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A deep generative model is developed for de novo molecular design and optimization by leveraging electron density. Wet-laboratory assays validated its reliability to generate diverse bioactive molecules—orthosteric and allosteric, inhibitors and activators.

Probing the localized electrocatalytic activity of heterogeneous electrocatalysts is crucial. Here, the authors propose a method of imaging the surface charge density and electrocatalytic activity of single two-dimensional electrocatalyst nanosheets.

In this clinical trial, the authors demonstrate that recombinant gE-Fc Fusion Protein Vaccine LZ901 for herpes zoster induces superior cellular immunogenicity and exhibits a better safety profile than HZ/su in adults ≥50 years, supporting its potential as vaccine candidate.

Despite over half a century of development, catalysts still cannot mimic the efficiency of plants in producing oxygen. By considering spatiotemporal aspects in electrocatalyst design, researchers can transplant the concept of direct oxo–oxo coupling from natural metalloenzymes to heterogeneous catalyst surfaces, thus pushing oxygen-evolution activity beyond conventional limits.

It is shown that gold and several similar close-packed face-centred cubic and hexagonal metals can be vitrified, which breaks the limitation of the glass-forming ability of matter.

Proton exchange membrane water electrolyzers suffer from high catalyst loading and sluggish oxygen evolution. Here, the authors report that tunnel-type iridium oxide concentrates activity at tunnel mouths, enabling high performance at low catalyst loading.

The controllable synthesis of organometallic polymers that can be used in ultrahigh information storage and anti-counterfeiting security has been an unsolved challenge. Here, the authors show sequence-controlled electrosynthesis of organometallic polymers with exquisite insertion of multiple and distinct monomers.

The development of 3d-metal-catalyzed β-C–H bond activation via 4-membered metallacycles remains an elusive challenge. Here, the authors report a Ni-Al bimetal-catalyzed β-C(sp3)–H bond activation of formamides via 4-membered nickelacycles.

3D-printing tough conductive hydrogels (TCHs) with complex structures is still a challenging task due to their inherent contrasting multinetworks, uncontrollable and slow polymerization. Here the authors show an orthogonal photochemistry-assisted printing strategy to make 3D TCHs in one pot.

Phage-assisted noncontinuous selection of protein binders (PANCS-Binders) allows multiple high-diversity protein libraries to each be screened against a panel of dozens of targets for high-throughput protein binder discovery.

Ferroelectric control of skyrmion density and stability is realized in a perovskite heterostructure.

Blanco et al. show that PTEN loss results in accumulation of type-17 innate-like T cells via altered metabolic reprogramming and mTOR, Foxo1 and IL-23–Stat3 signalling.

The complex processes guiding mammalian cortical folding are incompletely understood. Here authors report that cortical folding was enhanced in mice by combining mutations affecting neuron adhesion and progenitor expansion, producing both sulci and gyri.

Transcription factors are crucial in disease but hard to target with traditional drugs. Here, authors present BlockerSELEX, a strategy to develop inhibitory aptamers that block transcription factor interactions, which disrupts interactions between key proteins, showing potential for new nucleic acid therapies.

Diatomic catalysts show promise for the oxygen reduction reaction, but their complex kinetics hinder rational design. Here, the authors synthesize strongly bonded Fe-Co diatomic catalysts where Co acts as the main active site and Fe aids *OH adsorption, revealing a synergistic effect.

The gut microbiota in mice can modulate social behaviour by influencing activity in stress-related brain areas.

Using data from the UK Biobank, the authors develop a comprehensive human metabolome–phenome atlas, including a browsable web tool, to uncover unique metabolite–trait and metabolite–disease associations with time, and discuss potential causal relationships.

Here the authors use phage display to develop cystine-knot peptides that inhibit the trimeric serine protease HTRA1. Structural and biochemical characterisation uncovered binding of the peptides to a cryptic pocket that locked the active site in a noncompetent state.

Itaconate is shown to non-covalently inhibit the antioxidant enzyme peroxiredoxin 5 in macrophages, thereby modulating the production of mitochondrial peroxide and enhancing the type I interferon production.

Although the number of participants is important for phenotypic prediction accuracy in brain-wide association studies using functional MRI, scanning for at least 30 min offers the greatest cost effectiveness.

Developing skeletal editing tools, especially to realize the single-atom transmutation in a ring system without altering the ring size is challenging. Here, the authors introduce a skeletal editing strategy that enables polycyclic arenols to be readily converted into N-heteroarenes through carbon–nitrogen transmutation.

Enantioselective C—C activation remains heavily underexplored and has been predominantly limited to intramolecular reactions. Here the authors report two categories of asymmetric intermolecular [4+2] annulations between benzocyclobutenones and unsaturated reagents, namely, alkynes and cyclic dicarbonyl compounds.

Here, the authors report a gram-scale, one-step synthesis of metallosalen-covalent organic frameworks (M(salen)-COFs) without vacuum evacuation. M(salen)-COFs exhibit good crystallinity and adjustable activities in CO2 photoreduction to syngas.

Employing a candidate gene approach, Mancina et al. identify a genetic variant of the Pleckstrin and Sec7 domain-containing 3 (PSD3) gene that reduces susceptibility to fatty liver disease. Functional studies in vitro and in vivo demonstrate that targeting PSD3 protects against fatty liver disease.

The formation mechanisms for periodic heterostructures are still poorly understood. Here, the authors propose a versatile approach to synthesize one-dimensional segmented heterostructures and reveal a stress-induced ordering mechanism through phase-field simulations.

