@article{21158, abstract = {Vernalization-regulated flowering is vital for wheat yield and geographical distribution, and the diversity of flowering time genes is essential for the breeding of climate-resilient varieties. Sugars have long been recognized in regulating flowering; however, the intrinsic connection between carbohydrate metabolism and vernalization response remains largely unexplored. Here, we identify a fructose 1,6-bisphosphate aldolase (FBA) encoding gene, HtL1/FBA10, as a modulator of heading time variation based on a genome-wide association study utilizing wheat core germplasm collections. Evolutionary analysis shows a decrease in the proportion of haplotype-2 of HtL1, which is linked to delayed flowering, in Chinese and American wheat varieties compared to landraces. Vernalization reduces HtL1/FBA10 phosphorylation levels and increases its O-GlcNAcylation, which in turn enhances its enzymatic activity and facilitates VERNALIZATION 1 (VRN1) transcription by regulating histone acetylation at the VRN1 locus. Our findings provide mechanistic insights into the interplay between glucose metabolism and the epigenetic regulation of vernalization in winter wheat.}, author = {Yang, Pengfang and Liu, Yangyang and Dong, Qi and Miao, Yuting and Zhang, Jianlong and Xu, Shujuan and Zhao, Hong and Niu, Yuda and Zhang, Xueyong and Xu, Yunyuan and Guo, Zifeng and Xing, Lijing and Chong, Kang}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{O-GlcNAc and phosphorylation modifications on HtL1/FBA10 regulate wheat vernalization for flowering}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-67734-0}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21369, abstract = {Formation of new amyloid fibrils and oligomers from monomeric protein on the surfaces of existing fibrils is an important driver of many disorders such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases. The structural basis of this secondary nucleation process, however, is poorly understood. Here, we ask whether secondary nucleation sites are found predominantly at rare growth defects: irregularities in the fibril core structure incorporated during their original assembly. We first demonstrate using the specific inhibitor of secondary nucleation, Brichos, that secondary nucleation sites on Alzheimer’s disease-associated fibrils composed of Aβ40 and Aβ42 peptides are rare compared to the number of protein molecules they contain. We then grow Aβ40 fibrils under conditions designed to eliminate most growth defects while leaving the regular fibril morphology unchanged, and confirm the latter using cryo-electron microscopy. We measure both the ability of these annealed fibrils to promote secondary nucleation and the stoichiometry of their secondary nucleation sites, finding that both are greatly reduced as predicted. Re-analysis of published data for other proteins suggests that fibril growth defects may also drive secondary nucleation generally across most amyloids. These findings could unlock structure-based drug design of therapeutics that aim to halt amyloid disorders by inhibiting secondary nucleation sites.}, author = {Hu, Jing and Scheidt, Tom and Thacker, Dev and Axell, Emil and Stemme, Elin and Łapińska, Urszula and Wennmalm, Stefan and Meisl, Georg and Curk, Samo and Andreasen, Maria and Vendruscolo, Michele and Arosio, Paolo and Šarić, Anđela and Schmit, Jeremy D. and Knowles, Tuomas P.J. and Sparr, Emma and Linse, Sara and Michaels, Thomas C.T. and Dear, Alexander J.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Structural defects in amyloid-β fibrils drive secondary nucleation}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-69377-1}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21382, abstract = {The exceptional energy-harvesting efficiency of lead-halide perovskites arises from unusually long photocarrier diffusion lengths and recombination lifetimes that persist even in defect-rich, solution-grown samples. Paradoxically, perovskites are also known for having very short exciton decay times. Here, we resolve this apparent contradiction by showing that key optoelectronic properties of perovskites can be explained by localized flexoelectric polarization confined to interfaces between domains of spontaneous strain. Using birefringence imaging, electrochemical staining, and zero-bias photocurrent measurements, we visualize the domain structure and directly probe the associated internal fields in nominally cubic single crystals of methylammonium lead bromide. We demonstrate that localized flexoelectric fields spatially separate electrons and holes to opposite sides of domain walls, exponentially suppressing recombination. Domain walls thus act as efficient mesoscopic transport channels for long-lived photocarriers, microscopically linking structural heterogeneity to charge transport and offering mechanistically informed design principles for perovskite solar-energy technologies.