News & Views |
Featured
-
-
News |
Entire yeast genome squeezed into one lone chromosome
In a dramatic restructuring, two teams have created versions of baker’s yeast with vastly reduced chromosome counts.
- Ewen Callaway
-
Letter |
Accumulation of 8,9-unsaturated sterols drives oligodendrocyte formation and remyelination
Many small molecules that stimulate oligodendrocyte formation act not through their canonical pathways but by inhibiting enzymes within the cholesterol biosynthesis pathway and thereby inducing the accumulation of 8,9-unsaturated sterols.
- Zita Hubler
- , Dharmaraja Allimuthu
- & Drew J. Adams
-
Article |
Cyclin-dependent kinase 12 is a drug target for visceral leishmaniasis
A series of compounds are discovered for the treatment of visceral leishmaniasis, and cdc2-related kinase 12 (CRK12) is identified as the probable primary drug target.
- Susan Wyllie
- , Michael Thomas
- & Ian H. Gilbert
-
Letter |
Resistance-gene-directed discovery of a natural-product herbicide with a new mode of action
Fungal genome mining targeted to self-resistance genes close to biosynthetic gene clusters identifies a pathway that produces aspterric acid, which proves to be a potent inhibitor of plant growth.
- Yan Yan
- , Qikun Liu
- & Yi Tang
-
News |
Coming soon to a lab near you? Genetically modified cannabis
Scientists might be able to draw from new sources of cannabis compounds for research.
- Amy Maxmen
-
News & Views |
Self-organizing multicellular structures designed using synthetic biology
Synthetic genetic circuits can induce cells to form simple 3D structures reminiscent of those generated during early embryonic development. This advance will help engineers build tissues that have desirable structures.
- Jesse Tordoff
- & Ron Weiss
-
Letter |
A Cdk9–PP1 switch regulates the elongation–termination transition of RNA polymerase II
The kinase Cdk9 and the phosphatase Dis2 regulate the termination of transcription in fission yeast in part by controlling the phosphorylation state of the elongation factor Spt5.
- Pabitra K. Parua
- , Gregory T. Booth
- & Robert P. Fisher
-
News & Views |
Enzymes can adapt to cold by wiggling regions far from their active site
Mutations introduced far from the active site of an enzyme can cause local unfolding that increases enzyme activity. This finding suggests how organisms that live in the cold can speed up biochemical reactions.
- Ashok A. Deniz
-
Letter |
Dynamic allostery can drive cold adaptation in enzymes
By engineering entropy-tuning changes into distal sites of a bacterial adenylate kinase, an allosteric tuning mechanism based on protein dynamics is revealed.
- Harry G. Saavedra
- , James O. Wrabl
- & Vincent J. Hilser
-
News & Views |
Synthetic yeast genome reveals its versatility
A redesigned yeast genome is being constructed to allow it to be extensively rearranged on demand. A suite of studies reveals the versatility of the genome-shuffling system, and shows how it could be used for biotechnology applications.
- Jee Loon Foo
- & Matthew Wook Chang
-
News |
Scientists downsize bold plan to make human genome from scratch
With funding still scarce, GP-write project shifts focus to making virus-resistant human cells.
- Elie Dolgin
-
News |
Singapore bets big on synthetic biology
The city-state wants to develop synthetic microorganisms that can be used to produce drugs and food.
- Sandy Ong
-
Letter |
Activity-based E3 ligase profiling uncovers an E3 ligase with esterification activity
Non-lysine ubiquitination activity of the E3 ubiquitin ligase MYCBP2 is identified by activity-based profiling; biochemical and structural analysis of MYCBP2 suggests the basis for its mechanism and specificity.
- Kuan-Chuan Pao
- , Nicola T. Wood
- & Satpal Virdee
-
News Feature |
What lava lamps and vinaigrette can teach us about cell biology
Like oil in water, the contents of cells can segregate into droplets. It’s called phase separation, and biologists are seeing it everywhere.
- Elie Dolgin
-
News & Views |
A new era of rationally designed antipsychotics
The ideal drugs for treating schizophrenia are postulated to selectively block the D2 dopamine receptor with optimum binding kinetics. The structure of D2 bound to an antipsychotic sheds light on how to design such drugs.
- David R. Sibley
- & Lei Shi
-
Letter |
Structure of the D2 dopamine receptor bound to the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone
An X-ray structure of the D2 dopamine receptor bound to the atypical antipsychotic drug risperidone reveals an extended binding pocket and indicates structural features that could be used to design drugs that specifically target the D2 receptor.
