Nature Communications最新文献

The organisation of living systems into cellular structures is a characteristic that enables differentiation from the environment. A pivotal step in the development of life is compartmentalisation, achieved through the formation of vesicle-like structures. Fatty acids - or phospholipids - have been used to simulate prebiotic vesicle and protocell formation. However, a process by which amphiphiles are formed from small prebiotically plausible molecules, which spontaneously self-assemble to protocells, is unknown. Here, we demonstrate that an organocatalytic reaction cascade starting from acetaldehyde with prebiotic imidazolidine-4-thione rapidly yields poly(hydroxy)alkenyl aldehydes that spontaneously self-assemble to protocells. In this process, lipid-like molecules (up to C20) develop a membrane, which additionally incorporates the organocatalyst at the liquid-lipid interface. These catalytically active protocells (11 nm - 7 μm) tolerate external influences such as pH value, temperature and salts. This finding unveils an organocatalytic pathway to selective lipid formation and spontaneous compartmentalisation without the necessity of preformed amphiphiles.

According to general relativity, black holes are incomplete, which prevents developing a complete physical description of their dynamical formation and evolution once quantum effects are taken into account. Theories beyond general relativity may provide a more complete description of black hole interiors. In this work, the most general form of the field equations for spherically symmetric gravitational fields, in which the Einstein tensor is deformed into a conserved tensor constructed from up to second-order derivatives of the metric, is described. These equations set up the stage for the study of the dynamics of spherically symmetric spacetimes beyond general relativity, providing tools for the theoretical exploration of a paradigm of black hole physics free of the incompleteness characteristic of Einstein's theory. A general proof of the Birkhoff-Jebsen theorem for vacuum solutions, and the construction of field equations describing the effective geometrodynamics of regular black holes interacting with matter, are discussed.

We previously constructed a qualitative, 3D ultrasound derived atlas of the normative spatiotemporal dynamics of fetal brain maturation. Here, using the same healthy multi-national cohort, we applied deep learning methods to 4205 fetal brain scans from 18-27 weeks' gestation, to produce an extensive, quantitative description of the growth of 16 fetal brain structures associated with satisfactory domain-specific neurodevelopmental scores at 2 years of age. The methodology, which is publicly available, takes less than 10 seconds per scan. We define 28 region-specific, functionally relevant, normative growth trajectories, a ratio between the relative volumes of the insular (rILV) and parietal (rPLV) lobes reflecting asynchronous maturation of fetal brain regions, and introduce a fetal brain maturation index that quantifies biological age and deviations from chronological age. Finally, the very low percentage of variance explained by between site differences (0.6% to 5.8% of the total variance) reinforces a fundamental biological principle: fetal growth and development across populations with diverse ancestries is similar provided that environmental constraints on growth are minimal.

Conversion-type batteries with high energy storage efficiencies are crucial to minimize the energy loss during energy storage. However, current conversion-type batteries generally show relatively low energy storage efficiencies of (59-95)% with large charge-discharge overpotentials of 200-1500 mV. Here we report a rechargeable battery with a maximum energy storage efficiency of 99.5% and a small overpotential of 9 mV, based on a S-Cl synergistic chemistry with fast reaction kinetics. We verify that the in situ formed Cl₂ during charging can trigger highly efficient SO₂/SO₂Cl₂ conversion with a maximum current density of 400 mA/cm², which is one to three orders of magnitude higher than those of state-of-the-art conversion-type batteries. In addition, the high energy storage efficiencies of (93 - 97)% have been validated under a variety of harsh yet practical conditions, e.g., at a low temperature of - 20 °C and a high areal capacity of 13.5 mAh/cm². We further demonstrate their potential applications by producing a 250 mAh pouch cell, an on-chip microbattery, and a wearable fiber battery, which exhibit high electrochemical properties and practicability.

Ultrasound can enable deep brain neuromodulation with high spatiotemporal resolution, comparable to well-known modalities like TMS, tDCS, and tACS. However, conventional transcranial ultrasound still lacks the precision needed to modulate a small set of neurons. Here, we introduce hollow silica nanostructures (HSN) that localize and amplify ultrasonic effects for long-term neuromodulation in male mice brains (>9 weeks) by activating mechanosensitive ion channels. By controlling the HSN amount and delivery site, ultrasound can selectively activate targeted brain regions, including M1, striatum, VTA, and STN, at time points ranging from days to weeks, and relieve PD motor symptoms in mice models, without evident toxicity. Overall, our stimulation approach offers a safe, minimally-invasive strategy for effective chronic neuromodulation without genetic modification, with notable therapeutic applications.

