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<title>bioRxiv Subject Collection: Biochemistry</title>
<link>https://biorxiv.org</link>
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This feed contains articles for bioRxiv Subject Collection "Biochemistry"
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<title>bioRxiv</title>
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<link>https://www.biorxiv.org</link>
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<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.755735v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Iron exposure reprograms redox homeostasis through mitochondrial depolarization in neuroblastoma 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.755735v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Purpose. Neuroblastoma is the most common malignancy of infancy, and cancer cells strongly depend on iron metabolism for proliferation. Whether sub-cytotoxic iron load reprograms mitochondrial and redox metabolism, and how this relates to the malignant behavior of neuroblastoma cells, is poorly defined. We hypothesized that exposure of human neuroblastoma cells to a non-toxic iron overload perturbs mitochondrial and redox metabolism, thereby affecting cancer cell properties. Methods. SH-SY5Y neuroblastoma cells were exposed to 100 M iron sulfate for 24 h. The resulting changes were monitored using complementary methods, including cell viability, cytotoxicity, proliferation and migration assays, intracellular iron quantification by ICP-MS, confocal imaging of mitochondrial morphology and membrane potential ({Delta}{Psi}m), high-resolution respirometry with flux control ratios, probe-based oxidant and H2O2 measurements, and label-free quantitative proteomics with Ingenuity Pathway Analysis. Results. Non-toxic iron loading raised intracellular iron about four-fold, promoted cell proliferation and reduced migration. Iron induced mitochondrial fragmentation and {Delta}{Psi}m depolarization while preserving mitochondrial content and OXPHOS coupling efficiency. Among respiratory states, only proton-leak respiration increased, paralleled by a higher leak/ETS coupling ratio. Total cellular oxidant levels and H2O2 output were strongly reduced. The proteome showed downregulation of ribosomal proteins and translation/RNA-processing components and upregulation of histones and ferritin. Conclusion. Mild iron exposure reprograms mitochondrial and redox metabolism in neuroblastoma cells. The observed selective increase in proton leak lowers {Delta}{Psi}m to a range that biophysically limits oxidant production while OXPHOS coupling is preserved. Interfering with this adaptive, proton leak-dependent and preventive antioxidant program may offer a way to alter neuroblastoma progression.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Mendonca, A. P. M., Claverol, S., Braz, B. F., Freire, A. S., Rumjanek, F. D., Santelli, R. E., Tokarski, C., Carvalho, D. B., Rossignol, R., Amoedo, N. D., Oliveira, M. F. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.755735</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Iron exposure reprograms redox homeostasis through mitochondrial depolarization in neuroblastoma]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757250v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
A glycosaminoglycan degrading Polysaccharide Utilization Locus in the oral microbiota species Segatella oris 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757250v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
The human gut microbiota has been explored for the last two decades and studies have uncovered its major role in the degradation of complex glycans from the diet as well as the host tissues. Strikingly, until very recently, no similar investigation has been carried out on the human oral cavity microbiota, which is increasingly recognized has an important parameter in gastrointestinal health. Prevotellaceae are an important and under-investigated family of bacteria in both the gut and the oral cavity microbiota. The oral cavity is particularly rich in glycosaminoglycans which could provide an abundant carbon source for the inhabiting microorganisms, and play a significant role in host-pathogen interactions. Hence, we analyzed Polysaccharide Utilization Loci in oral microbiota species and we identified a glycosaminoglycan-degrading Polysaccharide Utilization Locus in Segatella oris. We produced and characterized the four enzymes, confirmed their ability to degrade glycosaminoglycans, and we focused our efforts on the biochemical and structural characterization of the first reported Prevotellaceae endosulfatase.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Cousin, A., Awad, Y., Boustany, R.-J., Lorizolla Cordeiro, R., Friedel-Arboleas, M., Drouillard, S., Loiodice, M., Buon, L., Lopin-Bon, C., Wild, R., Helbert, W., Vives, R. R., Couturier, M. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757250</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[A glycosaminoglycan degrading Polysaccharide Utilization Locus in the oral microbiota species Segatella oris]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757794v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
De novo protein design in an expanded chemical space 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757794v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Generative protein design has made sequence and structure programmable, yet its chemical alphabet remains largely confined to the canonical twenty. Here, we establish CheMoDesign, an experimentally validated generative framework for designing proteins de novo around user-specified chemistry. CheMoDesign weakens pair-representation conditioning in a pretrained all-atom structure-prediction model while preserving chemical anchors, then refines generated backbones through sequence-conditioned denoising. By treating post-translational modifications, synthetic residues, and chemical modifications as user-defined building blocks, the framework generated proteins with chemistry-dependent recognition and reactivity in single-round experimental campaigns. Sulfotyrosine and nitrotyrosine enabled modification-dependent recognition of thrombin and HER2, respectively. Genetically encoded noncanonical residues enabled bioorthogonal affinity switching and light- or proximity-triggered covalent target capture. Post-expression chemical modifications yielded a light-activated covalent PD-L1 binder and an isoform-selective CA IX inhibitor (KD = 45 nM) designed to engage catalytic Zn2+;. CheMoDesign makes chemical mechanism a programmable dimension of de novo protein design.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Li, Y., Jing, Y., Su, Y., Ren, W., Zhang, J., Liu, T. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757794</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[De novo protein design in an expanded chemical space]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757488v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Purification-free cryo-EM reveals endogenous assemblies from minute tardigrade samples 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757488v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Tardigrades are minute animals renowned for environmental stress tolerance, and their remarkable biology has motivated extensive molecular studies using biochemical and biophysical approaches. Yet the native structures of endogenous macromolecular assemblies in tardigrades remain largely inaccessible, in part because only limited biological material is available. Here we show that purification-free single-particle cryo-EM, guided by long-read cDNA sequence assignment, can recover multiple endogenous assemblies directly from crude extract of a wild-derived Macrobiotus cf. shonaicus culture. We reconstructed a dimeric vitellogenin (Vg) particle at 3.10 [A] resolution, a previously uncharacterized tardigrade ferritin at 3.09 [A] resolution, and a low-resolution ribosome map. The Vg particle is a glycosylated and metal-containing assembly with structural evidence of proteolytic processing and contains lipid-like densities occupying a broad chamber whose walls include N-linked glycans. The ferritin structure revealed a divergent C-terminal helix that lines a mineral-like density observed at a position corresponding to previously described mineralization sites in ferritin-family cages. These results establish purification-free cryo-EM as a route to structural analysis of endogenous macromolecular assemblies from minute animal samples. In tardigrades, this approach provides a foundation for future state-dependent structural studies, including desiccation, rehydration and reproduction.