Cell biology articles within Nature Chemistry

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Fluorescent sensors that are responsive only in a specific subcellular location have remained elusive. Now, a chemogenetic sensing platform has been developed to sense glutathione in a user-defined organelle of interest. These tools enable quantitative studies of subcellular glutathione homeostasis using visible or near-infrared wavelengths.

    • Sarah Emmert
    • , Gianluca Quargnali
    •  & Pablo Rivera-Fuentes

  • News & Views |

    Peptides are a class of versatile biomolecules that function as hormones, signalling messengers and drugs. Now, two papers report alternative approaches to tailor their chemical properties, which enables the transport of biomacromolecules into cells. These approaches could find use in a wide range of biomedical applications.

    • Yuan Ping

  • Article |

    CD44 is a cell-surface adhesion receptor associated with many biological processes that rely on cellular plasticity. Now, CD44 has been shown to mediate endocytosis of iron-bound hyaluronates. Furthermore, iron catalyses the demethylation of repressive histone marks, thereby unlocking the expression of genes regulating cellular plasticity.

    • Sebastian Müller
    • , Fabien Sindikubwabo
    •  & Raphaël Rodriguez

  • Article |

    Cancer stem cells are typically refractory to conventional treatments. Now, an unprecedented mechanism has been discovered by which salinomycin and derivatives can sequester iron in lysosomes leading to cytoplasmic iron depletion and the subsequent production of reactive oxygen species that are lethal to the cell. This discovery of the importance of iron in cancer stem cell maintenance provides an opportunity for developing new therapeutics.

    • Trang Thi Mai
    • , Ahmed Hamaï
    •  & Raphaël Rodriguez

  • Article |

    Membraneless organelles form as liquid droplets inside cells. These bodies are effectively a separate organic phase, with unique biochemical properties. Now, the solvent interior of membraneless organelles has been shown to have a significant effect on the properties and structure of biomolecules. In addition to selectively partitioning and trafficking proteins, they can melt DNA without using ATP.

    • Timothy J. Nott
    • , Timothy D. Craggs
    •  & Andrew J. Baldwin

  • Article |

    A Lewis-acid-catalysed 1,3-dipolar cycloaddition provides rapid access to a variety of substituted spirooxindoles. Initial cellular evaluations supports the view that compound collections based on natural-product-inspired scaffolds constructed with complex stereochemistry, and decorated with assorted substituents, will be a rich source of compounds with diverse bioactivity.

    • Andrey P. Antonchick
    • , Claas Gerding-Reimers
    •  & Herbert Waldmann

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