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Polyamides (PAs) or nylons are types of plastics with wide applications, but due to their accumulation in the environment, strategies for their deconstruction are of interest. Here, the authors screen 40 potential nylon-hydrolyzing enzymes (nylonases) using a mass spectrometry-based approach and identify a thermostabilized N-terminal nucleophile hydrolase as the most promising for further development, as well as crucial targets for progressing PA6 enzymatic depolymerization.

SUMOylation is a key regulator of genome stability. Here, the authors show that SUMO chain modification of PCNA and Rad52 controls DNA repair pathway choice, preventing excessive recombination and maintaining centromere integrity under endogenous replication stress.

Recently published results from a Phase I trial showed the blood brain barrier could be transiently opened in glioblastoma patients using low-intensity ultrasound and microbubbles. Here, the authors develop a microfluidic chip to capture tumour-derived extracellular vesicles and particles in response to paclitaxel treatment.

Nitrogen fixation by nitrogenase requires a metallocofactor built by a dedicated multiprotein machinery. Here, the authors captured structural snapshots of a precursor entering a key maturase, revealing a dynamic process involving extensive structural rearrangements and partial protein unfolding.

The selective hydrogenation of trace acetylene to ethylene is a well-established process for purifying fossil-derived ethylene streams. Here, the authors present a self-repairing Pd-C laterally condensed catalyst that improves selectivity, prevents sub-surface hydride formation, and achieves high ethylene productivity, effectively bridging the gap between powder catalysts and single-crystal model catalysts.

In this work, authors show that colistin-resistance plasmids in Escherichia coli, via MCR-1 and a plasmid-encoded regulator, upregulate surface polysaccharide synthesis, enhancing antibiotic resistance and virulence and defining a mechanistic link between resistance and pathogenicity.

An NNMT inhibitor reduces tumour burden and metastasis in multiple mouse cancer models and restores immune checkpoint blockade efficacy by decreasing cancer-associated-fibroblast-mediated recruitment of myeloid-derived suppressor cells and reinvigorating CD8⁺ T cell activation.

Extensive oxidative potential measurements from across Europe analysed with the two most common assays, dithiothreitol and ascorbic acid, using a standardized protocol show the strong influence of site type and suggest pathways for mitigation strategies.

A recent synthesis study found 54% of the high-latitude peatlands have been drying and 32% have been wetting over the past centuries, illustrating their complex ecohydrological dynamics and highly uncertain responses to a warming climate.

Structural and functional characterization of the β-barrel assembly machinery complex in Bacteroidota reveals a distinct, seven-component complex with a large extracellular domain that may enable β-barrel–surface lipoprotein complex assembly.

Availability of irrigation water will be an increasing barrier to global crop yield increases. Here the authors show transgenic tobacco plants overexpressing Photosystem II Subunit S have less stomatal opening in response to light and a 25% reduction in water loss per CO₂ assimilated under replicated field trials.

This work introduces lightweight, leaf-like photoelectrochemical devices for unassisted water splitting and syngas production, which could be used in the fabrication of floating systems for solar fuel production.

Hepatic encephalopathy is a severe complication of liver disease with a growing prevalence. Here, the authors present a hydroxamate-based urease inhibitor to target the production of intestinal ammonia, one of the contributors to the pathogenesis of hepatic encephalopathy.

IRE1α cleaves several mRNAs upon accumulation of misfolded proteins. Here the authors show that active IRE1α cleaves DGAT2 mRNA encoding the rate-limiting enzyme in the synthesis of triacylglycerols, suggesting a role of IRE1α in reprogramming lipid metabolism in cancer cells.

The ketone body β-hydroxybutyrate can be used as an alternative carbon source by T cells to maintain their function during severe respiratory viral infections, including infection with SARS-CoV-2.

We mapped PRICKLE1–3 interactomes and identified PRICKLE3 as a key WNT/PCP regulator that stabilizes VANGL via CK1ε–RNF43 control, revealing a PRICKLE3-specific mechanism shaping polarity across vertebrates.

Carbon capture, utilization and storage is key for climate change mitigation and developing more environmentally friendly technologies. Now it has been shown that CO₂ capture in single-component water-lean solvents is accompanied by the self-assembly of reverse-micelle-like tetrameric clusters in solution that enable the formation of various CO₂-containing compounds.

The interplay between hypoxic and acidic conditions in the tumor microenvironment is unclear. Here, the authors show that hypoxic and acidic tumor cells do not fully overlap and display a symbiotic interaction, relying on unsaturated fatty acids, which can be therapeutically targeted by inhibiting stearoylCoA desaturase 1 (SCD1).

Semi-artificial photosynthetic systems combine natural and synthetic features to overcome limitations of each approach to produce solar fuels. Sokol et al. integrate a dye-sensitized TiO₂ photoanode with the natural machineries, photosystem II and hydrogenase, to split water without additional applied bias.

Pervasive drying over the last few centuries has reduced carbon storage in European peatlands, the result of climate change and human impacts, according to a continent-wide compilation of hydrological records derived from testate amoeba.

Literature produced inconsistent findings regarding the links between extreme weather events and climate policy support across regions, populations and events. This global study offers a holistic assessment of these relationships and highlights the role of subjective attribution.

Plastic-degrading enzymes can be utilized for plastic recycling. Here, QM/MM molecular dynamics and experimental Michaelis–Menten kinetics provide insight into PETase/MHTase activities of the lipase B from Candida antartica.

The performance of machine learning models is usually compared via the mean value of a selected performance measure such as the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve on a specific benchmark data set. However, this measure, its mean value or even relative differences between models do not provide a good prediction of whether the results can translate to other data sets. Gosiewska and colleagues present here a comparison based on Elo ranking, which offers a probabilistic interpretation of how much better one model is than another.

In liquid-phase TEM, microfluidic reactors are used to monitor nanoscale (electro)chemical dynamics in liquid environments. Here, the authors develop a reactor design with accelerated mass transport, facilitating quantitative in-situ and in-operando studies.

Notch1 is frequently activated promoting T-cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (T-ALL). Here, the authors show that Notch1 induces oxidative phosphorylation dependency in T-ALL and synergism when inhibiting both mitochondrial complex I and glutaminolysis in preclinical murine and human xenograft models.