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Fukuda, Y., Motooka, D., Imamura, Y., Inoue, T. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757488</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Purification-free cryo-EM reveals endogenous assemblies from minute tardigrade samples]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757561v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Systematic Analysis of GARP- and EARP-Mediated Trafficking Pathways Using Lysosomal Proteomics 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757561v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Eukaryotic cells utilize tethering complexes for sorting of proteins within the endo-lysosomal system. The GARP complex and the EARP complex both function in endosomal recycling. Both complexes share three common subunits (VPS51, VPS52, and VPS53), with each relying on one specific subunit: VPS54 for GARP and VPS50 for EARP. Mutations in both complexes are linked to various neurodegenerative disorders. While model cargoes have been described, the cargo spectrum of both complexes remains largely elusive. Here, we combined lysosomal proteomics with knockdowns of GARP and EARP to analyze their cargo spectra. Using the lysosome as a terminal reference point for mis-sorted proteins, we show that GARP depletion causes a loss in lysosomal hydrolases and accumulation of non-lysosomal cargo. EARP depletion results in lysosomal accumulation of secreted proteins. Our findings serve as a reference to study GARP and EARP complexes. We demonstrate that a systematic phenotypic analysis of GARP and EARP mutants is necessary to understand the pathological consequences of their dysfunction.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Sivalingam, B., Altuzar, J., Walter, S., Holthuis, J., Esch, B. M., Fröhlich, F. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757561</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Systematic Analysis of GARP- and EARP-Mediated Trafficking Pathways Using Lysosomal Proteomics]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757166v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Identification of active deubiquitinases in dendritic cells under unstimulated and activated conditions. 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757166v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Ubiquitination is a post-translational modification with well described roles in the regulation of immune cell function, such as dendritic cells (DCs). DCs are crucial initiators and regulators of T cell-mediated immune responses. In this study, we use activity-based probes and proteomics to systematically profile DUBs in a DC line. Using the lysate-based biotin(bio)-Ubiquitin(Ub)-propargylamide(Prg) probe and proteomics, the activity and abundance of deubiquitinases was measured in unstimulated and CpG-stimulated MutuDCs to simulate responses to bacteria. This analysis was complemented with profiling using the cell-permeable DUB activity-based probe IMP-2373. The combined analysis with bio-Ub-Prg and IMP-2373 provided insights into the dynamics of DUB activity and abundance in DCs following stimulation and identified several DUBs for further study.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Morgan, H. B., Villadangos, J. A., Edgington-Mitchell, L. E., Mintern, J. D. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757166</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Identification of active deubiquitinases in dendritic cells under unstimulated and activated conditions.]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757549v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
A modular mechanism determines the proton-pumping stoichiometry of respiratory complex I 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757549v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Respiratory complex I, a crucial metabolic enzyme, uses the reducing potential of NADH to pump protons across energy-transducing membranes, but its mechanism of catalysis remains unknown. Here, guided by detailed structural information, we combine targeted mutagenesis and biophysical analyses to define the proton-pumping pathways in the three antiporter-like (proton-pumping) subunits of complex I from Paracoccus denitrificans and Escherichia coli. In Pd-CI, a four-proton pump, one of the three proton-uptake pathways is inactive, reconciling the four-proton/three-subunit mismatch. In Ec-CI two pathways are inactive - and Ec-CI pumps only two protons. We define the structural determinants for redox-coupled proton uptake, establish a mechanistic framework for proton pumping, and reveal how the proton-pumping stoichiometry has been adapted to deliver efficient energy conservation in diverse bioenergetic environments.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Waddell, R. A., Messent, H. L., Costa-Lima, M. M., Wright, J. J., Salisbury, J. H., Hirst, J. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757549</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[A modular mechanism determines the proton-pumping stoichiometry of respiratory complex I]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757350v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
CLN6 is a glycerophosphoglycerol epimerase in bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate biosynthesis 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757350v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Lysosomal catabolism depends on bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP), a phospholipid with atypical S,S stereochemistry of unknown biosynthetic origin. CLN8 and CLN5 catalyze sequential acylation steps in BMP synthesis, and their loss of function causes Batten disease, a group of inherited neurodegenerative lysosomal storage disorders. Here we identify CLN6, a biochemically uncharacterized endoplasmic reticulum protein whose loss also causes Batten disease, as the calcium-dependent glycerophosphoglycerol epimerase that establishes BMP stereochemistry upstream of CLN8. CLN6 deficiency depletes BMP in cells, mice, and patient lysosomes, and reduces lysosomal hydrolase levels. BMP-precursor supplementation bypasses CLN6, restores BMP and increases hydrolase abundance in CLN6-deficient cells and mice. These findings place three Batten disease proteins in a single biosynthetic pathway and reveal BMP deficiency as a reversible cause of disrupted lysosomal hydrolase homeostasis.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Sheokand, P. K., James, A. M., Posern, C., Singh Sahrawat, A., Breithofer, J., Ganellin, J., Proulx, M. K., Leese, S. K., Turner, K., Lacabanne, D., Bulfon, D., Jenkins, B., van der Kleij, J., Johnston, H. E., Lord, S. O., Basran, M. K., Yu, C. S., Booth, C. D., Weimer, J. M., Koulman, A., Jäättelä, M., Kunji, E. R. S., Palmer, D. N., Mitchell, N. L., Prudent, J., Zimmermann, R., Gruber, K., Schulz, A., Murphy, M. P., Petkevicius, K. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757350</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[CLN6 is a glycerophosphoglycerol epimerase in bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate biosynthesis]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757509v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Defense-associated reverse transcriptases synthesize DNA in a telomerase-like manner 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757509v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Defense-associated reverse transcriptases (DRTs) constitute an emerging class of bacterial defense systems that harness reverse-transcriptase activity to generate cDNA products and counter phage infection. A distinct subset of DRT10 systems evolutionarily related to telomerase generates tandem-repeat DNA to confer antiphage immunity. Here, we biochemically characterize the reverse transcription activity of DRT10 and determine cryo-EM structures of DRT10-ncRNA complex in three functional states, revealing an unanticipated 2:1 RT:ncRNA assembly mode. Two DRT10 protomers dimerize through a central pair of interlocked {beta}-hairpins and are further embraced by a single ncRNA. This architecture distinguishes DRT10 from previously characterized DRT complexes, which either lack an ncRNA component or exhibit an equivalent stoichiometry of RT:ncRNA. Strikingly, despite the nearly identical conformations of the two DRT10 protomers, cDNA product density was resolved in only one catalytic pocket, revealing different product occupancy within the dimer. Moreover, along with flanking linkers, the stem loops of the ncRNA as fixed points to supply steric barriers help define the template boundary. These findings reveal a distinctive ncRNA-mediated DRT10 dimeric assembly and establish a mechanistic framework for protein-primed reverse transcription constrained by the length of the RNA flanking linker.