Covering 40-50% of world's arable lands, acidic soils pose a major constraint on global crop productivity by severely restricting root development and nutrient acquisition. The Arabidopsis C2H2-type transcription factor STOP1 plays a fundamental role in mitigating acid stress by activating H⁺/NO₃^- symport via NRT1.1, thereby driving rhizosphere alkalinization to protect root growth and improving nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). However, the upstream regulation of this pH-responsive STOP1-NRT1.1 pathway remains poorly defined. Here, we identify the central SWI2/SNF2-type ATPase BRAHMA (BRM) as a key suppressor of the STOP1 pathway. BRM physically interacts with STOP1 and occupies the genomic region of NRT1.1, repressing the STOP1-dependent activation of NRT1.1 expression and consequently limiting NO₃^- uptake and rhizosphere alkalization under chronic acidity. Genetic epistasis analysis using brm stop1 and brm nrt1.1 double mutants establish BRM as an upstream regulator of this signaling module. Notably, low pH rapidly triggers BRM degradation independent of NO₃^- availability, thereby relieving its repression on the STOP1-NRT1.1 pathway. This dynamic BRM disintegration enables robust induction of H⁺-coupled NO₃^- uptake, remodeling the rhizosphere pH landscape to foster optimal root growth under acidity. Collectively, our findings uncover the BRM-STOP1-NRT1.1 axis as a central regulatory module integrating NO₃^- acquisition with pH homeostasis, offering a dual-benefit strategy for enhancing crop resilience to acid soils and reducing fertilizer-driven acidification through improved NUE.

Porous liquids (PLs), integrating porous hosts into flowing liquids through intermolecular interactions, attract significant attention, while their controlled synthesis remains challenging. Here we report a controllable in-situ transformation strategy to fabricate distinct types of PLs from the same supramolecular framework (SMF). Two isomorphic polyethylene-glycol-based ionic liquids, IL-Br and IL-NTf₂, differing only in anions, exhibit contrasting electrostatic interactions with the SMF. Strong attraction between IL-Br and the SMF disrupts the ionic bonds within the framework, yielding a type II PL, PL2(SMF-Br), while electrostatic repulsion in IL-NTf₂ preserves the framework, producing a type III PL, PL3(SMF-NTf₂). These tailored host-solvent interactions endow PL2(SMF-Br) with over twice the CO₂ uptake and photoresponsivity of its counterpart, as well as record-high CO₂ capacity among reported type II PLs. In this work, we establish a general strategy for tunable PL construction through electrostatically guided host-solvent design.

In ecology, causal questions are ubiquitous, yet the literature describing systematic approaches to answering these questions is vast and fragmented across different traditions (e.g., randomization, structural equation modeling, convergent cross mapping). In our Perspective, we connect the causal assumptions, tasks, frameworks, and methods across these traditions, thereby providing a synthesis of the concepts and methodological advances for detecting and quantifying causal relationships in ecological systems. Through a newly developed workflow, we emphasize how ecologists' choices among empirical approaches are guided by the pre-existing knowledge that ecologists have and the causal assumptions that ecologists are willing to make.

Bicyclo[1.1.1]pentane (BCP) boronic esters are crucial intermediates for accessing BCP-containing drugs with improved pharmacokinetic profiles, yet their synthesis typically relies on pre-formed redox-active esters derived from carboxylic acids. Here we report a general, single-step method for the direct conversion of carboxylic acids into BCP boronic esters. Upon irradiation of carboxylic acids with [1.1.1]propellane and bis(pinacolato)diboron (B₂pin₂) in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO), BCP boronates are obtained in good yields, which are further enhanced by the addition of an iron catalyst. Mechanistic studies suggest that photolytic cleavage of a B₂pin₂-DMSO complex initiates decarboxylation via hydrogen atom transfer (HAT), while iron catalysis enables a parallel ligand-to-metal charge transfer (LMCT) pathway. This synergistic HAT/LMCT process displays broad substrate scope and remarkable functional group tolerance. Additionally, BCP analogs of two approved drugs, butenafine and buclizine, have been readily synthesized, underscoring the potential of this dual HAT/LMCT paradigm to reshape strategies in synthetic chemistry and drug discovery.