360 papers
Biochemistry explores the intricate chemical processes that power life, bridging the gap between biology and chemistry to explain how molecules like proteins and DNA function within living cells. This field reveals the molecular machinery behind everything from metabolism to genetic inheritance, turning complex biological mysteries into understandable chemical interactions.
On Gist.Science, we bring you the freshest discoveries in this dynamic area directly from bioRxiv. Our team processes every new preprint uploaded to the server, transforming dense academic findings into both clear, plain-language overviews and detailed technical summaries. This dual approach ensures that whether you are a curious beginner or a seasoned researcher, you can grasp the significance of these breakthroughs immediately.
Below are the latest papers in biochemistry, complete with our curated summaries to help you navigate the cutting edge of molecular science.
This study reveals that the zebrafish kinase inhibitor drP18 undergoes a hierarchical, reversible redox switch where the regulatory cysteine C50 controls the oxidation-dependent formation and disassembly of functional amyloid fibrils via the executioner cysteine C128, thereby modulating the protein's biological activity in response to specific oxidants.
This study establishes a quantitative screening framework to identify small-molecule inhibitors that disrupt the LRP1-mediated cellular uptake of tau, validating this interaction as a druggable target for treating tauopathies like Alzheimer's disease.
This study demonstrates that the cytochrome P450 enzyme ApyO exhibits remarkable substrate plasticity, catalyzing diverse crosslinking reactions—including C-C, N-C, and C-O bonds—between aromatic residues in aminopyruvatide precursors to generate macrocyclic peptides with potent protease inhibitory activity.
This study reports the design, synthesis, and cryo-EM structural characterization of a triazole-based peptidomimetic of the -conotoxin GI that successfully replaces the native disulfide bridge with a 1,5-triazole isostere, retaining low-nanomolar potency against muscle-type nAChRs while providing a structural framework for developing stabilized conotoxin therapeutics.
This study reveals that S-palmitoylation of OGT at Cys-472 and Cys-477, mediated by zDHHC14 and reversed by APT2, stabilizes the enzyme by inhibiting its lysosomal degradation via the HSC70-mediated CMA pathway while simultaneously enhancing its interaction with PPP1CC and YAP to modulate substrate selectivity and O-GlcNAcylation.
The study characterizes a riboflavin-biotin chimera (C6-Rf-biotin-tag) that retains riboflavin-like spectroscopic properties and exhibits micromolar binding affinities to both riboflavin-binding protein and streptavidin, suggesting its utility as a probe for diagnostic assays and labeling flavin-binding proteins.
This study demonstrates that pharmacological inhibition of the mitochondrial fission protein DNM1L using Mdivi-1 effectively mitigates nitrogen mustard-induced corneal injury by preserving mitochondrial function and promoting tissue repair, thereby identifying mitochondrial dysfunction as a key therapeutic target for mustard keratopathy.
This study identifies and characterizes two novel oxygen-dependent flavin amine oxidoreductases, Ncox and Pnox, from *Peribacillus frigoritolerans* NIC8 that efficiently metabolize nicotine and pseudooxynicotine, offering promising candidates for improved smoking-cessation therapeutics and nicotine bioconversion.
This study combines structural biology and computational methods to reveal that arylsulfamate inhibitors form stable covalent adducts with aryl sulfatases by accommodating a specific tetrahedral intermediate in a permissive hydrophobic pocket, whereas carbohydrate sulfatases reject this warhead due to restrictive active sites that displace the inhibitor from a reactive pose.
This study identifies TMPRSS6 as a novel protease that cleaves and sheds the FGF19 co-receptor -klotho, thereby attenuating FGF19 signaling and providing a mechanistic basis for targeting TMPRSS6 in the treatment of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD).