Eight-electron Pt/Cu superatom encapsulating three "electron-donating" hydrides.

Hydrides in metal complexes or nanoclusters are typically viewed as electron-withdrawing. Several recent reports have demonstrated the emergence of "electron-donating" hydrides in tailoring the structure, electronic structure, and reactivity of metal nanoclusters. However, the number of such hydrides included in each cluster kernel is limited to one or two.

Hexa-Branched Nanographenes with Large Two-Photon Absorption.

The conventional approach toward molecules with large two-photon absorption (TPA) involves donor-acceptor conjugation. Herein we show a new strategy involving the use of hexa-branched nanographenes. We synthesized two hexa-branched nanographenes, one with six benzoaceanthrylene arms fused to the coronene core and the other with six pyrenyl arms fused to the coronene core.

Membrane-active and DNA binding related double-action antimycobacterial mechanism of antimicrobial peptide W3R6 and its synthetic analogs.

The emergence of multidrug- or extremely drug-resistant M. tuberculosis strains has made very few drugs available for current tuberculosis treatment. Antimicrobial peptides can be employed as a promising alternative strategy for TB treatment.

Synthesis and Interlayer Assembly of a Graphenic Bowl with Peripheral Selenium Annulation.

Pentagonal cyclization at the bay positions of armchair-edged graphenic cores can build molecular bowls without the destruction of hexagonal lattices. However, this synthesis remains challenging due to unfavorable strain and the multiple reactions required. Here, we show that a new type of graphenic molecular bowl with a depth of 1.

Crystal structure of the polyketide cyclase from .

About 40% of proteins are classified as conserved hypothetical proteins in (TB). Identification and characterization of these proteins are beneficial to understand the pathogenesis of TB and exploiting novel drugs for TB treatments. The polyketide cyclase, a protein from ( PC) has been annotated as a hypothetical protein in Uniprot database.

Supramolecular copolymerization through self-correction of non-polymerizable transient intermediates.

Kinetic control over structures and functions of complex assembly systems has aroused widespread interest. Understanding the complex pathway and transient intermediates is helpful to decipher how multiple components evolve into complex assemblies. However, for supramolecular polymerizations, thorough and quantitative kinetic analysis is often overlooked.

A Sparse Model-Inspired Deep Thresholding Network for Exponential Signal Reconstruction-Application in Fast Biological Spectroscopy.

The nonuniform sampling (NUS) is a powerful approach to enable fast acquisition but requires sophisticated reconstruction algorithms. Faithful reconstruction from partially sampled exponentials is highly expected in general signal processing and many applications. Deep learning (DL) has shown astonishing potential in this field, but many existing problems, such as lack of robustness and explainability, greatly limit its applications.

Structural Basis for the C-Terminal Domain of Ribosome Maturation Factor RimM to Bind Ribosomal Protein S19.

Multidrug-resistant tuberculosis (TB) is a serious threat to public health, calling for the development of new anti-TB drugs. Chaperon protein RimM, involved in the assembly of ribosomal protein S19 into 30S ribosomal subunit during ribosome maturation, is a potential drug target for TB treatment. The C-terminal domain (CTD) of RimM is primarily responsible for binding S19.

Synthesis and assembly of extended quintulene.

Quintulene, a non-graphitic cycloarene with fivefold symmetry, has remained synthetically elusive due to its high molecular strain originating from its curved structure. Here we report the construction of extended quintulene, which was unambiguously characterized by mass and NMR spectroscopy. The extended quintulene represents a naturally curved nanocarbon based on its conical molecular geometry.

Molecular defect-containing bilayer graphene exhibiting brightened luminescence.

The electronic structure of bilayer graphene can be altered by creating defects in its carbon skeleton. However, the natural defects are generally heterogeneous. On the other hand, rational bottom-up synthesis offers the possibility of building well-defined molecular cutout of defect-containing bilayer graphene, which allows defect-induced modulation with atomic precision.

Verruculosins A-B, New Oligophenalenone Dimers from the Soft Coral-Derived Fungus .

In an effort to discover new bioactive anti-tumor lead compounds, a specific tyrosine phosphatase CDC25B and an Erb family receptor EGFR were selected as drug screening targets. This work led to the investigation of the soft coral-derived fungus and identification of two new oligophenalenone dimers, verruculosins A-B (-), along with three known analogues, bacillisporin F (), duclauxin (), and xenoclauxin (). Compound was the first structure of the oligophenalenone dimer possessing a unique octacyclic skeleton.

Crystal structure of the N domain of Lon protease from Mycobacterium avium complex.

Lon protease is evolutionarily conserved in prokaryotes and eukaryotic organelles. The primary function of Lon is to selectively degrade abnormal and certain regulatory proteins to maintain the homeostasis in vivo. Lon mainly consists of three functional domains and the N-terminal domain is required for the substrate selection and recognition.

Structural basis for the complete resistance of the human prion protein mutant G127V to prion disease.

Prion diseases are caused by the propagation of misfolded cellular prion proteins (PrPs). A completely prion disease-resistant genotype, V127M129, has been identified in Papua New Guinea and verified in transgenic mice. To disclose the structural basis of the disease-resistant effect of the G127V mutant, we determined and compared the structural and dynamic features of the G127V-mutated human PrP (residues 91-231) and the wild-type PrP in solution.

A plausible model correlates prebiotic peptide synthesis with the primordial genetic code.

Aminoacyladenylates (5'-aa-AMPs) are key intermediates in peptide synthesis. Here we report analogs of 5'-aa-AMPs, namely nucleotide amidates (aa-N-NMPs), obtained under Hadean conditions. Significantly, dipeptides were detected from the above reactions and their yields varied with different nucleosides through the formation of different aa-N-NMPs.

Critical evaluation of bioinformatics tools for the prediction of protein crystallization propensity.

X-ray crystallography is the main tool for structural determination of proteins. Yet, the underlying crystallization process is costly, has a high attrition rate and involves a series of trial-and-error attempts to obtain diffraction-quality crystals. The Structural Genomics Consortium aims to systematically solve representative structures of major protein-fold classes using primarily high-throughput X-ray crystallography.

Crysalis: an integrated server for computational analysis and design of protein crystallization.

The failure of multi-step experimental procedures to yield diffraction-quality crystals is a major bottleneck in protein structure determination. Accordingly, several bioinformatics methods have been successfully developed and employed to select crystallizable proteins. Unfortunately, the majority of existing in silico methods only allow the prediction of crystallization propensity, seldom enabling computational design of protein mutants that can be targeted for enhancing protein crystallizability.

Long lifetime air plasma channel generated by femtosecond laser pulse sequence.

Lifetime of laser plasma channel is significantly prolonged using femtosecond laser pulse sequence, which is generated from a chirped pulse amplification laser system with pure multi-pass amplification chain. Time-resolved fluorescence images and electrical conductivity measurement are used to characterize the lifetime of the plasma channel. Prolongation of plasma channel lifetime up to microsecond level is observed using the pulse sequence.

Broadband supercontinuum generation in air using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses.

Supercontinuum generation in air using tightly focused femtosecond laser pulses was investigated experimentally. Broadband white-light emission covering the whole visible spectral region was generated. Spectral broadening extended only to the blue side of the fundamental frequency due to the phase modulation induced by the strong ionization of air.