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A high-resolution structural study sheds light on processes of energy transfer within the photosynthetic water-splitting machinery of plants.

AXL is overexpressed and has been investigated as a therapeutic target in several cancer types, including lung cancer. Here the authors design AXLdirected CAR-T cells and show that their anti-tumor activity can be improved in combination with microwave ablation in preclinical lung cancer models.

Single-photon dual-comb ghost imaging spectroscopy was first proposed, achieving high-speed and high-resolution spectral analysis in photon-scarce scenarios and demonstrating applications in fingerprint spectral detection and ultra-long-distance fiber sensing.

Sterically hindered unsaturated compounds are challenging substrates for asymmetric hydrogenation. Here, the authors report a palladium/chiral (bis)phosphine catalytic system that hydrogenates a number of hindered N-tosylimines with excellent enantioselectivitites.

Cryo-EM structures of four TEF30-associated photosystem II repair complexes from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveal versatile roles of TEF30 in the reassembly of the photosystem II core monomer, dimer and supercomplex through multiple intermediate states.

Arabidopsis thaliana mutants expressing Lhcb8, a stress-induced paralog to Lhcb4 reveal its role in tuning the light-harvesting system of Photosystem II under excess light and maintaining high quantum efficiency.

Cytidine-diphosphate diacylglycerol (CDP-DAG) is a central liponucleotide intermediate required for the biosynthesis of some phospholipids and is synthesized by CDP-DAG synthetase (Cds). Here, Liu et al. report the structure of a Cds that shows how it can accept hydrophilic and hydrophobic substrates, and suggest a mechanism that requires two metal ions.

Here the authors show an intermediate state of the photosystem II (PSII) repair cycle, where three protein factors and an α-tocopherol quinone molecule are associated with a damaged PSII at distinct sites, fulfilling their specific functions in the repair process.

Lv et al. reveal a non-canonical role for gasdermin E in protecting pancreatic cancer cells from chymotrypsin-mediated digestion in the microenvironment by promoting the transcription factor YBX1 to induce mucin expression.

China is planning to launch its Tianwen-3 mission, with the purpose of bringing back a sample from Mars, by the end of the decade. This Perspective presents the scientific objectives and architecture of Tianwen-3, including a preliminary selection of landing sites and a description of the Mars Sample Laboratory that will curate the material on Earth.

A cryo-electron microscopy analysis of the Chlamydomonas reinhardtii TOC–TIC supercomplex reveals that Tic214 traverses the chloroplast inner membrane, the intermembrane space and the outer membrane, connecting the TOC complex with the TIC proteins.

Co-expression of PD-L1-specific chimeric switch receptors (CSRs) improves the antitumor effects of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells. Here, CSRs are shown to promote the differentiation of mesothelin-targeting CAR T cells into central memory-like cells and improve their efficacy.

High-resolution structures of the PSI–LHCI–LHCII supercomplex from Chlamydomonas reinhardtii reveal the mechanism of assembly between the PSI–LHCI complex and two phosphorylated LHCII trimers.

IL-2 is a classic T cell growth factor. Huang and colleagues demonstrate, however, that chronic IL-2 stimulation leads to a new exhaustion pathway that impairs antitumor immune responses.

Cyanobacterial photosystem I supercomplexes bind to iron-stress-induced proteins IsiA and flavodoxin under iron-deficiency conditions. They form a network that is highly efficient at light harvesting and retains normal electron transport efficiency.

Adoptive transfer of purified IgG from convalescent macaques protects naive macaques against SARS-CoV-2 infection, and cellular immune responses contribute to protection against rechallenge with SARS-CoV-2.

The protective efficacy of a single dose of adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) vector-based vaccine expressing the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein in non-human primates is demonstrated.

The Multiple Peptide Resistance Factors (MprFs) utilize two separate domains to synthesize and translocate aminoacyl phospholipids to the outer leaflets of bacterial membranes. Here authors present cryo-electron microscopy structures of MprF homodimer from Rhizobium tropici (RtMprF) at two different states in complex with lysyl-phosphatidylglycerol (LysPG).

In Chlamydomonas reinhardtii, multiple units of light-harvesting complex I bind to the photosystem-I core, forming larger antennae than in plants. The structure, solved by cryo-electron microscopy, reveals details of antenna organization and functioning.

High-resolution cryo-EM structures of Chlamydomonas light-harvesting complex II (LHCII)–photosystem II (PSII) supercomplexes show loosely and moderately associated LHCIIs forming multiple pathways for energy transfer to PSII reaction centres.

PsbS is a transmembrane photosystem II protein essential for photoprotection in plants. Crystal structures show that PsbS is not a canonical pigment-binding protein and provide insights into its pH-dependent activation mechanism.

Brassinosteroids (BR) and abscisic acid (ABA) signalling pathways are mostly known to antagonize each other. Here, it is shown that BR and ABA can also interact synergistically, which plays a role in development and salt stress tolerance of rice plants.

Arbovirus vertical transmission is commonly mediated by transovarial passage of female insect vectors. Here, the authors show that Rice gall dwarf virus can be transmitted by male leafhoppers via interactions of the viral capsid and heparan sulfate proteoglycan on the surface of sperm heads.

Resistance to anti-angiogenic therapies often occurs in patients. Here, the authors demonstrate the role of PDGF signaling in GBM resistance to anti-VEGF treatment via a mechanism that involves endothelial-mesenchymal transformation and transcriptional regulation of VEGFR-2.

Macrophages in the tumour microenvironment (TME) acquire tumour-promoting functions upon M2 polarization. Here the authors show, in a mouse model of glioblastoma, that endothelial cells in the TME induce macrophage M2 polarization via IL-6 and that depletion of endothelial IL-6 improves survival.

Mechanosensitive channels protect bacteria from osmotic shock by allowing ions to flow across the membrane in response to changes in membrane tension. MscL is one such channel with a large conductance. Although understanding of its closed and open states has been increasing, little is known about the structures of the important intermediate states. Here, the 3.8 Å crystal structure of MscL in what is probably a non-conductive, partially expanded intermediate state, is presented.

X-ray structures of C. elegans TRIC-B subtype channels reveal that the membrane proteins form a symmetrical homotrimeric complex, and a mechanistic model to explain the complex gating mechanism of TRIC channels is proposed.

A study on a soybean DNA demethylase reveals that seed size is negatively regulated by GmDMEa, which is closely linked to methylation on transposon elements.