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During the Fischer-Tropsch catalytic reaction, alkanes are synthesized from carbon monoxide and hydrogen at high pressure and temperature. Now it is shown using scanning tunnelling imaging of a cobalt surface during reaction that linear alkane product molecules of a specific length self-assemble on terraces, facilitating the desorption of new product molecules created at step sites.

Two Co single crystal surfaces remain metallic up to 1 bar during Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The observed intermediates support the carbide mechanism as the reaction pathway. By adding and removing CO we can follow the dynamics of the (dis)appearance of intermediates.

It is challenging to design machine learning potentials for heterogeneous catalysis that are universal, reactive and have high accuracy. Now, an element-based machine learning potential relying on a random exploration via an imaginary chemicals optimization sampling strategy is put forward, and is successfully demonstrated for a range of applications.

The direct contribution of aberrant epithelial cells to lung fibrosis is largely unknown. The authors use murine and human systems to identify how these cells activate fibroblasts, and how reciprocal signals cause them to enter a profibrotic state.

The Fischer–Tropsch reaction is one of the key means of producing synthetic fuels. Here a deposition method to disperse cobalt nanoparticles across an alpha alumina support is shown to produce a highly stable system capable of withstanding demanding conditions while providing excellent activity.

The slit diaphragm is a key component of the glomerular filter. This study reveals that the slit diaphragm of Drosophila nephrocytes exhibits a fishnet architecture, offering insights into the molecular basis of renal filtration.

Mirror image peptides are of interest for a range of biotechnology applications. Here, the authors report on the creation of fully functional mirror-image transmembrane pores made of D-amino acid peptides, which have potential in nanopore sensing technologies and cancer therapies.

Tissue phenotypes arise from molecular states of individual cells and their spatial organisation, so spatial omics assays can help reveal how they emerge. Here, the authors apply graph neural networks to classify tissue phenotypes from spatial omics patterns, and use this approach to understand patterns in cancers and their microenvironments.

In multiple sclerosis, smoldering inflammation contributes to clinical progression. Using multi-omics data, here the authors link chronic inflammation to senescence-like processes and cellular network changes, suggesting a potential therapeutic target.

Diluting phosphorescent and thermally activated delayed fluorescence emitter molecules in solid-state host matrices has proven to be a useful strategy to hinder self-quenching mechanisms, but host materials must meet several criteria to enable energy efficient and stable OLEDs. Here, the authors report the synthesis of a series of 1,3,5-oxadiazines from a one-pot interrupted Fischer indolization, and demonstrate that they possess highly desirable characteristics as host materials in deep-blue OLED devices.

The meningeal compartment communicates with the brain to modulate homeostatic functions. Here, the authors demonstrate that natural killer (NK) cells and innate lymphoid cells (ILC) 1 shape synaptic neuronal transmission and affect mouse behavior.

Cancer cells can squeeze through confined spaces and undergo nuclear deformation, leading to changes in chromatin organisation. Here, the authors show that mechanical constriction in microcapillaries reprograms melanoma cells to a tumorigenic stem cell-like state through the mechanosensor PIEZO1.

In vitro transcribed circular RNAs (ivcRNAs) offer a stable and efficient platform for protein replacement therapy. Here, the authors show that localized ivcRNA delivery restores MSI2 and SOX5 expression in chondrocytes, mitigating osteoarthritis progression in mice.

Over 20 species of geographically and phylogenetically diverse bird species produce convergent whining vocalizations towards their respective brood parasites. Model presentation and playback experiments across multiple continents suggest that these learned calls provoke an innate response even among allopatric species.

Amino acids possess a new and broad colloidal property: they stabilize patchy nanoscale colloids, such as proteins, by adsorbing onto their surfaces through weak interactions.

Induced proximity by molecular glues is a strategy that leverages the recruitment of proteins to facilitate their modification or degradation. Here the authors present unbiased quantitative proteomic, biochemical and computational workflows that uncover hundreds of CRBN molecular glue targets using recombinant protein and cell lysate.

A terahertz field exceeding 1 V nm⁻¹ induced a structural phase transition in the top atomic layer of a bulk WTe₂ crystal. Differential imaging revealed a surface shift of 7 ± 3 pm and an electronic signature consistent with a topological phase transition.

Proteomic data from natural isolates of Saccharomyces cerevisiae provide insight into how these cells tolerate aneuploidy (an imbalance in the number of chromosomes), and reveal differences between lab-engineered aneuploids and diverse natural yeasts.

A mass spectrometry-based approach globally identifies protein regulators of metabolism and reveals the role of LRRC58 in controlling cysteine catabolism.

The transcriptional regulation of oligodendrocytes has an essential role in myelin formation and maintenance. Here, the authors identify the transcription factor Tfii-i as a regulator of myelin genes expression in the nervous system and show that its loss enhances myelin thickness and nerve conduction.