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Zhang, H., Chen, S., Zhang, S., Zhang, Y., Fu, P., Mao, T., Zhan, Y., Han, J., Liu, Z., Shan, Z., Yuan, Z., Yu, Y., Yin, H. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757509</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Defense-associated reverse transcriptases synthesize DNA in a telomerase-like manner]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757636v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Mechanistic Basis of Sulfo Transfer in a PAPS-Independent ArylSulfate SulfoTransferases Revealed by Crystallography and QM/MM Simulations 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757636v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Enzymatic sulfation offers a green-chemistry route to the selective sulfation of phenolic and other hydroxylated compounds. Bacterial arylsulfate sulfotransferases (ASSTs) are particularly attractive biocatalysts because they use simple aryl sulfate donors, such as p-nitrophenyl sulfate (pNPS), instead of the complex and labile cofactor PAPS required by conventional sulfotransferases. However, their rational application and engineering remain limited because the molecular principles controlling substrate recognition, catalytically competent donor and acceptor positioning, covalent sulfo-enzyme formation, and sulfo transfer are not fully understood. In particular, it has remained unclear how conserved active-site histidines cooperate during catalysis and how active-site preorganization promotes efficient sulfo transfer. Here, we address these questions for the newly characterized ASST (ASTB) from Desulfitobacterium hafniense clade 6 (Dh_ASST_6) by combining X-ray crystallography, steady-state enzyme kinetics, and quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) simulations. Crystal structures of Dh_ASST_6 in the apo state and donor-soaked state reveal a monomeric {beta}-propeller enzyme with a histidine-centered active site and directly identify His350 as the transient sulfo carrier. Kinetic analysis shows efficient turnover and supports a ping-pong bi-bi mechanism, consistent with formation of a covalent sulfo-enzyme intermediate. Steered QM/MM simulations of the second catalytic step show that sulfuryl transfer from sulfated His350 to the phenolic acceptor proceeds through a proton-coupled, multistep pathway in which His283 assists acceptor activation by proton transfer. Active-site preorganization precedes the main bond-reorganization event and generates a near-attack geometry in which acceptor alignment, proton transfer, and stabilization of the sulfo group by a conserved hydrogen-bonding network jointly promote sulfo transfer. Free-energy reconstruction gives a low barrier of approximately 9.6 kcal/ mol, in agreement with efficient enzymatic turnover. The structural, kinetic, and computational data support a complete catalytic cycle for Dh_ASST_6 based on a cooperative two-histidine mechanism. This model establishes catalytically competent acceptor positioning and preservation of the histidine-centered hydrogen-bonding network as key design principles for ASST engineering. These features provide concrete targets for expanding substrate scope and tuning donor or acceptor preference while maintaining efficient sulfuryl transfer.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Balci, D., Nimbona, N. M., Obeid, H., Delavat, A., Grandjean, C., Cladiere, L., Czjzek, M., Daligault, F., D. Davari, M. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757636</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Mechanistic Basis of Sulfo Transfer in a PAPS-Independent ArylSulfate SulfoTransferases Revealed by Crystallography and QM/MM Simulations]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757409v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Aging Differentially Remodels the Retina and RPE/Choroid Proteome and Metabolism 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757409v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Purpose: The neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium/choroid (RPE/Cho) are metabolically coupled. Metabolic dysfunction of the RPE/Cho contributes to photoreceptor death in age-related macular degeneration (AMD). This study aimed to determine how aging, a major risk factor for AMD, alters the proteome and metabolic pathways in the retina and RPE/Cho. Methods: We performed quantitative proteomics on neural retina and RPE/Cho from young (8-week) and old (73-week) C57BL/6J mice. The differentially expressed proteins between old and young, as well as between the retina and RPE/Cho, were visualized using volcano plots and heatmaps, and functional analyses were assessed by Gene Ontology enrichment tools. Results: Aging altered the expression of 85 retinal proteins and 272 RPE/Cho, with 16 shared between tissues. In the aged retina, proteins associated with NADP(H) metabolism, neurodegeneration, and immunity were mostly upregulated, while proteins in lipid metabolism, transcription, and epigenetic regulation decreased. In the aged RPE/Cho, all 21 significantly altered lysosomal enzymes and transport proteins increased, together with complement components, and photoreceptor outer segment proteins. These changes accompanied increases in proteins associated with lipid metabolism and protection against lipid peroxidation, while several glutathione metabolism enzymes decreased. Seven shared proteins involved in lipid and NADP(H) metabolism, changed in opposite directions between retina and RPE/Cho. Comparison of the retinal and RPE/Cho proteomes identified 3073 differentially abundant proteins, of which 2452 maintained tissue-specific differences across both age groups, while approximately 17% showed age-dependent shifts in tissue enrichment. These shifts involved proteins associated with metabolism, extracellular matrix, visual function, lysosomal pathways, and innate immunity. Within the metabolic proteome, several glycolytic and fatty acid oxidation proteins showed greater relative enrichment in RPE/Cho with age, whereas glucose transporters and mitochondrial complexes shifted toward the retina. Conclusions: Overall, these findings show that aging differentially remodels the retina and RPE/Cho proteome, accompanied by altered metabolic specialization between the two tissues.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Du, J., Zhu, S., Puja, A., McNeel, R., Alabdallat, D., Ngo, T. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757409</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Aging Differentially Remodels the Retina and RPE/Choroid Proteome and Metabolism]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757720v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
A Practical Assay for Assessing Mean Red Blood Cell Age Using the Protein 4.1a/4.1b Ratio 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757720v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
