Vince Arafiles

Modular Vinyl Phosphonamidates for Cysteine-Directed Protein Targeting Covalent inhibitors and chemical probes targeting ligandable cysteine residues have emerged as powerful tools for drug discovery and proteomics. In this study, we introduce vinyl phosphonamidates (VPA...

Happy to contribute to a great work from my colleague and friend @cestieger.bsky.social @fmp-berlin.de @jacs.acspublications.org

Modular Vinyl Phosphonamidates for Cysteine-Directed Protein Targeting | Journal of the American Chemical Society pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

A great article to remind oneself that academia's purpose is to satisfy personal egos but to encourage and bring the best out of the next generation while balancing the pressure to perform 👨🏾‍🏫👨🏾‍🔬

Fast, Bright, and Reversible Fluorescent Labeling of Rhodamine-Binding Proteins Rhodamine dyes conjugated to targeting ligands can yield exceptionally bright fluorescent probes for live-cell imaging. However, the limited permeability of such rhodamine derivatives restricts their ...

A good end to 2025: rhodamine-binders for bioimaging in JACS: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

“This is the beauty of global-south scholars: they are the connectors of the two worlds,” resonates with our decision so much, while never allowing the global north underestimate the potential and capacity of the global south

Exceptional young performers reached their peak quickly but narrowly mastered only one interest.

By contrast, exceptional adults reached peak performance gradually with broader, multidisciplinary practice.

However, elite programs are designed to nurture younger talent.

Eukaryotic-like Synthetic Cells with Chemically Controlled Protein Localization Compartmentalization by organelles and the dynamic control of protein localization within these compartmentalized spaces are key mechanisms for regulating biological processes in eukaryotic cells. Here, we present a bottom-up approach for constructing cell-sized liposomes (giant unilamellar vesicles, GUVs) encapsulating an artificial organelle with chemically controlled protein localization. In this system, proteins fused to Escherichia coli dihydrofolate reductase are rapidly recruited on demand from the inner solution to the interior of a DNA-droplet-based (“nucleus”-like) organelle within GUVs upon addition of a synthetic, DNA-binding trimethoprim derivative to the external solution. By coupling this system with a sequence-specific protease, we constructed a synthetic cell platform that enables chemically induced, multistep cascade reactions─including protein relocalization, organelle-specific enzymatic activity, and product release from the organelle─that culminate in the control of synthetic-cell phenotypes, such as pore formation in the GUV membrane. This work provides a versatile platform for the bottom-up creation of eukaryotic-like synthetic cells with sophisticated and programmable functions.

One more paper from our lab! This ACS Synthetic Biology paper reports bottom-up construction of eukaryotic-like synthetic cells with an artificial nucleus-like organelle, enabling on-demand protein localization control by a small molecule. 💊 pubs.acs.org/doi/full/10....

Lovely summary of our 🎯 DarT-labelling technology! We are hoping to see this applied to a more basic cell biology and biochem applicationsn

link to the original @natureportfolio.nature.com @natchem.nature.com article: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

I support this 💯%! Many fail in using these terms properly in the hopes to sound "intelligent", but just end up confusing the readership and the message. I agree that simple and common expressions are sufficient to convey the depth of scientific data, while being accessible.

Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for genetic code expansion - Nature Bacterial ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters can be utilized and engineered to transport non-canonical amino acids into Escherichia coli for highly efficient synthesis of proteins with novel func...

🚨Our paper is out! 🥳
Hijacking a bacterial ABC transporter for efficient genetic code expansion.
Many congrats to everyone involved - a multi-year effort led by @taruniype.bsky.social @maxfottner.bsky.social
www.nature.com/articles/s41...

it all started years ago with a failed experiment
🧵👇 1/9

Thank you @chemkritzer.bsky.social ! We hope that these findings would be of great help to #cellpenetratingpeptides community. Stay tuned for the next stories soon!

Thank you! 🙏🏾We are hoping that this could be useful for the #chemicalbiology community

(con'd) This work is only possible with the lead and good friend #LeanderCrocker, #JudithMüchler, @mruwolt.bsky.social, @cestieger.bsky.social, and our great collaborators from @uniregensburg.bsky.social , Nataliya Archipowa and Roger-Jan Kutta

(con'd) which suggest the participation of exocytosis pathways. #DarT-labeling🎯 provides an evidence to this long theorized phenomenon!

(con'd) More importantly, owing to the high #biocompatibility of #DarT-labeling🎯, we could monitor the fate of undegraded penetrating peptides #CPPs after prolonged incubation. The change of protein interactome of the undegraded CPPs from nuclear proteins to exosome proteins and lysosomal proteins

In this work, we showed the capabilities of DarT by mapping the cell-surface #proteome of HeLa cells and putative #intracellular interactome of #CellPenetratingPeptides!

Energy-transfer photoproximity labelling in live cells using an organic cofactor - Nature Chemistry Current photoproximity labelling methods often require metal-based catalysts to map protein interactomes but, owing to their toxicity, they have limited intracellular applicability. A deazaflavin cofa...