}, author = {Rak, Dmytro and Lorenc, Dusan and Balazs, Daniel and Zhumekenov, Ayan A. and Bakr, Osman M. and Alpichshev, Zhanybek}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Flexoelectric domain walls enable charge separation and transport in cubic perovskites}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-68660-5}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21845, abstract = {UTe2 exhibits the remarkable phenomenon of re-entrant superconductivity, whereby the zero-resistance state reappears above 40 tesla after being suppressed with a field of around 10 tesla. One potential pairing mechanism, invoked in the related re-entrant superconductors UCoGe and URhGe, involves transverse fluctuations of a ferromagnetic order parameter. However, the requisite ferromagnetic order—present in both UCoGe and URhGe—is absent in UTe2, and neutron scattering shows instead that the magnetic susceptibility is peaked at an antiferromagnetic wavevector. Here, we measure the magnetotropic susceptibility of UTe2 across two field-angle planes. This quantity is sensitive to the magnetic susceptibility in a direction transverse to the applied magnetic field—a quantity that is not accessed in conventional magnetization measurements. We observe a very large decrease in the magnetotropic susceptibility over a broad range of field orientations, indicating a large increase in the transverse magnetic susceptibility. Because our technique probes the magnetic susceptibility in the long wavelength (q = 0) limit, this suggests that the strong transverse susceptibility arises from ferromagnetic spin fluctuations. These ferromagnetic fluctuations are likely important for understanding the pairing mechanism in UTe2, as all three superconducting phases of UTe2 surround this region of enhanced susceptibility in the field-angle phase diagram.}, author = {Zambra, Valeska and Nathwani, Amit and Nauman, Muhammad and Lewin, Sylvia K. and Frank, Corey E. and Butch, Nicholas P. and Shekhter, Arkady and Ramshaw, B. J. and Modic, Kimberly A}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Giant transverse magnetic fluctuations at the edge of re-entrant superconductivity in UTe2}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-71899-7}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{21872, abstract = {Magneto-optic Kerr effect (MOKE) is a powerful probe of broken time-reversal symmetry (T), typically used to study ferromagnets. While MOKE has been observed in some antiferromagnets (AFMs) with vanishing magnetization, it is often associated with structures whose symmetry is lower than basic collinear, bipartite order. In contrast, theory predicts a mechanism for MOKE intrinsic to all AFMs of A-type, i.e. layered AFMs in which ferromagnetic layers are antiferromagnetically aligned. Here we report the experimental confirmation of this mechanism in a bulk AFM. We achieve this by measuring the imaginary component of MOKE as a function of photon energy in MnBi2Te4, an A-type AFM where T is preserved in combination with a translation, and comparing the experimental results with model calculations. Our model suggests that observable MOKE should be expected in all collinear A-type AFMs with out-of-plane spin order, thus enabling optical detection of AFM domains and expanding the scope of MOKE to few-layer AFMs.}, author = {Sunko, Veronika and Ahsanullah, Salman and Jain, Vivek and Weber, Sophie and Kumaran, Sivaloganathan and Yan, Jiaqiang and Orenstein, Joseph and Ovchinnikov, Dmitry}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Magneto-optical Kerr effect in an A-type antiferromagnet}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-72577-4}, year = {2026}, } @article{21895, abstract = {The mammalian brain organises knowledge about entities in the world and relationships between them using cognitive maps. When forming a cognitive map, there is a necessary trade-off between extending the map to make novel inferences, and storing a veridical copy of past experience. However, the neural mechanisms that control this trade-off remain unknown. Using a cross-scale approach that combines a pharmacological intervention in humans with neural network modelling, we show that the neuromodulator noradrenaline elicits a significant ‘spread of association’ across hippocampal cognitive maps. This neural spread of association can be explained by changes in synaptic plasticity that predict overgeneralisation in behaviour. Thus, elevated noradrenaline during learning increases the ‘smoothing kernel’ for plasticity across the cognitive map, allowing disparate memories to become linked and distorted.