BACKGROUND: The protein 4.1a/4.1b ratio is an intrinsic molecular marker of mean red blood cell (RBC) age resulting from progressive deamidation of protein 4.1b during RBC circulation. Despite its potential for estimating mean RBC age from a single blood sample, its application has been limited by labor-intensive RBC membrane preparation, and its interindividual variability has not been characterized in a large human population. METHODS: We developed a low-volume method for direct RBC membrane isolation from whole blood using saponin permeabilization and differential centrifugation without prior RBC washing. Membrane proteins were separated by SDS-PAGE, and protein 4.1a/4.1b ratios were determined by densitometric analysis with Gaussian peak fitting. Assay conditions, sample-volume requirements, membrane protein recovery, and analytical reproducibility were evaluated. The method was subsequently applied to 114 anonymized residual samples from routine diagnostic testing selected for complete blood count parameters within the corresponding laboratory reference intervals. RESULTS: The optimized procedure used 50 uL of whole blood, 0.06% saponin, and centrifugation at 9000 g, although protein 4.1a/4.1b remained measurable from starting volumes as low as 5 uL. Mean within-subject CVs were 3.90% for electrophoretic/densitometric determination and 5.39% for membrane protein recovery; whole-procedure CVs in 3 subjects were 1.40% to 3.50%. In the population analysis, the mean protein 4.1a/4.1b ratio was 1.428 (SD 0.146), with an observed range of 1.052 to1.799 and a central 95% interval of 1.151 to 1.695. Ratios did not differ significantly between females and males (P=0.246) or among females aged 18 to 50 years, females aged >50 years, and males (P=0.151). The ratio showed modest positive correlations with chronological age in females (Spearman p=0.26, P=0.047) and males (p=0.33, P=0.015), while substantial interindividual variability remained across the age range. CONCLUSIONS: Direct isolation of RBC membranes from small volumes of whole blood enables reproducible determination of the protein 4.1a/4.1b ratio using a simplified workflow. Application of the assay to a comparatively large human population revealed substantial interindividual variation in this molecular marker of mean RBC age that was not explained by sex or chronological age alone. The method provides a practical approach for investigating biological variation in mean RBC age and its potential contribution to laboratory measurements influenced by RBC survival.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Makhro, A., Seiler, E., Bender, N., Eppenberger, P., Hobbs-Ray, C., Baerlocher, G. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757720</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[A Practical Assay for Assessing Mean Red Blood Cell Age Using the Protein 4.1a/4.1b Ratio]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757607v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Single-molecule reaction chambers reveal intramolecular protein kinase activation 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757607v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Many protein kinases, ubiquitous signal transducers across all kingdoms of life, are activated by phosphorylation of one or more conserved residues in their activation loops. This reaction is widely considered to be intermolecular (trans) in nature, dependent on the transient dimerization of two kinase domains. However, since the substrate, product and reaction chemistry are identical, bulk solution kinase assays cannot distinguish between intra- and inter-molecular reactions. Discriminating between these two mechanisms is crucial because they impose different requirements on the cell for acute, high-fidelity signal transduction. Using single-molecule reaction chambers fabricated from DNA origami, we show that the paradigmatic insulin receptor kinase (IRK) undergoes intramolecular (cis) autophosphorylation with kinetics indistinguishable from those in free solution. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the bacterial serine/threonine kinase protein kinase B (PknB) undergoes intramolecular autophosphorylation, allosterically stimulated by intermolecular (trans) interactions. Our findings establish that intramolecular activation loop autophosphorylation is not only possible, but likely an ancient and conserved feature of protein kinase signaling. More broadly, our work provides new tools for single-molecule enzymology.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Kroetenheerdt, E., Ehrl, A., Stelmach, C., Reina, F., Piech, L., Praetorius, F., Ries, J. A., Zagrovic, B., Leonard, T. A. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757607</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Single-molecule reaction chambers reveal intramolecular protein kinase activation]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757680v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Cancer-associated mutations reconfigure dynamical responses in EGFR kinase 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757680v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
The epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) is a tyrosine kinase receptor that plays a fundamental role in regulating cellular proliferation, survival, and differentiation. EGFR's kinase domain catalyses the autophosphorylation that drives downstream signalling and is a known hotspot for cancer-associated mutations. Such substitutions often enhance receptor activation, driving oncogenesis and therapeutic resistance, with major implications for prognosis and treatment choice; consequently, a detailed understanding of this domain's functional dynamics, and how mutations reshape them, is essential. Here, we apply dynamical-nonequilibrium molecular dynamics (D-NEMD) simulations to probe how changes at the ATP-binding site are transmitted throughout the kinase domain, ultimately shaping the behaviour of distal regions in the wild-type protein and in two of the most clinically observed non-small cell lung cancer variants, L858R and L858R+T790M. D-NEMD reveals previously uncharacterised communication networks linking the ATP pocket to key functional motifs, including the P-loop, C-helix, hinge region, activation loop, and F-helix, showing the intricate allosteric connectivity within this domain. Notably, numerous cancer-related mutation sites, despite being distant from the ATP site, map onto or lie close to these communication pathways, indicating that D-NEMD simulations can identify functionally relevant allosteric positions and potential mutation sites in EGFR. Our simulations further reveal that the two variants rewire EGFR's internal signal propagation network in distinct ways: L858R diminishes the transmission of structural changes to distal regions of the C-lobe, whereas introducing T790M in addition to L858R partially restores wild-type-like behaviour through compensatory rerouting of early-stage dynamical pathways.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Tulli, L., Lodola, A., Mulholland, A. J., Oliveira, A. S. F. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757680</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Cancer-associated mutations reconfigure dynamical responses in EGFR kinase]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757477v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
The Batten disease gene product CLN6 is a glycerophosphoglycerol epimerase that establishes S,S-BMP stereochemistry 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757477v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Bis(monoacylglycero)phosphate (BMP), a lysosomal phospholipid essential for lipid catabolism and cholesterol clearance, has a noncanonical S,S glycerol configuration found in no other mammalian phospholipid, a feature necessary for its stability in the lysosome. How cells invert glycerol stereochemistry to build S,S-BMP has remained unexplained since this configuration was discovered five decades ago. Here, we show that the endoplasmic reticulum-resident Batten disease protein CLN6 is a Ca2+-dependent epimerase that isomerizes glycerophosphoglycerol (GPG) from R,S-GPG to S,S-GPG. CLN6-deficient cells, mouse tissues, and patient samples predominantly contain R,S-GPG, S,R-lysophosphatidylglycerol (LPG), and R,S-BMP instead of their S,S counterparts, with a net depletion of BMP. Purified CLN6 catalyzes GPG epimerization in vitro, an activity abolished by a pathogenic substitution in its substrate-binding pocket. Consistently, exogenous S,S-GPG restores BMP synthesis and relieves lipid storage in CLN6-null cells. Our work establishes stereochemical commitment upstream of acylation, placing CLN6, CLN8, and CLN5 in sequence in BMP biosynthesis and unifying the lipid defect across these neurodegenerative disorders.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Zhu, Z., Xiong, J., Maaz, I., Matrongolo, M. J., Ghoochani, A., Chilkunda, C., Peng, X., Alur, A., Porsen, C., Schulz, A., Cotman, S., Gomez-Ospina, N., Abu-Remaileh, M. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757477</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[The Batten disease gene product CLN6 is a glycerophosphoglycerol epimerase that establishes S,S-BMP stereochemistry]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.756687v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Repurposing dopamine D3 receptor fluorescent ligands for D2 receptor 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.756687v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
