Ancestral Sequence Reconstruction for Designing Biocatalysts and Investigating their Functional Mechanisms.

Biocatalysis has emerged as a green approach for efficient and sustainable production in various industries. In recent decades, numerous advancements in computational and predictive approaches, including ancestral sequence reconstruction (ASR) have sparked a new wave for protein engineers to improve and expand biocatalyst capabilities. ASR is an evolution-based strategy that uses phylogenetic relationships among homologous extant sequences to probabilistically infer the most likely ancestral sequences.

Thermally Stable Anthracene-Based 2D/3D Heterostructures for Perovskite Solar Cells.

Bulky organic cations are used in perovskite solar cells as a protective barrier against moisture, oxygen, and ion diffusion. However, bulky cations can introduce thermal instabilities by reacting with the near-surface of the 3D perovskite forming low-dimensional phases, including 2D perovskites, and by diffusing away from the surface into the film. This study explores the thermal stability of CsFAPbI 3D perovskite surfaces treated with two anthracene salts─anthracen-1-ylmethylammonium iodide (AMAI) and 2-(anthracen-1-yl)ethylammonium iodide (AEAI)─and compares them with the widely used phenethylammonium iodide (PEAI).

Modified Imidazole-Phenol-Based ESIPT Fluorophores as Self-Absorption Free Emitters for Efficient Electroluminescent Devices.

Excited-state intramolecular proton transfer (ESIPT) molecules are promising fluorophores for various applications. Particularly, their self-absorption-free fluorescence properties would make them a perfect choice as emissive materials for organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs). Nevertheless, to become effective emitters some of their properties need to be altered by structural modifications.

Multiple-Temperature-Responsive Double- and Triple-Network Hydrogels.

Temperature-responsive hydrogels which are reversibly activated attract much attention in the field of smart materials. Herein, double- and triple-network hydrogels exhibiting dual- or triple-volume transitions upon changes of temperature are fabricated. Interestingly, the incorporation of superhydrophilic polymer network leads to a significant difference swelling or shrinkage of the multiple-network hydrogels.

Synthesis, Characterization, and CO Methanation Over Hierarchical ZSM-5-NiCoAl Layered Double Hydroxide Nanocomposites: Improvement of C-C Coupling to Ethane.

To date, preparing materials with highly dispersed metal nanoparticles without metal agglomeration on a solid support is challenging. This work presents an alternative approach for synthesizing NiCo species on hierarchical ZSM-5 materials derived from a ZSM-5@NiCoAl-LDHs composite. The designed material was prepared by the growth of a NiCo-layered double hydroxides (LDHs) precursor on the surface of hierarchical ZSM-5 nanosheets.

Mechanistic insights into allosteric regulation of the reductase component of -hydroxyphenylacetate 3-hydroxylase by -hydroxyphenylacetate: a model for effector-controlled activity of redox enzymes.

Understanding how an enzyme regulates its function through substrate or allosteric regulation is crucial for controlling metabolic pathways. Some flavin-dependent monooxygenases (FDMOs) have evolved an allosteric mechanism to produce reduced flavin while minimizing the use of NADH and the production of harmful hydrogen peroxide (HO). In this work, we investigated in-depth mechanisms of how the reductase component (C1) of -hydroxyphenylacetate (HPA) 3-hydroxylase (HPAH) from is allosterically controlled by the binding of HPA, which is a substrate of its monooxygenase counterpart (C2).

Spatiotemporal Retention of Structural Color and Induced Stiffening in Crosslinked Hydroxypropyl Cellulose Beads.

Hydroxypropyl cellulose (HPC) is known for its ability to form cholesteric liquid crystalline phases displaying vivid structural colors. However, these vibrant colors tend to fade over time when the material dries. This issue is a major bottleneck to finding practical applications for these materials.

Mechanically induced polyamorphism in a one-dimensional coordination polymer.

We created different amorphous structures of a coordination polymer by applying mechanical shear forces. One-dimensional Cu(TfN)(bip) (1, TfN = bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl)imide, bip = 1,3-bis(1-imidazolyl)propane) melted at 245 °C and underwent a glass transition at -10 °C by a static cooling process. 1 formed another amorphous state with a distinct glass transition point of 70 °C under oscillatory shear stress.

CO fixation: cycloaddition of CO to epoxides using practical metal-free recyclable catalysts.

The conversion of CO into valuable chemicals is a crucial field of research. Cyclic organic carbonates have attracted great interest because they can be prepared under mild conditions and because of their structural versatility which enables a large variety of applications. Therefore, there is a need for potent and yet practical catalysts for the cycloaddition of CO to cyclic carbonates that are able to combine availability, low cost and an adequate performance.

Insights into the Synthesis of a Semiconducting Nickel Bis(dithiolene) Coordination Polymer.

Nickel bis(dithiolene) complexes are promising candidates for novel n-type semiconductors, which are air-stable and highly conductive. A key issue for further development is that their synthesis often yields undesired products, greatly limiting the degree of polymerization as well as purity and adversely affecting their electronic properties. Crucially, there is a lack of in-depth identification of these species and understanding of the reaction mechanism.

Economically Scalable Cu-based MOFs: Vital Role of Structural Integrity towards Selectivity on Azeotropic Ethanol Dehydration.

A facile, green, and economical method for the scalable synthesis of hydrophilic copper-triazole metal-organic frameworks (Cu-trz) is demonstrated. Numerous open metal sites within the highly crystalline porous structure of Cu-trz are generated through mild thermal activation, enabling its application in liquid-phase ethanol dehydration under ambient conditions. The frameworks with distinct crystallinity and particle sizes were achieved by modifying the synthesis process.

