The Yangtze River, stretching 4300 kilometers, forms a continuous topographic gradient from alpine gorges to estuarine deltas, creating significant variations in sediment particle size, hydrological dynamics, and nutrient spatial patterns. The research led by Sitong Liu’s team from Peking University reveals the regulatory role of river landforms (determined by geological structures) in microbial mutualistic patterns: bacteria in different landforms adapt to the environment by dynamically adjusting their mutualistic strategies, with a focus on comammox Nitrospira. In mountain-foothill regions, these bacteria maintain their competitive advantage by enhancing the absorption of amino acids and vitamin B6, which explains the difference between the stable abundance of this bacterium and the decline of other ammonia-oxidizing bacteria.

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are tiny particles released by cells that help control egg development. In a recent review, researchers from China explored how EVs influence oocyte health by transferring important molecules between cells. The article discusses how EV function changes under disease conditions and how this affects fertility. It also highlights the growing potential of therapeutic EVs to improve egg quality and treat ovarian disorders, offering new possibilities for advancing reproductive medicine.

We theoretically and experimentally demonstrate that a cylinder with arbitrary cross section, composed of a homogeneous electromagnetic medium featuring nontrivial second Chern numbers c₂ in a synthetic five-dimensional space, host topologically protected intrinsic Higher-order topological insulators (HOTI) type hinge states. Our work introduces the concept of boundary gauge fields and establishes the link between synthetic-space c₂ and real-space HOTI states.

A landmark mini-review from Peking Union Medical College Hospital delivers a snapshot of nine PD-1/IL-2 bi-functional drugs now in clinical trials. By silencing PD-1 and selectively fueling T cells with refined IL-2 in one molecule, these agents reinvigorate exhausted immune soldiers while sparing healthy tissue, promising safer and broader cancer cures.