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Newly emerging SARS-CoV-2 variants underscore the need for broad-spectrum antiviral solutions. This study shows a macrocyclic peptide inhibitor that locks the SARS-CoV-2 spike trimer into a “closed” conformation by engaging a conserved region, and demonstrates that intranasal administration of the peptide inhibitor protects against Omicron variants.

Targeting neurons that regulate energy balance may offer new approaches for obesity treatment. Here, authors show that chemogenetic and pharmacological manipulation of GABAergic neurons in the DRN/vlPAG increases adaptive thermogenesis and reduces weight gain in mice fed a highfat diet.

Sodium-ion batteries are promising low-cost alternatives to lithium-ion systems yet limited by underperforming anodes. This Review highlights advances and challenges in hard carbon and alloy-based anodes, outlining design strategies to boost capacity, stability and commercial viability of next-generation high-energy sodium-ion batteries.

Lattice strain impacts battery cathode performance and cycle life. Here, authors visualize and quantify strain in layered oxides through electron backscatter diffraction imaging, revealing heterogeneous, cycle-dependent distortions that slow Li transport and limit capacity, with irreversible layer bending driving capacity fade.

Ultra-low-temperature magnetic refrigeration is strongly dependent on the performances of refrigerants. Here the authors provide a frustrated magnet Gd₂B₂MoO₉ with excellent magnetocaloric performances and a minimum temperature of 0.16 K is achieved.

FACED 2.0 builds on and expands the capabilities of the free-space angular-chirp-enhanced delay microscopy approach. Its high speed, large field of view and volumetric coverage enable two-photon voltage imaging of hundreds of neurons or calcium imaging of thousands of neurons in the mouse or zebrafish brain.

In an effort to deorphanize G-protein-coupled receptors, a photo-cross-linking platform was established to capture ligands from complex samples. Little-LEN was identified as a ligand for GPR50, which coordinately regulates body metabolism.

Arginine addiction induced by argininosuccinate synthase (ASSN1) deficiency has been exploited to treat ASS1-deficient cancers. Here, the authors show an alternative therapeutic approach where ASS1 activity is increased by the pesticide spinosyn A and is shown to inhibit breast cancer cell proliferation.

Authors show that O-GlcNAc transferase suppresses stress-granule formation by immobilizing the scaffold G3BP1 independent of its enzymatic activity upon induced proximity, and generalize to other condensates.

Chemically modified and permeabilized bacteria allow for antibiotic delivery inside biofilms, inducing long-term immune protection and eradicating implant-related infections in preclinical models.

Adenosine signalling is identified as the central mechanism of action of the antidepressant effects of ketamine and electroconvulsive therapy, and newly developed analogues of ketamine exhibit improved antidepressant efficacy with reduced side effects.

The mitochondrial membranes present a formidable barrier to the delivery of exogenous genes. Here, the authors report on the development of fluorinated lipid nanoparticles to efficiently introduce therapeutic genes into mitochondria, for the correction of mitochondrial genomic defects.

Assumptions of technological and social adaptations to mitigate environmental impacts may be overstating potential gains in the face of population growth, according to this analysis of Israeli national data.

This study identifies brain connectivity patterns linked to the duration of methamphetamine abstinence in individuals with methamphetamine use disorder. The identified networks were validated in an out-of-sample replication.

The authors conducted a genome-wide association study of bipolar disorder (BD) in Han Chinese and integrated PGC4 East Asian and European datasets, discovering 23 novel loci, prioritizing 39 credible risk genes and implicating BD-related cell types and druggable targets.

The authors find that O-GalNAc transferase 2 (GALNT2) restricts viral infection, probably through the regulation of the proteolytic processing of viral glycoproteins via its O-linked glycosylation activity, impairing virus–cell fusion.

Eosinophils are involved in eosinophilic airway inflammation such as type 2 asthmatic responses. Here the authors investigate how lysosomes and cathepsin L affect the function and activation of eosinophils and that inhibition of cathepsin L reduces the pathology of allergic asthma in mice models.

A layer-by-layer thermal evaporation strategy enables thermally evaporated inverted perovskite solar cells with a power conversion efficiency of 25.19%, maintaining about 95% of their initial efficiency after 1,000 h of operation.

The key regulators driving intrinsic immune responses and neuropathic pain remain elusive. Here, the authors elucidate that ZFP612-mediated epigenetic disinhibition of Il1rl1 within the 3D genome in dorsal root ganglion neurons causes neuropathic pain.

Bessel-droplet two-photon fluorescence microscopy offers high-contrast and high-resolution volumetric imaging in vivo and can be used for high-throughput mapping of functional synaptic organization in the mouse brain.