Analysis combining multiple global tree databases reveals that whether a location is invaded by non-native tree species depends on anthropogenic factors, but the severity of the invasion depends on the native species diversity.

VCPIP1 is a deubiquitylase that binds the essential protein VCP/p97. Here, the authors present cryo-EM structures of VCPIP1 bound to VCP and the VCP-VCPIP1-p47 ternary complex along with biochemical and cellular data highlighting the functional importance of VCPIP1 domains in Golgi maintenance.

Multiple bonds involving heavier elements were considered impossible but have recently been shown to be stable and offer divergent reactivity. Here the isolation of an alumene (a compound containing an Al=C bond) via direct CO reduction is described. Analysis of the alumene and its ability to homologate CO is reported.

Despite their differences, the rarer sarcoma CIC::DUX4 sarcoma (CDS) is typically treated with therapies developed for Ewing Sarcoma (EwS) with limited success. Here, the authors develop a co-clinical drug response profiling platform to establish patient-derived CDS and EwS tumoroids, identifying MCL1 inhibition as a promising therapeutic approach in CDS.

Here the authors show that human pancreatic islets adapt during pregnancy with increased α-cell area and GLP-1 abundance, while key differences from islet adaptations in mouse pregnancy include unchanged β-cell PRLR abundance and absent β-cell 5-HT_2B receptor expression.

Dual cyclin A/B RxL inhibitors selectively kill small cell lung cancer cells and other cancer cells with high E2F activity.

The quark structure of the f₀(980) hadron is still unknown after 50 years of its discovery. Here, the CMS Collaboration reports a measurement of the elliptic flow of the f₀(980) state in proton-lead collisions at a nucleon-nucleon centre-of-mass energy of 8.16 TeV, providing strong evidence that the state is an ordinary meson.

LYMTACs are heterobifunctional small molecules that take advantage of lysosomal membrane proteins to degrade membrane targets via relocalization and lysosomal degradation, offering a modular approach to drug otherwise intractable membrane proteins.

Small cell lung cancer cells form functional synapses with glutamatergic neurons, receiving synaptic transmissions and deriving a proliferative advantage from these interactions.

The cortex fuels essential physiological processes with glucose-derived carbon, while gliomas fuel their aggressiveness by rerouting glucose carbon pathways and scavenging alternative carbon sources such as environmental amino acids, providing a potential therapeutic target.

A synthetic biology system called SMART has been developed that uses conditional protein splicing for the programmable ligation of functional proteins from previously defined molecular combinations on cell surfaces.

In a phase 1 trial, patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma who were treated with surgery and bespoke neoantigen mRNA vaccines combined with anti-PD-L1 and chemotherapy exhibited marked long-lived persistence of neoantigen-specific CD8⁺ T cell clones, which correlated with prolonged recurrence-free survival at a 3.2-year follow-up.

Industrial hydrogen production often uses carbon-based sources, necessitating complex purification processes to separate hydrogen from impurities. Here the authors present a reversible catalytic cycle that converts crude hydrogen into pure hydrogen, bypassing the need for pressure swing adsorption or membrane systems.

Molecular glue degraders (MGD) offer a way to target undruggable proteins, but their discovery is challenging. Here, the authors develop a high-throughput proteomics platform for MGD drug discovery, revealing a much larger cereblon neosubstrate space than initially thought.

In mouse and rat models of Parkinson’s disease, co-transplanting regulatory T cells (T_reg cells) improves the survival of grafted midbrain dopamine neurons in cell therapies by reducing the inflammatory response caused by surgical injury.

O-glycosylation is an abundant post-translational modification but its relevance for bioactive peptides is unclear. Here, the authors detect O-glycans on almost one third of the classified peptide hormones and show that O-glycosylation can modulate peptide half-lives and receptor activation properties.

Heterochromatin loss has been linked to aging and neurodegeneration. Here, the authors show that combined loss of HP1β and HP1γ in neurons results in de-repressesion of endogenous retroviruses, inflammation in glia including accumulation of complement C3, dendritic loss, and cognitive decline in mice.

Imidazole propionate produced by gut microbiota is associated with atherosclerosis in mouse models and in humans, and causes the development of atherosclerosis through activation of the imidazoline-1 receptor in myeloid cells.

Neuronal development is tightly controlled by nutrients and antioxidants. Here, authors show that ferroptosis, a cell death modality driven by lipid peroxidation, is required to be suppressed by vitamin A or antioxidants to ensure proper neuronal development.

Gene editing of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells offers promise as a curative treatment for chronic granulomatous disease (CGD). Here, the authors develop a D10A Cas9n based gene editing strategy to treat CGD with no detectable off-target activity or chromosomal translocations.