Discovery of long-sought biological compass claimed

Synthesis of long-sought C66 with exohedral stabilization.

Previously reported fused-pentagon fullerenes stabilized by exohedral derivatization do not share the same cage with those stabilized by endohedral encapsulation. Herein we report the crystallographic identification of (#4348)C66Cl10, which has the same cage as that of previously reported Sc2@C66. According to the geometrical data of (#4348)C66Cl10, both strain relief (at the fused pentagons) a...

Mincle is a long sought receptor for mycobacterial cord factor

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is a leading killer worldwide, yet the adjuvancy of its cell wall has proven to be a valuable therapeutic tool for vaccination and immunotherapy. Much research effort has focused on the mycobacterial glycolipid trehalose-6,6'-dimycolate (TDM), a potent immunostimulant that is also known as cord factor. Now, the identification of the monocyte-inducible C-type lectin (M...

β1 integrin is a long-sought sensor for tauroursodeoxycholic acid.

Urgent fisheries changes sought

Europe's fishermen should stop catching North Sea cod and continue to avoid Bay of Biscay anchovies next year if the two species are to stand a chance of survival after years of chronic overfishing, scientists announced last month. Despite improvements in the numbers of northern hake, herring and mackerel, other species living in the northeast Atlantic need more time to rebuild stocks, the Inte...

Ammonium Aminodiboranate: A Long-Sought Isomer of Diammoniate of Diborane and Ammonia Borane Dimer.

Ammonium aminodiboranate ([NH4 ][BH3 NH2 BH3 ]) is a long-sought isomer of diammoniate of diborane ([NH3 BH2 NH3 ][BH4 ]) and ammonia borane (NH3 BH3 ) dimer. Our results show that [NH4 ][BH3 NH2 BH3 ] is stable in tetrahydrofuran at -18 °C and decomposes rapidly to NH3 BH2 NH2 BH3 and H2 at elevated temperatures. The decomposition pathway is dictated by the dihydrogen bonding between H(δ+) on ...