Neal Devaraj

Lipids remain one of the most enigmatic classes of biological molecules. Lipids were likely one of the first components necessary for life, yet our understanding of how lipid membranes could have arisen spontaneously is a mystery…

Lipids remain one of the least studied biomolecules despite their abundance in organisms. Several technologically advances in the past few decades have allowed to understand their relevance and essential functions…

The assembly of synthetic membranes offers a novel strategy to reconstruct life's functions and shed light on how life emerged on Earth. A significant challenge to the fabrication of artificial membranes is the development of simple methodologies to mimic native membrane generation…

Cellular lipid membranes are embedded with transmembrane proteins crucial to cell function. Elucidating membrane proteins’ diverse structures and biophysical mechanisms is increasingly necessary due to their growing prevalence as a therapeutic target and sheer ubiquity in cells…

The _de novo_ formation of lipid membranes from minimal reactive precursors is a major goal in synthetic cell research. In nature, the synthesis of membrane phospholipids is orchestrated by numerous enzymes, including fatty acid synthases and membrane-bound acyltransferases…

Cellular lipid membranes are embedded with transmembrane proteins crucial to cell function. Elucidating membrane proteins’ diverse structures and biophysical mechanisms is increasingly necessary due to their growing prevalence as a therapeutic target and sheer ubiquity in cells…

Cells regulate their biochemical processes using structured lipid assemblies as compartments. Membrane-bound organelles concentrate and colocalize molecules to favor specific biochemical processes while isolating incompatible reactions…

Lipid membranes in cells are fluid structures that undergo constant synthesis, remodeling, fission, and fusion. The dynamic nature of lipid membranes enables their use as adaptive compartments, making them indispensable for all life on Earth…

Lipid membranes of living cells can assemble into various shapes and morphologies to govern and regulate biological functions. Although cell membranes are largely comprised of lamellar structures, nonlamellar lipid membranes with unique 3-D architectures have been widely observed…

Phospholipids are the main lipid components of cellular membranes. Their unique properties make them especially attractive for a range of applications, including the study of protein-membrane interactions, origins-of-life research, and the fabrication of novel artificial cell models…

Lipid membranes in cells are fluid structures that undergo constant synthesis, remodeling, fission, and fusion. The dynamic nature of lipid membranes enables their use as adaptive compartments, making them indispensable for all life on Earth…

Cell membranes in living organisms are highly dynamic, with their behavior tightly regulated by metabolic networks that control lipid composition and enable responses to environmental changes…

Engineered RNA-binding protein (RBP) systems offer a powerful technique to manipulate and study RNAs in cellular processes. These site-specific interactions can recruit functional proteins to a target RNA…

Mammalian cells synthesize thousands of distinct lipids, and lipid metabolism is known to fundamentally influence signaling in homeostatic cellular states versus cells undergoing pathogenesis…

While the complex functions and mechanisms of modern biology are increasingly well understood, there still is a lack of insight regarding the chemistry that enabled the emergence of life and the highly evolved biopolymers that sustain it…

Oxidized lipids, particularly aldehyde-containing products from lipid peroxidation, play a crucial role in various pathological processes, including atherosclerosis and neurodegeneration…

Lipid membranes in cells are fluid structures that undergo constant synthesis, remodeling, fission, and fusion. The dynamic nature of lipid membranes enables their use as adaptive compartments, making them indispensable for all life on Earth…

Virus-like particles (VLPs) are self-assembled protein structures from viral coat proteins. These VLPs can be used as delivery reagents with active cargo such as RNA…

Bacterial tRNA guanine transglycosylases (TGTs) facilitate the exchange of guanine with the queuine precursor, prequeuosine1 (preQ1)…

Bacterial tRNA guanine transglycosylases (TGTs) facilitate the exchange of guanine with the queuine precursor, prequeuosine1 (preQ1)…

Bioorthogonal reactions have revolutionized molecular biology through the conjugation of diverse biomolecules such es lipids, proteins, and nucleic acids, within cellular environments…