}, author = {Koolschijn, Renée S. and Parthasarathy, Prakriti and Browning, Michael and Przygodda, Xenia and Capitão, Liliana P. and Clarke, William T. and Vogels, Tim P and O’Reilly, Jill X. and Barron, Helen C.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Noradrenaline causes a spread of association in the hippocampal cognitive map}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-026-70659-x}, volume = {17}, year = {2026}, } @article{20002, abstract = {While the most widely used CRISPR-Cas enzyme is the Cas9 endonuclease from Streptococcus pyogenes (Cas9), it exhibits single-turnover enzyme kinetics which leads to long residence times on product DNA. This blocks access to DNA repair machinery and acts as a major bottleneck during CRISPR-Cas9 gene editing. Cas9 can eventually be removed from the product by extrinsic factors, such as translocating polymerases, but the mechanisms contributing to Cas9 dissociation following cleavage remain poorly understood. Here, we employ truncated guide RNAs as a strategy to weaken PAM-distal nucleic acid interactions and promote faster enzyme turnover. Using kinetics-guided cryo-EM, we examine the conformational landscape of a multi-turnover Cas9, including the first detailed snapshots of Cas9 dissociating from product DNA. We discovered that while the PAM-distal product dissociates from Cas9 following cleavage, tight binding of the PAM-proximal product directly inhibits re-binding of new targets. Our work provides direct evidence as to why Cas9 acts as a single-turnover enzyme and will guide future Cas9 engineering efforts.}, author = {Kiernan, Kaitlyn and Taylor, David W.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Visualization of a multi-turnover Cas9 after product release}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-60668-7}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20183, abstract = {The unequal segregation of organelles has been proposed to be an intrinsic mechanism that contributes to cell fate divergence during asymmetric cell division; however, in vivo evidence is sparse. Using super-resolution microscopy, we analysed the segregation of organelles during the division of the neuroblast QL.p in C. elegans larvae. QL.p divides to generate a daughter that survives, QL.pa, and a daughter that dies, QL.pp. We found that mitochondria segregate unequally by density and morphology and that this is dependent on mitochondrial dynamics. Furthermore, we found that mitochondrial density in QL.pp correlates with the time it takes QL.pp to die. We propose that low mitochondrial density in QL.pp promotes the cell death fate and ensures that QL.pp dies in a highly reproducible and timely manner. Our results provide in vivo evidence that the unequal segregation of mitochondria can contribute to cell fate divergence during asymmetric cell division in a developing animal.}, author = {Segos, Ioannis and Van Eeckhoven, Jens and Berger, Simon and Mishra, Nikhil and Lambie, Eric J. and Conradt, Barbara}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Unequal segregation of mitochondria during asymmetric cell division contributes to cell fate divergence in sister cells in vivo}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-62484-5}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20452, abstract = {Accurate modeling of long-range forces is critical in atomistic simulations, as they play a central role in determining the properties of material and chemical systems. However, standard machine learning interatomic potentials (MLIPs) often rely on short-range approximations, limiting their applicability to systems with significant electrostatics and dispersion forces. We recently introduced the Latent Ewald Summation (LES) method, which captures long-range electrostatics without explicitly learning atomic charges or charge equilibration. We benchmark LES on diverse and challenging systems, including charged molecules, ionic liquids, electrolyte solutions, polar dipeptides, surface adsorption, electrolyte/solid interfaces, and solid-solid interfaces. Here we show that LES can reproduce the exact atomic charges for classical systems with fixed charges and can infer dipole and quadrupole moments, as well as the dipole derivative with respect to atomic positions, for quantum mechanical systems. Moreover, LES can achieve better accuracy in energy and force predictions compared to methods that explicitly learn from charges.}, author = {King, Daniel S. and Kim, Dongjin and Zhong, Peichen and Cheng, Bingqing}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Machine learning of charges and long-range interactions from energies and forces}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-63852-x}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20728, abstract = {Glaciers are often located in steep mountain settings and avalanches from surrounding slopes can strongly influence snow accumulation patterns on their surface. This effect has however never been quantified for more than a few glaciers and the impact on the future evolution of glaciers is unclear. We coupled an avalanche and a glacier model to estimate the contribution of avalanches to the accumulation of all glaciers in the world and how this affects their evolution throughout the 21st century. Globally, 3% of the snow accumulation on glaciers comes from avalanches and 1% is removed by avalanches. This net contribution varies between regions and glaciers, with a maximum of 15% for New Zealand. Accounting for avalanches modifies the altitudinal pattern of glacier mass balance and the projected evolution of individual glaciers. The main effects include (1) a longer persistence of small glaciers, with for example three times more ice retained by glaciers smaller than 1 km2 in Central Europe under a low-emission scenario, and (2) an increased sensitivity of high-elevation accumulation zones to future warming. We anticipate the relative influence of avalanches to increase in the future and advocate for a better monitoring of this process and representation in glacier models.}, author = {Kneib, Marin and Maussion, Fabien and Brun, Fanny and Carcanade, Guillem and Farinotti, Daniel and Huss, Matthias and Van Tiel, Marit and Jouberton, Achille and Schmitt, Patrick and Schuster, Lilian and Dehecq, Amaury and Champollion, Nicolas}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Topographically-controlled contribution of avalanches to glacier mass balance in the 21st century}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-65608-z}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20796, abstract = {Rapid prophase chromosome movements ensure faithful alignment of the parental homologous chromosomes and successful synapsis formation during meiosis. These movements are driven by cytoplasmic forces transmitted to the nuclear periphery, where chromosome ends are attached through transmembrane proteins. During many developmental stages a specific genome architecture with chromatin nuclear periphery contacts mediates specific gene expression. Whether chromatin is removed from the nuclear periphery as a consequence of chromosome motions or by a specific mechanism is not fully understood. Here, we identify a mechanism to remove chromatin from the nuclear periphery through vaccinia related kinase (VRK-1)–dependent phosphorylation of Barrier to Autointegration Factor 1 (BAF-1) in Caenorhabditis elegans early prophase of meiosis. Interfering with chromatin removal delays chromosome pairing, impairs synapsis, produces oocytes with abnormal chromosomes and elevated apoptosis. Long read sequencing reveals deletions and duplications in offspring lacking VRK-1 underscoring the importance of the BAF-1–VRK-1 module in preserving genome stability in gametes during rapid chromosome movements.}, author = {Paouneskou, Dimitra and Baudrimont, Antoine and Kelemen, Réka K and Elkrewi, Marwan N and Graf, Angela and Moukbel Ali Aldawla, Shehab and Kölbl, Claudia and Tiemann-Boege, Irene and Vicoso, Beatriz and Jantsch, Verena}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{BAF-1–VRK-1 mediated release of meiotic chromosomes from the nuclear periphery is important for genome integrity}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-65420-9}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{18820, abstract = {Feature selection is essential in the analysis of molecular systems and many other fields, but several uncertainties remain: What is the optimal number of features for a simplified, interpretable model that retains essential information? How should features with different units be aligned, and how should their relative importance be weighted? Here, we introduce the Differentiable Information Imbalance (DII), an automated method to rank information content between sets of features. Using distances in a ground truth feature space, DII identifies a low-dimensional subset of features that best preserves these relationships. Each feature is scaled by a weight, which is optimized by minimizing the DII through gradient descent. This allows simultaneously performing unit alignment and relative importance scaling, while preserving interpretability. DII can also produce sparse solutions and determine the optimal size of the reduced feature space. We demonstrate the usefulness of this approach on two benchmark molecular problems: (1) identifying collective variables that describe conformations of a biomolecule, and (2) selecting features for training a machine-learning force field. These results show the potential of DII in addressing feature selection challenges and optimizing dimensionality in various applications. The method is available in the Python library DADApy.