- Sheng Wang
- , Tao Che
- & Bryan L. Roth
-
News & Views |
Strategy for making safer opioids bolstered
Compounds have been made that activate only the G-protein signalling pathway when bound to the µ-opioid receptor — the target of opioid pain relievers. These compounds lack one of the main side effects of currently used opioids.
- Susruta Majumdar
- & Lakshmi A. Devi
-
Obituary |
Ronald Breslow (1931–2017)
Organic chemist who took inspiration from nature.
- Virginia W. Cornish
-
News |
‘Alien’ DNA makes proteins in living cells for the first time
Expanded genetic alphabet could allow for the production of new protein-based drugs.
- Ewen Callaway
-
Letter |
A semi-synthetic organism that stores and retrieves increased genetic information
A modified Escherichia coli is used to demonstrate that semi-synthetic organisms can use non-natural hydrophobic base pairs to genetically encode for the incorporation of non-canonical amino acids into proteins.
- Yorke Zhang
- , Jerod L. Ptacin
- & Floyd E. Romesberg
-
Nature Podcast |
Podcast: A semi-synthetic organism, and offspring variation in worms
-
Letter |
Genetically programmed chiral organoborane synthesis
A genetically encoded platform can produce chiral organoboranes in bacteria with high turnover, enantioselectivity and chemoselectivity, and can be tuned and configured through DNA manipulation.
- S. B. Jennifer Kan
- , Xiongyi Huang
- & Frances H. Arnold
-
Q&A |
Turning point: Gourmet investigator
Cross-cultural chef-turned-scientist cooks up recipe for diversity outreach.
- Virginia Gewin
-
News |
Genetically modified apple reaches US stores, but will consumers bite?
Success for the ‘Arctic apple’ could herald a new wave of lab-grown foods.
- Amy Maxmen
-
News & Views |
Organic dyes for deep bioimaging
Small-molecule organic dyes that fluoresce in the short-wave infrared region of the spectrum could improve the resolution of in vivo bioimaging methods. Such dyes have now been made by adapting those that fluoresce visible light.
- Martin J. Schnermann
-
Article |
Structures of transcription pre-initiation complex with TFIIH and Mediator
Cryo-electron microscopy structures of the yeast pre-initiation complex (PIC) and its complex with core Mediator provide insights into the opening of promoter DNA and the initiation of transcription.
- S. Schilbach
- , M. Hantsche
- & P. Cramer
-
Letter |
USP7 small-molecule inhibitors interfere with ubiquitin binding
The development of selective ubiquitin-specific protease-7 (USP7) inhibitors GNE-6640 and GNE-6776, which induce tumour cell death and reveal differential kinetics of Lys-48 and Lys-63-linked ubiquitin chain depolymerization by USP7.
- Lorna Kategaya
- , Paola Di Lello
- & Ingrid E. Wertz
-
Review Article |
Expanding and reprogramming the genetic code
A review of the recent developments in reprogramming the genetic code of cells and organisms to include non-canonical amino acids in precisely engineered proteins.
- Jason W. Chin
-
News |
Bacterial 'aphrodisiac' sends single-celled organism into mating frenzy
Researchers surprised to observe bacterial protein triggering a switch from asexual to sexual behaviour.
- Bruno Martin
-
Article |
Commensal bacteria make GPCR ligands that mimic human signalling molecules
Commensal bacteria have N-acyl amide synthase genes that encode signalling molecules (N-acyl amides) that can interact with G-protein-coupled receptors and elicit host cellular responses similar to eukaryotic N-acyl amides.
- Louis J. Cohen
- , Daria Esterhazy
- & Sean F. Brady
-
Letter |
Vaccine-driven pharmacodynamic dissection and mitigation of fenethylline psychoactivity
A vaccine-driven approach shows that the prominent stimulant features of the psychoactive profile of fenethylline can be attributed to amphetamine, with synergistic support from theophylline, and no direct contributions from the parent drug molecule.
- Cody J. Wenthur
- , Bin Zhou
- & Kim D. Janda
-
Letter |
ISWI chromatin remodellers sense nucleosome modifications to determine substrate preference
A high-throughput approach using a DNA-barcoded nucleosome library shows that ISWI chromatin remodellers can distinguish between differently modified nucleosomes.
- Geoffrey P. Dann
- , Glen P. Liszczak
- & Tom W. Muir
-
Letter |
Metabolic control of TH17 and induced Treg cell balance by an epigenetic mechanism
Metabolic changes in T cells can affect the genomic methylation status of key transcription factors and regulate the fate decision between induced regulatory T cells and T helper 17 cells.
- Tao Xu
- , Kelly M. Stewart
- & Sheng Ding
-
Technology Feature |
How to hack the genome
After tackling the genomes of bacteria and yeast, synthetic biologists are setting their sights on rewriting those of more complex organisms, including humans.
