Efficient Gene Delivery Admitted by small Metabolites Specifically Targeting Astrocytes in the Mouse Brain.

The development of efficient and targeted methods for delivering DNA in vivo has long been a major focus of research. In this study, we introduce a gene Delivery approach Admitted by small Metabolites, named gDAM, for the efficient and targeted delivery of naked DNA into astrocytes in the adult brains of mice. gDAM utilizes a straightforward combination of DNA and small metabolites, including glycine, L-proline, L-serine, L-histidine, D-alanine, Gly-Gly, and Gly-Gly-Gly, to achieve astrocyte-specific delivery of naked DNA, resulting in transient and robust gene expression in these cells.

Inhibited peroxidase activity of peroxiredoxin 1 by palmitic acid exacerbates nonalcoholic steatohepatitis in male mice.

Reactive oxygen species exacerbate nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) by oxidizing macromolecules; yet how they promote NASH remains poorly understood. Here, we show that peroxidase activity of global hepatic peroxiredoxin (PRDX) is significantly decreased in NASH, and palmitic acid (PA) binds to PRDX1 and inhibits its peroxidase activity. Using three genetic models, we demonstrate that hepatic PRDX1 protects against NASH in male mice.

All-perovskite tandem solar cells achieving >29% efficiency with improved (100) orientation in wide-bandgap perovskites.

Monolithic all-perovskite tandem solar cells present a promising approach for exceeding the efficiency limit of single-junction solar cells. However, the substantial open-circuit voltage loss in the wide-bandgap perovskite subcell hinders further improvements in power-conversion efficiency. Here we develop wide-bandgap perovskite films with improved (100) crystal orientation that suppress non-radiative recombination.

A feedback loop between Paxillin and Yorkie sustains Drosophila intestinal homeostasis and regeneration.

Balanced self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells are crucial for maintaining tissue homeostasis, but the underlying mechanisms of this process remain poorly understood. Here, from an RNA interference (RNAi) screen in adult Drosophila intestinal stem cells (ISCs), we identify a factor, Pax, which is orthologous to mammalian PXN, coordinates the proliferation and differentiation of ISCs during both normal homeostasis and injury-induced midgut regeneration in Drosophila. Loss of Pax promotes ISC proliferation while suppressing its differentiation into absorptive enterocytes (ECs).

MoTe Photodetector for Integrated Lithium Niobate Photonics.

The integration of a photodetector that converts optical signals into electrical signals is essential for scalable integrated lithium niobate photonics. Two-dimensional materials provide a potential high-efficiency on-chip detection capability. Here, we demonstrate an efficient on-chip photodetector based on a few layers of MoTe on a thin film lithium niobate waveguide and integrate it with a microresonator operating in an optical telecommunication band.

Mutation in CDC42 Gene Set as a Response Biomarker for Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor Therapy.

Background: Immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) have achieved great success; however, a subset of patients exhibits no response. Consequently, there is a critical need for reliable predictive biomarkers. Our focus is on CDC42, which stimulates multiple signaling pathways promoting tumor growth.

Quadruple-band synglisis enables high thermoelectric efficiency in earth-abundant tin sulfide crystals.

Thermoelectrics have been limited by the scarcity of their constituent elements, especially telluride. The earth-abundant, wide-bandgap ( ≈ 46 ) tin sulfide (SnS) has shown promising performance in its crystal form. We improved the thermoelectric efficiency in SnS crystals by promoting the convergence of energy and momentum of four valance bands, termed quadruple-band synglisis.

Spinal tissue identification using a Forward-oriented endoscopic ultrasound technique.

The limited imaging depth of optical endoscope restrains the identification of tissues under surface during the minimally invasive spine surgery (MISS), thus increasing the risk of critical tissue damage. This study is proposed to improve the accuracy and effectiveness of automatic spinal soft tissue identification using a forward-oriented ultrasound endoscopic system. Total 758 ex-vivo soft tissue samples were collected from ovine spines to create a dataset with four categories including spinal cord, nucleus pulposus, adipose tissue, and nerve root.

Anchorable Polymers Enabling Ultra-Thin and Robust Hole-Transporting Layers for High-Efficiency Inverted Perovskite Solar Cells.

Currently, the development of polymeric hole-transporting materials (HTMs) lags behind that of small-molecule HTMs in inverted perovskite solar cells (PSCs). A critical challenge is that conventional polymeric HTMs are incapable of forming ultra-thin and conformal coatings like self-assembly monolayers (SAMs), especially for substrates with rough surface morphology. Herein, we address this challenge by designing anchorable polymeric HTMs (CP1 to CP5).

A cognitive digital twin approach to improving driver compliance and accident prevention.

Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) are crucial for enhancing driving safety by alerting drivers to unrecognized risks. However, traditional ADAS often fail to account for individual decision-making processes, including drivers' perceptions of the environment and personal driving styles, which can lead to non-compliance with the provided assistance. This paper introduces a novel Cognitive-Digital-Twin-based Driving Assistance System (CDAS), leveraging a personalized driving decision model that dynamically updates based on the driver's control and observation actions.

