Architecture of a catalytically active homotrimeric plant cellulose synthase complex

Cellulose is an essential plant cell wall component and represents the most abundant biopolymer on Earth. Supramolecular plant cellulose synthase complexes organize multiple linear glucose polymers into microfibrils as load-bearing wall components. We determined the structure of a poplar cellulose synthase CesA homotrimer that suggests a molecular basis...

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Primary exposure to SARS-CoV-2 protects against reinfection in rhesus macaques

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), which is caused by infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), has become a global pandemic. It currently remains unclear whether convalescing patients have a risk of reinfection. We generated a rhesus macaque model of SARS-CoV-2 infection that was characterized by interstitial...

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Architecture and function of human uromodulin filaments in urinary tract infections

Uromodulin is the most abundant protein in human urine and forms filaments that antagonize the adhesion of uropathogens; however, filament structure and mechanism of protection remain poorly understood. We used cryo-electron tomography to show that the uromodulin filament consists of a zigzag-shaped backbone with laterally protruding arms. N-glycosylation...

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Covalent surface modifications and superconductivity of two-dimensional metal carbide MXenes

Versatile chemical transformations of surface functional groups in 2D transition-metal carbides (MXenes) open up a new design space for this broad class of functional materials. We introduce a general strategy to install and remove surface groups by performing substitution and elimination reactions in molten inorganic salts. Successful synthesis of...

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Scale-free ferroelectricity induced by flat phonon bands in HfO2

Discovery of robust yet reversibly switchable electric dipoles at reduced dimensions is critical in advancing nanoelectronics devices. Energy bands flat in momentum space generate robust localized states that are activated independently of each other. We determined flat bands exist and induce robust yet independently switchable dipoles exhibiting a...

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Accelerating water dissociation in bipolar membranes and for electrocatalysis

Catalyzing water dissociation (WD) into protons and hydroxide ions is important both for fabricating bipolar membranes (BPMs) that can couple different pH environments into a single electrochemical device, and for accelerating electrocatalytic reactions that consume protons in neutral-to-alkaline media. We designed a BPM electrolyzer to quantitatively...

2w

Rational synthesis of atomically precise graphene nanoribbons directly on metal oxide surfaces

Atomically precise graphene nanoribbons (GNRs) attract great interest because of their highly tunable electronic, optical, and transport properties. However, on-surface synthesis of GNRs is typically based on metal-surface assisted chemical reactions, where metallic substrates strongly screen their designer electronic properties and limit further applications....

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Structural insight into precursor ribosomal RNA processing by ribonuclease MRP

Ribonuclease (RNase) MRP is a conserved eukaryotic ribonucleoprotein complex that plays essential roles in pre-ribosomal RNA (pre-rRNA) processing and cell cycle regulation. In contrast to RNase P, which selectively cleaves tRNA-like substrates, it has remained a mystery how RNase MRP recognizes its diverse substrates. To address this question, we determined...

3w

A mathematical model reveals the influence of population heterogeneity on herd immunity to SARS-CoV-2

Despite various levels of preventive measures, in 2020 many countries have suffered severely from the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus. We show that population heterogeneity can significantly impact disease-induced immunity as the proportion infected in groups with...

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A neutralizing human antibody binds to the N-terminal domain of the Spike protein of SARS-CoV-2

Developing therapeutics against SARS-CoV-2 could be guided by the distribution of epitopes, not only on the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the Spike (S) protein, but also across the full Spike (S) protein. We isolated and characterized monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) from ten convalescent COVID-19 patients. Three mAbs showed neutralizing activities against...

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