Intracellular delivery and deep tissue penetration of nucleoside triphosphates using photocleavable covalently bound dendritic polycations.

Nucleoside triphosphates (NTPs) are essential in various biological processes. Cellular or even organismal controlled delivery of NTPs would be highly desirable, yet and applications are hampered owing to their negative charge leading to cell impermeability. NTP transporters or NTP prodrugs have been developed, but a spatial and temporal control of the release of the investigated molecules remains challenging with these strategies.

An acetyltransferase controls the metabolic flux in rubromycin polyketide biosynthesis by direct modulation of redox tailoring enzymes.

The often complex control of bacterial natural product biosynthesis typically involves global and pathway-specific transcriptional regulators of gene expression, which often limits the yield of bioactive compounds under laboratory conditions. However, little is known about regulation mechanisms on the enzymatic level. Here, we report a novel regulatory principle for natural products involving a dedicated acetyltransferase, which modifies a redox-tailoring enzyme and thereby enables pathway furcation and alternating pharmacophore assembly in rubromycin polyketide biosynthesis.

Biofunctionalized Materials Featuring Feedforward and Feedback Circuits Exemplified by the Detection of Botulinum Toxin A.

Feedforward and feedback loops are key regulatory elements in cellular signaling and information processing. Synthetic biology exploits these elements for the design of molecular circuits that enable the reprogramming and control of specific cellular functions. These circuits serve as a basis for the engineering of complex cellular networks, opening the door for numerous medical and biotechnological applications.