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Using pear as a study system, the biosynthetic pathway of acetophenones has been elucidated: naturally impaired side-chain shortening of aromatic 3-ketoacyl-CoAs leads them to undergo hydrolysis, followed by decarboxylation, to yield acetophenones.

Developing strategies for reducing carbon emissions in municipal solid waste management is essential to achieve the net-zero target. Here the authors systematically assess strategy options of different countries for achieving net-zero municipal solid waste management.

Researchers developed spectral decoupling regulator based on an electro-optical resonator, which realizes free re-combination between visible color and long-wave infrared emissivity within a single device

Near-infrared mechanoluminescence can be used in biostress imaging, but is subject to limitations in terms of the pre-irradiation process and low intensity. Here, the authors have circumvented these limitations by constructing an MgO/MgF₂:Cr³⁺ heterojunction piezo-photonics system.

A new artificial intelligence model, DeepSeek-R1, is introduced, demonstrating that the reasoning abilities of large language models can be incentivized through pure reinforcement learning, removing the need for human-annotated demonstrations.

A comprehensive metabolomic atlas of major fetal organs in late-gestation mice by integrates untargeted and targeted metabolomics with multi-omics data, offering new insights into fetal development and metabolic preparation for birth.

Neoadjuvant cancer therapeutic strategy has been explored in phase I/II clinical studies for head and neck squamous cell carcinoma. Here this group reports a single-arm, phase II clinical trial evaluating the neoadjuvant radiotherapy plus PD-1 inhibitor tislelizumab combined with paclitaxel and cisplatin, followed by radical surgical resection on 28 patients with untreated stage III-IVB head and neck squamous cell carcinoma.

Human cortical functions rely on intricate spatial arrangements and interactions among neuronal cell types. Here, authors show a comprehensive cellular atlas illustrating detailed neuron distribution and communication patterns across cortical regions.

Nerve fibers relaying pain information from peripheral organs are normally supported by specialized glial cells called nonmyelinating Schwann cells. Here, the authors show that a secreted factor, SEMA3B, promotes nerve fiber-Schwann cell interactions necessary for suppressing pathological pain.

Branched perfluorooctanoic acid and perfluorooctanesulfonic acid have shorter half-lives, lower toxicity, and weaker serum protein binding than linear ones, offering better environmental and health safety, but methods to access such branched motifs remain underdeveloped. Here, the authors introduce a one-step dehydroxy-perfluoro-tert-butylation of alcohols, in which perfluoro-tertbutyl phenyl sulfone serves both to activate the C–O bond and to deliver the perfluoro-tert-butyl group.

Nicotinamide N-methyltransferase (NNMT) and its metabolite 1-MNA have been implicated in liver disease and stress adaptation. Here, the authors show that NNMT/1-MNA protects against hepatic ischemia-reperfusion injury by modulating the AKT/FOXO1/ANGPT2/JNK axis.

Biotic-abiotic hybrid systems are promising for solar-to-chemical conversion, but it remains challenging to achieve atomically precise interface contact. Here, the authors report a general strategy of facilitating direct electron uptake via building single-atom bridges across biotic-abiotic interfaces to enhance solar-driven hydrogen production.

The use of biomarkers of ageing is crucial for investigating age-related processes. This Review discusses biomarkers of ageing and of ageing-associated physiological changes, at the cellular, tissue and organism levels in humans and non-human primates.

Azoxy products have rarely been synthesized using enzyme catalysts. Herein, the authors report that fungal unspecific peroxygenases are promising catalysts for synthesizing azoxy products from simple aniline starting materials.

Surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy is widely used for rapid and sensitive molecular detection in chemistry and biology, but typically relies on noble metals. Here the authors report a non-stoichiometric semiconducting material with defect-rich surface that displays excellent detection limits and enhancement factors.

Here the authors report a low-cost method to fabricate flexible Ag2Se thermoelectric films with high performance and durability, enabling efficient energy harvesting and cooling in wearable and portable thermoelectric devices.

Aberrant redox homeostasis links lipid metabolism and cell death programs. Here, authors reveal how cell stress reduces growth factor signaling, enriching polyunsaturated fatty acids in phospholipids and sensitizing membranes to oxidative damage.

A detailed understanding of particle stopping in matter is essential for nuclear fusion and high energy density science. Here, the authors report one order of magnitude enhancement of intense laser-accelerated proton beam stopping in dense ionized matter in comparison with currently used models describing ion stopping in matter.

Dysregulated R-loops can compromise genome stability, leading to pathological consequences. Li et al. demonstrate that R-loop-induced poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase 1 activation orchestrates exonuclease 3′–5′ domain-containing 2-mediated R-loop resolution, thereby safeguarding genomic integrity.

Electrochromic technology has diverse cutting-edge applications, but it has never been used to overcome the critical problems in the field of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS). Here, the authors demonstrate a generic electrochromic strategy for ensuring the reproducibility and renewability of SERS substrates.

The authors propose a targeted doping strategy that enables copper atoms to occupy specific positions within the material’s crystal structure, avoiding the unwanted defects typically introduced by conventional methods.

Commonly used opioids for pain management primarily target the mu opioid receptor. However, mu opioid receptor agonists often come with harmful side effects. Here, the authors report the results of two phase 3 trials of HSK21542 (anrikefon), a highly selective activator of peripheral kappa opioid receptor agonists, for postoperative pain treatment following abdominal surgery.

