Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain
the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in
Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles
and JavaScript.
Heterologous production of natural products in non-native bacteria can be used to increase yields of certain bioactive compounds; however, producing small molecules inside bacteria has numerous limitations. Two reports of the in vitro reconstruction of entire biosynthetic pathways highlight the advantages and challenges of this approach for pathway engineering.
The U2 snRNP particle is an essential component of the eukaryotic pre-mRNA splicing apparatus, the spliceosome. Natural and semisynthetic inhibitors that bind the SF3b subunit of the U2 snRNP block splicing and prompt nuclear export of intron-bearing precursors, defining a new mode of action in anticancer drugs.
Bacterial mRNAs begin with a triphosphate on the first transcribed nucleotide, but RNase E, the endonuclease long thought to initiate mRNA decay in Escherichia coli, only works well on RNA with a 5′-monophosphate. Conversion of the 5′-triphosphate to a monophosphate now appears to be the first committed step in mRNA decay in E. coli.
Organomercurial lyase (MerB) catalyzes the difficult cleavage of C-Hg bonds to hydrocarbon and mercuric dithiol products. Model compounds providing two or three thiolate ligands activate organomercurials toward acidic cleavage under mild conditions, which supports a mechanism in which MerB enzymes use two conserved active-site cysteines to activate the substrate.
Assigning function to uncharacterized enzymes discovered through genome projects has provided a great challenge to the fields of informatics, enzymology and structural biology. Docking potential ligands into flexible models of protein structures and docking potential high-energy intermediates, rather than substrates, into known structures are two new computational approaches that have provided a much-needed boost to the field.
The physiological significance of thiaminase II has escaped our understanding for many years. The recent discovery of a new thiamine salvage pathway shows that this enzyme is involved in the regeneration of precursors for thiamine biosynthesis.
Chemical probes reveal Hsp90 to be a key molecule for the control of apoptosis in small-cell lung cancer—with important implications for Hsp90 biology and cancer treatment.
Sequencing of the genome of a newly isolated marine actinomycete has revealed the potential to make a gamut of interesting compounds with potential as therapeutic agents. Deep-sea environments may yield new chemical structures not found in microbes from traditional terrestrial habitats.
Newly identified peptide antagonists of the GPCR Methuselah confirm the role of this receptor in aging and should prove useful as tools for investigating the physiological functions of this class of receptor.
The development of a technique for measuring calcium concentrations in nanodomains next to calcium channels provides new insights into calcium signaling.
Formation of the dauer diapause stage in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans has been the subject of intensive study over the past few decades. Recent work has established the chemical structure of three components of the secreted dauer pheromone mixture, thereby ushering in a new era in which the functions of the pheromones can be studied in detail.
A combination of structural and functional data provides insight into the mechanism used by the blue light photosensory protein Vivid to convert the light-driven formation of a protein-flavin bond into a conformational change in the surrounding protein.
