Themed collection Exploring proteins and their interactions

In this review, we describe chemogenetics of cell surface receptors. This approach using designer ligands allows for rapid and selective control of the designer receptor function without affecting the endogenous systems.

This mini-review presents a critical survey of techniques used for epitope mapping on the SARS-CoV-2 Spike protein. An additional focus is an analytical appraisal of different deep mutational scanning workflows.

Selective isotope labeling facilitates the analysis of effects of posttranslational modifications on protein structure and function.

Targeting protein–protein interactions within the DNA damage response (DDR) pathways with small molecule inhibitors is reviewed here as a strategy to design novel cancer chemotherapeutics.

Protein aggregation of biotherapeutics increases their immunogenicity, leading to immune-mediated adverse effects. In this review we discuss immune activation pathways, causes of aggregation and mitigation strategies.

This review describes recent efforts towards the modulation of protein–protein interactions in infectious bacteria.

A mechanistic analysis and structural perspective of cation diffusion facilitator (human ZnT) related diseases.

Chemical biology strategies can play important roles in studying the complexity of SARS-CoV-2–host interactions at molecular level detail.

We discuss chemical-genetic means to mine locale-specific proteins of functional relevance and whose behaviors are pharmacologically malleable.

Lipoic acid, an essential cofactor produced in all organisms, diverts octanoic acid from type II fatty acid biosynthesis through a highly specific protein–protein interaction. This study characterizes how different substrates influence this interface to control chain length specificity.

The combination of advanced atomistic simulations provides complete analysis of the atomistic basis of molecular transduction of H₂O₂ across aquaporins.

The nitroreductase of Haemophilus influenzae metabolizes clinically used nitroimidazoles, generates dimeric metabolites and anaerobically sensitizes an E. coli mutant to antibiotics. We further uncover its biochemical and structural details.

A mutant heparanase that exhibits wild type structure and activity but can be heterologously produced in bacterial protein expression systems.

Kinetic and structural analysis of a novel oxalyl-CoA synthetase isolated from grass pea (Lathyrus sativus L.).

Soberana01 is composed of the SARS-CoV-2 dimeric RBD and Neisseria meningitidis outer membrane vesicles (OMVs) adsorbed on alum. This vaccine induces a potent neutralizing immune response and shows potential against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern.

By fragment screening using X-ray crystallography we identified four ligands revealing ligand-binding sites in interfaces between SARS-CoV-2 nsp10 and nsp14/nsp16. The nsp14/10 interaction is weak and therefore could be disrupted by small molecules.

Self-assembly of lysozyme can generate two amyloids oligomer polymorphs with distinct characteristics and toxicity. Both polymorphs are off-pathway from amyloid fibril assembly.

During infection, Legionella pneumophila translocates hundreds of effectors into host cells. Among these, the Sde family effector SdeC catalyzes atypical ubiquitination of host targets at tyrosine, not only serine, residues.

Guided by computational design, we engineered a light-dependent 5' cap guanine-N7 methyltransferase by bridging the substrate-binding cleft with an azobenzene derivative.

Succinylated HMGN2, prepared by a ‘thiol–ene reaction’, disrupted the association of HMGN2 with the nucleosome and increased nucleosomal DNA accessibility.

We demonstrate a solution method that allows both elongation rate and average length of amyloid fibrils to be independently determined.

Identification of multiple ligand binding sites in aromatase.

In-solution analysis of conformational changes of NRPS adenylation and peptidyl-carrier protein domains under catalytic conditions reveals a new intermediary conformation.

This study provides a mechanistic description of how the membrane composition and lipid to protein ratio modulate amyloid kinetics of yeast prion protein.

Here we describe library design coupled with computational and intracellular screening as an effective methodology to derive an antagonist that is selective for Fra1 relative to Jun counterparts.

Substrate inhibition can be caused by substrate binding to the enzyme–product complex and can be controlled rationally by targeting enzyme access tunnels.

Small molecule stimulators of the 20S core particle of the proteasome can lead to the degradation of a variety of protein substrates.

Using protein semi-synthesis, segmentally isotope-labelled variants of nucleosome-binding protein HMGN1 were generated with site-specific posttranslational modifications to explore their structural and functional effects.

Cyclodipeptide synthases recognize a minimalistic substrate to produce cyclic dipeptides in a tRNA-independent manner.

Using the protein–protein interaction of Mcl-1/Noxa, two methods for efficient modulator discovery are directly compared.

The motional regime affects the unfolding propensity and axial heme coordination of the Met80Ala and Met80Ala/Tyr67Ala variants of yeast iso-1 cytochrome c.

Naphthalimide-appended oligopyridylamide peptidomimetic modulate islet amyloid polypeptide amyloidogenesis and disaggregate preformed oligomers and fibrils into non-toxic conformations at substoichiometric concentration.

Recombinant haemoglobin [rHb(βK120C)] was coupled with two human serum albumins (HSAs), yielding a rHb(βK120C)–HSA₂ heterotrimer, which shows a sigmoidal O₂ equilibrium curve and sufficient Hb allostery identical to those of native Hb.