}, author = {Wild, Romina and Wodaczek, Felix and Del Tatto, Vittorio and Cheng, Bingqing and Laio, Alessandro}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Automatic feature selection and weighting in molecular systems using Differentiable Information Imbalance}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-55449-7}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{18848, abstract = {Type II CRISPR endonucleases are widely used programmable genome editing tools. Recently, CRISPR-Cas systems with highly compact nucleases have been discovered, including Cas9d (a type II-D nuclease). Here, we report the cryo-EM structures of a Cas9d nuclease (747 amino acids in length) in multiple functional states, revealing a stepwise process of DNA targeting involving a conformational switch in a REC2 domain insertion. Our structures provide insights into the intricately folded guide RNA which acts as a structural scaffold to anchor small, flexible protein domains for DNA recognition. The sgRNA can be truncated by up to ~25% yet still retain activity in vivo. Using ancestral sequence reconstruction, we generated compact nucleases capable of efficient genome editing in mammalian cells. Collectively, our results provide mechanistic insights into the evolution and DNA targeting of diverse type II CRISPR-Cas systems, providing a blueprint for future re-engineering of minimal RNA-guided DNA endonucleases.}, author = {Ocampo, Rodrigo Fregoso and Bravo, Jack Peter Kelly and Dangerfield, Tyler L. and Nocedal, Isabel and Jirde, Samatar A. and Alexander, Lisa M. and Thomas, Nicole C. and Das, Anjali and Nielson, Sarah and Johnson, Kenneth A. and Brown, Christopher T. and Butterfield, Cristina N. and Goltsman, Daniela S.A. and Taylor, David W.}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{DNA targeting by compact Cas9d and its resurrected ancestor}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-024-55573-4}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{19402, abstract = {Recent advances in the field of bottom-up synthetic biology have led to the development of synthetic cells that mimic some features of real cells, such as division, protein synthesis, or DNA replication. Larger assemblies of synthetic cells may be used to form prototissues. However, existing prototissues are limited by their relatively small lateral dimensions or their lack of remodeling ability. Here, we introduce a lipid-based tissue mimetic that can be easily prepared and functionalized, consisting of a millimeter-sized “lipid-foam” with individual micrometer-sized compartments bound by lipid bilayers. We characterize the structural and mechanical properties of the lipid-foam tissue mimetic, and we demonstrate self-healing capabilities enabled by the fluidity of the lipid bilayers. Upon inclusion of bacteria in the tissue compartments, we observe that the tissue mimetic exhibits network-wide tension fluctuations driven by membrane tension generation by the swimming bacteria. Active tension fluctuations facilitate the fluidization and reorganization of the prototissue, providing a versatile platform for understanding and mimicking biological tissues.}, author = {Gu, Andre A. and Ucar, Mehmet C and Tran, Peter and Prindle, Arthur and Kamat, Neha P. and Steinkühler, Jan}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Remodeling of lipid-foam prototissues by network-wide tension fluctuations induced by active particles}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-57178-x}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{20977, abstract = {Hippocampal sharp-wave ripples (SPW-Rs) are high-frequency oscillations critical for memory consolidation. Despite extensive characterization in rodents, their detection in humans is limited by coarse spatial sampling, interictal epileptiform discharges (IEDs), and a lack of consensus on human ripple localization and morphology. Here, we demonstrate that mouse and human hippocampal ripples share spatial, spectral and temporal features, which are clearly distinct from IEDs. In recordings from male APP/PS1 mice, SPW-Rs were distinguishable from IEDs by multiple criteria. Hippocampal ripples recorded during NREM sleep in female and male surgical epilepsy patients exhibited similar narrowband frequency peaks and multiple ripple cycles in the CA1 and subiculum regions. Conversely, IEDs showed a broad spatial extent and wide-band frequency power. We developed a semi-automated, ripple curation toolbox (ripmap) to separate event waveforms by low-dimensional embedding to reduce false-positive rate in selected ripple channels. Our approach improves ripple detection and provides a firm foundation for future human memory research.