Proteolysis-targeting chimeras (PROTACs) hold therapeutic promise but face challenges of high molecular weight, polarity, and poor drug-like properties. Here, authors develop PLA-based SM-PROTACs that achieve efficient target degradation and superior low-dose, long-term tumor inhibition in vivo

Immune check point therapies have not been successful for prostate cancers, but the underlying mechanisms are unclear. Here the authors show that a transcription factor, YY1, may promote the SUMOylation and stability of HIF-1α to suppress anti-tumor immunity, while targeting YY1 helps improve tumor control, in mouse prostate cancer models.

CO₂ electroreduction is promoted by alkali cations in the electrolyte, but the precise mechanism by which this occurs is not clear. Now in situ infrared spectroscopy and ab initio molecular dynamics are combined to elucidate the specific role of alkali cations and their trends.

Analyses of whole-genome sequencing data in children and validation in mouse models show that offspring born from blastocyst-stage embryo transfer have shorter leukocyte telomere lengths.

Genomic analyses applied to 14 childhood- and adult-onset psychiatric disorders identifies five underlying genomic factors that explain the majority of the genetic variance of the individual disorders.

GALRs, receptors for the neuropeptide galanin, have emerged as potential therapeutic targets for inflammatory bowel disease. Here the authors report that GAL53, a long galanin peptide derived from non-mammalian vertebrates, alleviates induced colitis in preclinical models by engaging GALR2 and activating the β-arrestin2-biased signalling pathway.

This study presents a two-step chemical reprogramming strategy that converts fibroblasts into functional retinal pigment epithelium cells, offering a safe and scalable alternative for vision restoration in retinal degenerative diseases.

TNF inhibitors show clinical benefits for Behçet’s disease (BD), but the underlying molecular insights are still unclear. Here the authors use both patient samples and mouse genetic models to show that TNF inhibitors may target a metabolite/TRPM2/calcium signaling positive feedback loop of inflammation amplification for dampening vasculitis in BD.

FcγRIIb captures its ligand and targets it to lysosomal degradation following endocytosis. Here authors design bispecific-antibody-like molecules they call FcγRIIb-targeting chimeras or FcRTACs, to capture antigens with one arm and degrade them via an FcγRIIb-binding second arm to promote the clearance of pathological protein aggregates.

Liquid crystals on silicon (LCoS) devices are limited by the polarization sensitivity and reliance on complex architectures for full-color integration. Here, the authors demonstrate a metasurface-integrated LCoS device for polarisation-insensitive, full-color amplitude modulation on a single chip.

Risk stratification in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains challenging. By combining multiplex immunofluorescence, H&E histology, and AI, the study identifies spatial “cell-niche” patterns that enhance survival prediction beyond UICC8 staging. These patterns reclassify many stage I patients as high risk, revealing potentially undertreated cases and establishing spatial tumor microenvironment features as clinically actionable biomarkers.

The function and regulatory mechanism of mRNA acetylation modification in cancer progression remains largely unknown. Here the authors identify that targeting tumor N4-acetylcytidine (ac4C) RNA acetyltransferase NAT10 improves anti-tumor response via MYC/CDK2/DNMT1/dsRNA/type I IFN pathway, and show the synergic anti-tumor effect of NAT10 inhibition with aPD-1.

Here the authors report that genetic or pharmacological inhibition of phosphoglycerate kinase 1, an enzyme involved in glycolysis, attenuates acute kidney injury in mouse models of acute kidney injury via inhibition of ferroptosis.

mRNA technologies offer potential solutions for HIV-1 vaccine development by enabling rapid, safe and modular antigen design that can initiate rare antibody lineages required for broad protection. In this Review, we discuss preclinical and early clinical evidence, outline remaining challenges — particularly breadth and durability — and discuss delivery and manufacturing advances that may help translate these approaches into effective preventive and therapeutic strategies.

A compact adaptive optics module corrects aberrations in two-photon and three-photon microscopy, enabling structural and functional imaging deep in the mouse brain, the mouse spinal cord and the zebrafish larva.

Current CO₂ utilization relies on high-purity CO₂, requiring energy-intensive capture and purification. This study developed a solar-powered heterojunction catalytic system that directly converts atmospheric CO₂ with ammonia into urea.

China’s dramatic demographic shift toward population aging raises challenges at the individual, familial and societal levels. Fang et al. review these challenges and emerging policies designed to promote healthy longevity in China.

In this study, the authors present a genomic surveillance of avian influenza genomes sampled from live poultry markets in China. They report that a number of variants have emerged since 2016 that pose an increased risk to humans. They highlight the importance of continuous genome surveillance of circulating influenza strains.

The high-contrast dielectric boundary between a gold–air hybrid structure and its sharp spatial features are exploited to provide the momentum required for the excitation of higher-order hyperbolic phonon polaritons.

Here, the authors structurally and biochemically characterise the YcfA-YcfC enzyme system, crucial for biosynthesis of the anticancer and antimicrobial agent 6-thioguanine.

This work reveals an unusual T⁴ temperature dependence of the electronic thermal conductivity at ultralow temperatures and a strong violation of the Wiedemann-Franz law in the topological compensated semimetals TaAs₂, NbAs₂, and NdSb.