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Magnetoreception in a freshwater ciliate arises from endosymbiosis
Abstract Magnetoreception is a remarkable ability found across a diverse range of organisms, including bacteria, birds, fish, insects, and mammals, enabling them to detect and harness the Earth’s geomagnetic field. Recently, the recruitment of biomineralizing ectosymbionts by euglenozoans was evidenced as an ecological strategy for microeukaryotes to acquire this sense. Here, we report a case of magnetosymbiosis involving a ciliate and four populations of endosymbiotic bacteria experiencing genome reduction. Among these bacteria, one group of sulphate-reducing Desulfovibrionales was found to biomineralize bundles of bullet-shaped magnetite crystals. The ciliate’s magnetotaxis mirrors that of free-living magnetotactic bacteria and euglenozoans, enabling efficient navigation in chemically stratified aquatic environments. However, in this case, magnetotaxis arises from an endosymbiotic interaction. Using a combination of optical-, confocal-, electron- and X-ray-based microscopy techniques, together with genomic analyses, these findings demonstrate that magnetosymbiosis can emerge in unicellular eukaryotic lineages through endosymbiotic integration, expanding our understanding of such interactions in aquatic ecosystems. More broadly, this work contributes to the ongoing debate on the origins of magnetoreception in eukaryotes.
Integrating ANI and phylogenies for re-evaluation of Fusobacterium taxonomy and disease associations
Regionalized regulation of actomyosin organization influences cardiomyocyte cell shape changes during chamber curvature formation
Abstract Cardiac chambers emerge from a heart tube that balloons and bends to create expanded ventricular and atrial structures, each containing a convex outer curvature (OC) and a recessed inner curvature (IC). The cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying the formation of these characteristic curvatures remain poorly understood. Here, we demonstrate in zebrafish that the initially similar populations of OC and IC ventricular cardiomyocytes diverge in the organization of their actomyosin cytoskeleton and subsequently acquire distinct OC and IC cell shapes. Altering actomyosin dynamics hinders cell shape changes in the OC, and mosaic analyses indicate that actomyosin regulates cardiomyocyte shape in a cell-autonomous manner. Additionally, both biomechanical cues and the transcription factor Tbx5a influence the basal enrichment of actomyosin and squamous cell morphologies in the OC. Together, our findings demonstrate that intrinsic and extrinsic factors intersect to control actomyosin organization in OC cardiomyocytes, which in turn promotes the cell shape changes that accompany curvature morphogenesis.
Textured piezoelectric ceramics with reduced grain size for high-frequency transducer applications
A foundation model for multi-task cross-distribution restoration of fluorescence microscopy images
Probing boron vacancy defects in hBN via single spin relaxometry
Abstract Spin defects in solids offer promising platforms for quantum sensing and memory due to their long coherence times and optical addressability. Here, we integrate a single nitrogen-vacancy (NV) center in diamond with scanning probe microscopy to detect, read out, and spatially map spin-based quantum sensors at the nanoscale. Using the boron vacancy ( $${{{{\rm{V}}}}}_{{{{\rm{B}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − ) center in hexagonal boron nitride—an emerging two-dimensional spin system—as a model, we detect its electron spin resonance indirectly via changes in the spin relaxation time ( T 1 ) of a nearby NV center, eliminating the need for optical excitation or fluorescence detection of the $${{{{\rm{V}}}}}_{{{{\rm{B}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − . Cross-relaxation between NV and $${{{{\rm{V}}}}}_{{{{\rm{B}}}}}^{-}$$ V B − ensembles significantly reduces NV T 1 , enabling quantitative nanoscale mapping of defect densities beyond the optical diffraction limit and clear resolution of hyperfine splitting in isotopically enriched h 10 B 15 N. Our method demonstrates interactions between spin sensors in 3D and 2D materials, establishing NV centers as versatile probes for characterizing otherwise inaccessible spin defects.
Photovoltaic power forecasting based on secondary decomposition strategy and hybrid model
A paired sequence language model for protein-protein interaction modeling
Abstract Understanding protein–protein interactions (PPIs) is crucial for deciphering cellular processes and guiding therapeutic discovery. While recent protein language models have advanced sequence-based protein representation, most are designed for individual chains and fail to capture inherent PPI patterns. Here, we introduce a Protein Pair Language Model (PPLM) that jointly encodes paired sequences, enabling direct learning of interaction-aware representations beyond what single-chain models can provide. Building on this foundation, we develop PPLM-PPI, PPLM-Affinity, and PPLM-Contact for binary interaction, binding affinity, and interface contact prediction. Large-scale experiments show that PPLM-PPI achieves state-of-the-art performance across different species on binary interaction prediction, while PPLM-Affinity outperforms both ESM2 and structure-based methods on binding affinity modeling, particularly on challenging cases including antibody–antigen and TCR–pMHC complexes. PPLM-Contact further surpasses existing contact predictors on inter-protein contact prediction and interface residue recognition, including those deduced from cutting-edge complex structure predictions. Together, these results highlight the potential of co-represented language models to advance computational modeling of PPIs.
Evaluation of bamboo biomass pellets: impact of binder type and age of bamboo on pellet quality and performance
Chirality transfer from chiral perovskite to molecular dopants via charge transfer states
Prevalence of Bacillus species in the lytic cultural heritage of Santa Lucia alle Malve Rupestrian Church
A cellular basis for the hourglass pattern in vertebrate embryogenesis
Abstract Vertebrate embryogenesis follows a conserved trajectory, exhibiting divergence in early and late stages and conservation during mid-embryogenesis across species. This pattern, known as the developmental hourglass, was first described at the morphological level and later supported by molecular studies, establishing it as a hallmark of vertebrate development. The “waist” of the hourglass, representing the period most resilient to evolutionary change, coincides with the emergence of the body plan, when embryos across species appear most alike. Yet development is not simply an organism-level process; it arises from the coordinated behaviors of individual cell lineages that collectively generate form and function. If the hourglass reflects a fundamental principle of vertebrate development, might it also be rooted in the dynamics of cells themselves? In this Perspective, we revisit the hourglass model through the lens of cellular lineages, asking whether the conservation of mid-embryogenesis is underpinned by universal constraints at the level of individual cells. Could the vertebrate developmental hourglass truly have a cellular basis?