Peptide-Scaffolded Detergents for Membrane Protein Studies.

Detergents are essential for preserving the structural integrity and functionality of membrane proteins (MPs) outside the biological membrane or in aqueous solution, and thus ensuring accurate biochemical and structural analyses. Here, we introduce peptide-scaffolded detergents, a novel class of hybrid molecules formed by preassembling detergent monomers with peptides of varying lengths, mediated via Click chemistry. These detergents are characterized by scalable, straightforward synthesis and enhanced solubility.

Vitamin C and MEK Inhibitor PD0325901 Synergistically Promote Oligodendrocytes Generation by Promoting DNA Demethylation.

DNA methylation and demethylation are key epigenetic events that regulate gene expression and cell fate. DNA demethylation via oxidation of 5-methylcytosine (5mC) to 5-hydroxymethylcytosine (5hmC) is typically mediated by TET (ten-eleven translocation) enzymes. The 5hmC modification is considered an intermediate state of DNA demethylation; it is particularly prevalent in the brain and is believed to play a role in the development of many cell types in the brain.

Subthalamic nucleus oscillations during facial emotion processing and apathy in Parkinson's disease.

Background: Parkinson's disease (PD) is primarily characterized by motor symptoms, but patients also experience a relatively high prevalence of non-motor symptoms, including emotional and cognitive impairments. While the subthalamic nucleus (STN) is a common target for deep brain stimulation to treat motor symptoms in PD, its role in emotion processing is still under investigation. This study examines the subthalamic neural oscillatory activities during facial emotion processing and its association with affective characteristics.

Proton Accumulation Modulated Surface Potential in Proton Conducting Ceramics Revealed by Near-Ambient Pressure X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy.

Proton conducting electrochemical cells (PCECs) are efficient and clean intermediate-temperature energy conversion devices. The proton concentration across the PCECs is often nonuniform, and characterizing the distribution of proton concentration can help to locate the position of rate-limiting reactions. However, the determination of the local proton concentration under operating conditions remains challenging.

Harnessing acylhydrazone-oxime exchange reaction to achieve diverse synthesis of glycosite-specific antibody-drug conjugates.

Glycosite-specific antibody-drug conjugates (gsADCs), which carry cytotoxic payloads at the conserved -glycosylation site, N297, of an IgG, have emerged as a promising ADC format with better therapeutic index. Conjugating the payloads aldehyde-based chemistry is more friendly to IgGs, and has been widely investigated. However, the efficiency of introducing an aldehyde tag at the N297 site is poor due to the complicated procedures required, such as the multiple-enzyme-catalyzed IgG glycoengineering process and the successive oxidation step, which always results in heterogeneous products and poor stability.

Coordination Equilibrium-Assisted Coprecipitation Synthesis of Atomically Dispersed 3d Metal Catalysts.

As a frontier of heterogeneous catalysis, single-atom catalysts (SACs) have been extensively studied fundamentally. One obstacle that limits the industrial application of SACs is the lack of a synthetic method that can prepare the catalysts on a large scale. Wet-chemistry methods that are conventionally used to prepare nanoparticle-based industrial catalysts might be a solution.

Heterodyne analysis of high-order partial waves in attosecond photoionization of helium.

Partial wave analysis is key to interpretation of the photoionization of atoms and molecules on the attosecond timescale. Here we propose a heterodyne analysis approach, based on the delay-resolved anisotropy parameters to reveal the role played by high-order partial waves during photoionization. This extends the Reconstruction of Attosecond Beating By Interference of Two-photon Transitions technique into the few-photon regime.

Routes to molecular glue degrader discovery.

Molecular glue degraders (MGDs) represent a unique class of targeted protein degradation (TPD) modalities. By facilitating protein-protein interactions between E3 ubiquitin ligases and neo-substrates, MGDs offer a novel approach to target previously undruggable or insufficiently drugged disease-causing proteins. Here, we present an overview of recently reported MGDs, highlighting their diverse mechanisms, and we discuss mechanism-based strategies to discover new MGDs and neo-substrates.

Probing Berry Phase Effect in Topological Surface States.

We have observed the Berry phase effect associated with interband coherence in topological surface states (TSSs) using two-color high-harmonic spectroscopy. This Berry phase accumulates along the evolution path of strong field-driven electron-hole quasiparticles in electronic bands with strong spin-orbit coupling. By introducing a secondary weak field, we perturb the evolution of Dirac fermions in TSSs and thus provide access to the Berry phase.

Rapid Crystallization and Versatile Metalation of Acetylhydrazone-Linked Covalent Organic Frameworks for Heterogenous Catalysis.

Covalent organic frameworks (COFs) hold promise in heterogeneous metal catalysis benefiting from their robust, crystalline, and porous structures. However, synthetic challenges persist in prolonged crystallization times, limited metal loading, and uncertain coordination environments. Here, we present the rapid crystallization and versatile metalation of new acetylhydrazone-linked COFs (AH-COFs) by condensation of ketone and hydrazide components, featuring full conversion within 30 min under open-air and mild conditions.