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Nanoporous metals offer the potential for tunability of electronic and optical properties. Here, the authors combine experimental studies and theoretical modeling to explore how nanoporous morphology shapes the intraband and interband contributions to the optical response of gold.

The force required to break a chemical bond is related both to the bond strength and the rate at which force is applied, however recent experiments on gold nanowires have challenged this view. Here, the authors perform breaking experiments on single gold-gold bonds and propose a solution to the apparent paradox.

Measuring acoustic phonons across the Brillouin zone reveals important information on electrical and thermal transport in materials. Temnov et al.generate giant acoustic strain pulses in gold/cobalt bilayers and monitor their nonlinear reshaping in the gold layer with plasmonic interferometry.

DNA origami is a versatile fabrication approach for building tailored nanostructures. Thacker et al.apply it to the assembly of gold nanoparticle dimers with sub-5 nm gaps and show how the resulting plasmonic resonances can be exploited for surface-enhanced Raman scattering.

In this study, the authors present optimization and efficacy testing of apolipoprotein-based lipid nanoparticles for delivering various nucleic acid therapeutics in vivo to immune cells and their progenitors in the bone marrow.

The electron-phonon interaction in gold and silver is weak, which leads to both their high conductivity and lack of conventional superconductivity. Here, Kumbhakar and coauthors find, using point contact spectroscopy, that the electron-phonon interaction in a nanostructured gold-silver film can be enhanced by over two orders of magnitude compared to the constituent elements.

Here the authors demonstrate voltage-controlled nonlinear optical response of gold nanofilm via electrothermal effect. They fabricate a voltage-controlled saturable absorber for achieving wavelength-tunability/operation-regime switching in a fiber laser.

Robust protein synthesis by the ribosome is required for rapid cancer growth. Here authors present interdictors, small molecule inhibitors of protein synthesis with context-dependent activity that inhibit MYC-driven cancer cell growth in a mouse model.

Molecular glue degraders have consistently been discovered retrospectively, despite their increasing importance. Herein, a high-throughput approach is described that modifies existing ligands into molecular glue degraders.

Nanocatalyst ‘nanozymes’ provide a versatile alternative to natural enzymes. Nanozymes can operate in conditions inimical to enzymes and can catalyse reactions that their natural analogues cannot. This Perspective discusses design principles, strengths, challenges and applications of nanozymes.

Dual catalysis is widely employed by natural metalloenzymes to functionalize challenging substrates. Now, this concept is applied to artificial metalloenzymes by designing a hydroaminase with two biotinylated gold cofactors enabling an unnatural σ,π-activation mechanism of terminal alkynes.

2D metallic single crystals are sought after for nanophotonic applications, but their synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors report an atomic level precision etching method to fabricate large-area crystalline gold flakes with nanometre thickness, showing enhanced plasmonic and nonlinear optical properties.

This study reveals that Arabidopsis reassimilates formate produced during photorespiration via the cytosolic folate cycle to fuel DNA methylation, forming a metabolic–epigenetic bridge that links elevated CO₂ to epigenetic regulation.

Subcellular compartmentalization of the glycolytic enzyme PFKM regulates cell fate and metabolic switch during skeletal muscle differentiation.

Catalytic gold nanoclusters that respond to protease activity in vivo and are excreted in urine can offer a quick colorimetric tool for disease detection in resource-limited settings.

Intracellular generation of gold nanoparticles has drawn attention but toxic effects have limited potential applications. Here, the authors report on the delivery of ionic gold with PEG resulting in faster synthesis and reduced toxicity due to lower concentrations of ionic gold required and explore potential applications.

The field of molecular electronics is currently held back by the lack of scalability and reproducibility of existing break junction technologies. Here, Dubois et al. demonstrate parallel fabrication of millions of gold break junctions with sub-3 nm gaps via controllable crack formation on a wafer scale.

Renally clearable gold quantum clusters that are stabilized by the milk metalloprotein alpha-lactalbumin and display multicolour fluorescence aid the detection, resection and treatment of breast cancer in mice.

Gold nanoparticles typically considered inert in oxic waters accumulate in freshwater wetland subaquatic plants and are completely biotransformed to oxidized Au species by the associated cyanogenic biofilm.

N-heterocyclic carbenes (NHCs) are valuable surface anchors, but their use has remained limited to either spherical or planar nanomaterials. Now, they have been grafted onto gold nanorods through a bidentate ligand featuring a thiolate and a NHC–gold complex. The resulting nanorods are robust towards a wide range of harsh conditions and show promise for photothermal therapy.

The synthesis of atomically precise gold nanoclusters is highly desired for fundamental studies and applications. Here, the authors report the formation of a superfluorinated gold nanocluster stabilized by a multi-branched highly fluorinated thiol ligand, and characterize its crystal structure and molecule-like spectroscopic properties.