🔥After years of hard work, it's finally out in @natchem.nature.com🔥 The Hackenberger group @fmp-berlin.de developed #🎯DarT-labeling, a #photocatalyticproximitylabeling method using deazaflavin - a ✅ biocompatible ✅ easily synthesized ✅ chemically benign #photocatalyst

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

Promiscuous and multivalent interactions between Eps15 and partner protein Dab2 generate a complex interaction network - Nature Communications Eps15, a protein involved in endocytosis initiation, uses small folded EH domains to bind disordered partner proteins and its own disordered tail, thus forming a dynamic network via phase separation t...

I am happy to share our new article on dynamic Eps15 and Dab2 networks in endocytosis studied by #NMR, and forming #LLPS. Research was done at @fmp-berlin.de and at the Institut de Biologie Structurale (IBS).

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

New from our group: proline-rich peptides that target mitochondria & stay there!
Tuning hydrophobicity and rigidity provided design rules for CPPs that enter cells and redistribute for long-term mitochondrial residency.
Now out in ACS Chemical Biology: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

BioRAM platform together with the CPP-additive technology allows the direct translocation of native proteins into cells! An easy, biocompatible, and efficient innovation for intracellular delivery of proteins

Another beautiful cover image by @barthvanrossum.bsky.social highlighting both our recent BioRAM intracellular delivery platform together and the CPP-additive technology is now an Outside Back Cover in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social ! @fmp-berlin.de

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

@angewandtechemie.bsky.social @jacs.acspublications.org

Cell-Surface-Retained Peptide Additives for the Cytosolic Delivery of Functional Proteins The delivery of functional proteins remains a major challenge in advancing biological and pharmaceutical sciences. Herein, we describe a powerful, simple, and highly effective strategy for the intrace...

#BioRAM works hand-in-hand with our developed #CPPadditives. Check out the prequel paper here: doi.org/10.1021/jacs...

Intracellular Delivery of Native Proteins by BioReversible Arginine Modification (BioRAM) on Amino Groups Bioreversible Arginine Modification of amine-containing protein residues (termed BioRAM) allows the serum-compatible, readily accessible, and efficient delivery of native proteins into live cells. Co....

#BioRAM is the new #celldelivery platform in town! Everyone can now access the full version of this game-changing work from Jonathan Franke! Ecstatic to share my experience in #peptide - based #proteindelivery #intracellulardelivery @fmp-berlin.de @humboldt-foundation.de

doi.org/10.1002/anie...

a close up of a man 's face with the words `` it 's done '' written on the bottom . ALT: a close up of a man 's face with the words `` it 's done '' written on the bottom .

Sent! It's done! Can't wait to see our work in print 😌 #photoproximity #proteomics #cellpenetratingpeptides

Also check out the associated News & Views by Masayasu Taki and Masayoshi Nakamura highlighting the work from @kjohnsson.bsky.social lab on SNAP-tag2

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

Beautiful work by the @matilegroup.bsky.social! I'm following their thiol-mediated uptake stories and feel happy that #photocatalyticproximitylabeling is opening new doors to discover the mechanism of this fascinating cellular entry mechanism! #drugdelivery #cellularuptake

Excited to see this beautiful cover art by @barthvanrossum.bsky.social, which clearly illustrates our new bioconjugation chemistry for precise antibody modification in @jacs.acspublications.org! A big thank you to all co-authors @fmp-berlin.de & Tubulis GmbH and @humboldt-foundation.de for funding!

Intracellular Delivery of Native Proteins by BioReversible Arginine Modification (BioRAM) on Amino Groups Protein-based tools are emerging as innovative solutions to interfere with biological pathways in molecular biology and medicine. They offer advantages over traditional small molecules due to their a...

Huge development to protein delivery platforms from the Hackenberger lab in @fmp-berlin.de! An awesome collaboration with #JonathanFranke to get this science out in @angewandtechemie.bsky.social

BioReversible Arginine Modification (BioRAM) on Amino Groups onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Orthogonal Site-Specific Dual Bioconjugation of Aryl and Alkyl Thiols We introduce aryl thiols as nucleophiles for site-specific protein and antibody bioconjugation, which allows the orthogonal labeling of native cysteines for double modification strategies. In a high-y...

Great and meticulous work by my colleagues @mar_degeus @PhosphorusFive @fmp-berlin.de Orthogonal Site-Specific Dual Bioconjugation of Aryl and Alkyl Thiols | Journal of the American Chemical Society pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/...

Transgenic means that genes from 1 organism have been put into another. We make transgenic mice to understand how genes influence biological processes. We make transgenic plants to make them more nutrient rich. We make transgenic bacteria so they make medicine for us. It's wide-ranging & v. useful.

Beyond excited to announce our in-person symposium to celebrate the 25th anniversary of ChemBioChem/ChemPhysChem!

Advances in Structural Analysis of Biomolecules
From Subcellular Imaging to Drug Design

October 23-24, 2025, Berlin

Please like and share: cbc-cpc2025.org