RSC Chemical Biology Blog

We invite you to read our new themed collection on Endocytosis and Cellular Delivery in RSC Chemical Biology and RSC Pharmaceutics.

Guest Edited by Prof. Alexander Kros (Leiden University), Prof. Vince Rotello (University of Massachusetts) and Prof. Georgina Such (University of Melbourne), this collection explores how both biological and synthetic tools can be leveraged to understand the impact of material structure on the migration of specific cellular barriers, aiming to enhance the delivery efficiency of macromolecules and delivery systems such as liposomes, lipid nanoparticles, and polymeric carriers.

Read the collection

The article line-up has been provided below. All articles in RSC Chemical Biology and RSC Pharmaceutics are open access and free to read

Editorial

Introduction to “Endocytosis and cellular delivery”

Alexander A. Kros, Georgina Such, and Vincent M. Rotello

RSC. Chem. Biol., 2026, DOI: 10.1039/D6CB90009G

Reviews

Breaking the cellular delivery bottleneck: recent developments in direct cytosolic delivery of biologics

Harini Nagaraj, Victor Lehot, Nourina Nasim, Yagiz Anil Cicek, Ritabrita Goswami, Taewon Jeon and Vincent M. Rotello

RSC. Pharm., 2025, 2, 850–864, DOI: 10.1039/D5PM00129C

A new strategy for the extrahepatic delivery of lipid-based nanomedicines: a protein corona-mediated selective targeting system based on an ionizable cationic lipid library

Mahmoud A. Younis, Yusuke Sato, Seigo Kimura and Hideyoshi Harashima

RSC. Pharm., 2025, 2, 982–1002, DOI: 10.1039/D5PM00079C

Papers and Communications

trans-Cyclooctene-caged-IL-1β immunocytokine-constructs ligated to unmodified nanobodies allow click-2-release-based control of cytokine activity

Amber Barendrecht, Heleen H. C. Peeters, Diana Torres-García, M. Thierry Shema, Alexi J. C. Sarris, Shimrit David, Göktuğ Aba, Camille M. Le Gall, Martin Wilkovitsch, Martijn Verdoes, Hannes Mikula, Mark A. Travis and Sander I. van Kasteren

RSC. Chem. Biol., 2025, 6, 1068–1078, DOI: 10.1039/D5CB00113G

Rapid plasma membrane reorganisation and endocytosis in HER2 breast cancer cells incubated with trastuzumab decorated polymer nanoparticles

Carwyn S. Hughes, Saeed Tayeb, Duncan Muir, Anthony J. Hayes, Peter Watson and Arwyn T. Jones

RSC. Pharm., 2026, DOI: 10.1039/D5PM00168D

Effect of shape on cellular internalization and anti-cancer efficacy of hydroxyapatite nanoparticles in an osteosarcoma cell line

Simmi Gupta, Esha S. Attar, Vishvesh Joshi and Padma V. Devarajan

RSC. Pharm., 2025, 6, 1087–1095, DOI: 10.1039/D5CB00005J

We hope you enjoy this new themed collection.

Welcome to the first RSC Chemical Biology newsletter of 2026! We are excited to share a recap of the journal’s progress in 2025, and our most recent updates. We wish all of our readers, authors, reviewers and editors a successful year ahead. Get future updates directly to your inbox with our email alerts. Sign up here.

Latest News

We’re pleased to welcome Professor Boris Vauzeilles to the Editorial Board as an Associate Editor. Prof. Vauzeilles is a CNRS Research Director and Director of the Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN, CNRS, France). His research sits at the interface of organic chemistry and chemical biology, with a strong emphasis on the development of chemical tools to investigate biological systems at the molecular level.

His group designs reactive molecular probes and chemical reporters to study biological processes, with particular interests in bacterial detection strategies, diagnostic approaches, and the chemistry of disease-related reactive oxygen species and redox processes. His work combines synthetic chemistry with mechanistic insight to enable new ways of interrogating complex biological environments.

In parallel with his research activities, he is actively involved in supporting and structuring the chemical biology community. He is the founder and President of SCF-ChemBio, the Chemical Biology Division of the French Chemical Society, and serves as President of the International Chemical Biology Society (ICBS).

As a member of the Editorial Board of RSC Chemical Biology, he is committed to promoting rigorous, high-quality research and to supporting the journal as a platform for innovative and mechanistically grounded studies at the chemistry–biology interface.

We are very excited to announce that the 2026 #RSCPoster Conference will be taking place for 24 hours starting 3rd March 2026, 12:00 UTC.

