Chemical biology articles within Nature Cell Biology

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  • Perspective |

    Biological clocks can be used to evaluate the age of a cell or organisms. This Perspective proposes the concept of an intrinsically disordered protein (IDP) clock, whereby the aggregation state of an IDP encodes for a biological ageing signature.

    • Dorothee Dormann
    •  & Edward Anton Lemke

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reicher, Reiniš et al. report a method for multicolour tagging using genome-scale intron-targeting sgRNA libraries that, in combination with computer vision, enables the systematic detection of protein localization changes.

    • Andreas Reicher
    • , Jiří Reiniš
    •  & Stefan Kubicek

  • News & Views |

    The Mediterranean diet correlates with increased human lifespan; it is rich in foods with high levels of cis-monounsaturated fatty acids (MUFAs), such as olive oil. A study now shows that MUFAs stimulate a lipid droplet–peroxisome organelle network to decrease lipid oxidation and protect cell membranes during ageing.

    • Alexander Richard Mendenhall

  • Comment |

    Publicly shared metabolomics data may contain key answers to central questions in cell biology, but re-use of the data is complicated by the lack of standardized experimental and computational methods in the field. This Comment provides some tips to help ensure that shared metabolomics data are re-used appropriately.

    • Ethan Stancliffe
    •  & Gary J. Patti

  • Technical Report
    | Open Access

    John Peter et al. develop METALIC (Mass tagging-Enabled TrAcking of Lipids In Cells), an approach to track interorganelle lipid flux in live cells using organelle-targeted enzymatic labelling of lipid subpopulations and mass spectrometry.

    • Arun T. John Peter
    • , Carmelina Petrungaro
    •  & Benoît Kornmann

  • Article |

    Through CRISPR–Cas9 and kinase inhibitor screening, Zhang et al. show that PKCβII phosphorylates and activates ACSL4 to enhance polyunsaturated fatty acid-containing lipid biosynthesis, thereby promoting accumulation of lipid peroxidation and ferroptosis.

    • Hai-Liang Zhang
    • , Bing-Xin Hu
    •  & Xiao-Feng Zhu

  • Letter |

    Wei et al. show that clusters of unphosphorylated RNA polymerase II seed the nucleation of phase-separated condensates of TAF15, which further recruit RNA polymerase II to amplify transcriptional activation.

    • Ming-Tzo Wei
    • , Yi-Che Chang
    •  & Clifford P. Brangwynne

  • Review Article |

    In this Review, Caridi et al. discuss actin filaments in the nucleus and the functions of nuclear F-actin in response to DNA double-strand break repair.

    • Christopher Patrick Caridi
    • , Matthias Plessner
    •  & Irene Chiolo

  • News & Views |

    Cell metabolism ensures that cell dynamics and continued renewal are supported by a constant flow of matter that consumes energy. A new study shows that cell metabolism is sensitive to mechanical cues, revealing that the level of cell contraction modulates the production and storage of lipids, which could serve as fuel for energy production.

    • Manuel Théry
    •  & Mario Pende

  • News & Views |

    Classical actin-dependent, integrin-mediated cell–matrix adhesions disassemble before mitotic rounding. Yet, to transmit positional information and facilitate daughter-cell separation, dividing cells maintain connections to the matrix. A previously unidentified class of actin-independent integrin adhesions may fulfil this task.

    • Ronen Zaidel-Bar

  • Review Article |

    Stefano Piccolo and co-authors review recent insights into how YAP and TAZ transcription factors respond to the tissue environment, and how they mediate altered cell behaviour. Feedback mechanisms and crosstalk with other pathways are discussed, as are outstanding questions in the field.

    • Antonio Totaro
    • , Tito Panciera
    •  & Stefano Piccolo

  • News & Views |

    After food consumption, insulin-secreting pancreatic β-cells detect increased glucose and incretin hormones, and respond by releasing insulin. Wolfram syndrome 1, a protein that mitigates endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress, is now shown to regulate insulin synthesis and release — revealing a molecular point of convergence between the ER stress and insulin release pathways.

    • Katleen Lemaire
    •  & Frans Schuit

  • Resource |

    Improperly folded proteins are targeted for destruction through the endoplasmic-reticulum-associated degradation pathway (ERAD). Kopito and colleagues present a high-resolution interaction analysis of the ERAD system in combination with functional genomics, and identify new ERAD components.

    • John C. Christianson
    • , James A. Olzmann
    •  & Ron R. Kopito

  • Research Highlights |

    • Christina Karlsson Rosenthal

  • News & Views |

    Glucose is an important source of energy and carbon, and is required for cell growth. As such, glucose utilization is increased in rapidly dividing cancer cells. The tumour suppressor p53 has now been reported to block a metabolic pathway (the pentose phosphate pathway) that diverts glucose away from bioenergetic into biosynthetic routes.

    • Eyal Gottlieb

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