}, author = {Maslarova, Anna and Shin, Jiyun N. and Navas Olivé, Andrea C and Vöröslakos, Mihály and Hamer, Hajo and Doerfler, Arnd and Henin, Simon and Buzsáki, György and Liu, Anli}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Spatiotemporal patterns differentiate hippocampal sharp-wave ripples from interictal epileptiform discharges in mice and humans}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-66562-6}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{21248, abstract = {Camera-type eyes in vertebrates and cephalopods are striking examples of parallel evolution of a complex structure. While comparisons have focused on these two groups, camera-type eyes with likely high functionality are also found in other invertebrate phyla with simpler brains. Employing single-cell RNA sequencing, we identify neurogenic cells in the adult eyes and brain of the marine annelid worm Platynereis dumerilii. Distinct neural stem cells in the camera-type adult eyes, located at the edge of the cup-shaped retina, and adjacent to the glass body/lens, produce radial lines of cells, reminiscent of stem cells in ciliary marginal zones of vertebrate eyes exhibiting life-long growth. Normal proliferation in the eye depends on ambient light, a phenomenon that depends on the integrity of the photoreceptor gene c-opsin1, which is present in emerging rhabdomeric photoreceptors, and impacts on their differentiation. During reproductive maturation, proliferation in the eye as well as the entire brain sharply declines, while cells upregulate molecular characteristics of mammalian adult neural stem cell quiescence. Our data provide insights into the development and modulation of annelid head and brain cells, revealing similarities and differences to vertebrate eye development, neurogenesis and brain plasticity.}, author = {Milivojev, Nadja and Scaramuzza, Federico and Brum, Pedro Ozório and Velastegui Gamboa, Camila L and Andreatta, Gabriele and Raible, Florian and Tessmar-Raible, Kristin}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Light-modulated stem cells in the camera-type eye of an annelid model for adult brain plasticity}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-65631-0}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{8616, abstract = {The brain vasculature supplies neurons with glucose and oxygen, but little is known about how vascular plasticity contributes to brain function. Using longitudinal in vivo imaging, we report that a substantial proportion of blood vessels in the adult mouse brain sporadically occlude and regress. Their regression proceeds through sequential stages of blood-flow occlusion, endothelial cell collapse, relocation or loss of pericytes, and retraction of glial endfeet. Regressing vessels are found to be widespread in mouse, monkey and human brains. We further reveal that blood vessel regression cause a reduction of neuronal activity due to a dysfunction in mitochondrial metabolism and glutamate production. Our results elucidate the mechanism of vessel regression and its role in neuronal function in the adult brain.}, author = {Gao, Xiaofei and Li, Jun-Liszt and Chen, Xingjun and Ci, Bo and Chen, Fei and Lu, Nannan and Shen, Bo and Zheng, Lijun and Jia, Jie-Min and Yi, Yating and Zhang, Shiwen and Shi, Ying-Chao and Shi, Kaibin and Propson, Nicholas E and Huang, Yubin and Poinsatte, Katherine and Zhang, Zhaohuan and Yue, Yuanlei and Bosco, Dale B and Lu, Ying-mei and Yang, Shi-bing and Adams, Ralf H. and Lindner, Volkhard and Huang, Fen and Wu, Long-Jun and Zheng, Hui and Han, Feng and Hippenmeyer, Simon and Stowe, Ann M. and Peng, Bo and Margeta, Marta and Wang, Xiaoqun and Liu, Qiang and Körbelin, Jakob and Trepel, Martin and Lu, Hui and Zhou, Bo O. and Zhao, Hu and Su, Wenzhi and Bachoo, Robert M. and Ge, Woo-ping}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Reduction of neuronal activity mediated by blood-vessel regression in the brain}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-60308-0}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{21541, abstract = {Scintillators convert X-ray energy into visible light and are critical for imaging technologies. Their widespread use relies on scalable, high-quality manufacturing methods. Nanophotonic scintillators, featuring wavelength-scale nanostructures, can offer improved emission properties such as higher light yield, shorter decay times, and enhanced directionality. However, achieving scalable fabrication of these structures remains challenging. Here, we present a scalable fabrication method for large-area nanophotonic scintillators based on the self-assembly of chalcogenide glass photonic crystals. This technique enables the production of nanophotonic scintillators over wafer-scale areas, achieving a six-fold enhancement in light yield compared to unpatterned scintillators. By studying surface nanofabrication disorder, we show its impact on imaging performance and provide a route towards scintillation enhancements without compromising resolution. We demonstrate the practical applicability of our nanophotonic scintillators through X-ray imaging of biological and inorganic specimens. Our results could enable the industrial implementation of a new generation of nanophotonic-enhanced scintillators.