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Outer hair cell electromotility, driven by prestin, is essential for mammalian cochlear amplification. Here, the authors report the cryo-EM structures of thermostabilized prestin in the presence of various anions, providing insight into the mechanisms of mammalian cochlear amplification.

Tetraspanins play critical roles in various physiological processes, ranging from cell adhesion to virus infection. Here authors report the crystal structure of CD9 and the cryo-electron microscopic structure of CD9 in complex with its single membrane-spanning partner protein, EWI-2.

Allostery produces concerted functions of protein complexes by orchestrating the cooperative work between the constituent subunits. By restoring functions of pseudo-active sites that have been lost through evolution, allosteric sites have now been designed into a rotary molecular motor, V₁-ATPase, resulting in its rotation being boosted allosterically.

Molecular dynamics (MD) techniques enable atomic-level observations, but simulations of “slow” biomolecular processes are challenging because of current computer speed limitations. Here, the authors develop a method to accelerate MD simulations by high-frequency ultrasound perturbation and reveal binding events between the protein CDK2 and its small-molecule inhibitors.

Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the bacterial O-antigen ligase WaaL, combined with genetics, biochemistry and molecular dynamics simulations, provide insight into the mechanism by which WaaL catalyses the biosynthesis of lipopolysaccharide.

Nanochannels in laminated graphene oxide nanosheets featuring confined mass transport have attracted interest in multiple research fields. As an important aspect for efficient pressure-driven membrane processes, authors investigate the response and deformation behaviours of such nanochannels to different external conditions.

Using mouse models of TDP-43 neurodegeneration, this study demonstrates that microglial TREM2 binds TDP-43 and thus mediates its phagocytic clearance. TDP-43 may serve as a possible ligand for microglial TREM2 in TDP-43-related neurodegeneration.

The delivery of genetic material into plants is challenging due to the cell wall barrier. Here, the authors hybridize polymer-coated carbon nanotubes with functional peptides to deliver plasmid DNA cargo into intact plant mitochondria for transient expression and homologous recombination at high efficiency.

Rhodopsin phosphodiesterase (Rh-PDE) hydrolyzes both cAMP and cGMP in a light-dependent manner. Structural and functional analyses of the Rh-PDE from Salpingoeca rosetta reveal unusual rhodopsin topology comprising 8 transmembrane helices (TMs) and suggest that TM0 plays a crucial role in the enzymatic photoactivity.

Transcriptional biosensors represent powerful tools for the screening of vast strain libraries, but the broad ligand specificity of some transcriptional regulators (TRs) can prohibit such applications. Here authors present the engineering of a LysG-based biosensor with a focused ligand specificity to isolate L-histidine-producing strains.

Asc1/CD98hc is a key regulator of small neutral amino acid transport in the brain and adipose tissue. Here, authors report the structure of semi-occluded hAsc1/CD98hc and provide a model for Asc1 exchange and facilitated diffusion modes of transport.

Bacterial cell shape is dependent on the formation of the extracellular sugar polymer called peptidoglycan. Here the authors describe RodA-PBP2, the enzymatic core of the elongasome, which is the complex responsible peptidoglycan synthesis, and utilize an integrated approach to investigate the mechanism of peptidoglycan biosynthesis.

The effect of dense plasma environment on the energy levels of an ion is usually described in terms of a lowering of its continuum level. Here the authors present an isochoric-heating experiment to measure and compare continuum lowering in single-species and mixture plasmas to provide insights for models.

A cryo-EM structure of the active human melatonin receptor in complex with G_i reveals conformational changes upon activation and the molecular basis for G-protein selectivity.

Self-incompatibility responses in Brassica are induced by haplotype-specific interactions between the pistil-expressed SRK receptor and pollen-expressed SP11 ligand. Here, via crystal structures and molecular dynamic simulations, the authors provide a model to explain why binding of cognate partners is favoured and how haplotypes can be distinguished.

Marburg virus causes severe hemorrhagic fever in humans. Here, the authors determine the structure of Marburg virus nucleoprotein–RNA complex by cryo-electron microscopy and provide mechanistic insight into the helical assembly of the nucleocapsid.

A single-molecule forced unfolding of E. coli chloride transporter ClC-ec1 shows that the N- and C-terminal halves of the protein unfold independently, with exposed polar surfaces stabilized by membrane lipid head groups and water.

A new intracellular agonist-binding pocket is identified that is common to many G protein-coupled receptors, which will have implications for the development of biased compounds that target this large group of receptors.

Acyl protein thioesterase APT2 interacts with membranes via its charged β-tongue, becomes palmitoylated by ZDHHC3/7 and deforms the bilayer to extract substrate acyl chains. APT2 deacylation leads to its membrane release and degradation.

In our gut, oxalate-degrading bacteria absorb oxalate, a causative substance for kidney stone formation, and reduce our health risk. In this work, the authors report the structure of the oxalate transporter responsible for this process and how the protein works.

Singlet fission (SF) can create spin-polarized quintet states in organic systems, but this effect and its potential applications have not been sufficiently explored. Here, authors demonstrate that SF in supramolecular assemblies of pentacene chromophores improves the sensitivity of magnetic resonance of water molecules through dynamic nuclear polarization in a water-glycerol glass.

Designing materials with large thermal expansion is highly desirable to fabricate microscale devices. The authors report unusually large anisotropic negative and positive thermal expansion in a simple crystalline material, through temperature-driven orientation of imidazole cations acting as molecular wheels.

