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This Perspective discusses recent advances in understanding the biochemistry, enzymology and cell biology of Wnt fatty acylation and its effects on signaling and cancer.
Sulfide signaling is biologically important, but the identity and source of reactive sulfur species (RSS) remains unclear. An analysis of sulfur reactivity now suggests that oxidation pathways thought to dispose of sulfur may actually create RSS.
This Perspective discusses recent advances in high-throughput omics approaches such as proteomic and interactome profiling and genetic perturbations that allow the identification and alterations of cell signaling networks.
Spider silks have enormous potential as strong yet flexible biomaterials, but obtaining artificial silk polymers has proven challenging. Recent advances in our understanding of natural silk processing may inform techniques for silk production.
This Perspective discusses recent advances in understanding the structural and pharmacological properties of the downstream Hedgehog pathway effector Smoothened. Small molecule agonists and antagonists of Smo could be used as potential therapeutics.
This Perspective describes the different modes by which bacteria belonging to a population can achieve resistance to antibiotic treatments that are otherwise lethal to individual cells and suggests that such mechanisms of collective antibiotic tolerance can be targeted for development of antimicrobials.
Understanding how tumor cells utilize metabolic pathways for proliferation may provide useful strategies for combating cancer. A Perspective discusses recent advances in cancer drug development that target specific aspects of mitochondrial biosynthesis and bioenergetics processes.
Besides signaling from the plasma membrane, evidence for noncanonical signaling by GPCRs from internal compartments has recently emerged and is highlighted in this Perspective. For the well-studied PTHR, agonists stabilize a distinct receptor conformation within endosomes, leading to sustained signaling.
Methane is an energy resource that is currently being wasted through emissions, venting and flaring during petroleum extraction. Recent discoveries regarding the basis of enzyme function and microbial metabolism provide the foundation for new thinking about how to reclaim this resource through bioconversion.