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The composition of lipid nanoparticles for the delivery of tumour-antigen-encoding mRNA can be optimized via a screening method to enhance antitumour activity via the modulation of the immune activity of helper T cells.

High-resolution satellite observations provide an accurate and cost-effective solution to monitoring national and global progress towards Sustainable Development Goals. With a new global cropland dataset, this study reports that during the first two decades of the twenty-first century, the global cropland area increased by 9%, whereas the per-capita cropland area decreased by 10% and the per-capita annual cropland net primary production increased by 3.5%.

Genetic resources for livestock are valuable for understanding their demography and past selection, and may inform future breeding programs and agricultural improvement. Here, the authors present deep resequencing of 248 wild and domestic sheep, with associated data and analysis.

Nanoparticle penetration into tumours is an obstacle to cancer therapeutics. Here the authors show that the tumour vascular basement membrane constitutes a barrier that reduces nanoparticle delivery and demonstrate an immune-driven strategy to overcome the barrier, increasing nanoparticle movement into tumours.

Ugi reactions are well known multicomponent reactions that allow the preparation of a variety of chemical compounds including peptides, heterocyclic compounds, or natural products. Here, the authors report enantioselective Ugi reactions that enable the synthesis of chiral α-acylamino amides and α-aminotetrazoles catalyzed by stereogenic-at-cobalt(III) complexes.

Authors carry out a genomic analysis of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae bloodstream isolates, noting subclonal expansion, associated with the emergence of a hypervirulent subpopulation.

Plasmid DNA offers extended transgene expression duration compared to mRNA technologies. Here, using a multi-step screening platform, the authors report the best performing nanoparticle formulations for liver-targeted plasmid DNA expression in vivo.

The emergence of tumour adaptive radioresistance can limit the success of radiation therapy and immunotherapy in breast cancer. In this study, the authors demonstrate that CD47 and HER2 are coordinating in tumor response to radiation and that co-blockage of both receptors can eliminate radiorestistant breast cancer cells.

Rad5 is a hub connecting three replication stress tolerance pathways. Here, the authors present the 3.3 Å crystal structure of a N-terminal truncated K.lactis Rad5 construct that reveals the spatial arrangement of the HIRAN, Snf2 and RING domains and structure-guided in vitro and in vivo experiments reveal multiple activities of the yeast Rad5 HIRAN domain among them a role in binding PCNA and supporting its ubiquitination.

The oncogenic activity of Hexokinase 2, the first rate-limiting enzyme of glycolysis, requires its mitochondrial localization. Here, the authors show that SUMOylation of hexokinase 2 disrupts its binding to mitochondria and protects cells from tumorigenesis in prostate cancer.

Here, the authors report the engineering, structural and biological characterization of synthetic nanobodies (sybodies) that display potent therapeutic activity against SARS-CoV-2 infection in animal models via targeting the virus receptor-binding domain.

Diarrhoea is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in China. Here, the authors present results from a large sentinel surveillance scheme from 217 hospitals in all 31 provinces in mainland China, including ~150,000 patients with acute diarrhoea and covering years 2009-2018.

A zwitterionic camptothecin–polymer conjugate that is enzymatically transformed in a cationic molecule at the tumour periphery penetrates deep into tumours via caveolae-mediated endocytosis and transcytosis, resulting in high anticancer efficiency in vivo.

China operates a national surveillance program for acute respiratory infections and sampled over 200,000 patients between 2009–2019. Here, the authors present results from this program and describe patterns by age, pathogen type, presence of pneumonia, and season.

Conjugating drugs to therapeutic antibodies is a promising strategy to increase their therapeutic efficacy. Shen et al. show that the local chemical environment of the conjugation site influences the in vivo stability and efficacy of the modified antibodies.

Nitrate electroreduction to ammonia can decrease pollutants and produce high-value ammonia. Here, the authors design a Fe/Cu diatomic catalyst on nitrogen-doped graphene, which exhibits high catalytic activities of and selectivity for ammonia.

A human binary protein interactome map that includes around 53,000 protein–protein interactions involving more than 8,000 proteins provides a reference for the study of human cellular function in health and disease.

Characterization of full-length genome sequences from patients infected with a new coronavirus (2019-nCoV) shows that the sequences are nearly identical and indicates that the virus is related to a bat coronavirus.

The mechanism of action of artemisinin, an antimalarial drug, is not well understood. Here, the authors use a labelled artemisinin analogue to show that the drug is mainly activated by haem and then binds covalently to over 120 proteins in the malaria parasite, affecting many of its cellular processes.