}, author = {Martin-Monier, Louis and Pajovic, Simo and Abebe, Muluneh G. and Chen, Joshua and Vaidya, Sachin and Min, Seokhwan and Choi, Seou and Kooi, Steven E. and Maes, Bjorn and Hu, Juejun and Soljačić, Marin and Roques-Carmes, Charles}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Large-scale self-assembled nanophotonic scintillators for X-ray imaging}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-60953-5}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{21543, abstract = {Observing non-classical properties of light is a long-standing interest to advance a wide range of quantum applications. Optical cavities are essential to generate and manipulate non-classical light. However, detecting changes in cavity properties induced by the quantum state remains a critical challenge in the optical domain due to the weak material nonlinearity. Here, we propose a framework for observing the dynamics of quantum states generated inside nonlinear optical cavities. We leverage the symmetry-breaking process of a bistable system, which is highly sensitive to the initial state, enabling detection of quantum state displacement through an asymmetric equilibrium of a macroscopic observable. With a nonlinear response at the single photon level, our approach directly imprints the cavity field distribution onto the statistics of bistable cavity steady-states. We experimentally demonstrate our approach in a degenerate optical parametric oscillator, generating and reconstructing different quantum states. As a validation, we reconstruct the Husimi Q function of the cavity squeezed vacuum state. In addition, we observe the evolution of the quantum vacuum state inside the cavity as it undergoes phase-sensitive amplification. By enabling generation and measurement of quantum states in a single nonlinear optical cavity, our method paves a way for studying exotic dynamics of quantum optical states in nonlinear driven-dissipative systems.}, author = {Choi, Seou and Salamin, Yannick and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Sloan, Jamison and Horodynski, Michael and Soljačić, Marin}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Observing the dynamics of quantum states generated inside nonlinear optical cavities}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-63035-8}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, } @article{21542, abstract = {Nonlinear optics has become the workhorse for countless applications in classical and quantum optics, from optical bistability to single photon pair generation. However, the intrinsic weakness of optical nonlinearity and reciprocity of nonlinear interactions generally places stringent limits on the efficiency of nonlinear optical processes and their ability to be tailored for advanced applications in multimode systems. Here, motivated by recent advances in using non-Hermitian photonics and gain/loss engineering to enable non-reciprocal light transport, we explore how the interplay between non-Hermiticity and optical nonlinearity leads to a fundamentally new regime of nonlinear frequency conversion. We show how non-Hermitian coupling between discrete frequency modes can result in non-reciprocal flow of energy in a frequency dimension, closely resembling the non-Hermitian skin effect (NHSE). Applying our theory to a multimode nonlinear cavity supporting cascaded nonlinear processes, we demonstrate chiral energy flow in a frequency dimension, leading to long-range frequency shifts of quasi-continuous wave sources, shaped frequency combs robust to defects and disorder, terahertz (THz) generation far exceeding the Manley-Rowe limit, and nonlinear multimodal limit cycles for multi-frequency pump-probe spectroscopy.}, author = {Pontula, Sahil and Vaidya, Sachin and Roques-Carmes, Charles and Uddin, Shiekh Zia and Soljačić, Marin and Salamin, Yannick}, issn = {2041-1723}, journal = {Nature Communications}, publisher = {Springer Nature}, title = {{Non-reciprocal frequency conversion in a non-Hermitian multimode nonlinear system}}, doi = {10.1038/s41467-025-62853-0}, volume = {16}, year = {2025}, }