Unraveling the molecular mechanism underlying the anticancer activity of CISD2/NAF-1 .

We recently reported on the development of a unique cancer-targeting peptide called NAF-1 (derived from CISD2/NAF-1). NAF-1 selectively permeates the plasma membrane (PM) of cancer cells, but not healthy cells, causing the activation of apoptotic and ferroptotic cell death pathways specifically in cancer cells. NAF-1 also targets and shrinks human breast and ovarian cancer tumors in a xenograft mice model system without any apparent side effects.

Useful or merely convenient? On the issue of a suitability of enzymatic antioxidant activity as a proxy for abiotic stress tolerance.

During their lifespan, plants are often exposed to a broad range of stresses that change their redox balance and lead to accumulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The traditional view is that this comes with negative consequences to cells structural integrity and metabolism and, to prevent this, plants evolved a complex and well-coordinated antioxidant defence system that relies on the operation of a range of enzymatic and non-enzymatic antioxidants (AO). Due to the simplicity of measuring their activity, and in the light of the persistent dogma that stress-induced ROS accumulation is detrimental for plants, it is not surprising that enzymatic AO have often been advocated as suitable proxies for stress tolerance, as well as potential targets for improving tolerance traits.

Resilient plants, sustainable future.

The accelerated pace of climate change over the past several years should serve as a wake-up call for all scientists, farmers, and decision makers, as it severely threatens our food supply and could result in famine, migration, war, and an overall destabilization of our society. Rapid and significant changes are therefore needed in the way we conduct research on plant resilience, develop new crop varieties, and cultivate those crops in our agricultural systems. Here, we describe the main bottlenecks for these processes and outline a set of key recommendations on how to accelerate research in this critical area for our society.

A multi-omics approach reveals a link between ribosomal protein alterations and proteome rebalancing in Arabidopsis thaliana seeds.

The ability of seeds to restore their amino acid content and composition after the elimination of the most abundant seed storage proteins (SSPs) is well-documented, yet the underlying mechanisms remain unclear. To better understand how seeds compensate for major proteomic disruptions, we conducted a comprehensive analysis on an Arabidopsis mutant lacking the three most abundant SSPs, the cruciferins. Our initial findings indicated that carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur levels, as well as total protein and oil content, remained unchanged in these mutants suggesting rebalanced seeds.

Jasmonic acid is required for tomato acclimation to multifactorial stress combination.

As a result of global warming and climate change, the number and intensity of weather events such as droughts, heat waves, and floods are increasing, resulting in major losses in crop yield worldwide. Combined with the accumulation of different pollutants, this situation is leading to a gradual increase in the complexity of environmental factors affecting plants. We recently used the term 'multifactorial stress combination' (MFSC) to describe the impact of three or more stressors occurring simultaneously or sequentially on plants.