Summary
Biochemistry and cell biology together address how molecules assemble into living cells, how cells sustain life through chemical reactions and how they organise into tissues and organs. Biochemistry examines the structures and reactions of proteins, nucleic acids, lipids and carbohydrates, identifying how enzymes guide metabolism, signal transduction and gene expression. Cell biology explores how these molecules form dynamic organelles—membranes, cytoskeleton, nucleus, endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, mitochondria and others—how cells divide, differentiate and communicate, and how these processes underpin development, homeostasis and disease. Integrating both disciplines reveals how molecular events translate into cellular function and organismal physiology.
Research from Nature Portfolio
High-resolution cryo-electron microscopy has defined how the actin-branching complex Arp2/3 is stabilised by the protein cortactin. Structures of cortactin‐bound branches show that cortactin bridges activated Arp3 to the nascent filament, reinforcing the junction under mechanical load and prolonging network lifetimes in migrating cells. Parallel single-molecule studies revealed how formins, capping protein and the depolymerase twinfilin co-occupy actin filament barbed ends: twinfilin selectively displaces capping protein in ternary complexes, thereby promoting formin-driven elongation and tuning filament dynamics at the leading edge.
At the biochemical level, a unified computational framework now predicts key enzyme kinetic parameters—turnover number (kcat), Michaelis constant (Km) and catalytic efficiency (kcat/Km)—directly from protein sequences and substrate structures. By incorporating environmental factors such as pH and temperature and employing re‐weighting strategies, this tool refines high-value predictions to accelerate enzyme discovery, design and directed evolution for industrial and biomedical applications.
Topic trend for the past 5 years
The graph below shows the article count in Nature Index journals for biochemistry and cell biology.
* The ‘Current Index’ represents data for a 12-month rolling window, the current window is 1 May 2025 - 30 April 2026.
Technical terms
Active site: The specialised region of an enzyme where substrates bind and chemical transformation occurs.
Turnover number (kcat): The maximum number of substrate molecules converted to product per enzyme molecule per second at saturation.
Michaelis constant (Km): The substrate concentration at which the reaction rate reaches half of its maximum (Vmax), reflecting enzyme–substrate affinity.
Arp2/3 complex: A seven-subunit actin nucleator that initiates branched filament formation on pre-existing actin filaments.
Proteome: The entire complement of proteins expressed in a cell, tissue or organism under defined conditions.
Riboswitch: An RNA element that alters its structure upon binding a specific ligand, thereby regulating gene expression at the transcriptional or translational level.
Notable articles in biochemistry and cell biology
- UniKP: a unified framework for the prediction of enzyme kinetic parameters. Nature Communications (2023).
- Cortactin stabilizes actin branches by bridging activated Arp2/3 to its nucleated actin filament. Nature Structural & Molecular Biology (2024).
- Multicomponent regulation of actin barbed end assembly by twinfilin, formin and capping protein. Nature Communications (2023).
About these summaries
This Nature Research Intelligence Topic summary is created with the cited references and a large language model. We take care to ground generated text with facts, and have systems in place to gain human feedback on the overall quality of the process in line with our AI principles. We strive to create accurate and useful summaries for people unfamiliar with the research topic and that supports this goal. These pages are a beta release and will be updated as we learn how best to help people gain value from a research topic summary.
Research
Position of Biochemistry and Cell Biology in Nature Index by Count
Leading institutions
| Institution | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) | 200 | 55.83 |
| Max Planck Society | 116 | 40.73 |
| Harvard University | 112 | 39.86 |
| Yale University | 61 | 34.22 |
| National Institutes of Health (NIH) | 74 | 34.1 |
| Zhejiang University (ZJU) | 68 | 30.34 |
| Stanford University | 70 | 28.4 |
| Peking University (PKU) | 91 | 27.1 |
| Fudan University | 65 | 26.22 |
| University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) | 65 | 25.77 |
Leading countries/territories
| Countries/territories | Count | Share |
|---|---|---|
| United States of America (USA) | 1263 | 965.7 |
| China | 762 | 660.51 |
| Germany | 365 | 200.32 |
| United Kingdom (UK) | 296 | 139.27 |
| Japan | 192 | 133.45 |
| France | 154 | 75.5 |
| Switzerland | 127 | 63.49 |
| Canada | 115 | 56.26 |
| South Korea | 74 | 46.43 |
| India | 64 | 44.37 |
Collaboration
Top 5 leading collaborators in Biochemistry and Cell Biology
Collaborating institutions
Note: Hover over the bars to view details about each institution's Share.
Turn complex research questions into confident strategic decisions
When you're under pressure to set direction, justify investment, or understand your competitive position, you need more than raw data — you need trusted insights you can act on.
Benchmark your performance against global peers using robust, methodologically sound analysis.
Combine quantitative metrics with qualitative expert insight to uncover strengths, gaps and emerging opportunities.
Gain tailored, decision-ready recommendations aligned to your strategic priorities.
Talk to us to learn more about our data dashboards and bespoke strategy reports.
Grow research skills, confidence and careers with training built for every stage of the research lifecycle.
Developed with Nature Portfolio journal Editors and internationally renowned experts. Discover three ways to learn:
Self-paced, online courses in convenient bite-sized units, covering key skills across scientific writing, publishing, grant writing, data analysis, and more.
Expert trainer-led workshops with hands-on exercises and real-time feedback across core research skills, delivered via interactive group sessions.
Editor-led workshops combining core principles in writing and publishing, personalised 1:1 feedback from Nature Portfolio Editors and hands-on exercises.
Explore course catalogues and workshop agendas, enquire about the options or request institutional pricing.