PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf190
Michael W Malone, Harris E Mason, Adam R Altenhof, Michelle A Espy, Marc A Alvarez, Rami J Batrice, Amber J Day, Adam P Dioguardi, Michihiro Hirata, Margaret R Jones, Natalie E Klein, Ann E Mattsson, Shaun G Newman, Daniel A Rehn, Aaron M Tondreau, Kamal Wagle, Robert F Williams, Ruilian Wu, Michael T Janicke
{"title":"Standoff detection of fentanyl hydrochloride via nuclear quadrupole resonance: A multimodality pursuit.","authors":"Michael W Malone, Harris E Mason, Adam R Altenhof, Michelle A Espy, Marc A Alvarez, Rami J Batrice, Amber J Day, Adam P Dioguardi, Michihiro Hirata, Margaret R Jones, Natalie E Klein, Ann E Mattsson, Shaun G Newman, Daniel A Rehn, Aaron M Tondreau, Kamal Wagle, Robert F Williams, Ruilian Wu, Michael T Janicke","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf190","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf190","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Synthetic opioids, chiefly fentanyl, are responsible for nearly 70% of global annual drug deaths due to their extreme toxicity, ease of manufacture, and addictiveness. We show the magnetic resonance technique of nuclear quadrupole resonance (NQR) spectroscopy can be used for the standoff detection of fentanyl hydrochloride (HCl), likely the most common illicit synthetic opioid, even through opaque packaging such as cardboard, plastic, and glass. Combining work in synthesis, crystallography, density functional theory, and nuclear magnetic resonance, we report the electric field gradient tensor parameters of the <math> <msup><mrow><mn> </mn></mrow> <mn>14</mn></msup> </math> N and <math> <msup><mrow><mn> </mn></mrow> <mn>35</mn></msup> </math> Cl nuclei in fentanyl HCl to determine the chemically specific NQR frequencies. We directly observe the NQR signal for the aniline nitrogen and measure the associated relaxation times. The results show a robust ability for the standoff detection of relevant quantities of fentanyl HCl, at room temperature, with an inexpensive system.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 7","pages":"pgaf190"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12210233/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144546511","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf174
Julio M Ottino
{"title":"Creativity across domains: Thoughts in Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Computer Science, Technology, and Art.","authors":"Julio M Ottino","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf174","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf174","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Astounding examples of creativity abound in science, engineering, mathematics, computer science, technology, and art; in fact, creativity is essential to their functioning and growth. Manifestations that cross, blur, link, and synergize these domains have resulted in concepts and ideas that make us proud to be human. Much has been written about creativity, but studies are unevenly represented across domains. This perspective will touch on all the previously mentioned domains, span individuals and teams, and intertwine archetypal historical examples of creative fluidity with how creativity may be affected and accelerated by computational tools and artificial intelligence. The objective of this piece is to present a broad and unified perspective of what is a vast creativity landscape, a view that may be lost when focusing on components rather than the whole.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 7","pages":"pgaf174"},"PeriodicalIF":3.8,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12210229/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144546507","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf164
Edward W Doddridge, William R Hobbs, Matthis Auger, Philip W Boyd, Sean M T Chua, Sue Cook, Stuart Corney, Louise Emmerson, Alexander D Fraser, Petra Heil, Nat Kelly, Delphine Lannuzel, Xueke Li, Guillaume Liniger, Robert A Massom, Amelie Meyer, Phillip Reid, Colin Southwell, Paul Spence, Anton Steketee, Kerrie M Swadling, Nathan Teder, Barbara Wienecke, Pat Wongpan, Kaihe Yamazaki
{"title":"Impacts of Antarctic summer sea-ice extremes.","authors":"Edward W Doddridge, William R Hobbs, Matthis Auger, Philip W Boyd, Sean M T Chua, Sue Cook, Stuart Corney, Louise Emmerson, Alexander D Fraser, Petra Heil, Nat Kelly, Delphine Lannuzel, Xueke Li, Guillaume Liniger, Robert A Massom, Amelie Meyer, Phillip Reid, Colin Southwell, Paul Spence, Anton Steketee, Kerrie M Swadling, Nathan Teder, Barbara Wienecke, Pat Wongpan, Kaihe Yamazaki","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf164","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf164","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Antarctic sea ice plays many crucial roles in the physical environments and ecosystems of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean. In this study, we synthesize the physical, biogeochemical, ecosystem, and societal impacts of summers with extreme low Antarctic sea-ice coverage. These extreme events result in the loss of multiyear landfast ice and changes in sea-ice seasonality. Following extreme low sea-ice events, we find surface warming of the Southern Ocean and changes to the formation rate of Antarctic Intermediate Water, likely affecting heat and carbon uptake. Ice-shelf calving is negatively correlated with sea-ice area, so that years with less sea ice show increased calving. Prolonged open water affects the magnitude and seasonality of surface-phytoplankton blooms. The impacts on higher trophic levels are species-specific and occur through habitat loss and changes to prey availability. Extreme sea-ice lows will adversely impact krill, a foundational prey species that relies on sea ice for nourishment and refuge. The loss of stable landfast ice in austral spring and summer hampers Antarctic operations and resupply missions. Understanding the full impacts of recent, and future, sea-ice extremes is of utmost importance and requires an enhanced observational network that spans the physical and ecological systems of Antarctica and the Southern Ocean.