How a decaploid plant evolved to fight disease with powerful compounds
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 22-Jul-2025 02:11 ET (22-Jul-2025 06:11 GMT/UTC)
Researchers have decoded the chromosome-level genome of Houttuynia cordata, an important East Asian medicinal plant known for its strong flavor and wide pharmacological use.
The modulation of the surface structure of platinum-based single-atom alloys is crucial for improving the catalytic performance in propane dehydrogenation. The optimization of the surface structure of PtCu clusters was attained through regenerative treatment, which significantly improved the propylene yield and catalytic stability, thereby offering a viable strategy for the design of alloy catalysts applicable to various high-temperature dehydrogenation reactions.
A research team has successfully engineered Corynebacterium glutamicum into a versatile cell factory capable of producing a wide range of biochemicals, including amino acids, organic acids, alcohols, terpenoids, and biopolymers.
A research team engineered thymidine auxotrophic and recombination-deficient versions of commonly used and underutilized Agrobacterium strains, using single-component CRISPR base-editing systems.
Researchers have identified a single mutation in the YFT3 gene that disrupts a key enzymatic function in tomato carotenoid biosynthesis, resulting in strikingly yellow fruits.
Hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) is a versatile oxidant widely used in pharmaceuticals, environmental protection, and chemical manufacturing. However, conventional H2O2 production relies on energy-intensive processes and costly metal-based catalysts, raising economic and environmental concerns. As a sustainable alternative, photocatalytic H2O2 synthesis harnesses solar energy, water, and oxygen under mild conditions. This research group summarizes recent advancements in the development of metal-free organic semiconductors for photocatalytic H2O2 generation. Notably, it delves into novel surface reaction mechanisms, including anthraquinone intermediate, peroxy acid intermediate, bipyridine intermediate, and dual channel synergistic mechanisms for optimizing photocatalyst performance. They also highlight the critical role of advanced characterization techniques, including in-situ characterizations and computational simulations, in understanding structure-property relationships and real-time catalytic processes. By proposing new strategies for material modification and potential device-based applications, this review aims to stimulate further research and promote the industrialization of photocatalytic H2O2 production, contributing to sustainable chemical processes.
NiMo-NiMoOx with crystalline/amorphous heterointerface was fabricated by a facile electrodeposition method. Theoretical calculations and experimental results confirm that the introduction of Mo atoms can not only lower the energy barrier of water dissociation and optimize the capacity for hydrogen adsorption/desorption, but also modulate the ratio between crystalline and amorphous phases, increasing the heterostructure interfaces and enriching active sites. Thus, the NiMo-NiMoOx electrocatalyst exhibits remarkable HER catalytic properties and durability. It requires a low overpotential of 30 mV at the current density of 10 mA cm-2 in 1.0 M KOH, as well as a long-term stability with slight degradation after operating for over 80 h. Moreover, it also exhibits excellent activity and stability with negligible declination in the simulated alkaline seawater, making it highly promising for seawater electrolysis applications.
Heterostructured magnetic composites with exchange coupling effects are considered to be promising electromagnetic wave absorbers. Soft magnetic ZnFe2O4 and hard magnetic Fe3C are generated and tightly anchored on two-dimensional carbon nanosheets, which generate large number of heterogeneous interfaces. This work provides advanced nanostructure integrating two-dimensional morphology and soft/hard magnetic heterostructure with effective exchange coupling, which can simultaneously achieve the electromagnetic wave stealth and high corrosion resistance.
The application of CAR-T cell therapy against solid tumors is often hindered by the dense and rigid tumor extracellular matrix (ECM). While combining CAR-T with hyaluronidase (HAase) to reduce ECM is apparent, the efficacy is limited because of low accumulation and penetration efficiency of HAase inside the tumor tissue. Herein, the stimuli-responsive HAase-loaded nanogels (H-NGs) which are conjugated on the surface of CAR-T cells were designed for synergistically improving HAase accumulation, ECM degradation and CAR-T cell efficacy. The conjugation of H-NGs on the T cell surface was achieved through metabolic oligosaccharide engineering (MOE) in a semi-quantitatively controlled manner. Intravenous injection of H-NGs armed CAR-T cells resulted in more ECM degradation than co-injection of CAR-T cells and free H-NGs, leading to an 83.2% tumor inhibition rate and relieves tumor suppressive microenvironment in the Raji solid tumor model. Proteomic analysis of the harvested tumor tissues indicated that the combining of H-NGs and CAR-T cell collaboratively reduces cell adhesion and enhanced leukocyte transendothelial migration. Overall, this work simultaneously boosts the efficacy of hyaluronidase and CAR-T cells in combating solid tumor, which has broad application potential in cancer combination therapy.
A research team has mapped and characterized the DELLA gene family in kiwifruit and explored its role in fruit softening and ripening delay.