- Jeffrey M. Perkel
-
News |
Biologists unveil unusual film format: CRISPR
Microbial immune system can encode movies in bacterial genomes.
- Heidi Ledford
-
Letter |
K2P2.1 (TREK-1)–activator complexes reveal a cryptic selectivity filter binding site
Crystal structures of an activated two-pore potassium channel reveal a cryptic binding pocket that binds small-molecule activators that restrict the mobility of the selectivity filter and surrounding structure, stabilizing an active ‘leak-mode’ conformation.
- Marco Lolicato
- , Cristina Arrigoni
- & Daniel L. Minor Jr
-
Technology Feature |
The architecture of structured DNA
Researchers are exploiting the structural properties of DNA to build nanoscale models for use in medicine and materials science.
- XiaoZhi Lim
-
Article |
Cryo-EM structure of the activated GLP-1 receptor in complex with a G protein
The structure of the GLP-1 receptor complexed with its ligand offers insight into the mechanism of class B G-protein-coupled receptor activation.
- Yan Zhang
- , Bingfa Sun
- & Georgios Skiniotis
-
News |
Light-sensitive E. coli paint a colourful picture
Microbes have been genetically engineered to sense red, green and blue light, and to produce pictures of what they 'see'.
- Adam Levy
-
Research Highlight |
Colour pictures made in bacterial film
Engineered E. coli produce red, green and blue pigments based on light exposure.
-
Research Highlight |
Small molecule shuttles iron into cells
A natural compound boosts absorption of the nutrient in animals with iron-transport deficiencies.
-
Article |
Predictive compound accumulation rules yield a broad-spectrum antibiotic
The authors use computational modelling and a set of chemically synthesized compounds to define the physicochemical properties required for small-molecule accumulation in Gram-negative bacteria.
- Michelle F. Richter
- , Bryon S. Drown
- & Paul J. Hergenrother
-
Research Highlight |
Yeast cells turned into penicillin factories
The microbe could be engineered to make new antibiotics.
-
Research Highlight |
There's an app for insulin control
Smartphone-controlled engineered cells can regulate blood sugar in diabetic mice.
-
Letter |
Structural insight into allosteric modulation of protease-activated receptor 2
Crystal structures of protease-activated receptor 2 (PAR2) in complex with two different antagonist ligands and with a blocking antibody reveal binding sites that are distinct from those found on PAR1, offering new leads for structure-based drug design.
- Robert K. Y. Cheng
- , Cédric Fiez-Vandal
- & Niek Dekker
-
Letter |
Super-multiplex vibrational imaging
Stimulated Raman scattering under electronic pre-resonance conditions, combined with a new palette of probes, enables super-multiplex imaging of molecular targets in living cells with very high vibrational selectivity and sensitivity.
- Lu Wei
- , Zhixing Chen
- & Wei Min
-
Article |
Visualizing multistep elevator-like transitions of a nucleoside transporter
Multiple crystallographic structures of a concentrative nucleoside transporter show how it uses an ‘elevator’ mechanism to move its transport domain across the membrane.
- Marscha Hirschi
- , Zachary Lee Johnson
- & Seok-Yong Lee
-
Article |
A B12-dependent radical SAM enzyme involved in oxetanocin A biosynthesis
The biosynthesis of oxetanocin A involves OxsB, a B12-dependent S-adenosylmethionine radical enzyme, which catalyses an unusual ring contraction of a 2′-deoxyadenosine phosphate.
- Jennifer Bridwell-Rabb
- , Aoshu Zhong
- & Hung-wen Liu
-
News |
Synthetic yeast chromosomes help probe mysteries of evolution
To work out how the yeast genome evolved, bioengineers are recreating it.
- Amy Maxmen
Browse broader subjects
Browse narrower subjects
- Biocatalysis
- Biophysical chemistry
- Biosynthesis
- Carbohydrates
- Chemical ecology
- Chemical genetics
- Chemical libraries
- Chemical modification
- Chemical tools
- Cheminformatics
- Combinatorial libraries
- Computational chemistry
- DNA
- Drug delivery
- Enzyme mechanisms
- Enzymes
- Glycobiology
- Glycomics
- Ion channels
- Kinases
- Lipidomics
- Lipids
- Mechanism of action
- Membranes
- Metabolic pathways
- Metabolomics
- Metals
- Natural products
- Networks and systems biology
- Nucleic acids
- Peptides
- Pharmacology
- Post-translational modifications
- Proteases
- Protein design
- Protein folding
- Proteins
- Proteomics
- RNA
- Screening
- Small molecules
- Synthetic biology
- Target identification
- Target validation
- Transporters