Short-read sequencing has inherent limitations in the characterisation of long repeat elements. Shi and Guo et al.combine single-molecule real-time sequencing and IrysChip to construct a Chinese reference genome that fills many gaps in the reference genome, and identify novel spliced genes.

Ovarian cancer is common among women and is the leading cause of death from gynaecological malignancies. Here the authors identify two previously unknown genetic variants that increase the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer in Han Chinese women.

Comprehensive analyses of 178 lung squamous cell carcinomas by The Cancer Genome Atlas project show that the tumour type is characterized by complex genomic alterations, with statistically recurrent mutations in 11 genes, including TP53 in nearly all samples; a potential therapeutic target is identified in most of the samples studied.

Tricobalt tetraoxide (Co₃O₄) is a potential catalyst for low-temperature oxidation of carbon monoxide (required in automotive emission control) but although it is active even at subzero temperatures, it is highly sensitive to moisture. By forming Co₃O₄ into nanorods, Xiaowei Xie and colleagues make it more active and also stable in the presence of water; they attribute these improvements to the high density of catalytically active Co³⁺ sites exposed on the nanorod surface.

Xuejun Zhang and colleagues report a genome-wide association and replication studies for psoriasis, conducted in Chinese populations. They confirm previous associations in MHC and IL12B to psoriasis susceptibility, and report a new association within the LCE gene cluster at 1q21.

Youwen Zhou and Xue-Jun Zhang and colleagues report a genome-wide association study of generalized vitiligo, a common autoimmune disorder characterized by loss of melanocytes and depigmentation. The authors identify two independent associations within the MHC region and one new susceptibility locus on chromosome 6q27, which contains the genes RNASET2, FGFR1OP and CCR6.

Some chemotherapeutic drugs, such as doxorubicin, induce immunogenic cell death (ICD) and promote anti-tumor immune responses. Here the authors report that the histone demethylase inhibitor 5-carboxy-8-hydroxyquinoline (IOX1) reduces the expression of PD-L1 in cancer cells and enhances doxorubicin-induced ICD, promoting T cell infiltration and reducing tumor growth in preclinical models.

Conjugates of small-molecule anticancer drugs with a polyzwitterion that has negligible interaction with proteins and a weak interaction with phospholipids eradicate large tumours and patient-derived tumour xenografts in mice.

Longhua Shui Mi (LHSM) is a representative of the Chinese Cling peaches that have been central in global peach genetic improvement. Here, the authors assemble the genome of LHSM and show convergent selection for sweetness yet divergent selection for acidity in eastern vs. western cultivars through population genomics analyses.

Aged hematopoietic stem cells (HSC) are characterised by reduced regenerative potential and a loss of quiescence. Here, the authors show nicotinamide riboside treatment shrinks the age-enlarged stem cell pool and shifts aged HSC functionally, metabolically and molecularly towards the young state.

The high production cost and poor electrochemical performance of polyanionic cathode hinders their industrial application. Here, the authors report large-scale fabrication of sodium vanadium fluorophosphates and in situ construction of their carbon nanocomposites via a mechanochemical protocol.

Ligands capable of accelerating and inducing enantioselectivity in C–H activations with base metal catalysts have remained elusive. Here, the authors report a ligand-accelerated enantioselective C–H alknylation, using a chiral BINOL ligand with a copper catalyst.

Xuejun Zhang and colleagues report results of a genome-wide association study of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) in a Chinese Han population. Their work identifies nine new SLE susceptibility loci and reveals overlap in the spectrum of risk alleles shared between Chinese Han and European populations.

Prodrugs offer one route to treat cancer, but they require activation once they have been delivered to the tumour. Now, a simultaneous chemo-radiotherapy strategy has been demonstrated in mice that uses gamma or X-ray irradiation to locally activate an anticancer prodrug.

Parathyroid glands regulate calcium homeostasis by secreting parathyroid hormone. Chang et al. demonstrate that in parathyroid glands GABA receptor GABAB1R makes a heterocomplex with the calcium-sensing receptor and regulates the secretion of parathyroid hormone.

There are currently no validated methods for the diagnosis of prion disease at the preclinical stage. Here the authors show that serial protein misfolding cyclic amplification and real-time quaking-induced conversion can be used to detect prions in the skin of prion-inoculated hamsters and humanized transgenic mice at early preclinical stages.