{"title":"Transferring enzyme features to molecular CO2 reduction catalysts","authors":"Matthias Huber, Corinna R. Hess","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102540","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102540","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Carbon monoxide dehydrogenases and formate dehydrogenases efficiently catalyze the reduction of CO<sub>2</sub>. In both enzymes, CO<sub>2</sub> activation at the metal active site is assisted by proximate amino acids and Fe–S-clusters. Functional features of the enzyme are mimicked in molecular catalysts by redox-active ligands, acidic and charged groups in the ligand periphery, and binuclear scaffolds. These components have all improved the catalytic performance of synthetic systems. Recent studies impart a deeper understanding of the individual contributions of the various functionalities to reactivity and of their combined effects. New catalyst platforms reveal alternate pathways for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction, unique intermediates, and strategies for switching selectivity. Design of a wider array of complexes that combine different functional elements is encouraged to further optimize catalysts for CO<sub>2</sub> reduction, especially for product formation beyond CO. More diverse bimetallic catalysts are needed to better exploit metal–metal interactions for CO<sub>2</sub> conversion.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"83 ","pages":"Article 102540"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142643601","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Karolis Norvaisa, Aaron Torres-Huerta, Hennie Valkenier
{"title":"Synthetic transporters for oxoanions","authors":"Karolis Norvaisa, Aaron Torres-Huerta, Hennie Valkenier","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102542","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2024.102542","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>This brief review highlights recent advances in the transport of oxoanions using synthetic carriers, focusing on both progress and ongoing challenges in the field. The difficulty of transporting these oxoanions increases with their hydration enthalpies, with less hydrated nitrate and perchlorate being relatively easy to transport. Recent progress has focused on the transport of moderately hydrated anions such as bicarbonate and carboxylates, where studies are influenced by the free diffusion of neutral species obtained by (de)protonation equilibria. Despite significant innovations in the design of synthetic carriers, the transport of the highly hydrated oxoanions sulfate and phosphate remains a major challenge. Progress on sulfate transport has stalled, while the first example of phosphate transport was reported only last year.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"83 ","pages":"Article 102542"},"PeriodicalIF":6.9,"publicationDate":"2024-11-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142610819","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Peptide-based molecules for the disruption of bacterial Hsp70 chaperones","authors":"Aweon Richards, Tania J. Lupoli","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102373","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102373","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>DnaK is a chaperone that aids in nascent protein folding and the maintenance of </span>proteome<span><span> stability across bacteria. Due to the importance of DnaK in cellular proteostasis<span><span>, there have been efforts to generate molecules that modulate its function. In nature, both protein substrates and antimicrobial peptides interact with DnaK. However, many of these ligands interact with other cellular machinery as well. Recent work has sought to modify these peptide scaffolds to create DnaK-selective and species-specific probes. Others have reported </span>protein domain mimics of interaction partners to disrupt cellular DnaK function and high-throughput screening approaches to discover clinically-relevant </span></span>peptidomimetics that inhibit DnaK. The described work provides a foundation for the design of new assays and molecules to regulate DnaK activity.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102373"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9889259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Luminescent lanthanide probes for cations and anions: Promises, compromises, and caveats","authors":"Thibaut L.M. Martinon, Valérie C. Pierre","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102374","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102374","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>The long luminescence lifetimes and sharp emission bands of </span>luminescent<span><span> lanthanide complexes have long been recognized as invaluable strengths for sensing and imaging in complex aqueous biological or environmental media. Herein we discuss the recent developments of these probes for sensing </span>metal ions<span> and, increasingly, anions. Underappreciated in the field, buffers and metal hydrolysis influence the response of many responsive lanthanide probes. The inherent complexities arising from these interactions are further discussed.</span></span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102374"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9894504","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Stéphane Roudeau, Asuncion Carmona, Richard Ortega
{"title":"Multimodal and multiscale correlative elemental imaging: From whole tissues down to organelles","authors":"Stéphane Roudeau, Asuncion Carmona, Richard Ortega","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102372","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102372","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Chemical elements, especially metals, play very specific roles in the life sciences. The implementation of correlative imaging methods, of elements on the one hand and of molecules or biological structures on the other hand, is the subject of recent developments. The most commonly used spectro-imaging techniques for metals are synchrotron-induced X-ray fluorescence, mass spectrometry and fluorescence imaging of metal molecular sensors. These imaging methods can be correlated with a wide variety of other analytical techniques used for structural imaging (e.g., electron microscopy), small molecule imaging (e.g., molecular mass spectrometry) or protein imaging (e.g., fluorescence microscopy). The resulting correlative imaging is developed at different scales, from biological tissue to the subcellular level. The fields of application are varied, with some major research topics, the role of metals in the aetiology of </span>neurodegenerative diseases and the use of metals for medical imaging or cancer treatment.