The dopamine D2 receptor is a principal target of antipsychotic and antiparkinsonian drugs, yet well-characterized fluorescent ligands for the D2 receptor remain scarce compared with its relative, the D3 receptor. Here we show that fluorescent ligands developed for the D3 subtype can be repurposed as tools for studying the D2 receptor pharmacology. Using a machine-learning-assisted, live-cell fluorescence microscopy assay, we screened twelve fluorescent probes and identified eight ligands that bound specifically to the D2 receptor at 10 nM. Four ligands exhibited classical saturable binding, yielding Kd in the nanomolar range, whereas the remaining probes displayed unsaturated, time-dependent binding profiles. Kinetic analyses revealed substantial differences in association and dissociation behavior, highlighting the importance of time-resolved measurements. Competition binding with dopamine and haloperidol yielded affinity estimates consistent with literature values. These results expand the toolkit of validated D2 receptor fluorescent probes and support cross-receptor repurposing as a strategy for fluorescent ligand development.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Ots, K., Laasfeld, T., Hollo, K., Ilisson, M., Ortigueira Noya, S., Grassl, F., Tousi, D., Allas, H.-R., Majellaro, M., Enkvist, E., Heinrich, M. R., Sotelo, E., Allikalt, A. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.756687</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Repurposing dopamine D3 receptor fluorescent ligands for D2 receptor]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757362v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Photobiocatalytic Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Non-Canonical Amino Acids Bearing Challenging Stereochemical Dyads and Triads 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757362v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Catalyst-controlled stereodivergent synthesis of acyclic molecules bearing multiple stereogenic centers remains a longstanding challenge in asymmetric catalysis, particularly through intermolecular radical C-C coupling. Here, we report the directed evolution of pyridoxal 5'-phosphate (PLP)-dependent biocatalysts for the stereodivergent synthesis of non canonical amino acids bearing either skipped , {gamma}-stereochemical dyads or contiguous , {beta}, {gamma}-stereochemical triads. Starting from a thermophilic tryptophan synthase {beta}-subunit, protein engineering generated complementary enzyme variants that selectively construct three of the four possible , {gamma}-stereoisomers through biocatalyst-controlled reversal of both remote {gamma}-stereochemistry and proximal -stereochemistry. These engineered enzymes catalyzed intermolecular radical C-C bond formation with a broad range of secondary alkyltrifluoroborates, affording , {gamma}-disubstituted amino acids in excellent yields and stereoselectivities. Furthermore, directed evolution enabled efficient {beta}-dehydroxylative radical coupling of the non-native threonine-derived aminoacrylate intermediate, providing amino acids bearing contiguous , {beta}, {gamma}-stereochemical triads with up to 96:4:<0.1:<0.1 d.r. and >99:1 e.r.. To further demonstrate the synthetic utility of this platform, the stereochemically enriched amino acids were transformed into valuable {gamma}-chiral amines through engineered PLP dependent tryptophan decarboxylases, establishing a dual PLP enzyme based biocatalytic cascade for the enantiodivergent synthesis of privileged amine scaffolds. Molecular dynamics simulations reveal that enzyme controlled {gamma}-stereoselectivity originates from active-site remodeling that modulates {pi}-{pi} interactions and steric contacts governing the facial selectivity of the radical addition step. This work expands the synthetic capabilities of radical biocatalysis by enabling catalyst-controlled stereodivergent assembly of complex acyclic stereochemical arrays and establishes engineered PLP enzymes as versatile catalysts for the synthesis of stereochemically complex amino acids and chiral amines.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Bo, Z., Cheng, L., Zhang, X., Singh, A., Liu, P., Yang, Y. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757362</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Photobiocatalytic Diastereo- and Enantioselective Synthesis of Non-Canonical Amino Acids Bearing Challenging Stereochemical Dyads and Triads]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757629v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Exploring the substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism in a PAPS independent ASST from Salmonella typhimurium 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.08.757629v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Sulfation plays an important role in many metabolic processes such as substrate detoxification, solubilization or activation. The enzymes responsible for these reactions, sulfotransferases, occur in all domains of life and can be classified in two major, evolutionary independent groups, PAPS dependent and PAPS independent or arysulfate sulfotransferases (ASST) enzymes. Besides the fact that they play key roles in biological functions, sulfotransferases can be interesting enzymatic tools to selectively sulfate specific positions of various metabolites. To this end we need to understand the relation between sequence, structure and function. Actually, eukaryotic PAPS dependent sulfotransferases have extensively been studied, while we largely lack knowledge about the diversity of bacterial PAPS-independent ASSTs. We have conducted a multidisciplinary study of a bacterial sulfotransferase from Salmonella typhimurium, revealing the importance of active site residues for activity and guiding substrate specificity. Based on the crystal structure in complex with substrate, we used molecular docking combined with Quantum Mechanics/Molecular Mechanics (QM/MM) free energy calculations to investigate the reaction catalytic mechanism with a focus on the role of specific active site residues in substrate specificity. Our results show that the catalytic mechanism involving three conserved histidines is common with previously determined ASSTs, and highlight a specific pair of aromatic residues, Phe174 and Tyr557, that play an important role in defining the substrate specificity in ASST clade 5. These findings enhance our general understanding of how substrate specificity is attained and has the potential to guide further enzyme engineering to expand the acceptor scope of ASSTs.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Nimbona, N. M., Obeid, H., Balci, D., Joublin-Delavat, A., Gladis, A., Cladiere, L., D. Davari, M., Grandjean, C., Daligault, F., Czjzek, M. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-09</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.08.757629</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Exploring the substrate specificity and catalytic mechanism in a PAPS independent ASST from Salmonella typhimurium]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-09</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757460v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Programming N-linked glycan composition through de novo protein design 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.07.757460v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
N-linked glycans are ubiquitous post-translational modifications that mediate diverse biological processes, including cell signaling and adhesion, molecular recognition, and host-pathogen interactions. Despite their importance, N-linked glycans have largely remained beyond the reach of biomolecular design due to a lack of methods capable of jointly modeling glycans and protein structure. Here, we develop a general all-atom computational pipeline for creating de novo glycoproteins in which the amino acid sequence encodes both the location and composition of N-linked glycans. The method uses three-dimensional protein structure to tune glycan accessibility to processing enzymes in the eukaryotic secretory pathway. Systematic increases in steric restriction progressively reduced processing, shifting glycans from heterogeneous complex-type structures toward increasingly underprocessed oligomannose-type species resembling those found on many viral glycoproteins. Despite this programmed restriction, the resulting oligomannose glycans remained accessible for biological recognition, inhibiting uropathogenic Escherichia coli adhesion to human bladder cells and binding mannose-binding lectin. These results establish steric control of N-glycan processing as a genetically encodable design principle and extend computational protein design to functional glycoproteins with programmed composition.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Lunn-Halbert, M. C., Allen, J. D., Krishna, R., Manchenko, A., Li, X., Lopatto, E. D., Pinkner, J., Moller, C., Ahern, W., Mendoza, J., Kang, A., Nguyen, H., Joyce, E., Bera, A., Hultgren, S. J., Sokurenko, E., Crispin, M., Baker, D., King, N. P. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-08</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.07.757460</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Programming N-linked glycan composition through de novo protein design]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-08</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756902v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
