Research articles

Here the authors demonstrate that the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is subject to redox regulation in vitro, reversibly switching between the enzymatically active dimer and the functionally dormant monomer through redox modifications of cysteine residues.

The role of IgG glycosylation in the immune response has been studied, but less is known about IgM glycosylation. Here the authors characterize glycosylation of SARS-CoV-2 spike specific IgM and show that it correlates with COVID-19 severity and affects complement deposition.

Nanoscale optoelectrodes hold the potential to optically stimulate individual neuron. Here, the authors form nanoscale capacitive optoelectrodes by incorporating zinc porphyrin into nanorods, coated by TiO2, a design that allows for far-field optical modulation of neurons with efficiency and negligible side effects.

Here, the authors quantify the effect of cryo-EM data acquisition with stage-tilt on the global resolution of reconstructions and present a tool for predicting an optimal stage-tilt angle to ameliorate the effects of preferred specimen orientation.

CD8⁺ T cell activation involves cooperation between the T cell receptor and the integrin LFA-1. Here authors show how LFA-1 nanoclusters participate in the calibration of TCR stimulation strength and activation of cytotoxic function in CD8⁺ T cells.

VTA glutamatergic neurons mediate innate defensive behaviors. Here, authors show that suppression of feeding induced by escape responses to threats is mediated by VTA glutamatergic neurons regulated by lateral hypothalamic glutamatergic neurons.

Jets have been found in Earth’s magnetosheath for two decades and, more recently, also in Mars. Yet, their universal existence in planetary magnetosheath remains an open question. Here, authors report the presence of anti-sunward and sunward jets at Jupiter and compare them to Earth and Mars.

The interaction of flexoelectric polarization arising from strain gradients with ferroelectricity impacts tribological properties and facilitates fine physical lithography without masks or chemicals, with potential applications in various fields.

Here the authors demonstrate how managed urbanization in China could halve reactive nitrogen pollution to both the atmosphere and water resources. Investing 61 billion USD could provide 245 billion USD in benefits, while contributing to multiple SDG goals.

In this work, authors demonstrate highly stretchable conductive porous elastomers that can achieve up to 1200% strain with low or negative Poisson’s ratios by uniaxial, biaxial, and triaxial hot-pressing strategies.

Near infrared energy remains untapped toward the maneuvering of entire solar spectrum harvesting for fulfilling nuts and bolts of solar hydrogen production. Here, the authors report the use of Au@Cu₇S₄ yolk@shell nanocrystals for hydrogen production from untapped near infrared energy.

The sign of longitudinal piezoelectric coefficients is typically positive. Here, the authors tune the sign of the linear piezoelectric coefficient of HfO₂ from positive to negative via epitaxial strain, finding nonlinear and parabolic piezoelectric behaviors at tensile epitaxial strain.

Apoptotic and lytic cell death pathways are both utilised in the removal of damaged cells; however, the downstream inflammatory outcomes widely vary according to the chosen pathway. Here authors show that in mice with genetic deletion of Gasdermin E specifically in neutrophils, these cells undergo apoptosis rather than pyroptotic cell death upon senescence, with consequential attenuation of reactive inflammatory responses.

Gate-defined superconducting moiré devices offer high tunability for probing the nature of superconducting and correlated insulating states. Here, the authors report the Little–Parks and Aharonov–Bohm effects in a single gate-defined magic-angle twisted bilayer graphene device.

Frugivory evolved multiple times in mammals, including bats. Here, the authors use integrative single-cell sequencing on fruit and insect bat kidneys and pancreases and identify cell population, gene expression and regulatory differences associated with frugivory that also relate to diabetes.

Exploring the dynamic structural evolution of electrocatalysts during electrochemical reactions is imperative. Here, the authors constructed 2D PhenPtCl₂ nanosheets with Phen-Pt-Cl₂ coordination structure which exhibit dynamic coordination evolution during hydrogen evolution reaction and good performance across the full pH range

The authors identified a series of cytoskeletal proteins involved in the discharge of invasion-related organelles in Toxoplasma gondii. They successfully delineated their functions through the utilization of expansion and cryo-electron microscopy.

Microglia could have health-promoting capacities in age-associated neuroinflammation. Here, the authors describe an autophagy and IL-34 dependent neuroprotective microglia population in the aging brain as a potential therapeutic target.

Invariant cell lineage in C. elegans enables the analysis of transcriptional regulatory mechanisms controlling the fate of each cell at spatiotemporal resolution. Here, the authors develop a tool automating C. elegans cell identification and create an expression atlas of 620 transcription factors.

Interactions between the brain and the vagus nerve is crucial for expressing emotions. Here, authors show that vagus nerve activity is associated with prefrontal-amygdalar oscillations and restores stress-induced behavior.