Metal single-atom catalysts offer great potential in bridging the gap between heterogeneous and homogeneous catalysis. Here the authors demonstrate a multilayer stabilization strategy for fabricating high-loading single-atom catalysts including non-precious and noble metals.

Catechols are common structural motifs in bioactive molecules and synthetic building blocks. Here the authors report a method to convert phenol derivatives into catechols via an iridium-catalysed redox-neutral C–H hydroxylation, giving diversely substituted products under mild conditions.

Tough hydrogels capable of efficient mechanical energy dissipation are difficult to be patterned and/or printed which limits their application. Here the authors show a one-step, biocompatible and general strategy to prepare tough soft hydrogels with high-resolution 2D/3D microstructures quickly under mild conditions.

Mitochondrial apoptosis is controlled by BCL2 family proteins, and the BH3-only proteins often act as sensors that transmit apoptotic signals. Here the authors show how the BH3-only proteins BMF and HRK can directly activate the BCL2 protein BAK and interact with BAK through an alternative binding groove.

Experiments and simulations suggest monovalent salts destabilize DNA/RNA because of overcharging. These findings challenge views that overcharging requires multivalent ions, with implications for nanomaterials, nanotechnology, and biophysics.

Interpretable machine learning offers a powerful method for accelerating catalyst design. Here the authors report an interpretable descriptor model to unify activity and selectivity prediction for multiple electrocatalysis using only easily accessible intrinsic properties.

The functionalized polycycle with densely contiguous tertiary stereocenters is a formidable challenge in synthesizing the parvistemoline family of Stemona alkaloids. Here the authors report the catalytic, asymmetric total syntheses in 13-14 steps from commercially available 2-(methoxycarbonyl)-pyrrole.

The synthesis of 2-piperidinone derivatives remains challenging. Here, the authors develop an organophotocatalysed [1 + 2 + 3] strategy to enable the one-step access to diverse 2-piperidinones from ammonium salts, alkenes, and unsaturated carbonyl compounds.

Peptidoglycan fragments derived from gut bacteria modulate aspects of the host’s health. Here, Li et al. profile peptidoglycan fragments in the host gut and show that one of them, the disaccharide GlcNAc-MurNAc, acts as a mild TLR4 agonist and protects against gut inflammation.

The retention of galactose-deficient IgA1 (Gd-IgA1) in the mesangium leads to pathogenesis in IgA nephropathy. Here the authors report that Gd-IgA1 is internalized by mesangial cells potentially via transferrin receptor 1, forming aggregates that disrupt lysosomal function and elicit inflammation.

The selective hydrogenation of acetylene to ethylene involves high H₂ consumption as well as a high energy input. Now, a thermocatalytic process for acetylene semi-hydrogenation using H₂O as H source and CO on a Au/α-MoC catalyst is introduced.

The synthesis of ionic olefin linked threedimensional covalent organic frameworks (3D COFs) is challenging because of the difficulties in forming stable carbon-carbon double bonds. Here, the authors report a general synthesis of an ionic sp² carbon linked COFs and demonstrate selective capture of ReO₄⁻ ions.

This study demonstrated that different types of HC-Pros from potyviruses exhibit varying capacities to inhibit HEN1. This results in distinct levels of autophagic AGO1 degradation, which in turn leads to differences in RNA silencing suppression efficiency.

The role of anionic lipids in shaping the cell plate during plant cytokinesis is identified. PI4P controls lipid asymmetry and curvature, while PI(4,5)P2 recruits a dynamin protein; together they coordinate membrane remodeling for division.

Here, the authors perform large trans-ancestry fine-mapping analyses identifying large numbers of association signals and putative target genes for colorectal cancer risk, advancing our understanding of the genetic and biological basis of this cancer.

Deuterated molecules are important both as labelled probes and as targets in their own right. Here the authors report a very simple and general deuteration of aldehydes, by the use of an N-heterocyclic carbene catalyst in the presence of D₂O.

Extracting rare earth elements (REEs) from wastewater is essential for the growth of an eco-friendly sustainable economy but separating individual rare earth elements remains challenging. Here, the authors report a REE nanotrap that features dense uncoordinated carboxyl groups and triazole N atoms in a two-fold interpenetrated metalorganic framework which is highly responsive to the size variation of rareearth ions.

This work presents a strategy for synthesizing and assembling megabase-scale DNA, along with a delivery method for introducing the synthetic DNA into mouse embryos, offering a valuable tool for investigating de novo epigenetic regulation.

Unveiling the regulation of mitotic protein degradation is crucial for cancer therapy. Here, the authors reveal that a reciprocal inhibition of PIN1-APC/C^CDH1 controls the cell cycle and mitotic protein degradation, offering a synergistic anti-tumor strategy.

Electrochemiluminescence (ECL) plays a key role in analysis and sensing but its application is limited by a lack of highly tunable luminophores. Here, the authors demonstrate the design of high efficient ECL luminophores of covalent organic frameworks (COFs) in aqueous media by simultaneously restricting the donor and acceptor to the COFs’ electron configurations and constructing charge transport networks through olefin linkages.

Point defects in 2D semiconductors have potential for quantum computing applications, but their controlled design and synthesis remains challenging. Here, the authors identify and fabricate a promising quantum defect in 2D WS₂ via high-throughput computational screening and scanning tunnelling microscopy.