AI agent supervision of structural model building and refinement 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756902v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Structural model building and refinement need many decisions between different programs. These decisions often depend on an experienced researcher who knows how the programs work together and how to read experimental data. We used Claude Code with Claude Opus 5.5 to supervise this work for 24 cryo-EM and X-ray cases. The work finished in about 36 hours on one workstation. The agent prepared the inputs, ran established programs, read the validation results, compared candidate models and chose the next step. For 15 deposited cryo-EM models with weak starting geometry, the median MolProbity score improved from 2.62 to 1.76. For three crystal structures, the agent models came close to the published Rfree values. Chemical information such as ligands, ions and modifications must be provided by the researcher, in the same way as the sequence. With this information, the agent can place and check these components. These results show that agent supervision is acceptable when every decision can be inspected. The researcher makes the final scientific judgment. We suggest practical requirements for this kind of use. Future AI agents may help researchers obtain high quality and reliable structures of biological macromolecules.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Wu, K.-P., Chueh, C.-K. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-08</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.05.756902</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[AI agent supervision of structural model building and refinement]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-08</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757072v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Structure-based virtual screening reveals new metabolite interactions and modulators of human glucose-6-phosphate isomerase 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757072v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Exploring the ability of metabolic enzymes to interact with diverse small molecules can provide insights into their ligand recognition and activity regulation. Glucose-6-phosphate isomerase (GPI) is an enzyme that catalyzes the second step of glycolysis, a critical node that links glucose metabolism to other cytosolic pathways, such as pentose phosphate and hexosamine biosynthetic pathways. Despite its importance in cellular metabolism, little is known about the broad ligandability of GPI. Here, we performed a structure-based virtual screening using molecular docking to identify new modulators predicted to engage with the human GPI active site. Enzyme kinetic and binding studies confirmed eleven compounds as active-site binders of GPI, exhibiting inhibitory activities and binding affinities in upper micromolar to sub-millimolar range. The binding of several ligands to GPI active site was further supported by X-ray crystallographic data. In addition, in vitro assays were performed to evaluate the modulatory effects of the GPI hits on cellular glycolysis and viability. The identified inhibitors included the mono-phosphorylated metabolite of ribavirin, which inhibited glycolytic flux and cell viability; two compounds with phosphate bioisosteres; and endogenous phosphate-containing metabolites from the pentose phosphate, hexosamine, nucleotide, and mevalonate pathways. Collectively, these findings expanded the repertoire of human GPI ligands and revealed previously unrecognized GPI-metabolite interactions that may contribute to modulation of glycolytic flux.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Jonatansdottir, Y. Y., Teigen, K., Hjorleifsson, J. G. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.757072</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Structure-based virtual screening reveals new metabolite interactions and modulators of human glucose-6-phosphate isomerase]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757124v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Informatics Methods to Enhance Bacterial Peptide Detection 
]]>
</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757124v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Detecting low-abundance bacterial peptides in samples dominated by human proteins using liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (LC MS/MS) is challenging. Bacterial peptides are typically far less abundant than host-derived peptides, and sequence similarity between bacterial and human peptides can complicate confident attribution to a bacterial origin. To address this problem, we developed and benchmarked an in silico spectral library protein identification workflow for detecting Staphylococcus aureus USA300 peptides against a background of A375 cells. Peptide and protein identifications obtained at a 1% peptide-level false discovery rate were compared between the in silico spectral library search and a conventional sequence database search across a defined bacterial dilution series containing 0, 1%, 2%, 10%, 25%, 50%, and 100% bacterial protein. A human sequence similarity filter was applied to identifications from both search strategies to reduce the likelihood of retaining human derived or human like peptide sequences. Both search strategies showed concentration dependent bacterial detection and shared a practical detection limit of approximately 1 to 2% bacterial protein but exhibited distinct performance profiles. The in silico spectral library search produced fewer bacterial-like background identifications in the human-only control, whereas MS2Rescore substantially increased spectral library identifications at higher bacterial concentrations, exceeding database search at 100% bacterial protein. The partially overlapping peptide sets identified by the two strategies indicate that they provide complementary coverage of the bacterial proteome.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Ren, B., Weke, K., Alfaro, J., Goodlett, D. R. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.757124</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Informatics Methods to Enhance Bacterial Peptide Detection]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757174v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Structural basis of coiled-coil domain-mediated inhibition of A. baumannii AbTir NAD+ nucleosidase activity 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757174v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
