In the last 5 years, the scientific community has witnessed the development of several AI-based tools for groundbreaking advances in protein science. These tools have enabled scientists to predict pr…

Allosteric communication between non-contacting sites in proteins plays a fundamental role in biological regulation and drug action. While allosteric gain-of-function variants are known drivers of onc...

Structurally constrained cyclic β-amino acids are attractive building blocks for peptide drugs because they induce unique and stable conformations. Introduction of (1S,2S)-2-aminocyclopentanecarboxylic acid [(1S,2S)-2-ACPC] into peptides stabilizes helical conformations, so improving proteolytic stability and cell

Translation termination is essential in all living organisms because it ensures that proteins have lengths strictly defined by their genes. This universal process is mediated by peptide release factor...

Nature Methods - CondenSeq is an imaging-based, high-throughput platform for characterizing condensate formation within the nuclear environment, uncovering the protein sequence features that...

Some cyclic peptides can cross membranes, which is highly attractive for drug development, but it remains difficult to accurately predict membrane permeability or to test it experimentally for large ...

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Uechi et al. found that a small-molecule lipoamide dissolves stress granules (SGs) by targeting SFPQ, a redox-sensitive disordered SG protein, alleviating pathological phenotypes caused by amyotrophic...

Author summary Cyclic peptides are circular chains of amino acid residues that are promising candidates for new therapeutic drugs. Current FDA approved cyclic peptide-based drugs are mostly derived fr...

Motivation: In recent years, tremendous advances have been made in predicting protein structures and protein-protein interactions. However, progress in predicting the structure of RNA, either alone or...

The ability to study proteins in their native cellular context is crucial to our understanding of biology. In this work, we report a technology for intracellular protein editing, drawing from split in...

Join us at Chemsymposia 2026 to discover groundbreaking research in physics applications. Connect with experts, engage in insightful discussions, and explore our venue, registration details, and speak...

InstaNovo, a transformer-based model, and InstaNovo+, a multinomial diffusion model, enhance de novo peptide sequencing, enabling discovery of novel peptides, improved therapeutics sequencing coverage...

Traditional peer review is slow, often delayed by the time-consuming process of identifying reviewers and lengthy review turnaround times. This study tests the feasibility of the Fast & Fair peer review initiative by evaluating whether we could implement and adhere to a structured timeline for rapid peer review at Biology Open. A 6-month pilot conducted from July to December 2024 evaluated a structured workflow with pre-contracted reviewers under two payment models: a freelance model or a retainer model. All manuscripts assigned to two of the journal's ten academic editors were included in the Fast & Fair peer review initiative experiment. A structured editorial timeline ensured that all manuscripts received reviews and first decisions within 7 business days. The results demonstrated that 100% of Fast & Fair peer review initiative manuscripts met the turnaround target, with a mean of 4.6 business days (n=20 manuscripts). Review quality was maintained, as indicated by assessments by academic editors. The freelancer model outperformed retainers in cost-effectiveness. These findings suggest that the Fast & Fair peer review initiative is feasible and does not compromise review quality. While scalability remains to be tested, the initiative eliminates a major bottleneck in traditional peer review by streamlining reviewer identification and enforcing a strict editorial timeline. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors of this manuscript have the following competing interests: D.A.G. is the Editor-in-Chief of Biology Open and A.C. is the Managing Editor of Biology Open.

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The spatiotemporal organization of the postsynaptic density (PSD) is a fundamental determinant of synaptic transmission, information processing, and storage in the brain. The major bottleneck that prevents the direct and precise representation of the nanometer-scaled organization of excitatory glutamatergic synapses is the size of antibodies, nanobodies, and the genetically encoded fluorescent tags. Here, we introduce small, high affinity synthetic probes for simplified, high contrast visualization of excitatory synapses without the limitations of larger biomolecules. In vitro binding quantification together with microscopy-based evaluation identified eSylites, a series of fluorescent bivalent peptides comprising a dye, linker, and sequence composition that show remarkable cellular target selectivity. Applied on primary neurons or brain slices at nanomolar concentrations, eSylites specifically report PSD-95, the key orchestrator of glutamate receptor nanodomains juxtaposed to the presynaptic glutamate release sites that mediate fast synaptic transmission. The eSylite design minimizes a spatial dye offset and thereby enables visualization of PSD-95 with improved localization precision and further time-resolved discrimination. In particular, we find that individual dendritic spines can contain separate nanodomains enriched for either PSD-95 or its closest homologues, PSD-93 or SAP102. Collectively, these data establish eSylites as a broadly applicable tool for simplified excitatory synapse visualization, as well as a high-end microscopy compatible probe for resolving the PSD organization with unprecedented resolution.

Communications Chemistry, Published online: 12 March 2025; doi:10.1038/s42004-025-01474-6Proline plays an important role in mediating protein folding and stability, however, the impact of noncanonical proline analogues on protein folding and stability is…

Radisson Collection Hotel, Copenhagen, September 1-4, 2025 Organizers: Kresten Lindorff-Larsen, Birthe B. Kragelund, Joseph M. Rogers, Amelie Stein,Anders Krogh, Wouter Boomsma and Hanne Mørck Nielsen...

Mammalian cells present RNA-binding proteins on the cell surface that form clustered domains containing glycoRNAs.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes are epigenetic regulators that affect diverse protein function by removing acyl groups from lysine side chains throughout the proteome. The most recently discovered ...

Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen We are offering a three-year PhD fellowship in Chemical Microbiology commencing 1 May 2025

The formation of biomolecular condensates is involved in compartmentalisation, regulation, and signalling across most living organisms. Condensation can be driven by phase separation of proteins, and ...

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TL;DR Power outages in Nigeria are hindering our efforts to develop phage-based therapies and vaccines against antimicrobial resistance. To address t…

Research on so-called mirror cells, which defy fundamental properties of living organisms, should be prohibited as too dangerous, biologists said.

Histone deacetylase (HDAC) enzymes are epigenetic regulators that affect diverse protein function by removing acyl groups from lysine side chains throughout the proteome. The most recently discovered ...

Solid-phase peptide synthesis (SPPS) and native chemical ligation (NCL) are powerful methods for obtaining peptides and proteins that are otherwise inaccessible. Nonetheless, numerous sequences are di...

Nature - The molecular mechanisms of how small changes in the degree of inclusion of a neuron-specific microexon in CPEB4 lead to dominant-negative effects in the expression of genes associated...