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UTX (also known as KDM6A) encodes a histone H3K27 demethylase and is an important tumour suppressor that is frequently mutated in human cancers1. However, as the demethylase activity of UTX is often dispensable for mediating tumour suppression and developmental regulation2-8, the underlying molecular activity of UTX remains unknown. Here we show that phase separation of UTX underlies its chromatin-regulatory activity in tumour suppression. A core intrinsically disordered region (cIDR) of UTX forms phase-separated liquid condensates, and cIDR loss caused by the most frequent cancer mutation of UTX is mainly responsible for abolishing tumour suppression. Deletion, mutagenesis and replacement assays of the intrinsically disordered region demonstrate a critical role of UTX condensation in tumour suppression and embryonic stem cell differentiation. As shown by reconstitution in vitro and engineered systems in cells, UTX recruits the histone methyltransferase MLL4 (also known as KMT2D) to the same condensates and enriches the H3K4 methylation activity of MLL4. Moreover, UTX regulates genome-wide histone modifications and high-order chromatin interactions in a condensation-dependent manner. We also found that UTY, the Y chromosome homologue of UTX with weaker tumour-suppressive activity, forms condensates with reduced molecular dynamics. These studies demonstrate a crucial biological function of liquid condensates with proper material states in enabling the tumour-suppressive activity of a chromatin regulator.

Microfiber (MF) has a similar structure to natural leather. Four rare earth (RE) elements, La, Ce, Gd, and Er, were loaded onto the surface of microfibers through plant tannins to prepare a wearable microfiber-based X-ray shielding material (RE-MF), and the X-ray shielding performance was tested. The analysis results of ultraviolet absorption spectroscopy (UV-Vis), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) indicate that the rare earth elements can be uniformly loaded onto the surface of ultrafine fibers using plant tannins. The test results of X-ray shielding performance show that within the photon energy of 100 keV, the microfiber materials loaded with four rare earth elements have good X-ray shielding performance, and the shielding efficiency is increased with the increase of the loading amount of rare earth element and the thickness of microfiber. In the 20-80 keV energy range, the shielding efficiency of 2.6 mm Gd4-MF is up to 60% against X-rays, nearly equal to that of 0.25 mm lead plate but with non-toxicity, softness and wearability features. The test results of mechanical properties show that the microfiber-based X-ray protective material maintains the original good mechanical properties of microfibers, and is expected to be widely used in the field of X-ray protection.

Light industries are crucial for China’s economic and social development, and the high-quality development of these industries is conducive to promoting China’s economic and social transformation, improving the quality of residents’ lives, and forming a new development pattern in which domestic and international cycles promote each other. In this study, the basic development pattern of the light industries and major problems faced by China’s economic transformation and upgrading were analyzed, and the common strategic directions for the development of China’s light industries were summarized, including green manufacturing, high-end manufacturing, intelligent manufacturing, and industrial cluster development. Focusing on major light industry categories such as paper-making, leather, plastic processing, and fermentation industries, key engineering issues that urgently require breakthroughs were proposed, and key equipment, components, raw materials and additives, strains, and process technologies were analyzed. We suggest to promote scientific and technological progress through the construction of innovation platforms, improve relevant industrial policies, optimize development environment, and cultivate talents, thereby promoting the high-quality development of the light industries and enhancing international competitiveness.

It remains unknown if biophysical or material properties of biomolecular condensates regulate cancer. Here we show that AKAP95, a nuclear protein that regulates transcription and RNA splicing, plays an important role in tumorigenesis by supporting cancer cell growth and suppressing oncogene-induced senescence. AKAP95 forms phase-separated and liquid-like condensates in vitro and in nucleus. Mutations of key residues to different amino acids perturb AKAP95 condensation in opposite directions. Importantly, the activity of AKAP95 in splice regulation is abolished by disruption of condensation, significantly impaired by hardening of condensates, and regained by substituting its condensation-mediating region with other condensation-mediating regions from irrelevant proteins. Moreover, the abilities of AKAP95 in regulating gene expression and supporting tumorigenesis require AKAP95 to form condensates with proper liquidity and dynamicity. These results link phase separation to tumorigenesis and uncover an important role of appropriate biophysical properties of protein condensates in gene regulation and cancer.

