Focus on Chemical probes

Nature Chemical Biology, Volume 6, Issue 3, March 2010

Chemical probes provide important tools for dynamically interrogating biological systems and for investigating potential drug targets. In this issue we feature a collection of Commentaries and Review Articles that highlight recent advances and future directions in the field. On the cover, we highlight three research papers in this issue that describe advances in chemical probe research: using new biochemical assays, Bradner et al. discover unexpected selectivity within current HDAC inhibitors and develop a true pan-HDAC inhibitor (p238); Kokel et al. describe a method for identifying neuroactive molecules and predicting their mode of action through behavioral zebrafish assays (p231); and Bracha et al. use a combination of RNAi, metabolomics and chemical probes to uncover metabolic enzymes that regulate myoblast differentiation (p202). Cover image by Sigrid Hart with additions by Katie Vicari.

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