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102372"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9856490","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Virus-assisted directed evolution of biomolecules","authors":"Delilah Jewel , Quan Pham , Abhishek Chatterjee","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102375","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102375","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Directed evolution is a powerful technique that uses principles of natural evolution to enable the development of biomolecules with novel functions. However, the slow pace of natural evolution does not support the demand for rapidly generating new biomolecular functions in the laboratory. Viruses offer a unique path to design fast laboratory evolution experiments, owing to their innate ability to evolve much more rapidly than most living organisms, facilitated by a smaller genome size that tolerate a high frequency of mutations, as well as a fast rate of replication. These attributes offer a great opportunity to evolve various biomolecules by linking their activity to the replication of a suitable virus. This review highlights the recent advances in the application of virus-assisted directed evolution of designer biomolecules in both prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells.</p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102375"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9994988","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Advanced imaging techniques for studying protein phase separation in living cells and at single-molecule level","authors":"Gemechu Mekonnen , Nathalie Djaja , Xincheng Yuan , Sua Myong","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102371","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102371","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Protein-protein and protein-RNA interactions are essential for cell function and survival. These interactions facilitate the formation of ribonucleoprotein<span> complexes and biomolecular condensates via phase separation. Such assembly is involved in transcription, splicing, translation and stress response. When dysregulated, proteins and RNA can undergo irreversible aggregation which can be cytotoxic and pathogenic. Despite technical advances in investigating biomolecular condensates, achieving the necessary spatiotemporal resolution to deduce the parameters that govern their assembly and behavior has been challenging. Many laboratories have applied advanced </span></span>microscopy<span><span> methods for imaging condensates. For example, single molecule imaging<span> methods have enabled the detection of RNA-protein interaction, protein-protein interaction, protein conformational dynamics, and diffusional motion of molecules that report on the intrinsic molecular interactions<span> underlying liquid-liquid phase separation. This review will outline advances in both microscopy and spectroscopy techniques which allow </span></span></span>single molecule detection and imaging, and how these techniques can be used to probe unique aspects of biomolecular condensates.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102371"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10038502","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"How nature incorporates sulfur and selenium into bioactive natural products","authors":"Xiaoyan Chen , Bo Li","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102377","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102377","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Living organisms have evolved various strategies to incorporate sulfur and selenium into bioactive natural products. These chalcogen-containing compounds serve important and diverse biological functions for their producers and many of them are </span>essential medicines<span><span> against infectious diseases and cancer. We review recent advances in the biosynthesis of some sulfur/selenium-containing natural products with a focus on the formation or cleavage of C–S/C–Se bonds. We highlight unusual </span>enzymes that catalyze these transformations, describe their proposed mechanisms, and discuss how understanding these enzymes may facilitate the discovery and synthesis of novel natural products containing sulfur or selenium.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102377"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10031056","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Teresa E. Sullivan , Servando Hernandez Vargas , Sukhen C. Ghosh , Solmaz AghaAmiri , Naruhiko Ikoma , Ali Azhdarinia
{"title":"A translational blueprint for developing intraoperative imaging agents via radiopharmaceutical-guided drug design","authors":"Teresa E. Sullivan , Servando Hernandez Vargas , Sukhen C. Ghosh , Solmaz AghaAmiri , Naruhiko Ikoma , Ali Azhdarinia","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102376","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102376","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p>Cancer imaging is a rapidly evolving field due to the discovery of novel molecular targets and the availability of corresponding techniques to detect them with high precision, accuracy, and sensitivity. Nuclear medicine is the most widely used molecular imaging<span> modality and has a growing toolkit of clinically used radiopharmaceuticals that enable whole-body tumor visualization, staging, and treatment monitoring for a variety of tumors in a non-invasive manner. The need for similar imaging capabilities in the operating room has led to the emergence of fluorescence-guided surgery (FGS) as a powerful technique that gives surgeons unprecedented ability to distinguish tumors from healthy tissues. While a variety of strategies have been used to develop contrast agents for FGS, the use of radiopharmaceuticals as models brings exceptional translational potential and has increasingly been explored. Here, we review strategies used to convert clinically used radiopharmaceuticals into fluorescent and multimodal counterparts. Unique preclinical and clinical capabilities stemming from radiopharmaceutical-based agent design are also discussed to illustrate the advantages of this approach.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"76 ","pages":"Article 102376"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-10-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"9979371","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Recent chemical synthesis of plant polysaccharides","authors":"Xiufang Wang , Guozhi Xiao","doi":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102387","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cbpa.2023.102387","url":null,"abstract":"<div><p><span>Here, chemical syntheses of long, branched and complex glycans<span> over 10-mer from plants are summarized, which highlights amylopectin 20-mer from starch, 17-mer from </span></span><span><em>carthamus tinctorius</em></span>, α-glucan 30-mer from <span><em>Longan</em></span>, 19-mer from <span><em>psidium</em><em> guajava</em></span> and 11-mer from <span><em>dendrobium</em><em> huoshanense</em></span><span>. The glycans assembly strategies, protecting groups utilization and glycosylation methods discussed here will inspire the efficient synthesis of diverse complex glycans with many 1,2-</span><em>cis</em><span> glycosidic linkages.</span></p></div>","PeriodicalId":291,"journal":{"name":"Current Opinion in Chemical Biology","volume":"77 ","pages":"Article 102387"},"PeriodicalIF":7.8,"publicationDate":"2023-09-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"10268661","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}