An analysis of single-cell RNA sequencing data from adult and developing lungs across vertebrate species reveals genetic components in the common ancestor of jawed vertebrates and new lung-specific enhancers that contribute to the evolution of vertebrate lungs.

Preclinical studies have shown synergy in the combination of tifcemalimab (anti-BTLA antibody) with toripalimab (anti-PD-1 antibody) in lymphoma. Here, the authors report a clinical trial investigating tifcemalimab alone and in combination with toripalimab in patients with relapsed or refractory lymphoma.

Personalized nanovaccines can elicit robust T-cell response but identifying tumour-specific antigens sometimes remains challenging. Here these groups identify IFN-γ as a potent stimulator for the antigen presentation across a broad range of cancer cell types and then fabricating corresponding nanovaccine inducing poly-neoepitopic T-cell responses at low dosage.

While platinum is a highly active catalyst for H₂ evolution, its low abundance prompts research into earth-abundant alternatives. Here, authors prepare tungsten atomic clusters on phosphorus doped carbon by thermal migration and demonstrate excellent activities for hydrogen evolution electrocatalysis.

Muons are conventionally produced from cosmic rays or with a proton accelerator. Now a proof-of-principle experiment demonstrates the feasibility of muon production with a laser-driven electron beam with gigaelectronvolt energy in a lead converter target.

Radiotherapy-induced oral mucositis is a common side effect in nasopharyngeal carcinoma treatment. Here, the authors present a phase 3 randomized clinical trial assessing the safety and efficacy of ulinastatin to prevent the incidence and severity of this condition.

In a randomized phase 3 trial, neoadjuvant anti-PD-1 plus either paclitaxel and cisplatin or nab-paclitaxel and cisplatin elicited a significantly superior pathological complete response rate versus neoadjuvant paclitaxel and cisplatin alone in patients with resectable locally advanced esophageal squamous cell carcinoma.

Cesium lead iodide inorganic perovskite solar cells have great potential but the phase instability hinders their development. Here Wang et al. show a controlled drying process to make phase stable and highly efficient solar cells with power conversion efficiency of 15.7%.

Exploring low-cost, efficient catalysts to replace platinum is crucial for electrocatalytic hydrogen generation. Here, the authors report a termination-acidity strategy that boosts the activity of molybdenum carbides, achieving a low overpotential and sustaining hydrogen generation for over 200 h.

Point defects can have a critical influence on carrier dynamics and ion migration in metal halide perovskites. This Review surveys recent understandings of point defects and discusses new insights into defect tolerance in these materials.

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome (SFTS) is an emerging hemorrhagic fever caused by tick-borne SFTS virus. Here, Wang et al. characterize transcriptomic and epigenetic changes in infected patients and correlate them with clinical parameters to improve the understanding of disease progression.

CYSLTR2 and P2RY6 are identified as endogenous ceramide receptors, and inhibition of these ameliorates atherosclerosis, particularly in chronic-kidney-disease-associated cardiovascular disease.

Fullerene derivatives tend to increase charge recombination losses and charge accumulation at the interface in inverted perovskite solar cells. Here, authors introduce tetramethylthiuram disulfide to induce formation of sulfur radicals for n-doping, achieving efficiency of 26.1% in stable devices.

To prevent charge losses and degradation at the buried interface of inverted methylammonium-free perovskite solar cells, Li et al. form a 2D/3D perovskite structure using 2-aminoindan hydrochloride as an additive.

Trivalent lanthanides are typically described using an ionic picture that leads to localized magnetic moments. Here authors show that the “textbook” description of lanthanides fails for Pr⁴⁺ ions where the hierarchy of single-ion energy scales can be tailored to explore correlated phenomena in quantum materials.

Excessive glucocorticoid (GC) action is linked to various metabolic disorders. Here the authors show that elevated expression of 11β-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type 1 (11β-HSD1), the enzyme driving local bone GC activation, is associated with bone loss and obesity mice.

The role of arachidonic acid (AA) in colorectal cancer (CRC) is unclear. Here they show that FADS1-AA axis modulates the intestinal microecology by enriching gram-negative bacteria in CRC and that the altered microecology accelerates the conversion of AA to PGE2, promoting CRC tumorigenesis.

The genetic risk of clear cell renal cell carcinoma is complex and the genes related are unclear. Here, the authors propose a deep reinforcement based model to identify risk genes.

The bidirectional halide and silver migration cause irreversible chemical corrosion to electrodes and perovskite layer. Here, the authors employ 4,4’-dicyano-2,2’-bipyridine in the electron transport layer to coordinate silver and iodide, realizing stable solar cells with efficiency over 26%.

Two amplified genes from chromosome 8q22—YWHAZ and LAPTM4B—are associated with metastatic breast cancer recurrence by promoting resistance to anthracyclines. YWHAZ codes for an antiapoptotic protein and LAPTM4B encodes a previously undescribed lysosomal protein.

The integrated process of mechanochemical fractionation-assisted and solar-driven electrochemical reforming, followed by biological funnelling, enables the efficient upcycling of sewage sludge. This process not only co-produces valuable single-cell protein and green hydrogen but also effectively removes heavy metal contaminants.

The authors fabricate p-type Fe₃CoSb₁₂-based skutterudite films exhibiting high thermoelectric performance, stability, and flexibility at medium-to-high temperatures, based on preparing custom target materials and pulsed laser deposition techniques.