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Two recent studies identified CDK12 inhibitors that bind to CDK12–cyclin K complexes and act as molecular glues to stabilize an interaction with the ubiquitin ligase CUL4–DDB1, leading to cyclin K degradation.
Thermodynamic principles are used to map the phase behavior of a tunable protein-binding system under crowded cellular conditions. This study marks a substantial step forward in relating molecular interactions to material properties and cellular processes involving protein self-assembly.
A new molecule that specifically activates a key protein homeostasis pathway has been identified. The ability to initiate the IRE1–XBP1s branch of the unfolded protein response opens up new avenues for basic research and treatment of disease.
Rho family GTPases regulate cell behaviors through complex signaling networks that act on rapid timescales in subcellular spatial domains. New live-cell biosensors and analytical methods now provide critical tools to dissect Rho GTPase regulation and to better understand cellular information processing.
An NMR method to monitor conformational states of challenging large protein targets is described. The method, which can be used to evaluate distances between two labels and to measure conformational exchange rates, revealed an unanticipated outward-facing state in a glutamate transporter.
Molecular glues induce novel protein–protein interactions to modulate protein function and downstream biology. A recent study unveils manumycin polyketides with multiple electrophilic centers as covalent molecular glues between UBR7 and TP53.
The enzyme 5-lipoxygenase (5-LOX) initiates the biosynthesis of leukotrienes (LT), potent mediators of the inflammatory response. The first crystal structures of two complexes of inhibitor bound to 5-LOX reveal the functional consequences of the binding, including a change in the regiospecificity toward a 12/15-lipoxygenating enzyme.
Glucose 6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) stands at the head of the pentose phosphate pathway, which is responsible for nucleotide synthesis. The identification and thorough validation of an improved G6PD inhibitor provide a valuable new tool compound for studying metabolism.
This Review provides insights into transcriptional regulation, and vulnerabilities of cancer cells to disruption of cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK)-mediated regulation of Pol II transcription, revealed with small-molecule CDK inhibitors.
A suite of new enzymes reveals more on how Nature breaks down plant-based polysaccharides and how these enzymes might be harnessed in the utilization of plant-based biomass.
A new study reveals that, in addition to its longstanding role in recruiting proteins to the proteasome, ubiquitination can also induce a structural destabilization that allows the target protein to be efficiently unraveled for degradation.
The discovery of selective modulators of two Cryptochrome isoforms, CRY1 and CRY2, permits a deeper understanding of how circadian clock proteins impact diverse aspects of our daily 24-h rhythms and how this intersects with metabolic pathways relevant to disease.
A pair of fluorescent indicator-tagged DNA-duplex scaffolds permit assessments of nitric oxide (NO) production on cell surfaces and in intracellular networks. The application of these nanoprobes indicates formations of local NO signals that might conserve cancer cell integrity.
This Perspective highlights emerging themes in the inter-regulation of the genome and metabolism via chromatin, including nonenzymatic histone modifications, cofactor-promiscuous chromatin-modifying enzymes, and subnucleocytoplasmic metabolite pools.
This historical Perspective on continuous directed evolution focuses on laboratory approaches that enable greater understanding of evolving molecular populations and offer investigators tools to guide the emergence of new biomolecular systems.
A combination of biochemical and biophysical techniques to document the asymmetric distribution of lipids, with a particular focus on the acyl tails, in mammalian cell membranes show that protein transmembrane domains are similarly asymmetric.
Oxygen activation mechanisms catalyzed by flavin cofactors are established for electron transfer (oxidases) and C4a covalent flavin–oxygen adduct formation (oxygen-inserting monooxygenases). A new paradigm for oxygen insertion involving a flavin-N5-aminoperoxide intermediate has now been discovered in select flavin-dependent monooxygenases.
Emergence of drug resistance limits the efficacy of HIV drugs, which currently requires life-long administration. In vitro high-throughput screening for competition with a broadly neutralizing antibody of HIV identified a small molecule that extends the strategies for targeting HIV.
The biological function and origin of m6A in DNA have been widely debated. A new study demonstrates that the majority of m6A in DNA originates from RNA catabolism via a nucleotide salvage pathway.