The #RSCPoster conference is an annual event that has become a staple on many scientific community calendars. Held entirely online on LinkedIn over 24 hours, the unique format removes the environmental and financial costs of attending a traditional conference, and helps scientific researchers share their work and network across disciplines, wherever they are in the world. Find out more and join in: https://rsc.li/poster

2025 in Review

Our 2024 Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award was granted to a team comprising Kilian Roßmann, Ramona Birke, Joshua Levitz, Ben Jones and Johannes Broichhagen, for their paper “Red and far-red cleavable fluorescent dyes for self-labelling enzyme protein tagging and interrogation of GPCR co-internalization”. Find out more about the team and their paper at our blog post.

We published a themed collection on “Biomolecular Technologies”, Guest Edited by Prof. Sheel Dodani (The University of Texas at Dallas) and Prof. Ariel Furst (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), which brought together engineered biomolecule-based technologies spanning small molecules, nucleic acids, and proteins, with applications in biocatalysis, biosensing, and synthetic biology. Read the completed collection here. We also recognised our 2024 Emerging Investigators, whose contributions can be read here.

Our editors were pleased to meet the community at the ICBS & ECBS ChemBioParis2025, the 5th Young Investigator Workshop of the EuChemS Division of Chemical Biology and Chemistry in Life Sciences, the RSC Chemical Biology symposium and the EMBO “The Epitranscriptome” workshop. We look forward to connecting with more of you throughout 2026!

Collections

We are delighted to announce the 2025 RSC Chemical Biology Emerging Investigators collection is now online! Read the collection here. This collection highlights invited contributions from early career researchers who are making significant contributions to the field of chemical biology. Congratulations to all of the featured researchers!

RSC Chemical Biology is delighted to welcome papers for a themed collection on ‘Bioorthogonal chemistry for illuminating life processes’. Bioorthogonal chemistry has revolutionised our ability to see the invisible by capturing the fleeting molecular events that sustain life. From single-molecule tracking to whole-organism imaging, bioorthogonal tools now bridge chemistry and biology to illuminate processes once beyond reach.

This themed collection aims to highlight the most recent advances in chemical probe design, imaging methodologies, and applications that reveal the living world in action. We welcome contributions that showcase how bioorthogonal chemistry empowers molecular imaging and spatiotemporal analysis in living systems. The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2026 Find out more, including how to contribute your article, on our blog post.

Upcoming events

RSC Chemical Biology is proud to sponsor poster awards at the 38th Irsee Natural Product Symposium taking place 25-27 February in Kloster Irsee, Germany; and at the Biochemistry 2026 meeting in Wurzburg, Germany on 16-18 March. Our Associate Editor Andrea Rentmeister looks forward to meeting you at both of these exciting events!

Follow our channels below to keep up to date on the events we’re supporting in 2026.

Submit your work to RSC Chemical Biology

Find out more about RSC Chemical Biology on our webpage, where you can also find our author guidelines. RSC Chemical Biology has received a 2024 Impact Factor of 3.1, has an article acceptance rate of 52%, and provides a first decision on articles sent to peer review in an average of 40 days.

Publishing open access with RSC journals unlocks the full potential of your research – bringing increased visibility, wider readership and higher citation potential to your work. As a not-for-profit organisation serving the chemical sciences community, we ensure that our article processing charge (APC) remains the most competitive of major publishers. More details can be found here and the APC for RSC Chemical Biology is £2200. You can also use our journal finder tool to check if your institution currently has an agreement with the RSC that may entitle you to a discount of the APC.

Stay Connected

Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for new articles and the latest news from RSC Chemical Biology and related journals at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

RSC Chemical Biology is delighted to welcome papers for a themed collection on ‘Bioorthogonal chemistry for illuminating life processes’, Guest Edited by Prof Christophe Biot (University of Lille) and Dr Julie Karpenko (University of Strasbourg).

Bioorthogonal chemistry has revolutionised our ability to see the invisible by capturing the fleeting molecular events that sustain life. From single-molecule tracking to whole-organism imaging, bioorthogonal tools now bridge chemistry and biology to illuminate processes once beyond reach. This themed collection aims to highlight the most recent advances in chemical probe design, imaging methodologies, and applications that reveal the living world in action.

Submit now

We welcome contributions that showcase how bioorthogonal chemistry empowers molecular imaging and spatiotemporal analysis in living systems.

The deadline for submissions is 30 June 2026

The manuscript should be prepared according to our article guidelines and submitted via our online system. Ideally, computational work should be experimentally validated wherever possible. For articles to be accepted into the collection, the applications and relevance to chemical biology must be clear. For more information on the journal, please see the journal homepage.