TIR (Toll/interleukin-1 receptor) domains are central components of innate immunity and cell-death pathways across diverse forms of life. In bacteria, TIR domain-containing proteins participate in diverse antiphage defence systems, several of which rely on NADase activity carried out by TIR domains. This nucleosidase activity is often regulated by additional domains that modulate activation and specificity in response to infection. AbTir, a TIR domain-containing protein from Acinetobacter baumannii, contains an N-terminal CC domain that negatively regulates its NADase activity, but the structural basis of this regulation remains unknown. Here, we used X-ray crystallography to investigate the molecular basis of CC domain-mediated regulation in AbTir. We determined the crystal structure of full-length AbTir in complex with a nanobody, revealing a symmetric AbTir TIR dimer in which only one of the two symmetry-related CC helices is accommodated at the dimer surface, breaking the overall symmetry of the full-length protein. Structural comparisons with other bacterial TIR domains suggest that such TIR dimers likely represent an inactive state, in which the NAD+-binding site has not yet formed. Phylogenetic analysis places AbTir within a family of bacterial TIR proteins associated with defence-related genomic loci, although phage-spot assays performed in the surrogate host Escherichia coli did not detect measurable antiphage activity. Together, these findings reveal an unusual structural mechanism of CC domain-mediated inhibition of a bacterial TIR NADase and expand our understanding of the mechanistic diversity of bacterial TIR proteins.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Gu, W., Manik, M. K., Jobichen, C., Haudiquet, M., DSilva, J., Lai, C.-Y., Li, S., Qian, X., Malik, A. J., Ascher, D. B., Read, R. J., Barr, J. J., Tham, W.-H., Bernheim, A., Knott, G. J., Kobe, B. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.757174</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Structural basis of coiled-coil domain-mediated inhibition of A. baumannii AbTir NAD+ nucleosidase activity]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757176v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Functional characterization of terpene synthases from Dendrobium nobile provides insights into the biosynthesis of copaborneol, a proposed dendrobine precursor 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757176v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Abstract: Picrotoxane-type sesquiterpene alkaloids, including dendrobine, are characteristic constituents of Dendrobium nobile, but the enzymes that produce their proposed skeletal precursors remain in completely characterized. Here, we combined tissue metabolite profiling with genome-guided screening and biochemical characterization of terpene synthases (TPSs). GC-MS analysis revealed variation in sesquiterpenoid profiles and dendrobine signals among tissues and developmental stages. Manual curation of the chromosome-level genome yielded 16 full-length TPS-a candidates. Functional screening in an FPP-supplying Escherichia coli system showed that three closely related genes on chromosome 1, DnTPS1~DnTPS3, produced copaborneol as their dominant product. The principal product of DnTPS1 was purified and identified by NMR spectroscopy, and a purified-enzyme assay confirmed its direct conversion of FPP to copaborneol. Fluorescence imaging in rice protoplasts and Nicotiana benthamiana leaves indicated predominantly cytosolic localization of DnTPS1. Guided by sequence comparisons and structural modeling, we tested 12 DnTPS1 variants and found that substitutions at W377 and I295 altered the relative distribution of sesquiterpene products. Phylogenetic and regional gene-order analyses placed DnTPS1~DnTPS3 in the same clade and identified related TPS candidates within corresponding genomic regions of six Dendrobium species. These findings establish that three D. nobile TPSs can form copaborneol and identify DnTPS1 residues that influence product selectivity, providing a basis for testing the proposed connection to dendrobine biosynthesis.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Li, D., Wang, J., Fu, S., Wang, H. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.757176</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Functional characterization of terpene synthases from Dendrobium nobile provides insights into the biosynthesis of copaborneol, a proposed dendrobine precursor]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757041v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
The scaffold nucleoporin Nup188 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.757041v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Components of nuclear pore complexes are broadly classified into two categories: intrinsically disordered FG-repeat nucleoporins such as Nup98, which can undergo liquid-liquid phase separation, and scaffold nucleoporins, which form the NPC's structural framework. The basis for crosstalk of these nucleoporins within NPC and beyond is poorly understood. Here we show that human Nup188, a helical inner-ring scaffold protein, forms condensates both in purified form as well as at endogenous level. This condensate exhibits fusion, dissolved in 1,6-hexanediol and recovered after photobleaching, with dynamics and material properties comparable to those of hNup98 condensates. Moreover, these condensates are not colocalized to annulate lamellae. Our analysis also revealed that hNup188CTD is sufficient to form condensates and MD simulations revealed the key roles of IDR1-3 for condensation. Notably, hNup93 expression along with hNup188 suppressed the condensate formation. Together, these findings indicate that a structured scaffold nucleoporin can adopt a condensate-forming state via its CTD and Nup93 binding can suppress this phenomenon.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ B, A. L., Burdak, B., Bawaria, S., Das, S., Agarwal, S., Jones, C. M., Chaudhari, A. B., Tripathi, V., Roy, K., Tiwatane, A., Sonawane, P., Mande, S. C., Joseph, J., Grellscheid, S. N., Chauhan, R. D. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.757041</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[The scaffold nucleoporin Nup188 undergoes liquid-liquid phase separation]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.754922v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Human FACT complex coordinates cohesin and transcription on chromatin 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.06.754922v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
The spatial organisation of eukaryotic genomes is critical for coordinating DNA-dependent processes such as transcription and replication. Cohesin contributes to this organisation by extruding chromatin loops; however, how cohesin achieves processive translocation along nucleosome-dense chromatin in vivo remains poorly understood. Here, we identify the histone chaperone FACT as a regulator of cohesin dynamics in human cells. We show that the FACT subunit SUPT16H colocalises and interacts with cohesin on chromatin. Depletion of FACT impairs cohesin translocation from its loading sites, leading to reduced chromatin looping and decreased boundary strength of topologically associating domains (TADs), as revealed by Hi-C. In addition, FACT depletion results in the accumulation of cohesin within gene bodies that are not engaged in loop formation, which is associated with reduced transcription. Importantly, degradation of cohesin in FACT-depleted cells restores transcriptional output, indicating that cohesin mislocalisation underlies this effect. Together, these findings demonstrate that FACT facilitates cohesin translocation along chromatin, promoting efficient loop extrusion while preventing its aberrant accumulation within transcribed regions. This work provides mechanistic insight into how chromatin structure modulates cohesin function to coordinate genome organisation with transcription in mammalian cells.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Garcia-Luis, J., Canela, A., Malysheva, V., Natsume, T., Karimi, M. M., Kanemaki, M., Spivakov, M., Aragon, L. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-07</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.06.754922</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Human FACT complex coordinates cohesin and transcription on chromatin]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-07</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756883v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Joining Two Perspectives of the Proteome with the Trypsin+HTA Protease Workflow 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756883v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Proteolysis can be completed in a single-step, rapid (5-30 minutes) reaction using hyperthermoacidic archaeal (HTA) proteases. Protocol simplicity and stability of HTA proteases in ambient storage conditions removes many logistical barriers to widespread deployment of proteomic analysis. HTA protease cleavage selectivity is complicated but quantitatively reproducible and generates peptides that negligibly overlap with trypsin. Tryptic and HTA protease peptides emphasize different proteins and provide complementary coverage of amino acid sequence and post-translational modification (PTM) sites. Digestion of a sample's separate aliquot with HTA protease is a minor addition to trypsin-based workflows, but LC-MS analysis of both sets of peptides is not practical for large cohorts. This manuscript evaluates the identifications and reproducibility of LC-MS analysis of tryptic and HTA protease peptide mixtures. Adding HTA protease peptides to 20% increased total protein identifications by 24% on average in neat plasma and identified 216 additional non-artifact modifications compared to conventional trypsin-only bottom-up proteomic analysis. This approach is reproducible and does not increase sample preparation or analysis time. Peptides from each protease present independent opportunities to quantify overlapping proteins and a quantification model was developed in which the protease with the most complete data is selected for each protein while the second protease is used to infer missing values. This cross-protease inference is more accurate than the alternative minimum, mean, or nearest neighbor imputations. Finally, biomarkers discovered through HTA protease peptides are amenable to rapid HTA protease only proteomic workflows thus streamlining translation from discovery to fieldable applications.