Abietane Diterpenoids from the Rhizomes of and Their Anti-Inflammatory Activities.

Six new abietane diterpenes, roscoeananes A-F (-), along with two known compounds (-) were isolated from the rhizomes of . The structures of all compounds were elucidated by analysis of spectroscopic data, and the absolute configurations were assigned by a comparison of the theoretical and experimental electronic circular dichroism (ECD) spectra and a comparison with literature values. The unreported compound is an ether-linked dimer of roscoeanane B ().

How Epstein Barr Virus Causes Lymphomas.

Since Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) was isolated 60 years ago, it has been studied clinically, epidemiologically, immunologically, and molecularly in the ensuing years. These combined studies allow a broad mechanistic understanding of how this ubiquitous human pathogen which infects more than 90% of adults can rarely cause multiple types of lymphomas. We survey these findings to provide a coherent description of its oncogenesis.

Unraveling the Nature of Interfacial Behavior in the LiTFSI-LiCl Aqueous Biphasic System.

Aqueous biphasic systems (ABSs) with water-in-salt electrolytes are gaining significant attention for their role in aqueous biphasic interphase studies, particularly in energy storage devices. Aqueous salt-salt biphasic electrolytes are considered a promising alternative to replace traditional liquid electrolytes commonly used in battery technologies, for example, membrane-less redox flow batteries, owing to their low cost and high ionic conductivity. However, the stability of the interphase over time must be considered, as it can impact the long-term electrochemical performance in various applications.

Integrating Genomic Data with the Development of CRISPR-Based Point-of-Care-Testing for Bacterial Infections.

Purpose Of Review: Bacterial infections and antibiotic resistance contribute to global mortality. Despite many infections being preventable and treatable, the lack of reliable and accessible diagnostic tools exacerbates these issues. CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats)-based diagnostics has emerged as a promising solution.

Molecular models of PM6 for non-fullerene acceptor organic solar cells: How DAD and ADA structures impact charge separation and charge recombination.

The quadrupole moment of a non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) generated by the constituent electron donor (D) and acceptor (A) units is a significant factor that affects the charge separation (CS) and charge recombination (CR) processes in organic photovoltaics (OPVs). However, its impact on p-type polymer domains remains unclear. In this study, we synthesized p-type molecules, namely acceptor-donor-acceptor (ADA) and donor-acceptor-donor (DAD), which are components of the benchmark PM6 polymer (D: benzodithiophene and A: dioxobenzodithiophene).

Nature's All-in-One: Multitasking Robots Inspired by Dung Beetles.

Dung beetles impressively coordinate their 6 legs to effectively roll large dung balls. They can also roll dung balls varying in the weight on different terrains. The mechanisms underlying how their motor commands are adapted to walk and simultaneously roll balls (multitasking behavior) under different conditions remain unknown.

Codon and Signal Peptide Optimization to Enhance Therapeutic Antibody Production from CHO Cells.

A simple and rapid method for reproducible transient expression experiments to quickly identify the best conditions before the development of a stable CHO cell line is described, using adalimumab as a model antibody. Firstly, the signal peptide (SP) is optimized using different in silico programs, of which those having a D score of more than 0.85 will be selected.

Pre-training strategy for antiviral drug screening with low-data graph neural network: A case study in HIV-1 K103N reverse transcriptase.

Graph neural networks (GNN) offer an alternative approach to boost the screening effectiveness in drug discovery. However, their efficacy is often hindered by limited datasets. To address this limitation, we introduced a robust GNN training framework, applied to various chemical databases to identify potent non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTIs) against the challenging K103N-mutated HIV-1 RT.

Preconcentration of lithium salt in nanoporous alumina on Cu foil as a concentrated lithium semi-solid layer for anode-free Li-metal batteries.

We preconcentrate 2 M LiTFSI in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide inside a nanoporous alumina (AlO) layer as a so-called concentrated lithium semi-solid layer on a Cu current collector for anode-free Li-metal NMC90 batteries. This concept lowers the activation energy for lithium-ion transport and reduces the nucleation overpotential, enhancing the cycling stability.

Conversion of Carbon Dioxide into Molecular-based Porous Frameworks.

ConspectusThe conversion of carbon dioxide (CO) to value-added functional materials is a major challenge in realizing a carbon-neutral society. Although CO is an attractive renewable carbon resource with high natural abundance, its chemical inertness has made the conversion of CO into materials with the desired structures and functionality difficult. Molecular-based porous materials, such as metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) and covalent-organic frameworks (COFs), are designable porous solids constructed from molecular-based building units.

Nanodots functionalized with chitooligosaccharides for blocking chitoporins.

We report the synthesis of functionalized nanodots as potential powerful blockers of solute transport through a chitoporin. Ultrasmall silica nanocapsules with a diameter of ∼ 6 nm were coated with chitooligosaccharides to be used as a "lid" binding to the opening of the chitoporin VhChiP of Vibrio campbellii. Efficient blocking is attributed to the adequate size of the nanodots and their functionalization with oligochitosan, which has strong affinity towards the Vibrio chitoporin.

Systematic design and functionalisation of amorphous zirconium metal-organic frameworks.

Controlling the structure and functionality of crystalline metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) using molecular building units and post-synthetic functionalisation presents challenges when extending this approach to their amorphous counterparts (aMOFs). Here, we present a new bottom-up approach for synthesising a series of Zr-based aMOFs, which involves linking metal-organic clusters with specific ligands to regulate local connectivity. In addition, we overcome the limitations of post-synthetic modifications in amorphous systems, demonstrating that homogeneous functionalisation is achievable even without regular internal voids.