Alterations in endometrial microbiota in patients with RIF may alter endometrial metabolites, decrease Treg-cell proportions, affect endometrial receptivity, and ultimately induce recurrent implantation failure.

Fast fashion is appealing because it’s an inexpensive way to dress rapidly growing kids. But preliminary research has found that the fabric in some of these items contains lead. After testing several shirts from different retailers, undergraduate researchers found that all exceeded U.S. federal regulatory lead limits. They also estimate that even briefly chewing these fabrics could expose young children to dangerous lead levels. The researchers will present their results at ACS Spring 2026.

Acute kidney injury (AKI), often triggered by ischemia-reperfusion (IR) injury during surgeries like transplantation, frequently progresses to irreversible fibrosis and chronic kidney disease (CKD). Despite the central role of immune cells in driving this process, the specific molecular checkpoints that control the transition from harmful inflammation to tissue repair have remained elusive. Now, research from the team of Professors Cheng Yang and Ruiming Rong at Fudan University has identified a critical protective player.

Researchers led by Hiroki R. Ueda at the University of Tokyo developed comprehensive 3D cellular atlases spanning all organs and the entire body, termed the CUBIC Organ/Body Atlas. By optimizing the CUBIC tissue-clearing method and establishing high-resolution whole-body imaging, the group mapped the spatial positions of individual cells and enabled quantitative comparisons across samples. This platform enables whole-body–scale quantitative analysis, integration with molecular data, and opens new opportunities for 3D biological and pathological analysis.

Kyoto, Japan -- Toward the right side of the periodic table below oxygen you'll find the chalcogens, or "ore-forming" elements. The chalcogens that occur naturally, including sulfur, selenium and tellurium, are all somehow involved in biological processes. Molecules containing sulfur, like the antioxidant glutathione, play a central role in redox regulation, the balance between oxidation and reduction that is essential for maintaining cellular health.

Recent studies have suggested that the heavier selenium and tellurium are active in biological redox systems as well, but the instability of molecules containing chains of different chalcogen atoms has made structural analysis difficult. Traditional methods have largely relied on mass spectrometry, which cannot be used to directly observe molecular bonds. This limitation motivated a team of researchers at Kyoto University to develop a method that would allow them to more clearly observe chains of chalcogens.

"We have long been interested in understanding how subtle atomic substitutions can alter biological function," says corresponding author Kazuma Murakami. "Chalcogen chemistry offers a unique window into redox biology that remains largely unexplored."