Abstract: One of the most significant and surprising recent developments in nanocrystal studies was the observation of superfluorescence from a system of self-assembled, colloidal perovskite nanocrystals [G. Rainò, M. A. Becker, M. I. Bodnarchuk, R. F. Mahrt, M. V. Kovalenko, and T. Stöferle, “Superfluorescence from lead halide perovskite quantum dot superlattices,” Nature, vol. 563, no. 7733, pp. 671–675, 2018]. Superfluorescence is a quantum-light property in which many dipoles spontaneously synchronize in phase to create a collective, synergistic photon emission with a much faster lifetime. Thus, it is surprising to observe this in more inhomogenous systems as solution-processed and colloidal structures typically suffer from high optical decoherence and non-homogeneous size distributions. Here we outline recent developments in the demonstration of superfluorescence in colloidal and solution-processed systems and explore the chemical and materials science opportunities allowed by such systems. The ability to create bright and tunable superfluorescent sources could enable transformative developments in quantum information applications and advance our understanding of quantum phenomena.

Although the importance of genome organization for transcriptional regulation of cell-fate decisions and function is clear, the changes in chromatin architecture and how these impact effector and memory CD8+ T cell differentiation remain unknown. Using Hi-C, we studied how genome configuration is integrated with CD8+ T cell differentiation during infection and investigated the role of CTCF, a key chromatin remodeler, in modulating CD8+ T cell fates through CTCF knockdown approaches and perturbation of specific CTCF-binding sites. We observed subset-specific changes in chromatin organization and CTCF binding and revealed that weak-affinity CTCF binding promotes terminal differentiation of CD8+ T cells through the regulation of transcriptional programs. Further, patients with de novo CTCF mutations had reduced expression of the terminal-effector genes in peripheral blood lymphocytes. Therefore, in addition to establishing genome architecture, CTCF regulates effector CD8+ T cell heterogeneity through altering interactions that regulate the transcription factor landscape and transcriptome.