Excited to see you: New imaging approaches to detect ferrous iron in vivo.

Ferroptosis is an iron-dependent form of cell death implicated in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. In this issue of Cell Chemical Biology, Shao et al. (2022) and Wang et al.

Constitutively active androgen receptor supports the metastatic phenotype of endocrine-resistant hormone receptor-positive breast cancer.

Background: Hormone receptor positive (HR+) breast cancer (BCa) is the most frequently diagnosed subtype. Acquired and intrinsic resistance to conventional endocrine therapy (ET) commonly occurs and prompts incurable metastatic disease. Hence, ET-resistant (ET-R) HR+ BCa presents a therapeutic challenge.

SENP1 regulates PTEN stability to dictate prostate cancer development.

SUMO protease SENP1 is elevated in multiple carcinomas including prostate cancer (PCa). SENP1 exhibits carcinogenic properties; it promotes androgen receptor-dependent and -independent cell proliferation, stabilizes HIF1α, increases VEGF, and supports angiogenesis. However, mice expressing an androgen-responsive promoter driven SENP1-transgene (SENP1-Tg) develop high-grade prostatic intraepithelial neoplasia, but not carcinoma.

A Critical SUMO1 Modification of LKB1 Regulates AMPK Activity during Energy Stress.

SUMOylation has been implicated in cellular stress adaptation, but its role in regulating liver kinase B1 (LKB1), a major upstream kinase of the energy sensor AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), is unknown. Here, we show that energy stress triggers an increase in SUMO1 modification of LKB1, despite a global reduction in both SUMO1 and SUMO2/3 conjugates. During metabolic stress, SUMO1 modification of LKB1 lysine 178 is essential in promoting its interaction with AMPK via a SUMO-interacting motif (SIM) essential for AMPK activation.

Characterization of flavonoid glycosides from rapeseed bee pollen using a combination of chromatography, spectrometry and nuclear magnetic resonance with a step-wise separation strategy.

To identify the structures of flavonoid glycosides in bee pollen collected from rapeseed plants (Brassica napus L.), we utilised an approach that combined liquid chromatography-diode array detector-electrospray ionization-mass spectrometry (LC-DAD-ESI-MS) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) technology with a step-wise separation strategy. We identified four constituents of high purity in rape bee pollen samples: (1) quercetin-3-O-β-D-glucosyl-(2→l)-β-glucoside, (2) kaempferol-3, 4'-di-O-β-D-glucoside, (3) 5, 7, 4'-trihydroxy-3'-methoxyflavone-3-O-β-D-sophoroside and (4) kaempferol-3-O-β-D-glucosyl-(2→l)-β-D-glucoside.