Meeting Reports

The spatial organization of biomolecules helps orchestrate a range of biological processes; however, links between spatial organization and regulation of physiological and pathological processes can be difficult to unravel. The development of innovative tools and recently uncovered insights were discussed at the ‘Chemical Decoding of Spatial Biology’ symposium.

In May 2024, ‘Protein Degradation in Focus’, a special symposium aimed at bringing together scientists in the targeted protein degradation (TPD) field, was held in Dundee, UK. David Zollman and Kirsten McAulay report on the topics discussed and the exciting outlook for science in the TPD space.

Research in the early days of chemical biology was mostly limited to the application of chemical tools to model cell lines grown in incubators. Now, discoveries are being made in more physiologically relevant systems, from tissues to organisms, using precisely targeted molecules. The 2023 Chemical Biology & Physiology meeting (in Portland, Oregon) discussed the latest advances in the field, with research from around the globe demonstrating that the transition to making discoveries at the chemical biology–physiology interface is happening now.

Chemical approaches, such as those that leverage induced proximity, targeted degradation, synthetic gene regulators or protein design offer opportunities to therapeutically target cellular processes that have long been thought of as undruggable. We report on the progress and the potential for transformative collaborations between fields discussed at the 2023 Bringing Chemistry to Medicine symposium at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

Controlled interactions between macromolecules are fundamental regulatory layers. Hijacking these circuits via proximity-inducing small molecules offers many therapeutic opportunities. The organizers, Georg Winter and Cristina Mayor-Ruiz, report on the latest trends in this emerging field discussed at the 39th IRB-BioMed Conference in Barcelona.

Membrane-less organelles formed by liquid–liquid phase separation provide additional cellular compartmentalization for precise spatiotemporal regulation of biological processes. Ke Ruan, Yi Lin, Peiguo Yang and Wen Zhou report on the formation, regulation and function of biomolecular condensates, discussed at the 2023 Xiangshan Science Conference on Membrane-less Organelles.

An international group of chemical biologists convened in San Francisco to present the latest scientific findings, discuss future directions and be inspired by research at the interface of chemistry and biology. This report on the third annual conference of the International Chemical Biology Society provides a brief overview of the meeting and its scientific program.

Inorganic nitrate and nitrite from endogenous or dietary sources are metabolized in vivo to nitric oxide (NO) and other bioactive nitrogen oxides. The nitrate-nitrite-NO pathway is emerging as an important mediator of blood flow regulation, cell signaling, energetics and tissue responses to hypoxia. The latest advances in our understanding of the biochemistry, physiology and therapeutics of nitrate, nitrite and NO were discussed during a recent 2-day meeting at the Nobel Forum, Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm.

The 2009 ESBOC meeting covered advances in synthesis, biosynthesis and biological mechanisms of vitamins and cofactors. Recent exciting developments in the field include the development of 'green' chemistry for manufacture of vitamins, the discovery that some vitamins act directly to regulate gene expression via riboswitches, and initial attempts to exploit the potential of vitamin analogs as therapeutic drugs.

Biological membranes are dynamic frontiers whose molecules must delicately balance the needs for compartmentalization and communication, and the gap between the vital significance of transport and signaling through membranes and our poor understanding of the precise functionality of these processes is daunting. However, a recent conference highlighted promising progress in the field, particularly made possible by the increasing structural knowledge about membrane proteins.

Chemical biology is well defined at its core—chemistry helping to answer biological questions—yet the boundaries are rather fuzzy. What are the differences between chemical biology and pharmacology? Is intracellular imaging a branch of chemical biology, and what about screening libraries? At Chemical Biology 2008, held in Heidelberg in October, participants heard presentations covering all these topics and more.

How do drugs work? What molecular changes do they cause in cells and in organisms? Is there a paradigm shift in the way we can predict and appreciate the impact of small molecules on biological systems in the 21^st century? These were some of the questions addressed at a meeting in Vienna in August 2007.

Interdisciplinary work in the life sciences at the boundaries of biology, chemistry and physics is making enormous strides. This progress was showcased at the recent Single Molecule Biophysics conference.

Chemical and genetic approaches are extensively used to probe living systems at the subcellular level and to advance therapeutic target discovery. The 2006 American Society for Cell Biology meeting highlighted the growing importance of chemical biology approaches in cell biology research.

The nascent field of glycomics is currently undergoing rapid development, largely as a result of advances in technologies for analyzing glycan structure, unraveling glycan-protein interactions and establishing the functional significance of glycans. A meeting was held in November 2006 to explore the challenges and opportunities ahead for this emerging 'omics' domain.

Chemical biology is an interdisciplinary field that is undergoing rapid expansion around the globe. Recently, the Japanese Society for Chemical Biology sponsored its inaugural scientific meeting to discuss research at the interface of chemistry and biology.

The field of chemical biology is now hitting its stride. Chemical biologists have developed essential tools that are being used to illuminate complex cellular events. The application of chemical principles to biological phenomena has revealed new opportunities for drug discovery. This report highlights recent progress and exciting new directions in chemical genetics and drug discovery.