Muhammad Jbara

Biocompatible organometallics for in-cell protein arylation - Nature Chemistry Transition-metal chemistry has transformed modern organic synthesis, enabling the generation of novel compounds in vitro. Now, biocompatible organometallic reagents have been shown to enable selective...

Happy to share our N&V piece on biocompatible organometallics for In-cell Protein arylation
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Enjoy the full story by @shabazlab.bsky.social & @bendavisgroup.bsky.social

doi.org/10.1038/s41557-025-02017-1

Engineering Light-Responsive Transcription Factors via Strategic Masking of Post-translational Modification Residues The development of synthetic transcription factors (TFs) that generate functional outputs in response to specific stimuli holds significant promise for modulating key cellular processes in both basic ...

Engineering Light-Responsive Transcription Factors via Strategic Masking of Post-translational Modification Residues

pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Biocompatible ligand balancing in transition metal coordination enables benign in-cell protein arylation - Nature Chemistry The perceived toxicity of organometallic reagents has limited their use in living systems. Now it has been shown that balancing flexible chelation with biocompatible ligands without precluding chemica...

doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Supplementary Cover of JACS Vol 147/Issue 46 Week Commencing November 17, 2025

‘Chemical Engineering of Transcription Factors Uncovered Cell-Permeable μMax Modulators', featured in the latest issue of #JACS!

Explore the research behind the art: buff.ly/yKKMf9b

Chemical Engineering of Transcription Factors Uncovered Cell-Permeable μMax Modulators Transcription factor engineering has emerged as a powerful strategy for generating novel proteins for fundamental research and biomedical applications. Although various analogs have been developed, th...

Chemical Engineering of Transcription Factors Uncovered Cell-Permeable μMax Modulators l @jacs.acspublications.org
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

In case you missed it...

Yesterday we announced the new 2025 ERC Starting Grant winners. 478 early-career researchers will be pushing the frontiers of science - from cancer and mental health to quantum breakthroughs.

👉 europa.eu/!89nG4M

5 explain what this funding means for their work & careers.👇

Thrilled that our #ProTailor project has been awarded the #ERCStG!
With #ProTailor we will advance the development of synthetic transcription factors to crack the molecular mechanisms of gene expression and unlock exciting new applications!
@erc.europa.eu
#ERCStG

📣 The ERC Starting Grant call results are out!

Find out which early-career researchers will receive funding this year, what they will be investigating, where they will be based... plus lots of other #ERCStG facts & figures for 2025!

➡️ buff.ly/IsafuFh

#FrontierResearch 🇪🇺#EUfunded #HorizonEurope

“It’s the company that matters!”

This is certainly true for acid-sensing ion channel 1a, whose function is modulated by the presence of monocarboxylate transporter 1

All was made possible by the drive & curiosity of the fantastic @mette-h-poulsen.bsky.social

www.biorxiv.org/cgi/content/...

JSP program at the Bürgenstock conference 2025 promotes Scientific Leaders of the next Generation from both academia and industry! Class 2025 JSP together with the Bürgenstock president José Luis Mascareñas. #SCS_BC25 #JSPFellow2025 #scs

One-Pot Total Synthesis of a Post-translationally Modified Max Transcription Factor Sheds Light on Ser-Phosphorylation and Lys-Acetylation Crosstalk in DNA Binding We report a one-pot total synthesis of the transcription factor Max in seven consecutive steps, starting from three peptide segments and employing native chemical ligation. The developed synthesis fac...

One-Pot Total Synthesis of Post-translationally Modified Max Transcription Factor in Seven Consecutive Steps: Unveiling the Crosstalk Between Ser-Phosphorylation and Lys-Acetylation in DNA Binding
pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...
Congratulations to Nithun and Shada!

Abiotic Transcription Factors by Strategic Insertion of Non-Proteinogenic Amino Acids

Authors: Omer Harel, Ferran Nadal-Bufi, Raj Nithun, Yumi Minyi Yao, Ariel Afek, Marc Vendrell, Muhammad Jbara
DOI: 10.26434/chemrxiv-2025-rdbs7

A glycan foldamer that uses carbohydrate–aromatic interactions to perform catalysis - Nature Chemistry In nature, catalysis is generally performed by proteins and ribozymes. Now it has been shown that glycans can be designed to perform catalysis. Exploiting carbohydrate–aromatic interactions, a glycan ...

Can glycans catalyze chemical reactions?
Check out our glycan foldamer that uses carbohydrate–aromatic interactions to perform catalysis, today out in @naturechemistry.bsky.social

Big congrats to Kaimeng!

@mpici.bsky.social

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Optimized Directed Evolution of E. coli leucyl‐tRNA Synthetase adds many Noncanonical Amino Acids into the Eukaryotic Genetic Code Including Ornithine and Nϵ‐Acetyl‐Methyllysine The pyrrolysyl pair has dominated noncanonical amino acids (ncAAs) incorporation in eukaryotes, but additional engineerable pairs are needed to further expand this toolbox. Although E. coli leucyl-tR....

Elise and Tarah's work on engineering leucyl-tRNA synthetase to incorporate numerous ncAAs in mammalian cells now published! A bit of good news amidst these chaotic times onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Late-Stage Minimal Labeling of Peptides and Proteins for Real-Time Imaging of Cellular Trafficking The cellular uptake routes of peptides and proteins are complex and diverse, often handicapping therapeutic success. Understanding their mechanisms of internalization requires chemical derivatization with approaches that are compatible with wash-free and real-time imaging. In this work, we developed a new late-stage labeling strategy for unprotected peptides and proteins, which retains their biological activity while enabling live-cell imaging of uptake and intracellular trafficking. Benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazoles were selectively incorporated into Cys residues of both linear and cyclic peptides via Pd-mediated arylation with good yields and high purities. The resulting labeled peptides are chemically stable under physiological conditions and display strong fluorogenic character for wash-free imaging studies. We utilized this approach to prepare native-like analogues of cell-penetrating peptides and performed time-course analysis of their internalization routes in live cells by fluorescence lifetime imaging. Furthermore, we applied our strategy to label the chemokine protein mCCL2 and monitor its internalization via receptor-mediated endocytosis in live macrophages. This study provides a straightforward strategy for late-stage fluorogenic labeling of intact peptides and small proteins and direct visualization of dynamic intracellular events.

First post @bsky.app Late-Stage Minimal Labeling of Peptides and Proteins for Real-Time Imaging of Cellular Trafficking, published in ACS Central Science. Amazing collaboration with the Marc Vendrell group—congratulations to Ferran, Nithun and all authors! pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acscentsci.4c01249

Congratulations, Malte!