Every year, up to 800 million tons of hydrocarbons enter the environment globally, most of which are alkanes. Due to the inactive property and the high freezing points, alkanes have caused serious problems on environmental ecology and oil recovery. Alkane monooxygenase (AlkB) is a transmembrane metalloproteinase, and belongs to the membrane-bound fatty acid desaturase (FADS) family, which is able to convert straight-chain alkanes into the corresponding primary alcohols during the first step of alkane degradation mediated by microorganisms. Thus, AlkB plays a crucial role in the global carbon cycle and bioremediation of oil pollution. In this paper, the characteristics, structure, active site, catalytic mechanism, and the construction of recombinant bacteria of AlkB from different microorganisms were reviewed. In addition, the important significance of AlkB for environmental remediation and oil extraction was also emphasized, which would provide new clues for the bioremediation of hydrocarbon-contaminated sites and improvement of oil recovery rate by AlkB.

The development of tailor-made tumor vaccines targeting specific tumor antigens is crucial for improving treatment accuracy. Tumor mRNA, as an emerging and promising vaccine modality, holds distinct technical edge in addressing this challenge, thus attracting considerable attention in cancer treatment. This article reviews the design and synthesis processes of tumor mRNA vaccines, highlighting the latest advances in antigen identification, optimization of RNA sequence and structure, and its delivery. Additionally, it discusses the challenges these vaccines face and outlines potential future directions for development.

Homologous recombination is a crucial biological event during meiosis, and its initial step involves the formation of programmed DNA double-strand break (DSB). However, for a long time, how to reconstitute the process of meiotic DSB formation in vitro remained an unresolved challenge in the scientific community. Recently, scientists have achieved a breakthrough. For the first time, they successfully reconstructed the formation of meiotic DSB in vitro. The findings reveal that weak dimerization is a key characteristic of the SPO11 (sporulation protein11)-TOP6BL (TOP6B like) core complex. In vivo, the activity of SPO11 may be limited by its intrinsically weak dimerization ability. This discovery suggests that the dimerization process of SPO11 plays a vital role in regulating meiotic DSB formation. This achievement not only fills a gap in related research fields but also provides critical insights into the molecular mechanism of meiotic DSB formation. Moreover, it offers important directions and implications for future studies in this field.

Osteosarcoma is a highly aggressive primary bone tumor that predominantly affects children and adolescents. Conventional treatment modalities are often hindered by issues such as high recurrence rates and the development of drug resistance. Proteolysis-Targeting Chimeras (PROTACs) represent an innovative therapeutic strategy for osteosarcoma, which are designed to selectively degrade pathogenic proteins. This article offers a comprehensive analysis of the mechanisms underlying PROTACs, their targeted applications in osteosarcoma—including bromodomain and ultra-terminal domain targeting—and the associated challenges, such as delivery efficiency and off-target toxicity. Additionally, it suggests optimization strategies for bone-targeted delivery (such as using DNA nanoflowers as carriers) and combination therapies (like targeted therapy and chemotherapy), informed by recent research findings, thereby providing a theoretical framework for clinical translation.