Thiol-based self-assembled monolayers have a huge variety of potential applications but are hampered by oxidative and thermal instability. Now, N-heterocyclic carbenes are shown to form densely packed layers on Au(111) that are considerably more stable than thiol films, resisting hot organic solvents, acid, base, oxidant and oxidative electrohemical etching.

Progress has been made in the development of low-loss monocrystalline plasmonic metals, opening up opportunities for ultrathin nanophotonic architectures. Here, the authors reveal differences in hot-electron thermalisation dynamics between ultrathin monocrystalline and polycrystalline gold films.

Self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) have shown tremendous number of applications but can suffer from low stability. Here, the authors report air and bench stable carbene precursors allowing facile SAM formation, and furthermore demonstrate an application in biosensing

Tree buds integrate cold and warm cues to control dormancy release. Extended warm periods block plasmodesmata opening by repressing Flowering Locus T and GA pathways in buds. This mechanism ensures robust temporal regulation of dormancy release.

Nanostructured high-surface-area materials capable of converting energy into mechanical work are promising for use as actuation devices. Surface-chemistry-induced changes of the surface stress in nanoporous gold are now observed on alternate exposure to ozone and carbon monoxide.

Laser flash melting experiments have rendered cryo-EM fast enough to observe the microsecond motions of proteins. The authors extend the observation window of this emerging technique tenfold, to hundreds of microseconds, by sealing cryo-EM samples in ultrathin liquid cells.

The transition from discrete molecular-like to smooth optical spectra in gold nanostructures of increasing size is important to the understanding of emergent bulk properties. Here, the authors observe discrete features even for intermediate gold clusters believed to have necessarily smooth spectra.

Muscularis macrophages, housekeepers of enteric nervous system integrity and intestinal homeostasis, modulate α-synuclein pathology and neurodegeneration in models of Parkinson’s disease, and understanding the accompanying mechanisms could pave the way for early-stage biomarkers.

Experiments to explore electron transport in single molecules generally involve the use of chemical linker groups at both ends of the molecule to firmly anchor it to the source and drain contacts. Here it is shown that oligo-phenylene ethynylene molecules with a single anchor group can form molecular junctions as well. The process is attributed to aromatic stacking between neighbouring molecules in nearby electrodes.

Geochemical data from zircons show that subduction-like processes were operating contemporaneously with stagnant-lid-like processes at different locations as early as 4.4 billion years ago on the Hadean Earth.

Idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis is characterised by the accumulation of fibroblasts, which deposit excessive extracellular matrix impairing respiratory functions. Here, the authors show that fibroblast-expressed versican, a chondroitin sulphate proteoglycan, suppresses fibroblasts’ ability to invade and further grow the underlying matrix, thus limiting their accumulation and attenuating pulmonary fibrosis.

Estimates from the Global Burden of Disease study reveal declines in chronic respiratory disease mortality between 1990 and 2023—especially during the COVID-19 pandemic—but the burdens on people affected remain substantial.

The authors report the experimental observation of room-temperature condensation of exciton polaritons in quasi-2D layered crystals of halide perovskite, integrated into an open optical microcavity. These materials combine van-der-Waals properties with dominant exciton physics at room temperature.

Selecting for varieties of commercial crops with enhanced nutritional quality is important in agriculture. Here, the authors identify alleles of a gene in tomatoes that give rise to increased levels of vitamin E and find that the promoter of the gene is differentially methylated.

By utilizing electron-hole asymmetry in ultra-short single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) transistors, McRaeet al., develop ‘two-in-one’ SWCNT quantum devices that can switch from behaving as quantum-dot transistors for holes to quantum buses for electrons by changing the transistor’s gate voltage

Heat-responsive polymers grafted onto gold nanocages serve as a nanoscale delivery system for biologically important compounds. Laser irradiation of the nanocages heats the polymers by means of the photothermal effect; the polymers then change conformation and compounds are released. The polymers return to their original configuration when the laser is switched off, stopping further release.

Elevated intracellular Cu converts CTR1 trimers to monomers at Rab5⁺ sites prior to endocytosis, rapidly halting Cu uptake; an endocytosis-deficient mutant fails to mount this response.

Experimental evidence is given that upon the optical excitation of surface plasmon polaritons, a nonthermal electron population appears in the topmost domain of the plasmonic film directly coupled to the local fields.

Van der Waals heterostructures can be combined with metallic nanostructures to enable enhanced light–matter interaction. Here, the authors fabricate a broadband mechanical electro-optical modulator using a graphene/hexagonal boron nitride vertical heterojunction, suspended over a gold nanostripe array.

Gram-negative bacteria use a multiprotein complex, LptB₂FGC, to transport lipopolysaccharides (LPS) to the outer membrane. Here, Fiorentino et al. present cryo-EM structures of the complex from Pseudomonas aeruginosa, revealing species-specific features and providing insights into LPS transport mechanisms.