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 7","pages":"pgaf164"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-07-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12210234/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144546508","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-27eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf187
Blake Andrews, Matthew Lai, Zhen Wang, Norihisa Kato, Michael C D Tayler, Emanuel Druga, Ashok Ajoy
{"title":"Sensitive multichannel zero-to ultralow-field NMR with atomic magnetometer arrays.","authors":"Blake Andrews, Matthew Lai, Zhen Wang, Norihisa Kato, Michael C D Tayler, Emanuel Druga, Ashok Ajoy","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf187","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf187","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Despite its versatility and high chemical specificity, conventional nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is limited in measurement throughput due to the need for high-homogeneity magnetic fields, necessitating sequential sample analysis, and expensive devices. Here, we propose a multichannel NMR device that addresses these limitations by leveraging the zero-to ultralow-field (ZULF) regime, where simultaneous detection of multiple samples is carried out via an array of compact optically pumped magnetometers (OPMs). A magnetic field is used only for prepolarization, permitting the use of large-bore, high-field, <i>inhomogeneous</i> magnets that can accommodate multiple samples concurrently. Through systematic improvements, we demonstrate sensitive, high-resolution ZULF NMR spectroscopy with sensitivity comparable to benchtop <sup>13</sup>C NMR systems. The spectroscopy remains robust without the need for field shimming for periods on the order of weeks. We show the detection of ZULF NMR signals from organic molecules without isotopic enrichment, and demonstrate the parallelized detection of three distinct samples simultaneously as a proof-of-concept, with the ability to scale further to over 100 channels at a cost comparable to traditional liquid state NMR systems. This work sets the stage for using multichannel \"NMR camera\" devices for inline reaction monitoring, robotic chemistry, quality control, and high-throughput assays.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 6","pages":"pgaf187"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12202879/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144531541","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-27eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf206
Ho-Chun Herbert Chang, James N Druckman, Emilio Ferrara, Robb Willer
{"title":"Liberals and conservatives share information differently on social media.","authors":"Ho-Chun Herbert Chang, James N Druckman, Emilio Ferrara, Robb Willer","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf206","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf206","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Social media provides citizens with direct access to information shared by politicians. Citizens, in turn, play a critical role in diffusing such content. Do conservative and liberal citizens differ in their decisions about which representatives' social media content to share? We analyze more than 13 million users' sharing of 1,293,753 messages by US members of Congress on Twitter from 2009 to 2019, leveraging estimates of users' political ideology from over 3.5 billion prior retweets. We find that liberals retweeted statements covering a broader range of issues than conservatives. Liberals also shared statements with content rated as relatively more toxic by a standard classifier. Given well-established tendencies toward political homophily among social media users, our results suggest that, compared to conservatives, liberals will be exposed to a more diverse set of issues and more toxic content originating from elected representatives. We conclude with a discussion of several possible explanations for these patterns.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 7","pages":"pgaf206"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12280873/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144692721","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-24eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf175
Alina Tetereva, Annchen R Knodt, Tracy R Melzer, William van der Vliet, Bryn Gibson, Ahmad R Hariri, Ethan T Whitman, Jean Li, Farzane Lal Khakpoor, Jeremiah Deng, David Ireland, Sandhya Ramrakha, Narun Pat
