The M-channel, a heteromeric K_v7 potassium channel primarily assembled from KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 subunits, serves as a critical ‘molecular brake’ that restrains neuronal hyperexcitability. Dysfunction of M-channels is associated with developmental and epileptic encephalopathies, underscoring their importance as therapeutic targets.

Despite their physiological and clinical significance, structural insights into heteromeric M-channels have remained elusive. Previous studies were limited to homomeric KCNQ channels, leaving fundamental questions regarding subunit assembly and pharmacological modulation unresolved. On May 27, 2026, Huang and Fan’s team at the Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) reported high-resolution cryo-EM structures of human heteromeric M-channels in Vita, revealing their assembly architectures and a previously unrecognized PIP₂-assisted cooperative gating mechanism.

A landmark research protocol establishes China’s first standardized operational protocol (SOP) for fetal brain tissue banking, addressing critical gaps in ethical oversight, sample quality control, and technical consistency to provide a unified framework that enhances research reproducibility and accelerates neuroscience discovery in neurodevelopmental disorders.

Semiconductor electrodes offer powerful routes to engineer electrochemical function, yet predicting surface confined charge transfer remains challenging because crystallography and doping reshape interfacial structure, band bending, and potential distribution. Zhong et al. mapped these coupled effects reported recently by Frontiers of Materials Science, using ferrocene (Fc) monolayers grafted onto hydrogen-terminated p- and n-type Si(100), Si(110), and Si(111).

Affective computing depends on biosensors capable of detecting physiological signals associated with human emotions. Chitosan, a naturally occurring cationic polysaccharide derived from chitin, has emerged as a promising platform for such devices due to its renewability, biodegradability, biocompatibility, and ease of chemical modification. Chitosan-based materials show strong potential for next-generation biosensors in affective computing, owing to their intrinsic properties that meet many of the requirements for emotion-sensing devices.

 Researchers have developed a dynamic interfacial polymerization strategy that fabricates TpPa‑1 covalent organic framework (COF) membranes on polyacrylonitrile substrates in just 3 minutes – drastically reducing the conventional synthesis time from several days. The resulting membrane exhibits a permeance of 865 L·m⁻²·h⁻¹·MPa⁻¹ and a separation factor of 212 for methyl blue/Na₂SO₄ nanofiltration, outperforming most reported COF membranes. The membrane also demonstrates excellent stability, maintaining dye rejection above 99 % over 40 hours and showing good acid resistance.

The demand for higher-sensitivity optical metrology in advanced manufacturing and fundamental research has continued to drive researchers forward. Towards this goal, researchers from Northwestern Polytechnical University in China have developed a versatile surface plasmon resonance holographic microscope. By integrating an Ag-Au bilayer surface plasmon resonance excitation configuration and a novel thickness demodulation algorithm, this microscope can achieve a refractive index measurement resolution of 10^-7 RIU and sub-nanometer thickness profiling of atomic layer material. This breakthrough opens new avenues for in-situ nanomaterial inspection, biological research, and electrochemical studies.