Nature Communications最新文献

Non-Hermitian physics in open systems has garnered significant attention for its exotic phenomena, particularly surrounding exceptional points that offer transformative potential for multifunctional devices. Central to this field are parity-time ($PT$) symmetry-defined by balanced gain and loss-and its counterpart, anti-$PT$ symmetry. However, integrating these divergent concepts into a unified acoustic platform remains an unattainable challenge. In this study, we employ laser-induced thermoacoustics (LIT) to integrate a tunable amplifying component into a non-Hermitian system. By exciting an ultrathin carbon nanotube (CNT) film through laser irradiation, we experimentally observe the phase transitions between $PT$ and anti-$PT$ symmetries. Furthermore, our findings demonstrate the creation of selectable scattering states and the generation of acoustic vortex beams (VBs), facilitating both $PT$-symmetric scattering and the conversion of topological charges. This acoustically transparent strategy bypasses traditional, path-blocking compensation schemes, offering a versatile framework for controlled non-Hermitian phase transitions in next-generation integrated devices.

Cellular mechanotransduction, mediated by specialized structures such as microvilli, regulates processes ranging from tissue homeostasis to disease progression. Existing tools for microvilli-specific biomechanical intervention suffer from limited spatiotemporal precision and non-physiological constraints, restricting mechanistic studies and targeted therapies. Here, we develop a magnetically driven gear-like metal-organic framework microrobot (MOFbot) for programmable mechanical manipulation of single-cell microvilli. MOFbots are fabricated through epitaxial growth of heterogeneous MOF structures followed by deposition of Ni/Au nanofilms. Under a rotating magnetic field, they perform rolling and obstacle negotiation. Their rotating gear structure entangles microvilli, exerting quantified pulling forces via Förster resonance energy transfer and traction force microscopy. This mechanical stimulation triggers intracellular calcium influx and enhanced focal adhesion kinase phosphorylation, indicating mechanotransduction pathway activation. Consequently, rotating MOFbots increase membrane permeability, enabling on-demand transmembrane delivery of therapeutics into targeted single cells. This work establishes a targeted cellular mechanomodulation strategy and informs future micro/nanorobotic biomedical designs.

Avalanche field-effect transistors (AFETs) based on two-dimensional (2D) materials have attracted growing interest in optoelectronics due to their enhanced performance via carrier multiplication and their potential applications in nanoelectronics. However, most AFETs employing 2D materials face challenges with high breakdown fields and low ionization indexes, which limit their applications in optoelectronics. Here, we report a ReSe₂-based AFET that achieves a breakdown electric field down to 2.55 kVcm^-1 and an ionization index up to 38.79. This performance is attributed to using anisotropic ReSe₂ as the channel material, which reduces unnecessary carrier collisions. Moreover, the incorporation of HfZrO₂ as the dielectric enhances gate modulation, which further mitigates scattering effects. The underlying mechanism is validated through calculations of electron effective masses along both in- and out-of-plane directions. Moreover, scattering probability within ReSe₂ based on simulation model and experimental data further corroborates the proposed mechanism. As a demonstration, ReSe₂ avalanche phototransistors with a high responsivity of 1.71×10⁴AW^-1 and a high gain of 173 are realized based on this platform. By incorporating anisotropic 2D materials and high-k dielectric with less carrier scattering, this AFET design provides a promising pathway for developing high-performance avalanche photodetectors.

Most climate policies are designed under a deterministic Earth system and their climate implications evaluated ex-post. Approaches that incorporate uncertainty ex-ante to anticipate Earth system risks remain underexplored. Here, we derive global climate strategies with an ex-ante approach, employing an integrated assessment framework that embeds estimates of physical uncertainty obtained through Bayesian fusion of Earth system models' and observations' data. These ex-ante strategies mitigate risks in the Earth system through precautionary measures unseen with the ex-post approach, in cost-benefit analysis and cost-effective implementations of various Earth system targets. Net-zero CO₂ emissions must typically be reached a decade earlier, which can require up to a doubling of the near-term carbon price. Importantly, sustained and possibly century-long net-negative emissions must be planned for, albeit not to overshoot targets as in traditional scenarios but to mitigate long-term Earth system risks. This heightens the challenge faced by humanity to build a safe future within Earth system boundaries.

Self-propelled droplet jumping has widespread applications in surface cleaning, condensation heat transfer, hydrogen production, and triboelectric nanogenerator due to the passive yet effective cross-interface transfer of mass, momentum, energy and charge, whose rates generally increase with droplet size. However, as droplet size increases, gravity inevitably impedes droplet's mobility, imposing a capillary length constraint of 2.7 mm for water droplet, beyond which self-propelled jumping remains a persistent challenge. Here, we report passive jumping of water puddle in the unprecedented centimeter scale from a superhydrophobic surface through the burst of an entrained bubble, breaking the capillary length limitation for droplet jumping. By virtue of direct and localized impact at droplet base, the bubble-burst-induced capillary waves play a paradigm-shifting role in shortening the impact duration, depressing droplet spreading, and facilitating momentum transfer. With >90% conversion to droplet jumping momentum, the impacting momentum of capillary waves scales linearly while droplet jumping height scales quadratically with bubble radius. Through studying the synergistic interplay between bubble bursting, fluidic jetting and droplet jumping, this work reveals a previously unexplored mechanism of capillary wave impact in fluid-structure interactions and offers a promising strategy for droplet actuations and the directional printing of particles in additive manufacturing.