Design and development of a novel instrument for characterizing the mechanical properties of ex vivo human skin
Abstract The viscoelastic properties of human skin are fundamental to its ability to maintain structural integrity. These mechanical characteristics are crucial for understanding skin behavior and have several important applications: (i) documenting the natural evolution of skin over time; (ii) providing an objective method to evaluate the efficacy of medical or dermo-cosmetic treatments; and (iii) identifying and quantifying pathological changes that affect the mechanical properties of the tissue. To address these needs, a novel instrument has been developed specifically to assess the viscoelastic properties of ex vivo human skin explants, maintained in physiological-like conditions over seven days. This device, described herein, enables both conventional tensile testing and dynamic mechanical analysis. The latter allows for the characterization of the skin’s two primary mechanical components—elasticity and energy dissipation—across a range of frequencies, thereby enabling the differentiation of these phenomena. Initial studies focused on repeatability and reproducibility using skin explants, confirming the robustness of both the instrument and the measurement protocol for ex vivo skin characterization. A comprehensive example of mechanical analysis is presented to illustrate the capabilities of the device. Ultimately, this instrument offers a promising approach for evaluating the viscoelastic behavior of human skin explants and for monitoring the impact of various stressors on skin mechanics over time.
Wafer-scale manufacturing of ultra-broadband, high-power erbium-doped integrated lasers
Abstract Erbium (Er) is an attractive gain medium for amplifiers and lasers due to its long excited-state lifetime, low noise and nonlinearity, and temperature stability. Recently developed ultra-low-loss Si 3 N 4 photonic integrated circuits combined with Er ion implantation have enabled high-performance on-chip Er lasers, but manufacturing scalability has been limited by the high 2 MeV implantation required for tightly confined 700-nm-thick waveguides. Here we demonstrate the first fully wafer-scale, foundry-compatible Er-doped Si 3 N 4 tunable lasers by using 200-nm-thick waveguides, reducing implantation energy to below 500 keV and enabling usage of 300-mm industrial implanters. The low-confinement design also improves laser performance and output power. We achieve 91 nm tuning across the C- and L-bands, 47.6 mW fiber-coupled output power, and a 78.5 Hz intrinsic linewidth. Devices operate up to 125 ∘ C and show less than 15 MHz drift over 6 hours, enabling scalable high-performance Er-doped lasers for integrated photonics.
In silico structural and functional characterization of high-risk missense variants in MMP8, GZMK, and OASL genes associated with epidemic viral infections
Abstract This research explores the structural and functional consequences of high-impact missense variants in three immune-related genes MMP8 (D253N, Y261S), GZMK (A42P, L122P), and OASL (W216C) with possible relevance to host response in epidemic viral infections. A layered computational workflow was implemented to predict pathogenicity, evaluate structural stability, and assess residue conservation. Subsequent modeling of protein dynamics included structural perturbation analyses, molecular docking, and long-timescale molecular dynamics simulations. Findings revealed that the D253N variant in MMP8 induces substantial deviations from native architecture, characterized by reduced molecular dimensions, lower solvent accessibility, and a broader conformational ensemble. Y261S, by contrast, preserved global folding features with restrained atomic fluctuations. In GZMK, the L122P mutation significantly increased local flexibility and altered compactness, while A42P had minor impact. The W216C substitution in OASL disrupted packing density and expanded surface exposure, indicating a relaxation of the native fold. Principal component analysis confirmed that D253N, L122P, and W216C drive enhanced structural variance relative to native forms. Despite retained ligand-binding capacity, structural rearrangements affected interaction patterns in docking complexes. These findings underscore the potential role of these variants in modifying protein behavior during immune responses. The results serve as a foundation for downstream validation studies on their involvement in infection susceptibility and immune dysregulation.
Identification of altered immune landscape at single-cell resolution in NSCLC brain metastasis and its association with poor immune checkpoint inhibitor responses
Properties of foamed concrete utilizing Fe(II) as foam stabilizer for hydrolyzed pumpkin seed protein
Dual engineering of thermodynamics and kinetics in covalent organic frameworks for separation
Abstract Dual engineering thermodynamics and kinetics is crucial for achieving high-performance separation, but remains challenging. Here, we pioneer in the engineering of covalent organic framework (COF) from both thermodynamic and kinetic perspectives by rational design of a hollow trifluoromethyl functionalized COF (HTpBPa-F) for enhanced chromatographic separation of halogenated isomers. The trifluoromethyl introduction not only promotes the thermodynamic selectivity for halogenated isomers but also enhances separation kinetics by facilitating formation of a hollow structure. As a result, HTpBPa-F yields higher resolution and column efficiency for pairs of halogenated isomers than either solid fluorinated COF or trifluoromethyl-free COF. Density functional theory calculations reveal thermodynamic selectivity of HTpBPa-F for halogenated isomers results from C-H···π, π-π and dipole-dipole interactions. Molecular dynamics simulations demonstrate high diffusion coefficient of hollow structure leads to low transport resistance, enhancing the kinetics of separation. This work offers insights into simultaneously tailoring COFs from thermodynamics and kinetics for the high-performance separation.