Volume 17 Issue 6, June 2021

Characterization of cell death kinetics identifies new on- and off-target small-molecule modulators of ferroptosis and reveals a role of amino acid metabolism in regulating ferroptosis sensitivity.

Liquid–liquid phase separation can increase the rate of enzyme activity by concentrating reactants together. A phase-separating SUMOylation cascade offers conceptual and quantitative insight into the mechanisms underlying the activity enhancement.

The use of bacterial biofilms provides a bioplastic that is biodegradable, water processable, and coatable, opening new avenues for plastic alternatives.

This Review summarizes recent progress in small-molecule probes used to address questions in cell division and appraises some emerging techniques that can be adapted to cell division studies.

Cell–cell interactions and resulting signaling events drive key biological processes. This Review discusses the deconvolution of this complex biology through the development of tools for visualizing, chemically tagging and functionally exploiting these interactions.

Autophagy has been widely implicated in human health and disease. The most recent advances in developing small molecule probes for autophagy are presented, as well as the potential to use this process for targeted protein degradation.

Kinetic modulatory profiling identifies regulators of ferroptosis, including the FDA-approved drug bazedoxifene, which acts in an off-target manner as a radical trapping antioxidant while mTOR inhibitors increased resistance to ferroptosis.

The discovery of a specific CDK12 bivalent degrader, BSJ-4-116, reveals that chronic exposure of MOLT-4 and Jurkat cells to BSJ-4-116 leads to acquired resistance to the compound via point mutations in the CDK12 kinase domain.

A CRISPR–Cas9 screen combined with heparan sulfate (HS)-binding reagents identifies genes involved in HS biosynthesis and assembly and reveals the unexpected role of histone demethylase KDM2B in regulating HS presentation on the cell surface.

A chemically induced dimerization strategy was used to recruit SUMOylation enzymes into condensates, enabling quantification of the effect of phase separation on the activity of a SUMOylation enzyme cascade reaction.

A chemical screen identifies DHODH inhibitors as robust activators of mitochondrial respirasome assembly. Lipidomics reveal that peroxisomal-derived ether phospholipids accumulate in mitochondria during nucleotide deprivation to drive proliferation.

Two degraders targeting zinc finger transcription factor IKZF2 (Helios) were developed by reprogramming CRL4^CRBN E3 ligase, and the pharmacologic degradation of Helios results in T_reg destabilization.

Combining the self-labeling HaloTag protein with synthetic environmentally sensitive fluorophores provides a platform for the construction of bright, far-red fluorescent calcium and voltage sensors with tunable photophysical and chemical properties.

A dual-layer encapsulation approach provides physical containment of genetically modified bacteria (especially when combined with chemical containment) while also protecting them from environmental stressors and maintaining their sensing functions.

Built of bacterial biofilm proteins, aquaplastic is a biodegradable material that can easily be processed from a hydrogel state into bulk materials, is resistant to acids, bases and organic solvents, and is easily healable and weldable in water.

CHYRON (Cell History Recording by Ordered Insertion) enables DNA recording of cellular states and lineage reconstruction by Cas9-targeted insertions of random nucleotides by terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase.