Disorder is a critical component of lipoprotein sorting in Gram-negative bacteria
July 29th, 2021 by Jessica El Rayes
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 29 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00845-z
Approximately half of lipoproteins destined to the Escherichia coli outer membrane display intrinsically disordered linker peptides at their N termini, which are required for optimal trafficking by the Lol lipoprotein sorting system.Metabolic engineering strategies to enable microbial utilization of C1 feedstocks
July 26th, 2021 by Wei Jiang
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00836-0
A survey of natural metabolic pathways for C1 substrates (methane, methanol, carbon dioxide, and carbon monoxide) highlights past efforts and recent progress, and informs future opportunities to create synthetic C1-utilizing microbes.Prospecting for natural products by genome mining and microcrystal electron diffraction
July 26th, 2021 by Lee Joon Kim
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00834-2
Combined use of microcrystal electron diffraction and genome mining for biosynthetic gene clusters enables the rapid structural elucidation of natural products, including a newly discovered 2-pyridone compound and a revised structure of fischerin.Untying knots with force
July 26th, 2021 by Pan T. X. Li
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00856-w
RNA knot-like structures function as an efficient physical barrier to RNA exoribonucleases. Single-molecule mechanical manipulation is used to unfold these structures and unravel the cause of their unusual mechanical resistance from a different direction.Central dogma, redefined
July 26th, 2021 by Yiyun Song
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00850-2
Central dogma, redefinedA molecular shape-shifter
July 26th, 2021 by Karin Kühnel
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00848-w
A molecular shape-shifterPicking off persisters
July 26th, 2021 by Caitlin Deane
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00847-x
Picking off persistersMucin tuning
July 26th, 2021 by Philip Lössl
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 26 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00849-9
Mucin tuningHUWE1 employs a giant substrate-binding ring to feed and regulate its HECT E3 domain
July 22nd, 2021 by Daniel B. Grabarczyk
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 22 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00831-5
The full-length structure of HUWE1 reveals the bipartite organization of a giant E3 ubiquitin ligase, comprising a catalytic HECT domain and a large, ring-shaped scaffold that provides docking sites for various substrates and regulates E3 activity.Mechanical strength of RNA knot in Zika virus protects against cellular defenses
July 12th, 2021 by Meng Zhao
Nature Chemical Biology, Published online: 12 July 2021; doi:10.1038/s41589-021-00829-z
A knot-like RNA from Zika virus is shown to evade digestion by host RNases through its extreme resistance to mechanical unfolding. Weakening the knot mechanically or reducing the likelihood of knot formation lowers the RNase resistance.