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Alba, M., Bharadwaj, A., Becker, L., Canfield, E. J., Katz, J. E., Van Eyk, J. E., Kreimer, S. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-06</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.05.756883</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Joining Two Perspectives of the Proteome with the Trypsin+HTA Protease Workflow]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-06</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756722v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Peptide frontier-orbital gaps narrow by backbone electrostatics 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.05.756722v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Aromatic side chains carry the optical and redox chemistry of peptides, and lengthening one is widely expected to extend its conjugation and narrow its HOMO-LUMO gap. We test that expectation with plane-wave density functional theory on 22 isolated neutral peptides NH2-(X)n-COOH (X = Phe, Tyr, Trp, Cys; n = 1 to 5, and n = 10 for Cys and Trp). The gap does narrow, at the same rate for all three aromatic residues, i.e., -0.17 to -0.18 eV per residue, even though benzene, phenol and indole are very different chromophores. Residue-resolved projections reveal why: nothing delocalises. Every aromatic frontier orbital is 97 to 100 % confined to a single residue and the HOMO participation number saturates at one ring. Each residue instead keeps its own local gap: for Trp it is invariant to within 0.03 eV over n = 2 to 10, while over that same span the global gap falls by 1.19 eV. The global gap is therefore an extreme-value functional of the residue site energies, gap(n) =<g_f>-{Delta}(n), whose alignment penalty accounts for the entire effect: the polar backbone generates a monotonic internal electrostatic ramp that leaves the two gap edges at opposite ends of the chain, 32 [A] apart. We set out the resulting design rules for peptide-based bio-organic semiconductors.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Wu, X., Fu, W. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-06</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.05.756722</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Peptide frontier-orbital gaps narrow by backbone electrostatics]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-06</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.755906v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
Substrate specificity in lipoylation pathways: How lipoate:protein ligases discriminate between protein substrates 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.01.755906v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Lipoate is an essential protein-bound cofactor attached to conserved lysine residues in structurally related acceptor proteins, including GcvH of the glycine cleavage system and LbpA proteins required for sulfur oxidation by the sulfur-oxidizing heterodisulfide-like (sHdr) complex. The coexistence of distinct lipoylation pathways and acceptor proteins raises the question of how the enzymes initiating lipoate attachment discriminate between homologous but functionally distinct substrates. We systematically tested lipoate:protein ligases and potential acceptor proteins from five representatives of the bacterial phyla Pseudomonadota and Aquificota using native gel-shift assays and MALDI-TOF mass spectrometry. The canonical Escherichia coli lipoate:protein ligase Lpl(AB) preferentially modified GcvH proteins but showed little or no activity toward LbpAs. In contrast, sulfur oxidation-associated lipoate:protein ligases, termed sLpl(AB), which function in the sLpl(AB)-LipS1/LipS2 lipoate assembly pathway, strongly preferred LbpA proteins and generally failed to modify GcvH. Conserved cysteine residues characteristic of LbpAs were dispensable for recognition by sLpl(AB). Instead, comparison of amino acid sequences and electrostatic surfaces revealed predominantly acidic interaction surfaces in GcvH proteins and corresponding basic regions in LbpAs. Accordingly, replacement of selected basic regions in Roseovarius mucosus LbpA2 by acidic residues reduced modification by its cognate sLpl(AB) and simultaneously enabled weak modification by E. coli Lpl(AB). These findings establish electrostatic surface properties as major determinants of substrate discrimination by lipoate ligases and show that recognition depends on distributed features of the folded acceptor protein rather than solely on the sequence surrounding the lipoylated lysine.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Kümpel, C., Holz, E., Tanabe, T. S., Mohr, M. G., Dahl, C. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-02</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.01.755906</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[Substrate specificity in lipoylation pathways: How lipoate:protein ligases discriminate between protein substrates]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-02</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
<item rdf:about="https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756409v1?rss=1">
<title>
<![CDATA[
A recombinant heterotrimeric mini-procollagen I reveals new functional and structural roles for the α2(I) chain 
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</title>
<link>
https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.64898/2026.10.03.756409v1?rss=1
</link>
<description><![CDATA[
Collagen I provides mechanical stability to organs and plays a critical role in several physiological processes such as wound healing and bone remodeling. Its ability to form fibrils depends on the proteolytic conversion of soluble procollagen I into mature protomers. However, the mechanistic aspects of this critical step have been difficult to analyze due to the lack of recombinant procollagen I suitable for structural and biochemical analyses. Here, we describe the successful production and purification of a heterotrimeric mini-procollagen I [1(I)22(I)] together with its homotrimeric counterpart [1(I)3] in HEK293-F cells. These tools were used to probe the specific role of the 2(I) chain both in procollagen I assembly and proteolytic maturation. While the presence of 2(I) in the heterotrimer does not strengthen trimer interfaces on its own, as revealed by cryo-electron microscopy, it provides a clear functional advantage to the procollagen substrate that is cleaved more efficiently by bone morphogenetic protein 1 (BMP-1) than the homotrimer. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the first cleavage event in the heterotrimer is at the level of the 2(I) chain, through a mechanism involving its C-telopeptide and a specific PRS motif close to the cleavage site. The preferential cleavage of 2(I) by BMP-1 can be partially corrected in the presence of PCPE-1 (procollagen C-proteinase enhancer 1) but the efficacy of the correction depends on its position on the procollagen trimer. Finally, we solved the high-resolution structure of the complex between the heterotrimer and PCPE-1 and proposed a new mechanism to explain the enhancing activity of PCPE-1.
]]></description>
<dc:creator><![CDATA[ Lipinski, O., Dieryckx, C., Mariano, N., Lagoutte, P., Kwong, H. S., Vadon-Le Goff, S., Carrique, L., Moali, C. ]]></dc:creator>
<dc:date>2026-10-06</dc:date>
<dc:identifier>doi:10.64898/2026.10.03.756409</dc:identifier>
<dc:title><![CDATA[A recombinant heterotrimeric mini-procollagen I reveals new functional and structural roles for the α2(I) chain]]></dc:title>
<dc:publisher>Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory</dc:publisher>
<prism:publicationDate>2026-10-06</prism:publicationDate>
<prism:section></prism:section>
</item>
</rdf:RDF>
