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A demonstration of attosecond control of the motion and directed emission of electrons from individual silica nanoparticles using few-cycle laser fields opens new possibilities to manipulate electronic processes in nanoscale systems.

Factor XII initiates the intrinsic blood coagulation cascade and the kinin system. Here the authors show that Factor XII is elevated in the blood of multiple sclerosis patients, activates dendritic cells via CD87 and cAMP, and its blockade inhibits immunopathology in a mouse model of the disease.

A robotically handled culture system using porcine gastrointestinal tissue explants for the high-throughput interrogation of the gastrointestinal tract predicts the absorption of oral drugs in the human gut better than Caco-2 Transwells.

The Ups/PRELI family mediates intramitochondrial lipid distribution and synthesis by shuttling phospholipids between both mitochondrial membranes. Here the authors combine X-ray crystallography, MD simulations and yeast genetic screens and identify residues that are important for Ups/PRELI lipid specificity and reveal a dual lipid recognition mechanism in Ups/PRELI family members.

Functionalized single-walled carbon nanotubes can be used as highly sensitive and stable nanosensors for the in vivo detection of nitric oxide.

Franco Taroni and colleagues report the identification of mutations in AFG3L2 that cause dominant spinocerebellar ataxia type 28. Along with paraplegin, AFG3L2 forms a protein complex with ATPase and metalloprotease activities and functions in the maintenance of the mitochondrial proteome.

Deshwal et al. show that the protease PARL regulates coenzyme Q (CoQ) via the lipid transfer protein STARD7. Mitochondrial STARD7 ensures CoQ synthesis; cytosolic STARD7 preserves CoQ transport to the membrane, protecting cells against ferroptosis.

Adriaenssens et al. provide evidence suggesting that cytosolic small heat shock proteins localize to the mitochondrial intermembrane space, where they operate as molecular chaperones.

Saita et al. show that PARL cleaves Smac (also known as DIABLO) to generate an IAP-binding motif required for its apoptotic activity, identifying PARL-mediated Smac processing as a pro-apoptotic mitochondrial pathway.

The health of the proteome in the face of multiple and diverse challenges directly influences the health of the cell and the lifespan of the organism. A recent meeting held in Nara, Japan, provided an exciting platform for scientific exchange and provocative discussions on the biology of proteins and protein homeostasis across multiple scales of analysis and model systems.

Recent improvements in the indirect-drive inertial confinement fusion experiments include the achievement of burning plasma state. Here the authors report the scaling of neutron yield in a burning plasma of Deuterium-Tritium fusion reaction by including the mode-2 asymmetry.

A burning plasma, a critical step towards self-sustaining fusion, is achieved at the US National Ignition Facility, with a subset of experiments demonstrating fusion self-heating beyond radiation and conduction losses.

ACKR3 is a critical regulator of platelet-mediated thrombosis and organ injury following ischemia/reperfusion. Platelet ACKR3 surface expression is independently associated with all-cause mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases.

Terrestrial ecosystems underwent major restructuring through the early Mesozoic, culminating in dinosaur-dominated faunas. Here Singh et al. use jaw morphology to classify tetrapod herbivores into distinct feeding groups and show that their success was shaped by environmental changes and competitive constraints.

Free-energy molecular dynamics simulations and high-resolution structural analysis of the c-ring of the F₁F_o ATPase rotary motor, which mediates ion translocation, suggest conformational flexibility and reversible ion binding in the c-subunits, in an environment mimicking the a-subunit.

Dietary restriction (DR) late in life does not improve survival and has little benefit in metabolic health in mice. The absence of a DR gene-expression signature in fat tissue suggests that a ‘nutritional memory’ interferes with the benefits of DR.

Nucleocytoplasmic Large DNA Viruses (NCLDV) that infect algae encode two distinct families of microbial rhodopsins. Here, the authors characterise two proteins form the viral rhodopsin group 1 OLPVR1 and VirChR1, present the 1.4 Å crystal structure of OLPVR1 and show that viral rhodopsins 1 are light-gated cation channels.