In the context of global food crisis, applying the phytohormone-brassinosteroids (BRs) in combination with the fungicide-pyraclostrobin (Pyr) was beneficial for plant quality and productivity in several field trials. However, in addition to the benefits of disease control due to the innate fungicidal activity of Pyr, it remains to be understood whether the coapplication of BL+ Pyr exerts additional growth-promoting effects. For this purpose, the effects of BL treatment, Pyr treatment, and BL+ Pyr treatment in Arabidopsis thaliana were compared. The results showed that the yield increased at a rate of 25.6% in the BL+Pyr group and 9.7% in the BL group, but no significant change was observed in the Pyr group. Furthermore, the BL+Pyr treatment increased the fresh weight of both the leaves and the inflorescences. In contrast, the Pyr and BL treatments only increased the fresh weight of leaves and inflorescences, respectively. Additionally, the BL + Pyr treatment increased the Pn, Gs, Tr, Vc, max, Jmax, VTPU, ETR, Fv’/Fm’, ΦPSII, Rd, AYE and Rubisco enzyme activity by 26%, 38%, 40%, 16%, 19%, 15%, 9%, 10%, 17%, 179%, 18% and 32%, respectively. While, these paraments did not change significantly by the BL or Pyr treatments. Treatment with BL + Pyr and Pyr, rather than BL, improved the chlorophyll a and chlorophyll b contents by upregulating genes related to chlorophyll biosynthesis and downregulating genes related to chlorophyll degradation. Additionally, according to transcriptomic and metabolomic analysis, the BL+ Pyr treatment outperformed the individual BL or Pyr treatments in activating the transcription of genes involved in photosynthesis and increasing sugar accumulation. Our results first validated that the combined usage of BL and Pyr exerted striking synergistic effects on enhancing plant biomass and yield by increasing photosynthetic efficiency. These results might provide new understanding for the agricultural effects by the co-application of BL and Pyr, and it might stimulate the efforts to develop new environment-friendly replacement for Pyr to minimize the ecotoxicology of Pyr.

Prevention and control of waste plastics is an important component of the national strategy in China. In this study, the sources as well as the current situation and measures for recycling of waste plastics in China were comprehensively analyzed. We proposed an all-rounded tactic for the prevention and control of plastic pollution in China based on the life-cycle assessment of plastics. Technically, waste plastic pollution should be prevented and controlled throughout the entire process covering plastic synthesis, processing, utilization, and recycling; specifically, it includes reduction of waste plastics from the origin by developing new degradable raw materials and their environmentally friendly alternatives, design and processing of high-performance plastic products with extended service life, development of new technologies offering efficient and large-scale capacity for recycling waste plastics, as well as safe disposal of the ultimate plastic wastes. At the government level, policy guidance must be strengthened, and administrative supervision be implemented. At the enterprise level, an effective recycling system should be instituted to clarify recycling responsibilities of producers, sellers, and consumers, providing policy and technical suggestions for the prevention and control of waste plastics. At the public level, citizens’ environmental awareness must be aroused to promote a nationwide participation in waste management. These suggestions are favorable to a more green and sustainable development of China’s plastic industry and even national economy.

Silicon has been a pivotal material for the next generation lithium-ion batteries, owing to its superior theoretical capacity (4200 mAh·g-1). However, the huge volume change of silicon during the process of lithiation/delithiation will lead to the instability of silicon-based anode. As a main composition of electrode, the binder plays a critical role in connecting the electrode components together and maintaining the stability of electrode, the use of an appropriate binder is essential to improve the cycling stability of silicon-based anode. Water-soluble binders which have abundant functional groups have received extensive attention due to their excellent performance in improving the electrochemical performance of silicon-based anodes. In this paper, the research progress of water-soluble binders used in silicon-based anode was reviewed. First, the properties of one-dimensional linear binders were summarized. On this basis, the research progress of composite binders with three-dimensional (3D) network structure was mainly introduced. The structure and properties of different 3D network binders were systematically analyzed. Finally, the preferred structure and properties of the water-soluble binders for silicon-based anode were proposed, and a train of thought for water-soluble binders’ choice and design was provided.