A 3D touchless display is created where a human finger position is visualized in structural colors of a soft photonic crystal.

Hydrogels have diverse chemical properties and can exhibit reversibly large mechanical deformations in response to external stimuli; these characteristics suggest that hydrogels are promising materials for soft robots. However, reported actuators based on hydrogels generally suffer from slow response speed and/or poor controllability due to intrinsic material limitations and electrode fabrication technologies. Here, we report a hydrogel actuator that operates at low voltages ( 50%, energy density > 7 × 10 ⁵ joules per cubic meter, and power density > 3 × 10 ⁴ watts per cubic meter), surpassing existing hydrogel actuators and other types of electroactive soft actuators. The enhanced performance of our actuator is due to the formation of wrinkled nanomembrane electrodes that exhibit high conductivity and excellent mechanical deformation through capillary-assisted assembly of metal nanoparticles and deswelling-induced wrinkled structures. By applying an electric potential through the wrinkled nanomembrane electrodes that sandwich the hydrogel, we were able to trigger a reversible and substantial electroosmotic water flow inside a hydrogel film, which drove the controlled swelling of the hydrogel. The high energy efficiency and power density of our wrinkled nanomembrane electrode–induced actuator enabled the fabrication of an untethered insect-scale aquabot integrated with an on-board control unit demonstrating maneuverability with fast locomotion speed (1.02 body length per second), which occupies only 2% of the total mass of the robot.

Palmitic acid (PA) is the most common fatty acid in humans and mediates palmitoylation through its conversion into palmitoyl coenzyme A. Although palmitoylation affects many proteins, its pathophysiological functions are only partially understood. Here we demonstrate that PA acts as a molecular checkpoint of lipid reprogramming in HepG2 and Hep3B cells. The zinc finger DHHC-type palmitoyltransferase 23 (ZDHHC23) mediates the palmitoylation of plant homeodomain finger protein 2 (PHF2), subsequently enhancing ubiquitin-dependent degradation of PHF2. This study also reveals that PHF2 functions as a tumor suppressor by acting as an E3 ubiquitin ligase of sterol regulatory element-binding protein 1c (SREBP1c), a master transcription factor of lipogenesis. PHF2 directly destabilizes SREBP1c and reduces SREBP1c-dependent lipogenesis. Notably, SREBP1c increases free fatty acids in hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cells, and the consequent PA induction triggers the PHF2/SREBP1c axis. Since PA seems central to activating this axis, we suggest that levels of dietary PA should be carefully monitored in patients with HCC.

Harmful effects of high fructose intake on health have been widely reported. Although fructose is known to promote cancer, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. Here, we found that fructose triggers breast cancer metastasis through the ketohexokinase-A signaling pathway. Molecular experiments showed that ketohexokinase-A, rather than ketohexokinase-C, is necessary and sufficient for fructose-induced cell invasion. Ketohexokinase-A-overexpressing breast cancer was found to be highly metastatic in fructose-fed mice. Mechanistically, cytoplasmic ketohexokinase-A enters into the nucleus during fructose stimulation, which is mediated by LRRC59 and KPNB1. In the nucleus, ketohexokinase-A phosphorylates YWHAH at Ser25 and the YWHAH recruits SLUG to the CDH1 promoter, which triggers cell migration. This study provides the effect of nutrition on breast cancer metastasis. High intake of fructose should be restricted in cancer patients to reduce the risk of metastasis. From a therapeutic perspective, the ketohexokinase-A signaling pathway could be a potential target to prevent cancer metastasis.

A key requirement for realizing highly efficient commercial water-splitting devices is to develop non-noble metal-based electrodes that can generate a large amount of hydrogen fuels with low overpotentials and high operational stability. Herein, we introduce high-performance water-splitting electrodes (WSEs) with extremely low overpotentials and unprecedently high operation stability via a carbonization/interfacial assembly-induced electroplating approach. To this end, silk textiles were first converted to carboxylic acid-functionalized conductive textiles using carbonization and subsequent acid treatment. Then, amine linkers were assembled onto the conductive textiles to achieve favorable interfacial interactions with electrocatalysts. For a hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) electrode, Ni was electroplated onto the interface-modified textile, while to prepare an oxygen evolution reaction (OER) electrode, NiFeCo was additionally electroplated onto the Ni-electroplated textile. These HER and OER electrodes exhibited extremely low overpotentials in alkaline media (12 mV at 10 mA cm⁻² for the HER and 186 mV at 50 mA cm⁻² for the OER), outperforming the conventional non-noble metal-based electrodes. Additionally, the overall-water-splitting reaction of full-cell electrodes was stably maintained at a remarkably high current density of 2000 mA cm⁻² and a low cell voltage of 1.70 V. We believe that our approach can provide a basis for developing commercially available high-performance WSEs.