The Bin/Amphiphysin/Rvs167 (BAR) domain superfamily, which includes FCH-BAR (F-BAR) domain proteins are membrane-sculpting proteins. Here the authors combine a range of techniques and show that the F-BAR domain of growth-arrest specific protein 7 (GAS7) forms two-dimensional sheets on flat membranes and that these oligomeric assemblies of GAS7 are required for the formation of phagocytic cups in macrophages.

Warm dense matter (WDM), which falls in the category between plasmas and condensed matter, is expected to exist in planetary interiors. Now, researchers use an X-ray laser to observe the transition to WDM.

The behaviour of ions solvated in water is highly ion-specific. Introducing a length scale that captures the interplay between ion-water and inter-water interactions, along with considering the bond-orientational order of the hydration shell, provides an explanation for the ion-specific effects observed in salt solutions.

Interaction of two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenide grains with exposed oxygen–aluminium atomic plane in sapphire is a more dominant factor than step-edge docking in controlling the single-crystal epitaxy of these materials.

IFITM3 shifts upon phosphorylation from acting as an antiviral effector to being a scaffold for PIP3 and thereby amplifies PI3K signalling, which can be co-opted for malignant transformation in B cell leukaemia and lymphoma.

P2X receptors are nonselective cation channels that are gated by extracellular ATP. Here the authors present the crystal structure of chicken P2X7 with its bound competitive antagonist TNP-ATP and give mechanistic insights into TNP-ATP dependent inhibition through further computational analysis and electrophysiology measurements.

Mutations in the ankyrin repeat domain (ARD) of TRPV4 are responsible for several channelopathies but little is known about the physiological function of this domain. Here the authors show that phosphoinositide binding to TRPV4 ARD leads to suppression of the channel activity, and obtain the crystal structure of the domain in complex with inositol-1,4,5-trisphosphate.

Cryo-EM analyses of amyloid fibrils formed by synthetic human IAPP show an S-fold for the main polymorph, with the backbone superimposable with those of amyloid-β fibrils in antiparallel arrangement.

Adsorption-based heat transfer devices are attractive for clean energy resources, but those using water as the working fluid require suitable water adsorbents. Here the authors use computation and experiment to develop an aluminum-based metal-organic framework adsorbent for adsorption-driven heat transfer devices.

Leucine-rich repeat transmembrane neuronal proteins (LRRTMs) function as postsynaptic organizers that induce excitatory synapses. Here authors solve the crystal structure of LRRTM2 in complex with its ligand Nrxn1β and shed light on how selective binding of ligands to LRRTM1/2 is achieved.

Electron-transfer-mediated decay (ETMD) is a recently discovered type of electronic relaxation that involves the refilling of a core hole by an electron from a neighbouring species. It has now been observed in LiCl solution, when previously it had only been seen in rare-gas clusters. Spectra generated during ETMD are observed to be sensitive to the immediate environment of the initially ionized ion.

Cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM) can be used to determine the three-dimensional structure of proteins at atomic-scale resolution. It is challenging to observe the dynamics of proteins using cryo-EM because of their large sizes and complex structural assemblies. A new deep-learning approach called DEFMap extracts the dynamics associated with the atomic fluctuations that are hidden in cryo-EM density maps.

Grain boundary conductivity limitations are ubiquitous in material science. Illumination with above-bandgap light is now shown to decrease grain boundary resistance in a model gadolinium-doped ceria solid ionic conductor.

A structural study supported by molecular dynamics simulations describes the basis of receptor-subtype selectivity of a small-molecule antagonist of the human muscarinic M₂ receptor.

Thermodynamic observables develop power laws and singularities when approaching the Curie point of a ferromagnetic phase transition. Here, Saratz et al. demonstrate that topological excitations (that is, magnetic domains in Fe/Cu(100) films that even persist above the Curie point) remove those singularities compatibly with an avoided critical point.

Understanding the structural origin of the anomalous properties of SiO₂ liquid and glass at high pressures is fundamental in wide range of scientific fields. Here, the authors find experimental evidence of a bimodal behavior in the translational order of silicon’s second shell and breaking of local tetrahedral symmetry in SiO₂ glass under pressure.

Scalable graphene-based membranes reject more than 80% NaCl under aggressive shear for more than 20 h and exhibit chlorine resistance.

The structure of GLP-1R and its G protein in complex with the small molecule TT-OAD2 sheds light on how the TT-OAD2 agonist can activate the receptor and provides insights into the development of therapeutic agents for metabolic disorders.

Retinal-bound opsins are widely used tools for optical control of neuronal activity in vivo, so called optogenetics. Here, using molecular simulations, biochemistry, electrophysiology and X-ray crystallography, the authors present new molecular design principles for the generation of blue-shifted variants of microbial rhodopsins.

Nitrate/nitrite porters (NNP) play a central role in nitrate uptake in archaea, bacteria, fungi and plants. Here, Fukuda et al. use a liposome-based transport assay, X-ray crystallography and molecular dynamics simulation to reveal the dynamic nitrate/nitrite antiport mechanism of a bacterial NNP, NarK.

The neuronal sorting receptor SorLA protects against Alzheimer's disease by binding Aβ peptides. Three new structures of the Vps10p Aβ-binding domain in ligand-free and ligand-bound forms explain the basis of SorLA peptide recognition.