{"title":"Improving predictability, reliability, and generalizability of brain-wide associations for cognitive abilities via multimodal stacking.","authors":"Alina Tetereva, Annchen R Knodt, Tracy R Melzer, William van der Vliet, Bryn Gibson, Ahmad R Hariri, Ethan T Whitman, Jean Li, Farzane Lal Khakpoor, Jeremiah Deng, David Ireland, Sandhya Ramrakha, Narun Pat","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf175","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf175","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Brain-wide association studies (BWASs) have attempted to relate cognitive abilities with brain phenotypes, but have been challenged by issues such as predictability, test-retest reliability, and cross-cohort generalizability. To tackle these challenges, we proposed a machine learning \"stacking\" approach that draws information from whole-brain MRI across different modalities, from task-functional MRI (fMRI) contrasts and functional connectivity during tasks and rest to structural measures, into one prediction model. We benchmarked the benefits of stacking using the Human Connectome Projects: Young Adults (<i>n</i> = 873, 22-35 years old) and Human Connectome Projects-Aging (<i>n</i> = 504, 35-100 years old) and the Dunedin Multidisciplinary Health and Development Study (Dunedin Study, <i>n</i> = 754, 45 years old). For predictability, stacked models led to out-of-sample <i>r</i>∼0.5-0.6 when predicting cognitive abilities at the time of scanning, primarily driven by task-fMRI contrasts. Notably, using the Dunedin Study, we were able to predict participants' cognitive abilities at ages 7, 9, and 11 years using their multimodal MRI at age 45 years, with an out-of-sample <i>r</i> of 0.52. For test-retest reliability, stacked models reached an excellent level of reliability (interclass correlation > 0.75), even when we stacked only task-fMRI contrasts together. For generalizability, a stacked model with nontask MRI built from one dataset significantly predicted cognitive abilities in other datasets. Altogether, stacking is a viable approach to undertake the three challenges of BWAS for cognitive abilities.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 6","pages":"pgaf175"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12199782/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144509902","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-24eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf173
Hilary Brumberg, Margaret Hegwood, Waverly Eichhorst, Anna LoPresti, James T Erbaugh, Timm Kroeger
{"title":"Global analysis of constraints to natural climate solution implementation.","authors":"Hilary Brumberg, Margaret Hegwood, Waverly Eichhorst, Anna LoPresti, James T Erbaugh, Timm Kroeger","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf173","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf173","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Natural climate solutions (NCS) could provide over one-third of the climate mitigation needed between now and 2030 to limit warming below 2°C and support the Sustainable Development Goals. However, large disparities persist between the estimated biophysical climate mitigation potential (CMP) of NCS and their actual implementation. Social, political, informational, and economic factors contribute to this gap, but the spatial distribution of these constraints and their impacts on different NCS pathways remains poorly understood. Understanding these constraints is especially important due to the large uncertainties in NCS CMP and growing research on spatial prioritization of NCS, often based only on biophysical criteria. We identified and mapped nonbiophysical constraints to NCS implementation efficacy by conducting a systematic review of recent peer-reviewed literature across 10 high-CMP NCS pathways. From 1,821 papers, we identified 352 that provided 2,480 observations of 39 unique constraints from 135 countries. We mapped the spatial distribution of these constraints and analyzed patterns across NCS pathways and geographic classifications. Lack of funding, insufficient information on NCS management, and ineffective policies emerged as the most common constraints globally. However, each pathway and geography faced a distinct suite of interrelated constraints spanning multiple categories. These findings highlight the need for context-specific, equitable solutions, likely requiring transdisciplinary approaches and cross-sectoral collaborations. The results could also help increase accuracy of NCS CMP estimates. We discuss how adaptive management may be used for NCS initiatives at any scale to proactively diagnose co-occurring constraints at each implementation phase and to develop integrated, place-based solutions.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 6","pages":"pgaf173"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12199758/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144509900","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-24eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf158
Jackson Trager, Mohammad Atari
{"title":"The immorality of too much money.","authors":"Jackson Trager, Mohammad Atari","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf158","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf158","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In some societies, people find excessive wealth immoral, while others are structured so that having too much money is morally neutral or even praised. Here, we show that moral judgments of excessive wealth are distinguishable from moral judgments of economic inequality and examine how people's moral concerns and national inequality predict the immorality of excessive wealth around the globe. Using demographically stratified samples from 20 nations ( <math><mi>N</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>4,351</mn></math> ), we find that across all countries, people do not find excessive wealth very immoral, with notable variability such that more equal and wealthy societies (e.g. Belgium, Switzerland) consider having too much money more wrong. People's equality and purity concerns reliably predicted their condemnation of excessive wealth, whereas loyalty, authority, and proportionality concerns were negatively associated with condemnation of excessive wealth across societies after controlling for the moralization of inequality, religiosity, political ideology, and demographic variables. We conducted a follow-up study in the United States ( <math><mi>N</mi> <mo>=</mo> <mn>315</mn></math> ), showing that moral purity is more broadly linked to the moralization of <i>excess</i> beyond wealth, even after controlling for different ways of wealth acquisition and spending. Collectively, these cross-cultural results demonstrate that some moral intuitions shape our moral judgment of excessive wealth above and beyond economic inequality.