Summary P-glycoprotein (P-gp) is an ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporter that confers multidrug resistance in cancer cells1,2. It also affects the absorption, distribution, and clearance of cancer-unrelated drugs and xenobiotics. For these reasons, the structure and function of P-gp have been studied extensively for decades3. Here we present biochemical characterization of P-gp from C. elegans and its crystal structure at 3.4 Å resolution. This work provides the following new information towards a mechanistic understanding of P-gp: 1. The apparent affinities of P-gp for anticancer drugs actinomycin D and paclitaxel are approximately 4,000 and 100 times higher, respectively, in the membrane bilayer than in detergent. This affinity enhancement highlights the importance of membrane partitioning when drug accesses the transporter in the membrane4. 2. The transporter in the crystal structure opens its drug pathway at the level of the membrane’s inner leaflet. In the helices flanking the opening to the membrane we observe extended loops that may possibly mediate drug binding and/or function as hinges to gate the pathway. 3. The interface between the transmembrane and nucleotide-binding domains, which couples ATP hydrolysis to transport, contains a ball-and-socket joint and salt bridges similar to the ABC importers5, suggesting that ABC exporters and importers may share a similar mechanism to achieve alternating access for transport. 4. A carefully derived model of human P-gp, based on the C. elegans P-gp structure, not only is compatible with decades of biochemical analysis6–12, but also provides insights to explain perplexing functional data regarding the F335A mutant13,14.

In the global transition to a sustainable low‐carbon economy, CO2 capture and storage technology still plays a critical role for deep emission reduction, particularly for the stationary sources in power generation and industry. However, for small and mobile emission sources in transportation, CO2 capture is not suitable and it is more practical to use relatively clean energy, such as natural gas. In these two low‐carbon energy technologies, designing highly selective sorbents is one of the key and most challenging steps. Toward this end, metal‐organic frameworks (MOFs) have received continuously intensive attention in the past decades for their highly porous and diversified structures. In this review, the recent progress in developing MOFs for selective CO2 capture from post‐combustion flue gas and CH4 storage for vehicle applications are summarized. For CO2 capture, several promising strategies being used to improve CO2 adsorption uptake at low pressures are highlighted and compared. In addition, the conventional and novel regeneration techniques for MOFs are also discussed. In the case of CH4 storage, the flexible and rigid MOFs, whose CH4 storage capacity is close to the target set by U.S. Department of Energy are particularly emphasized. Finally, the challenge of using MOFs for CH4 storage is discussed.

Three national approaches should be considered in reforming the healthcare system in China: universal insurance coverage, higher amounts of insurance coverage, and increasing the population's level of education. In addition, access issues in remote areas and by rural minority Chinese population should be addressed.

SummaryActive and highly stable electrocatalysts for oxygen evolution reaction (OER) in acidic media are currently in high demand as a cleaner alternative to the combustion of fossil fuels. Herein, we report a Co-doped nanorod-like RuO2 electrocatalyst with an abundance of oxygen vacancies achieved through the facile, one-step annealing of a Ru-exchanged ZIF-67 derivative. The compound exhibits ultra-high OER performance in acidic media, with a low overpotential of 169 mV at 10 mA cm−2 while maintaining excellent activity, even when exposed to a 50-h galvanostatic stability test at a constant current of 10 mA cm−2. The dramatic enhancement in OER performance is mainly attributed to the abundance of oxygen vacancies and modulated electronic structure of the Co-doped RuO2 that rely on a vacancy-related lattice oxygen oxidation mechanism (LOM) rather than adsorbate evolution reaction mechanism (AEM), as revealed and supported by experimental characterizations as well as density functional theory (DFT) calculations.

In 1.0 M KOH, CoP–CeO2 nanosheets film on Ti mesh (CoP–CeO2/Ti) attains 10 mA cm−2 at overpotential of 43 mV due to its lower water dissociation free energy and more optimal hydrogen adsorption free energy than CoP.

Highly active catalysts that can directly utilize renewable energy (e.g., solar energy) are desirable for CO2 value‐added processes. Herein, aiming at improving the efficiency of photodriven CO2 cycloaddition reactions, a catalyst composed of porous carbon nanosheets enriched with a high loading of atomically dispersed Al atoms (≈14.4 wt%, corresponding to an atomic percent of ≈7.3%) coordinated with N (AlN4 motif, Al–N–C catalyst) via a versatile molecule‐confined pyrolysis strategy is reported. The performance of the Al–N–C catalyst for catalytic CO2 cycloaddition under light irradiation (≈95% conversion, reaction rate = 3.52 mmol g−1 h−1) is significantly superior to that obtained under a thermal environment (≈57% conversion, reaction rate = 2.11 mmol g−1 h−1). Besides the efficient photothermal conversion induced by the carbon matrix, both experimental and theoretical analysis reveal that light irradiation favors the photogenerated electron transfer from the semiconductive Al–N–C catalyst to the epoxide reactant, facilitating the formation of a ring‐opened intermediate through the rate‐limiting step. This study not only provides an advanced Al–N–C catalyst for photodriven CO2 cycloaddition, but also furnishes new insight for the rational design of superior photocatalysts for diverse heterogeneous catalytic reactions in the future.

We present a designed synthesis of a functionalized metal-organic framework with hydrophobic and polar functionalities, which exhibits remarkable thermal and chemical stability. The functionality and porosity make it a promising candidate for the electrode material in Li-ion batteries.

Topological defects, with an asymmetric local electronic redistribution, are expected to locally tune the intrinsic catalytic activity of carbon materials. However, it is still challenging to deliberately create high‐density homogeneous topological defects in carbon networks due to the high formation energy. Toward this end, an efficient NH3 thermal‐treatment strategy is presented for thoroughly removing pyrrolic‐N and pyridinic‐N dopants from N‐enriched porous carbon particles, to create high‐density topological defects. The resultant topological defects are systematically investigated by near‐edge X‐ray absorption fine structure measurements and local density of states analysis, and the defect formation mechanism is revealed by reactive molecular dynamics simulations. Notably, the as‐prepared porous carbon materials possess an enhanced electrocatalytic CO2 reduction performance, yielding a current density of 2.84 mA cm−2 with Faradaic efficiency of 95.2% for CO generation. Such a result is among the best performances reported for metal‐free CO2 reduction electrocatalysts. Density functional theory calculations suggest that the edge pentagonal sites are the dominating active centers with the lowest free energy (ΔG) for CO2 reduction. This work not only presents deep insights for the defect engineering of carbon‐based materials but also improves the understanding of electrocatalytic CO2 reduction on carbon defects.