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Histone H1 binds to nucleosomes with ultrahigh affinity, implying residence times incompatible with efficient biological regulation. Now it has been shown that the disordered regions of H1 retain their large-amplitude dynamics on the nucleosome, which enables a charged disordered histone chaperone to invade the H1–nucleosome complex and vastly accelerate H1 dissociation.

Pan-expansion microscopy of tissue combines staining of proteins and lipids with immunolabeling.

The potential of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for solid-state lighting applications is limited by the need to develop efficient blue emitters. Here, the authors utilize a unicolored phosphor-sensitized fluorescence strategy to demonstrate efficient sky-blue OLEDs with enhanced lifetime.

Perturbation of the cardiac voltage-gated sodium channel, Na_V1.5, by drugs or inherited mutation can underlie and trigger cardiac arrhythmias. Here, the role of the Na_V1.5 carboxy terminus in channel inactivation is investigated, and structural details of an arrhythmia associated H6 mutant are reported.

CaBLAM is a bioluminescent genetically encoded calcium indicator that delivers high-contrast signals as shown in cell culture, in the in vivo mouse brain and in zebrafish larvae.

Variants in the PSMC5 gene impair proteasome function and cellular homeostasis, altering brain development in children. This study reveals underlying molecular mechanisms contributing to this neurodevelopmental phenotype, and suggests therapeutic leads for neurodevelopmental proteasomopathies.

The interaction between the polyelectrolytic IDP ProTα and a highly charged folded protein domain is investigated by integrating NMR, single-molecule FRET and MD simulations. Net charge and charge distribution are implicated in binding and selectivity.

To turn on and obtain emission from lanthanide-doped insulating nanoparticles, an electrical excitation pathway coupling them to organic optical molecules to form nanohybrids is described, enabling tunable electroluminescence properties of LEDs fabricated from such materials.

Quantum beating has been observed in photosynthetic systems, suggesting that energy-transfer processes in natural light harvesting could involve quantum effects. Now, extensive beating is found in the light-harvesting protein of a cryptophyte alga, and shown to be electronic. The implications of these observations on the free-energy surfaces and exciton delocalization were investigated.

Two highly charged disordered human proteins phase-separate into viscous complex coacervates while retaining their rapid conformational dynamics through pico- to nanosecond exchange of short-lived side-chain interactions.

Long-wavelength luminescence from boron-based cations is typically hindered by both intrinsic instability and pronounced non-radiative decay. Now a triadic design that integrates a non-Kekulé polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbon framework, a charge-localizing carbodicarbene ligand and counterion-directed assembly enables stable borenium ions with tunable red-to-near-infrared emission in the solid state.

RNA chaperones, such as the hepatitic C virus (HCV) core protein, are proteins that aid in the folding of nucleic acids. Here authors use single‐molecule spectroscopy and simulation to show that the HCV core protein acts as a flexible macromolecular counterion which facilitates nucleic acid folding.

Rudalska et al. describe a novel class of p38α inhibitors with increased target residence time. They explore the drugs’ specificity, pharmacokinetics and toxicity profile and show that they are efficacious in the context of colorectal cancer.

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) variability and its phenotypic consequences aren’t well studied in relation to viral replication fitness and disease severity. Here, the authors identify a replication-enhancing domain in non-structural protein 5A, linking high replication fitness to severe disease outcomes, with implications for understanding HCV pathogenesis in immunocompromised patients.

Human host-associated cellular products may act as induction agents for bacteriophages.

A new riboswitch-based RNA sensor called Riboglow binds to quenched fluorescent probes to induce fluorescence turn-on. Riboglow enables tagging and tracking of mRNA and short noncoding RNAs with different colored fluorophores in live mammalian cells.

McGeachan et al. observe oligomeric tau in synapses from individuals with progressive supranuclear palsy and provide evidence that tau pathology may spread through the brain via synapses.

The authors report a Yin-Yang balance between α-Synuclein and β-Synuclein via regulating phase separation in physiological states and Parkinson’s disease. AI-designed peptides mitigate the symptoms and prolong the lifespan of C. elegans PD models.

Donor exciton delocalization and its impact on photovoltaic performance of organic solar cells remains less explored. Here, the authors found that delocalized excitons are formed in aggregates of the donor polymer D18, and that these delocalized excitons mediate charge generation in solar cells.

The hepatocyte growth factor receptor MET is a receptor tyrosine kinase involved in cellular processes such as proliferation, migration, and survival. Here the authors combine molecular dynamics simulations and smFRET in cells, to investigate the early stages of MET activation.

The structural mechanism of a natively isolated GRP94 folding intermediate tethered to a CCDC134-bound translocon is described, revealing how the nascent chain remodels the translocon to control N-glycosylation by OST.

Understanding the confinement and transport of excitons in low dimensional systems will aid the development of next generation photovoltaics. Via photophysical studies Ni et al. observe 'quantum cutting' in 0D metal-organic hybrid materials based on methylammonium bismuth halide (CH₃NH₃)3Bi₂I₉.

A high-affinity complex of histone H1 and prothymosin-α reveals an unexpected interaction mechanism, where the large opposite net charge enables the two proteins to remain highly disordered even in the complex.

The size distribution of polymer vesicles and phospholipids is usually polydisperse as there are no selection rules for the overall size. A method combining photolithography and molecular self-assembly can now produce giant polymer vesicles with controlled and narrow size distributions.

An international blind study confirms that smFRET measurements on dynamic proteins are highly reproducible across instruments, analysis procedures and timescales, further highlighting the promise of smFRET for dynamic structural biology.

Integrated multi-omic analyses using samples from the TRACERx study highlight cross-talk between DNA hypermethylation and genomic lesions in non-small cell lung cancer.

The first experimental demonstration of saturable absorption in core-electron transitions in aluminium paves the way for investigating warm dense matter, which potentially has an important role in planetary science and the realization of inertial confinement fusion.

Current calcium-sensitive probes based on red fluorescent proteins are unsuitable for two-photon excitation at the near-infrared wavelengths commonly used for green fluorescent probes. Wu et al. use a structure-guided approach to engineer a red fluorescent probe with optimal two-photon excitation at these wavelengths.

A computational design strategy guided by biophysical principles enables engineering of split protein systems to tune their degree of interfacial destabilization, and thus reconstitution propensity, while preserving stability and catalytic activity.