All manuscripts will be subject to the usual initial assessment and peer review processes as necessary, and inclusion in the Collection will be at the discretion of the Guest Editors. Please indicate in your submission that you are submitting to this Collection and inform the Editorial Office by email.

Following our peer-review process, we will publish accepted articles online in a citeable form as soon as they are ready, with compilation and promotion of the complete collection in late 2026.

As we enter the last quarter of 2025, we are excited to share our latest updates with the RSC Chemical Biology community.

Get future updates directly to your inbox with our email alerts. Sign up here.

Latest News

Our 2024 Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award goes to a team comprising Kilian Roßmann, Ramona Birke, Joshua Levitz, Ben Jones and Johannes Broichhagen, for their paper “Red and far-red cleavable fluorescent dyes for self-labelling enzyme protein tagging and interrogation of GPCR co-internalization”. Our congratulations to the winners! Find out more about the team and their paper at our blog post.

Research Spotlight

Peptidiscs offer a way to stabilise membrane proteins for mass photometry and cryo-EM in their native structure. In a recent article, Robinson, Bolla et al. have extended this to mass spectrometry, and share their insights on appropriate technique and the wide applicability of these stabilisers. Read “Native Mass spectrometry of membrane proteins reconstituted in peptidiscs” to find out more.

Onizuka, Nagatsugi et al. have devised new RNA-binding fluorogenic molecular probes for FID assays by combining thiazole orange derivatives with G-clamp, which were sensitive to hit compounds not found by the well-known indicator TO-PRO-1. Read their paper, “RNA-binding fluorogenic probes: G-clamp conjugated with a thiazole orange derivative for screening RNA-binding small molecules”, for more.

A new Review from Galenkap, van den Noort, and Maglia investigates the “Dynamics of single enzymes confined inside a nanopore”. Read the article to discover the promise of nanopore technology in studying single-molecule enzymology, the underlying principles, and the insights these techniques offer.

RSC Chemical Biology in the Community

We were proud to sponsor the second RSC CBIC (Chemistry Biology Interface Community) Early Career Researcher Leadership Retreat at Imperial College London, continuing our partnership with this new event. Anna Rulka, the journal’s Executive Editor, took part and presented an overview of publishing with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the support available to early career authors. Find out more about the meeting on our blog post, and in Imperial College London’s news article.

In October, Dr Rulka (centre) attended the joint ICBS & ECBS meeting ChemBioParis2025 to award poster and talk prizes sponsored by RSC Chemical Biology, meet our community, and learn from the state of the art scientific program. Our Associate Editor Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska (second from right) also participated. Our congratulations to Hayoung Son (Seoul National University, Korea, third from left) on their Best Trainee Communications Prize, and Sebastian Hecko (TU Wien, Austria) and Yuko Hirata (University of Tokyo, Japan) on their best poster awards!

Dr Rulka was also pleased to attend the satellite 5th Young Investigator Workshop of the EuChemS Division of Chemical Biology and Chemistry in Life Sciences, at Institut Pasteur. RSC Chemical Biology proudly sponsor this event, which brings together early career researchers nominated by the EuChemS’ member National Chemical Societies.

The journal’s new Deputy Editor Alexander Whiteside (left) joined the EMBO “The epitranscriptome” workshop this October to build connections with this rapidly developing field and present prizes from RSC Chemical Biology and Molecular Omics to the authors of the best posters, Lea Pradel (EPFL, Switzerland) and Aniek Martens (Radboud University, Netherlands). Congratulations to the winners!

Collections

Our new themed collection on “Biomolecular Technologies”, Guest Edited by Prof. Sheel Dodani (The University of Texas at Dallas) and Prof. Ariel Furst (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), brings together engineered biomolecule-based technologies spanning small molecules, nucleic acids, and proteins, with applications in biocatalysis, biosensing, and synthetic biology. Read the completed collection here.

Do you have some exciting new research in nucleic acids or peptides? Consider our upcoming themed collections, currently open for submissions:

Our collection Chemical biology of nucleic acids: modifications, interactions, and therapeutic applications is open for submissions until 29 January 2026. Guest-Edited by Satoshi Obika (Osaka University), Hiroshi Abe (Nagoya University), and Michal Hocek (Czech Academy of Sciences), this collection invites research on the design and synthesis of nucleosides, nucleotides, and oligonucleotides, as well as evaluations of their biological activities both in vitro and in vivo. In addition, submissions focused on chemical biology research and drug discovery related to long DNA and RNA, and the development of new chemical biology techniques and analytical methods for nucleic acids, are also encouraged. Read the call for papers for information on how to contribute your work.