Mitosis in Plasmodium spp., the causative agent of malaria, is fundamentally different from model eukaryotes, proceeding via a bipartite microtubule organising centre (MTOC) and lacking canonical regulators such as Polo kinases. During schizogony, asynchronous nuclear replication produces a multinucleate schizont, while rapid male gametogony generates an octaploid nucleus before gamete formation. Here, we identify Aurora-related kinase 1 (ARK1) as a key component of inner MTOC and spindle formation, controlling kinetochore dynamics and driving mitotic progression. Conditional ARK1 depletion disrupts spindle biogenesis, kinetochore segregation, karyokinesis and cytokinesis in both stages, and affects parasite transmission. Interactome analysis shows that ARK1 forms the catalytic core of a non-canonical chromosomal passenger complex (CPC) containing two highly divergent inner centromere proteins (INCENPs), which we term INCENP-A and INCENP-B, and lacking the canonical chromatin-targeting subunits Survivin and Borealin. Comparative genomics suggests that apicomplexan INCENPs arose through recurrent lineage-specific duplications, reflecting an evolutionary rewiring of CPC architecture in this eukaryotic lineage. Together, these findings reveal key adaptations in Plasmodium mitosis involving ARK1 and its INCENP scaffolds, and identify the ARK1-INCENP interface as a potential multistage target for antimalarial intervention.

Metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) with ultra-small pores offer an optimal environment to effectively capture guest molecules such as CO₂. Subtle local dynamics of their frameworks, either throughout reorientation of functional groups grafted to the organic linkers or those present in their inorganic nodes, is expected to play a major role in their sorption behaviours. Herein, we investigated the local dynamics of bridging hydroxyl group (μ₂-OH) in the ultra-small pore MOF MIL-120(Al) using DFT combined with a purpose-trained machine-learning potential (MLP). Six distinct μ₂-OH configurations were identified with low interconversion barriers (0.07-0.19 eV), indicating significant dynamic behaviour at room temperature. Grand canonical Monte Carlo and hybrid GCMC-MD simulations driven by the MLP demonstrate that adsorption isotherms and low-pressure behaviour are sensitive to μ₂-OH ordering and whether framework and cell relaxation are considered. While standard rigid force-field simulations overestimated the heat of adsorption, MLP-driven GCMC-MD simulations successfully captured framework relaxation and dynamic μ₂-OH reorientation under CO₂ loading. This work establishes that a reliable description of the local structure, such as reorientation/flipping of bridging hydroxyl groups, is a key feature to gain an accurate description of the guest locations and energetics in ultra-small pore MOFs.

Binding promiscuity is a central feature of interactions involving intrinsically disordered proteins (IDPs). IDPs can interact even simultaneously with multiple binding partners, but quantitative characterization of these multi-component interactions is challenging. Here, we characterize the binding pathways of the transactivation domain (TAD) of p53 with two binding partners (Taz2 and Mdm2) using three-color single-molecule Förster resonance energy transfer (FRET) spectroscopy. We show that the interactions of these three proteins occur via two pathways. The first pathway is competitive in that binding of one partner occurs after the other partner completely dissociates. The second is an allosteric pathway via the formation of a ternary complex. High time-resolution FRET using photon-by-photon analysis shows that these heterogeneous three-component interaction pathways are closely related with diverse transition paths of two-component TAD-Taz2 binding. Kinetic analysis shows that the allosteric pathway allows faster exchange of the binding partners with opposite functions. Our work demonstrates how a heterogeneous allosteric binding network can enable a faster response to changes in the external environment.

Amur grape (Vitis amurensis Rupr.) is widely recognized for its cold tolerance traits and serves as a valuable genetic resource for breeding climate-resilient grape cultivars. Here, we construct a graph pangenome reference (Vampan_V1.0) and generate a variant map comprising 48,308,434 short variants and 127,094 TE-associated structural variants (TEVs) using deep resequencing data from 330 samples across 31 natural populations covering the species' distribution range. We discover a biased accumulation of SNPs around TEVs and identify 823 candidate adaptive genes associated with environmental variables. Using machine learning-based genetic offset models, we further show that putative adaptive TEVs significantly reduce genetic offsets by 7.3% to 8.2% under future climate scenarios. Our study shows the power of a graph-based pangenome to resolve complex variation and highlights the impact of TEVs on genetic diversity, local adaptation, and resilience to future climate change, providing insights into utilizing crop wild relatives in climate-resilient crop breeding.

Quantum error-correcting code in continuous-variable (CV) systems attracts much attention due to its flexibility and high resistance against specific noise. However, the theory of fault tolerance in CV systems is premature and lacks a general strategy to translate noise in CV systems into noise in logical qubits, leading to severe restrictions on correctable noise models. In this paper, we show that Markovian-type noise in CV systems is translated into Markovian-type noise in the logical qubits through the Gottesman-Kitaev-Preskill code. We analyze an upper bound on the resulting noise strength in terms of our newly introduced noise parameterization. Combined with the established threshold theorem of concatenated codes against Markovian-type noise, we show that CV quantum computation has a fault-tolerant threshold against general Markovian-type noise, closing the existing crucial gap in CV quantum computation. We also give a new insight into the fact that careful management of the energy of a state is required to achieve fault tolerance in CV systems.