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 6","pages":"pgaf158"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12199241/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144509907","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-24eCollection Date: 2025-06-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf156
Linda Hagen, Ed O'Brien
{"title":"Lost time undermines return behavior.","authors":"Linda Hagen, Ed O'Brien","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf156","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf156","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>People commonly experience long gaps of time between getting to do things they love to do. In principle, the longer it has been since people last enjoyed something, the quicker they should jump at the chance to enjoy it again. In practice, five experiments reveal a case of the opposite: The longer since people's last enjoyable experience, the more they <i>postpone</i> returning-in part because they demand their return be \"extra special\" to offset the wait. This effect emerged across many controlled parameters. For example, participants chose to avoid contacting close friends after large vs. small gaps in contact, all else equal-a choice that undermined their immediate happiness. This effect further extended to COVID-19 contexts, regarding people's returns from lengthy shutdowns: Somewhat nonobviously, we found that participants delayed returning to everyday activities <i>even longer</i> (as opposed to jumping back at their first sufficiently good chance) if it meant that they could better mark the occasion. Finally, this effect was uniquely attenuated by helping participants reconstrue any chance to return as \"extra special.\" Together, these findings suggest that time delays create psychological barriers to returning, which people self-impose. People may increasingly <i>avoid</i> contacting loved ones, getting back into rewarding hobbies, and so on, the <i>longer</i> it has been since last time, promoting vicious cycles of deferment. Motivating people to return to experiences that would enhance their immediate happiness-experiences they still want to have and are now theirs to take-may be surprisingly difficult.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 6","pages":"pgaf156"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-24","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12199251/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144509904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
PNAS nexusPub Date : 2025-06-21eCollection Date: 2025-07-01DOI: 10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf202
Abhilash Sahoo, Sonya M Hanson
{"title":"Microtubules in Martini: Parameterizing a heterogeneous elastic-network towards a mechanically accurate microtubule.","authors":"Abhilash Sahoo, Sonya M Hanson","doi":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf202","DOIUrl":"10.1093/pnasnexus/pgaf202","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Microtubules are essential cytoskeletal filaments involved in cell motility, division, and intracellular transport, exhibiting complex structural dynamics governed by diverse biophysical factors. Atomistic simulations of microtubule assemblies remain challenging due to their extensive spatiotemporal scales. To address this, we present a multiscale approach combining the primarily top-down Martini 3 coarse-grained (CG) model with an appropriately parameterized heterogeneous elastic network to capture microtubule mechanics and molecular detail efficiently. By iteratively tuning the elastic network, we matched the structural fluctuations of CG heterodimeric building blocks to atomistic reference data, reproducing experimentally consistent mechanical properties. This framework helped us identify stabilizing long-lived interactions between charged C-terminal tails and the folded domain of neighboring tubulin subunits, offering insight into sequence-specific contributions to lattice stability. Our efforts culminated in the construction of a <math><mo>∼</mo></math> 200 nm microtubule composed of <math><mo>∼</mo> <mn>6</mn></math> million interaction centers, enabling exploration of large-scale microtubule-associated processes with amino acid-level resolution. This work bridges the gap between molecular specificity and computational scalability, offering a platform for simulating biophysical processes across cellular length and time scales.</p>","PeriodicalId":74468,"journal":{"name":"PNAS nexus","volume":"4 7","pages":"pgaf202"},"PeriodicalIF":2.2,"publicationDate":"2025-06-21","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12208291/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144546509","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}