Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

eLife reviews research that gives new insights into biological molecules or uses chemical approaches to illuminate complex biological processes. Learn more about what we review and sign up for the latest research.
Illustration by Davide Bonazzi

Latest articles

    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Glycolipid MPIase is essential for the TAT (Twin-Arginine Translocation) pathway

    Hanako Nishikawa, Nachi Yamamoto ... Ken-ichi Nishiyama
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Fundamental
    • Solid
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Integrated respirometry and metabolomics unveil circadian metabolic dynamics in Drosophila

    Farheen Akhtar, Dania M Malik ... Aalim Weljie
    Wild-type flies anticipate daily respiratory demands by coordinating substrate use, whereas short-sleep and clock-deficient mutants shift toward reactive fuel use and altered redox metabolism.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Lateral opening site of human oligopeptide transporter 2 plays a key role in the interaction with polymyxins

    Xukai Jiang, Yining Luo ... Jian Li
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Fundamental
    • Compelling
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Distinct Mechanisms for Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Dimerization Promoted by Peptidomimetic Inhibitors and Disrupted by Ebselen

    Chengxi Liu, Qinyu Jia ... Zhong-Ping Yao
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v3
    Updated
    • Important
    • Convincing
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Screening the MMV Pathogen Box reveals the mitochondrial bc1-complex as a drug target in mature Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites

    Deborah Maus, Elyzana Putrianti ... Martin Blume
    Inhibiting the mitochondrial bc1-complex disrupts energy production in mature Toxoplasma gondii bradyzoites, suggesting a metabolic vulnerability in the parasite's chronic, drug-resistant stage.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    The chromokinesin Kid (KIF22) forms a homodimer, moves processively along microtubules, and transports double-stranded DNA

    Shinsuke Niwa, Natsuki Furusaki ... Kyoko Chiba
    Kid is reclassified as a processive chromokinesin that directly couples double-stranded DNA to microtubule-based transport.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Microbiology and Infectious Disease

    Acyl carrier protein is essential for apicoplast biogenesis in malaria parasites independent of fatty acid synthesis

    Sage WR Geher, Seyi Falekun ... Paul A Sigala
    Malaria parasites have evolved a noncanonical function for the apicoplast acyl carrier protein in stabilizing pyruvate kinase II, a metabolic hub essential for isoprenoid synthesis and parasite survival.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    A simplified and highly efficient cell-free protein synthesis system for prokaryotes

    Xianshengjie Lang, Changbin Zhang ... Wenfei Li
    A streamlined seven-component cell-free expression platform simplifies reaction design while maintaining high productivity and enabling robust synthesis of challenging proteins for diverse applications.
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Genome-wide synthetic-lethality screen of Bam complex associated genes in Escherichia coli

    Jack A Bryant, Kara A Staunton ... Manuel Banzhaf
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v2
    Updated
    • Useful
    • Convincing
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Genetics and Genomics

    Determining the off-target activity of antibiotics and novel translation initiation sites in mitochondria

    James Marks, Emma Young, Markus Hafner
    Revised
    Reviewed Preprint v3
    Updated
    • Valuable
    • Solid
Load more

Highlights

    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    Lipid Transport: How membranes shape up for lipid transfer

    Takashi Hirashima, Toshiya Endo
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
    2. Cell Biology

    Metabolism: How one nutrient controls cell size

    Angela Montero, Lydia WS Finley
    1. Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

    RNA: Searching for druggable targets

    Lana Heganovic, Luiz FM Passalacqua

Senior editors

  1. Amy H Andreotti
    Iowa State University, United States
  2. Qiang Cui
    Boston University, United States
  3. Volker Dötsch
    Goethe University, Germany
  4. See more editors