 genes with a significant burden of severe ultra-rare mutations.

Chiral functional materials with circularly polarized luminescence can be used in various applications but rarely reported. Here the authors show, a complex system, which show intense circularly polarized ultraviolet luminescence with large glum value, enabling a chiral UV light triggered enantioselective polymerization.

Emergent quantum phenomena such as quantized anomalous Hall effect may be realized in magnetic topological materials. Here, Hu et al. discovered an intrinsic natural heterostructural Z₂ antiferromagnetic topological insulator MnBi₄Te₇ with low out-of-plane saturation fields.

Cancer can be associated with alterations in innate immunity. Gao et al. demonstrate that these alterations arise from immunomodulatory exosomes released by tumors, which then dampen the production of type I interferons by macrophages.

Growth of large-area monolayer transition metal dichalcogenides is critical for their application but remains challenging. Here Yang et al. report rapid chemical vapor deposition of 6-inch monolayer molybdenum disulfide by sufficiently uniformly supplying the precursors and catalysts.