Defects in protein glycosylation and glycan metabolism lead to congenital disorders of glycosylation (CDGs). A key step in N-glycosylation involves the lipid dolichol, which in its phosphorylated form acts as a carrier of glycans to be transferred onto proteins. Previously, dolichol was thought to be directly synthesized from polyprenol by the enzyme SRD5A3. Wilson et al. have now reported a revision

Lipid transport between organelles is essential for many biological processes and usually proceeds at membrane contact sites via lipid transfer proteins (LTPs). This process is challenging to study as most current approaches for tracking intracellular lipid transport are indirect, and it is unclear if the insights obtained in vitro are translatable to cellular settings. To address this, Luan, Liang

Many plastics do not degrade in the environment. Switching production to biodegradable and compostable polymers offers a route to design an inherently limited lifetime into plastics and thereby ensure that the waste plastic does not persist in the environment. Polylactide (PLA) is a widely used biopolymer, but it is efficiently degraded only under industrial composting conditions at high temperatures;

Computational methods for calculating a protein structure from a given amino acid sequence have revolutionized both our understanding of structural biology and the prediction of protein-binding compounds. This issue features several pieces that explore machine learning approaches for protein structure prediction, benchmarking and evaluation of model quality, and how machine learning algorithms can

The development of deep learning tools such as AlphaFold2 (AF2), which enable structural predictions of proteins with high confidence, provides a potential alternative or substitute for experimentally derived structures. AF2 was also envisioned to help identify new ligands through virtual screening. However, retrospective docking analysis comparing AF2-generated versus experimental structures revealed

Deep-sea animals live under high pressure and low temperature, but the molecular adaptations to these conditions are not known. Winnikoff et al. have now identified lipid properties that enable different comb jelly (ctenophore) species to adapt to different ocean depths. The authors analyzed tissue from ctenophores collected at different depths from 0 to 4000 m and temperatures at tropical, temperate

Insertion sequences (ISs) are short DNA sequences that can autonomously move within genomes. Although most IS elements show no sequence specificity during transposition, two IS families, IS110 and IS1111, exhibit exceptional target site selectivity. Research from two separate groups has revealed that the sequence specificity of these two families originates from their expression of non-coding RNAs