Topics include fatty livers and hormones, how pathogens exploit lipid rafts and the lipoprotein–blood clot link.

What is mitochondria’s role in non-alcoholic fatty liver disease? What’s the best way to differentiate embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells to use MSCs in therapy? How do fatty acids reduce melanin in tumor cells? Researchers tackle these questions …

What structural features of a cortisol-producing enzyme could help in treating Cushing’s disease? Can melatonin be used to treat obesity? How does a gut pathogen evade antibiotic treatment? These and other questions are addressed in our roundup.

Ruma Banerjee has unraveled much of the mystery behind the cofactor vitamin B12, including transport to other proteins and the kinetics of a related sulfur signaling pathway.

A graduate student at the Universidade de Sao Paulo in Brazil wins a JBC/Tabor award for research showing that the labile iron pool can prevent oxidative damage.

What’s the link between chronic diabetes and cognitive decline? How does the body protect the liver during periods of fasting? Why do some pain drugs work in rodents but not in people?

A gene that can both increase and decrease diabetes risk. A protein that makes tumor cells more aggressive. Citrus compounds that reverse obesity. Read about these topics and more in our roundup of recent papers from the Journal of Biological Che…

Gerald Hart created an entirely new field” by showing that O-linked beta N-acetylglucosamine, or O-GlcNAc, “occurs in both the nucleus and cytoplasm of mammalian cells.”

Itay Budin and colleagues at the University of California, Berkeley, used metabolic engineering to determine that a cell’s membrane can act as an environmental sensor.

Six articles in the Journal of Biological Chemistry explore interactions between metabolites and the human host, including natural products, drug metabolism and the concept of colonization resistance.

A recent study in the Journal of Biological Chemistry reports a new causal gene for X-linked intellectual disability, a heritable condition that primarily affects males.

Susan Taylor at the University of California, San Diego, won the ASBMB's Earl and Thressa Stadtman Award.

Brian Shoichet at the University of California, San Francisco, wins award for informatics tools for drug discovery.

A multiple sclerosis drug may be used to treat retinal degeneration.

A recent review in the Journal of Lipid research delves into how microRNAs — small, single-stranded RNA molecules that can stop the synthesis of proteins — can be used to slow and potentially halt the production of cancer cells.