Familial pancreatic cancer (FPC) is a rare, hereditary tumour syndrome. High morbidity and mortality is associated with development of pancreatic cancer in these high-risk individuals and, as outlined in this Review, screening of FPC families seems appropriate. Here, Bartsch and colleagues describe the current knowledge of FPC, including phenotype, underlying genetic causes and clinical management (including genetic counselling and screening).

Identifying therapeutic targets in rare cancers is challenging due to the lack of relevant pre-clinical models. Here, the authors generate a cancer cell line from a paediatric patient with a rare undifferentiated sarcoma and through functional genomics and chemical screens identified CDK4 and XPO1 as potential therapeutic targets in this cancer.

The growing literature on comorbidity in multiple sclerosis (MS)—in particular, the association of MS with other autoimmune diseases—provides interesting clues to the complex pathogenesis of this disease, but also raises awareness of the important issues that need to be considered in its management.

The insulin receptor plays a key role in many physiological processes, yet how insulin effects receptor signaling at the structural level remains incomplete. Here the authors present a high-resolution cryo-EM structure of a high-affinity form of the insulin-bound insulin receptor ectodomain that sheds light on the mechanism of signal transduction.

The existence and properties of tetraquark states with two heavy quarks and two light antiquarks have been widely debated. Here, the authors use a unitarized model to study the properties of an exotic narrow state compatible with a doubly charmed tetraquark.

An ingestible, flexible piezoelectric sensor that senses mechanical deformations in the gastric cavity allows for the monitoring of ingestion states in the gastrointestinal tract of pigs.

The use of drug delivery systems for the gastrointestinal tract has been faced with a number of drawbacks related to their prolonged use. Here, the authors develop a drug-loaded hydrogel with high strength to withstand long-term gastrointestinal motility and can be triggered to dissolve on demand.

The genomic features of metastatic prostate cancer are beginning to be understood. Here, the authors performed whole genome sequencing of plasma samples from these patients and found a high plasticity of the cancer genomes with newly occurring focal amplifications as a driving force in progression.

The LHCb collaboration reports an improved measurement of the oscillation frequency of mesons consisting of a bottom quark and strange quark, which is then combined with previous results.

The Large Hadron Collider beauty collaboration reports a test of lepton flavour universality in decays of bottom mesons into strange mesons and a charged lepton pair, finding evidence of a violation of this principle postulated in the standard model.

Mitochondrial proteases can be classified into subgroups depending on their function and location. They are highly specific and modulate biochemical activities that are essential for mitochondrial function and integrity. Impaired or dysregulated function of mitoproteases is associated with ageing and longevity, as well as with pathological conditions and human hereditary diseases.

Deforestation footprints identify trade- and consumption-linked hot spots of forest loss. This Review synthesizes existing footprint assessments, finding that Brazil, Indonesia and China are major drivers of commodity-linked deforestation, but that estimates are influenced by method choice.

Extremely massive stars with initial masses of more than 140 solar masses end their lives when pressure-supporting photons turn into electron–positron pairs, leading to a violent contraction that triggers a nuclear explosion, unbinding the star in a pair-instability supernova. Here, the mass of the exploding core of supernova SN 2007bi is estimated at around 100 solar masses, in which case theory unambiguously predicts a pair-instability supernova. Further observations are well fitted by models of pair-instability supernovae.

BH3-only protein tBID induces mitochondrial outer membrane permeabilization in response to death receptor activation. The mitochondrial carrier homologue 2 (MTCH2) protein acts as the tBID receptor on the mitochondria and is required for fas-induced cell death in mouse liver.

Using separation-of-function mutations of TPP1 that inhibit telomerase binding while maintaining telomere capping, a region on the surface of TPP1, the TEL patch, is identified and found to be required for both binding telomerase and enhancing its processivity.

Pain management is an extremely important topic both medically and socio-economically. Here the authors offer an overview of the use of degrading polymeric materials for delivery of pharmaceutical agents for pain management and offer a perspective of the future directions of the field.

The detection of a metal-polluted G star in a binary system with an invisible X-ray source offset from the centre of a supernova remnant leads to the suggestion that this was the progenitor pair behind a core-collapse supernova in RCW 86.