Nature Communications最新文献

During spermatogenesis, the unsynapsed XY chromosomes undergo meiotic sex chromosome inactivation (MSCI) and form a heterochromatic XY body. Defects in MSCI lead to meiotic arrest and male infertility. Although DNA damage response (DDR) factors are established as key initiators of MSCI, how transcriptional silencing is subsequently achieved remains elusive. Here, we identify the nucleolar components NPM1, SENP3, and rRNA as essential downstream effectors of DDR signaling in MSCI. During pachytene, these components migrate to and transiently cover the XY body during MSCI establishment, before becoming restricted to a corner of the XY body. Genetic deletion of Npm1 or Senp3, or inhibition of rRNA transcription severely impairs MSCI. Mechanistically, SENP3-mediated deSUMOylation of NPM1 promotes its interaction with rRNA, enabling liquid-liquid phase separation, via which they exclude Pol II from the XY body. Together, these data reveal a critical role of nucleolar components in the transcriptional regulation of MSCI in mammalian spermatogenesis.

Photonics-assisted wireless communication provides a powerful pathway for next-generation infrastructures, offering ultra-wide bandwidth and high spectral agility. Despite extensive research and commercial adoption of photonics-assisted schemes such as radio-over-fiber in base station scenarios, their implementation in space-constrained and power-sensitive end devices remains highly challenging. The main obstacles arise from complex transceiver architectures, as mitigating effects of drift and jitter in carriers necessitates either high-purity sources or complex digital signal processing (DSP). Here, we propose a minimalist integrated photonics-assisted terahertz wireless transceiver solution tailored for lightweight systems. By employing residual carrier modulation and injection locking, we achieve a streamlined architecture using solely off-the-shelf 4 MHz linewidth distributed feedback laser chips and a single photodetector receiver, which supports 144 Gbps high-speed transmission at sub-terahertz frequency, meanwhile operating in a DSP-free regime for carrier recovery. The system also incorporates on-chip modulator and photodiode, enabling higher-level system integration. Eliminating the long-standing hardware burden and DSP overhead, the proposed scheme paves the way for lightweight, massive adoption of high-performance photonics-assisted wireless transceivers in end devices for ubiquitous access.

The generation of pure hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂) through two-electron oxygen reduction reaction represents a promising avenue for sustainable chemical production. However, a fundamental understanding of inevitable reconstruction of active sites during electrolysis remains elusive, hindering the development of dualable electrocatalysts. Herein, we report a structure-adaptive electrocatalyst featuring self-regulating capabilities under reaction. A series of single-atom Ni catalysts with B/N coordination (NiB_xN_y) serves as a model system to explore structure flexibility. Under the applied potential, the structural evolution of Ni^+0.98-B₂N₂ into Ni^+0.98-B₁N₂ occurs at initial stage. The Ni-B and Ni-N bond length in Ni^+0.98-B₁N₂, as the genuine active site, are self-regulated to redistribute interfacial electrons by B/N coordination and then boost both intrinsic activity and stability of Ni site. When the potential is removed, the catalyst returns to its initial Ni-B₂N₂ configuration. The H₂O₂ productivity is up to 9320 mmol g _catalyst^-1 h^-1 with a continuous output of ~5 wt% H₂O₂ solution under industrial current density for over 300 h. This work elucidates the dynamic reconstruction-activity enhancement for H₂O₂ electrosynthesis.