Rahul Jain (NIPER), Alex Deiters (University of Pittsburgh) Brett VanVeller (Iowa State University), and Krishna K. Sharma (Iowa State University) lead our collection on Peptide chemistry and biology: emerging technologies and translational applications. Developments in peptide modifications and new applications in PROTACs or as protein inhibitors underscore a bright future for peptide chemistry and biology. This themed collection showcases that progress, highlighting cutting-edge research from clinical and translational advances to innovative molecular designs, biological insights, and computational design approaches. Read the call for papers for information on the collection, and how to contribute your work by 29 January 2026.

Upcoming Events

Executive Editor Anna Rulka, and Associate Editor Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska will be at this year’s Pacifichem symposium in Honolulu, Hawaii, on 15-20 December 2025. This year’s meeting includes sessions organised by our Editor-in-Chief Hiroaki Suga. We look forward to meeting you there!

We’re proud to sponsor a best poster award at the 29th Enzyme Mechanisms Conference in Carlsbad, CA, United States, January 4-8 2026.

RSC Chemical Biology is also pleased to support the 7th DNA Repair/Replication Structures & Cancer Conference in Playa Mujeres, Mexico, 1-6 February 2026.

Stay Connected

Follow us on LinkedIn and Bluesky for new articles and the latest news from RSC Chemical Biology and related journals at the Royal Society of Chemistry.

Early career researchers in chemical biology are not only shaping the future of their field, they are also redefining what scientific leadership looks like. This September, early career researchers (ECRs) gathered at Imperial College London for the second Chemistry Biology Interface Community (CBIC) Early Career Researcher Leadership Retreat, a three-day residential event designed to strengthen leadership skills, encourage collaboration, and build a supportive professional network.

Organised by CBIC Council members Anna Barnard, Gavin Miller and Andrew Truman, with local coordination support from Imperial’s Institute of Chemical Biology, the retreat brought together a diverse group of participants from across the UK and beyond. The event was sponsored by RSC Chemical Biology, and supported with a grant from the RSC’s Chemistry Biology Interface Community, with RSC staff joining throughout the programme to share resources and highlight opportunities available for ECRs across publishing, funding, and professional development.

Day 1: Research, publishing, and RSC support for early career researchers

The retreat opened with a warm welcome from the organisers and an introduction to the programme’s aims: to provide a dedicated space where early career researchers could reflect on their professional journeys and exchange ideas on leading research teams effectively.

The first morning included an invited talk from Professor Ed Tate (Imperial College London), who shared insights into advances in chemical biology and the importance of interdisciplinary collaboration. His talk set a motivating tone for the retreat.

A highlight of the opening day was a session of flash presentations, where each participant delivered a short overview of their research area. These rapid-fire talks helped participants learn about one another’s scientific interests, sparking discussions that continued throughout the event.

Later, the session focused on research and publishing, with the RSC Chemical Biology Executive Editor, Anna Rulka, presenting an overview of publishing with the Royal Society of Chemistry and the support available to early career authors. Delegates heard about opportunities to contribute to themed issues, editorials, and community-led features, as well as guidance on navigating the publication process.

These discussions sparked valuable conversations around scientific communication, authorship, and how ECRs can raise the visibility of their work.

Throughout the day, participants exchanged insights on research leadership, group management, and the evolving landscape of chemical biology research, setting the tone for an open, collaborative retreat.

Dr Anna Rulka’s presentation

Day 2: Leadership skills and industry insights

The second day centred on leadership and industry engagement, with sessions designed to help participants reflect on how they lead, communicate, and collaborate.

Elizabeth Adams from Scafell Coaching facilitated an interactive morning workshop exploring what effective leadership looks like in research environments. Drawing on her experience, she encouraged participants to consider the importance of positive team culture, clear communication, and wellbeing in academic settings.

Through group exercises, attendees developed team charters, discussed approaches to conflict management, and shared practical strategies for workload balance and mentoring students. The conversations highlighted that leadership in science goes beyond technical expertise, it’s also about fostering inclusion, trust, and collaboration.

Collaboration was a recurring theme throughout the day. Delegates explored how to find suitable research partners, set clear expectations, and ensure fair recognition using different frameworks. Reviewing each other’s online profiles also helped participants reflect on how to represent their work effectively to potential collaborators and employers.

In the afternoon, participants heard from Dr Nadia Luheshi of AstraZeneca, whose talk offered an inspiring view of career pathways in industry. With experience spanning immunology, mRNA research, and oncology, she spoke about her transition from academia to industry and shared insights into open innovation, target validation, and the future of cancer research.

