Targeting a non-natural micropeptide ‘killswitch’ to several biomolecular condensates altered condensate compositions and revealed condensate functions in human cells

The Human Tumor Atlas Network (HTAN) is constructing 3-dimensional atlases of the cellular, morphological, molecular, and spatial features of human cancers (and their surrounding microenvironments) ov...

Animal holobionts constitute diverse yet interconnected landscapes of microenvironments that harbor specific bacterial communities with distinct functions. An increasing body of literature suggests a ...

Abstract. Spatially Resolved Transcriptomics (SRT) serves as a cornerstone in biomedical research, revealing the heterogeneity of tissue microenvironments.

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Biomolecular condensates are thought to create subcellular microenvironments that have different physicochemical properties compared with their surrounding nucleoplasm or cytoplasm1–5. However, probing the microenvironments of condensates and their relationship to biological function is a major challenge because tools to selectively manipulate specific condensates in living cells are limited6–9. Here, we develop a non-natural micropeptide (that is, the killswitch) and a nanobody-based recruitment system as a universal approach to probe endogenous condensates, and demonstrate direct links between condensate microenvironments and function in cells. The killswitch is a hydrophobic, aromatic-rich sequence with the ability to self-associate, and has no homology to human proteins. When recruited to endogenous and disease-specific condensates in human cells, the killswitch immobilized condensate-forming proteins, leading to both predicted and unexpected effects. Targeting the killswitch to th

Solid tumors harbor immunosuppressive microenvironments that inhibit tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) through the voracious consumption of glucos…

Pathologic transformation in KrasG12D-mutant alveolar type II cells initiates a tumour-permissive niche by orchestrating epithelial, stromal and immune reprogramming through amphiregulin–EGFR signalli...

Pathologic transformation in KrasG12D-mutant alveolar type II cells initiates a tumour-permissive niche by orchestrating epithelial, stromal and immune reprogramming through amphiregulin–EGFR signalling, creating a self-sustaining circuit critical for lung tumour initiation and progression.

Microenvironments inside marine organic particles can host anaerobic microbial respiration outside of ocean anoxic zones, but these environments are c…

Subcellular RNA organization can affect critical cellular functions. However, our understanding of RNA microenvironments, particularly biomolecular condensates, remains limited, largely due to a lack ...

Here the authors present a pH-sensitive DNA origami nanoswitch that hides ligands for death receptors and displays them as a cytotoxic hexagonal pattern in acidic tumour microenvironments. This reduce...

Scientific Reports - Microenvironments on individual sand grains enhance nitrogen loss in coastal sediments

The pathogen Streptococcus pneumoniae can adapt to diverse microenvironments in the human body. Here, De Bakker et al. study these adaptation responses, showing unusual sugar utilization and identifyi...

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