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Chemical biology is well defined at its core—chemistry helping to answer biological questions—yet the boundaries are rather fuzzy. What are the differences between chemical biology and pharmacology? Is intracellular imaging a branch of chemical biology, and what about screening libraries? At Chemical Biology 2008, held in Heidelberg in October, participants heard presentations covering all these topics and more.
Autofluorescent proteins have become indispensable in our quest to visualize molecular events in living cells. Further progress in the visualization and quantification of all biochemical activities of the cell will require the introduction of additional and complementary methods for sensing and probing biomolecules. Here I highlight some of the areas where the development of new probes and labeling methods is eagerly awaited and where chemical biologists could make important contributions.
A powerful technology called global protein stability profiling allows rates of protein turnover to be determined for a substantial fraction of the human proteome in a single experiment. This approach sets the stage for systems-level analyses of the dynamics of the mammalian proteome.
Cytochrome P450 enzymes selectively oxidize relatively unactivated sites in a range of model drug-like substrates in vitro. The hydroxylated products can be transformed into selectively fluorinated systems, providing a rapid sequential method for the identification, activation and fluorination of saturated sites in drug candidates.