Nadia’s talk also highlighted how AI, data science, and digital health are transforming research and diagnostics, reinforcing how chemical biologists can contribute to advancing sustainable, patient-centred innovation.

Dr Nadia Luheshi

Day 3: Research sharing and reflection

The final day of the retreat returned to a focus on research, with each participant delivering a “chalk talk”: a concise five-minute presentation showcasing new data, challenges, or ideas from their lab, followed by a short discussion.

These sessions were energetic and collaborative, reflecting the diversity of expertise represented in the room. Participants provided constructive feedback, discovered shared interests, and even identified potential collaborations to pursue after the retreat.

The CBIC Programme Manager joined the final session to share upcoming opportunities for ECRs, including an RSC Funding Workshop on establishing independent research careers. As the retreat drew to a close, many participants reflected on how the experience had strengthened their confidence, expanded their professional networks, and provided new tools for leadership.

Prof. Ed Tate at his plenary

Strengthening the early career chemical biology community

The CBIC Early Career Researcher Leadership Retreat aims to become a cornerstone event for the chemical biology community. Building on the success of the inaugural 2023 meeting in Newcastle, this second edition continued to provide a supportive and intellectually stimulating environment for emerging leaders in the field. The quality of the ECRs at the event indicates that the future is bright for chemical biology research in the UK.

By combining scientific discussion with leadership training and peer-to-peer learning, the retreat underscored the importance of nurturing the people who will shape the next generation of chemical biology research. Feedback from delegates highlighted the value of the programme’s mix of sessions, which balanced professional development with time for reflection and collaboration.

For the RSC, events like this are an important way to connect with early career researchers, listen to their experiences, and ensure that Royal Society of Chemistry continues to meet their evolving needs—from publishing support and career development resources to funding opportunities and community networks.

The RSC extends sincere thanks to the organisers, speakers, and participants for delivering another inspiring retreat. Their enthusiasm, openness, and collaborative spirit reflect the best of the chemical biology community.

Read more: RSC CBIC Leadership Retreat Empowers Next-Gen Chemical Biologists | Imperial News | Imperial College London

We are delighted to announce the recipients of the Outstanding Early Career Researcher Award 2024 from RSC Chemical Biology: a team comprising Kilian Roßmann, Ramona Birke, Joshua Levitz, Ben Jones and led by Johannes Broichhagen.

Their award-winning paper, “Red and far-red cleavable fluorescent dyes for self-labelling enzyme protein tagging and interrogation of GPCR co-internalization“, introduces a chemical toolset that enables new insight into receptor trafficking—specifically the complex internalization of G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a key class of drug targets.

The team developed membrane-impermeable fluorescent probes for self-labelling protein tags (SNAP/Halo), which can be selectively removed from the cell surface using a mild reducing agent (MESNA). This innovation allows researchers to “strip away” uninternalized dye, revealing precise trafficking patterns and uncovering signalling crosstalk between receptors like GLP1R and GIPR.

Their approach spans from high-resolution imaging to high-throughput ligand screening, offering a powerful and versatile method for studying GPCR biology.

About the team:

• Johannes Broichhagen leads a chemical biology group at FMP Berlin, focusing on chromophore photophysics and optical control of cell-surface proteins.
• Kilian Roßmann, who completed his PhD in 2025, specializes in novel imaging techniques.
• Ramona Birke brings deep expertise in molecular cell physiology and mass spectrometry.
• Joshua Levitz, Associate Professor at Weill Cornell, works on optical tools for receptor neuroscience.
• Ben Jones, Clinician Scientist at Imperial College London, focuses on GPCR pharmacology in metabolic disease.

In their words:

“This honour means a great deal to us, highlighting the visibility and impact of our research approach and motivates us for our ongoing scientific work. We would like to extend our special thanks to the editorial and advisory boards of RSC Chemical Biology for recognizing the research results in our manuscript “Red and far-red cleavable fluorescent dyes for self-labelling enzyme protein tagging and interrogation of GPCR co-internalization”. We would like to highlight that this study has been an interdisciplinary collaboration across continents, which shows how important international support and cooperation are to yield maximal scientific success. In particular, Chemical biology is a fascinating field that combines interdisciplinary approaches and opens up new avenues of research, which RSC Chemical Biology covers extraordinarily. We are proud to be able to contribute to the further development of this exciting field, and this award encourages us to continue our journey with curiosity to tackle new questions, gaining unprecedented insights in the intricate world of receptor signalling.”

We are proud to celebrate this outstanding contribution to the field and look forward to what this team uncovers next!

🔗 Read the  winners’ paper here!