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Exciton-polaritons are part-light part-matter states in semiconductors. Here the authors leverage momentum-resolved optical microscopy to image ballistic and diffusive propagation of exciton-polaritons on femtosecond scales.

Remote tumours cause liver dysfunction by releasing extracellular vesicles and particles containing palmitic acid, which induces TNF signalling in Kupffer cells, resulting in inflammation, fatty deposits and metabolic dysregulation, thus both reducing the efficacy and increasing the toxicity of chemotherapies.

The use of two, rather than one, donor polymers in an organic solar cell is shown to enhance charge separation, transport and recombination.

Garlock and colleagues analyze 57 aquaculture systems worldwide on 88 metrics that measure social, economic, or environmental outcomes. They find significant variation in the degree of sustainability in different aquaculture systems, and weak performance of some production systems in some dimensions provides opportunity for innovative policy measures and investment to further align sustainability objectives.

Programming the 3D spatial organization of quantum dots requires precise control over their individual valence, but this is challenging due to the possible presence of multiple binding sites. Here, authors develop a general approach that uses highly programmable wireframe DNA origami structures to control the 3D spatial relationships between QDs and other non-nucleic-acid molecules.

This study finds that sST2 is a disease-causing factor for Alzheimer’s disease. Higher sST2 levels impair microglial Aβ clearance in APOE4⁺ female individuals. A genetic variant, rs1921622, is associated with a reduction in sST2 level and protects against AD in APOE4⁺ female individuals.

Genome recoding with quadruplet codons requires a +1-frameshift-suppressor tRNA able to insert an amino acid at quadruplet codons of interest. Here the authors identify the mechanisms resulting in +1 frameshifting and the steps of the elongation cycle in which it occurs.

The simplicity of particle suspension reactors and the precise synthetic control afforded by silicon nanowire growth are used to develop a system that can produce hydrogen fuel by splitting water with sunlight.

The emergence of multidrug resistance (MDR) in bacteria represents a global threat to human health. Here, Cazares et al. identify a family of MDR megaplasmids carrying large arrays of antibiotic resistance genes in Pseudomonas strains from various sources, including P. aeruginosa clinical isolates.

FERONIA prevents polyspermy in Arabidopsis by enabling pectin-stimulated nitric oxide accumulation at the filiform apparatus after the first pollen tube arrives, which disengages LURE1 chemoattraction to prevent late-arriving pollen tubes from entering the ovule.

Temporal multi-omic analysis of tissues from rats undergoing up to eight weeks of endurance exercise training reveals widespread shared, tissue-specific and sex-specific changes, including immune, metabolic, stress response and mitochondrial pathways.

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the preeminent drug delivery vehicle for mRNA therapies, partially due to the ionizable lipid (IL) components that facilitate endosomal escape. Here, authors devise terminally branched ILs that enhance endosome escape, resulting in increased liver and T cell delivery.

Intrinsic optical bistability in Nd³⁺-doped KPb₂Cl₅ avalanching nanoparticles enables high-contrast switching between luminescent and non-luminescent states and transistor-like optical responses. A non-thermal mechanism is discussed and >200th-order optical nonlinearities are shown to be possible.

EY6A, a neutralizing antibody isolated from a patient convalescing from COVID-19, binds the receptor binding domain of the SARS-CoV-2 spike glycoprotein with high affinity, at a location away from the binding site for the ACE2 receptor, similar to the one recognized by CR3022.

Integrating atomic force microscopy with time-domain two-dimensional infrared spectroscopy provides insights into molecular structures, mode coupling and energy transfers with high spatial resolution.

All-inorganic nanocrystals are of great importance for a variety of electronic applications. Here, the authors use metal salts to remove organic ligands to obtain passivated nanocrystals with improved fluorescence yield for direct optical patterning.

Nie et al. describe a mechanism underlying the degradation of the histone methyltransferase NSD2 through the recruitment of FBXO22 E3 ligase, providing a chemical probe for NSD2 function study and targeted protein degradation.

This study presents the assembly and analysis of the genome sequence of a female domestic Duroc pig and a comparison with the genomes of wild and domestic pigs from Europe and Asia; the results shed light on the evolutionary relationship between European and Asian wild boars.

Receptor Interacting Protein Kinase 2 (RIPK2) mediates innate immune signalling in response to intracellular pathogens, but its aberrant activation contributes to autoimmune pathologies. Here Nachbur et al.describe a RIPK2 inhibitor that is effective in a mouse model of multiple sclerosis.

When excitons in light-harvesting materials meet, they recombine and dissipate their energy. Here, the authors show that pairs of excitons can co-exist in aggregated materials and only annihilate when the aggregates are chemically connected.

Mouse models of NF1-associated optic pathway glioma show that tumour initiation and growth are driven by aberrantly high levels of NLGN3 shedding in the optic nerve in response to retinal neuron activity.

The authors demonstrate an effective approach to lower the computing time required to accurately reach the thermodynamic limit in quantum many-body calculations. This method can be applied to solve problems in a wide range of material systems, including metals, insulators and semiconductors.

The bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane (BCP) motif has drawn increasing attention recently in drug discovery. Now, a programmable bis-functionalization strategy has been developed to modularly access bridge-substituted BCP scaffolds, based on the inherent chemoselectivity of BCP bis-boronates (3° > 2°). This strategy should enable further structure–activity relationship studies of BCP-containing drug candidates and open the door to unexplored chemical space.

Trifluoromethyl arenes are amongst the commonly encountered fluorinated substructures in pharmaceutical, agrochemical, and material sciences. Herein, the authors report a deoxytrifluoromethylation/aromatization strategy that converts readily available cyclohexan(en)one substrate into highly substituted trifluoromethyl arenes.

The authors report PROTAC ternary complex structures involving the E3 ligase cIAP1 and target protein BTK, showing that cooperativity is not always correlated with degradation efficiency.

Milk lipid secretion is a critical process for the delivery of nutrition and energy from parent to offspring. Here the authors found that TDP-43, a RNA-binding protein, is required for milk lipid secretion by post-transcriptional regulation of Btn1a1 and Xdh mRNA stability.

Nanoparticles that access lymphatic vessels and are functionalized with degradable linkers, whose half-lives can be programmed, enable the controlled release of therapeutic cargo in different regions of the lymph nodes, allowing the targeting of otherwise difficult-to-reach lymphocyte subpopulations.

Scalable characterisation of quantum states can be achieved by leveraging on simplifications valid for specific classes of states. Here, the authors show how to combine the strengths of shadows and many-body tomography for all states exhibiting exponential decay of correlations and the approximate Markov property.

Energy transfer in light harvesting complexes involves electronic, vibrational, and vibronic couplings which are challenging to resolve. Here the authors observe the time-evolution of vibronic coherences driving charge transfer in a photoexcited solvated transition metal complex by two- and three-dimensional electronic-vibrational spectroscopy.

High-throughput experimentation is an increasingly important tool in reaction discovery, while there remains a need for software solutions to navigate data-rich experiments. Here the authors report phactor™, a software that facilitates the performance and analysis of high-throughput experimentation in a chemical laboratory.

This study reports unlimited near-infrared photoswitching in inorganic avalanching nanoparticles via a discrete shift of threshold intensity mediated by internal defect-based colour centres.

Olivine iron phosphate (FePO₄) is widely proposed for electrochemical lithium extraction, but particles with different physical attributes demonstrate varying Li preferences. Here, the authors characterize the electrochemical lithiation and sodiation behavior of a series of FePO₄ particles with different morphology to identify critical features that enhance Li selectivity.

Several studies show that APOE-ε4 coding variants are associated with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) risk. Here, Zhou et al. perform fine-mapping of the APOE region and find AD risk haplotypes with non-coding variants in the PVRL2 and APOC1 regions that are associated with relevant endophenotypes.

Contrary to the view that urbanization is a major driver of the global rise in obesity, the global increase in body-mass index is shown to be mostly due to increases in the body-mass indexes of rural populations.

Extensive glycan microarray and structural analyses reveal that human intelectin-1 interacts selectively with microbial glycan epitopes through recognition of a terminal 1,2-diol group, an interaction that would be blocked in human glycans such as α-Neu5Ac.

Germ-free mice were colonized with complex defined communities to show T cell recognition of commensals is focused on widely conserved, highly expressed cell-surface antigens, opening the door to new therapeutic strategies.

An unusual new material, NiTTFtt, is reported that is structurally amorphous, precluding a classical band structure, but detailed characterization reveals high conductivity and a metallic character.

Aggregation of misfolded proteins underlie dementias. Here, the authors show that stressed cells activate an innate mechanism to resolve aggregates of defective proteins in the endoplasmic reticulum, where a third of cellular proteins are produced.

Assembly and analysis of the Schmidtea mediterranea genome indicate that this planarian’s chromosome 1 may be evolving into a sex chromosome.

Murray et al. identified and characterized a small-molecule inhibitor of human COQ8A, which belongs to the UbiB protein family and is essential for coenzyme Q biosynthesis.

New agonists of the serotonin 5-HT_2A receptor (5-HT_2AR) confer high brain permeability and antidepressant activity and—in contrast to classic 5-HT_2AR agonists—lack psychedelic activity.

Aldehyde dehydrogenase 1B1-specific small-molecule inhibitors are identified that block the growth of colon cancer spheroids and organoids and are shown to potentially regulate mitochondrial metabolism and ribosomal function.

Kinetic isotope effect studies can provide valuable insights into the complex mechanisms of the oxygen reduction reaction; however, inaccessibility to ultra-high-purity D₂O has made this difficult. Now, a methodology to prepare ultra-pure D₂O has been developed and inverse kinetic isotope effects have subsequently been measured for the oxygen reduction reaction on platinum single-crystal surfaces, providing mechanistic insights.

Simulations reveal concerted interactions between the SARS-CoV-2 spike trimers and ACE2 receptors that result in cooperative spike binding and shedding, and further suggest that variant efficacy is promoted by increased RBD opening or S1/S2 cleavage efficiency.