Linus B Boll
lbboll.bsky.social
Linus B Boll
@lbboll.bsky.social
Chemical Biology PhD Student
@wennemersgroup.bsky.social @ethzurich.bsky.social 🇨🇭🧪

Developing tools to understand and exploit the chemistry of the extracellular matrix.
Reposted by Linus B Boll
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/...
LinkedIn
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lnkd.in
August 19, 2025 at 10:24 AM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
We have multiple PhD and Postdoc positions open in my new group at Masaryk University. Are you an excellent and motivated candidate interested in organic and peptide synthesis and chemical biology? Get in touch! Start in January 2026. www.fialalab.com
Appreciate sharing!
July 21, 2025 at 3:37 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Excited to share our latest: we engineered the reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme for ATP-driven modification of C termini. Our tool mimics the logic of peptide bond formation in biology for precision modification of proteins in vitro. 🧪https://rdcu.be/ewN7C
Engineered reactivity of a bacterial E1-like enzyme enables ATP-driven modification of protein and peptide C termini
Nature Chemistry - In living systems, ATP provides an energetic driving force for protein synthesis and modification. Now, an engineered enzymatic tool has been developed for high-yield, ATP-driven...
rdcu.be
July 18, 2025 at 2:40 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Selectively assembling collagen heterotrimers is a challenge. But not for us! Aminopropline-aspartate salt bridges drive the assembly of a hyperstable, a minimal-length, and a special blunt-ended collagen heterotrimer. Now out in
@angewandtechemie.bsky.social!
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...
May 9, 2025 at 3:11 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
🚨 New preprint from our group! We report a photocatalytic, regiodivergent method to functionalize saturated N-heterocycles at the α- or β-position. The metal-free reaction runs in water with a flavin catalyst and gives rapid access to sought-after piperidines. Check it out here: 🔗 tin.al/DqxU
May 7, 2025 at 1:22 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
🚨 Happy to share a new preprint – our group’s first!
🔗 chemrxiv.org/engage/chemr...

We report a novel synthetic method to access cyclic ethers from diketones, powered by simple borane catalysts.

Thanks to the whole team for their excellent work!
April 30, 2025 at 3:55 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
According to tech firms, generative AI is going to cure cancer extremely soon. While that's false, the technology is transforming biomedical research. I talked to scientists and executives at universities, pharma companies, and research institutes to learn how: www.theatlantic.com/technology/a...
AI Executives Promise Cancer Cures. Here’s the Reality
The technology is genuinely useful for scientific discovery, but its applications are less dramatic than you might think.
www.theatlantic.com
April 25, 2025 at 10:24 PM
Last year, we found that equipping a fibrosis-targeting collagen model peptide with a Texas Red fluorophore strongly affected the peptide’s folding behavior - so we looked more closely at the influence of fluorophores on triple helix formation and stability.

Now out in ACIE: tinyurl.com/4sbhdv95
Fluorophores Nucleate and Stabilize Collagen Triple Helices – En Route to Better Diagnostic Tools for Fibrosis and Tissue Repair
Fluorescently labeled collagen model peptides (CMPs) are emerging as valuable diagnostic tools for fibrosis and tissue repair. We show that fluorophores markedly impact the folding behavior of CMPs a...
tinyurl.com
April 4, 2025 at 6:52 AM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Check out our new review on induced proximity modalities (#TPD and a lot more!) aimed cell surface targets @naturebiotech.bsky.social, spearheaded by postdocs Nick Till and "Rahm" Ramanathan

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Induced proximity at the cell surface - Nature Biotechnology
Technologies to modulate induced proximity at the cell surface advance the manipulation of diverse biological responses.
www.nature.com
March 26, 2025 at 2:32 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
TWeeP (This Week's Paper): Congratulations to my colleague Bartosz and Zibi on the nice work on glucose-derived bis-crownether receptors for photo-controlled binding of amino acid esters in water via isomerization of azobenzenes. Now out in @commschem.bsky.social.
www.nature.com/articles/s42...
Glucose-derived receptors for photo-controlled binding of amino acid esters in water - Communications Chemistry
Selective amino acid receptors that operate in aqueous media are of interest for potential diagnostic and sensing applications. Here, the authors report glucose-derived photoswitchable receptors based...
www.nature.com
February 23, 2025 at 12:13 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Cells are filled with toxic stuff that damages healthy proteins. Is that garbage just left to rot on the curb? No way! Ubiquitin ligases have evolved to recognize chemical damage and clean it up! www.nature.com/articles/s41...
C-terminal amides mark proteins for degradation via SCF–FBXO31 - Nature
SCF–FBXO31 scans proteins for C-terminal amidation and marks them for subsequent proteasomal degradation.
www.nature.com
January 30, 2025 at 12:30 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Every once in a while we publish a paper that moves a whole field forward. I think that's the case for this one from the Bugaj lab, where they describe proteins for THERMOGENETIC control of cellular behavior. www.nature.com/articles/s41...
A temperature-inducible protein module for control of mammalian cell fate - Nature Methods
The Melt (Membrane localization using temperature) protein translocates to the plasma membrane upon temperature shift. Melt variants with a range of switching temperatures enable straightforward therm...
www.nature.com
January 23, 2025 at 6:34 PM
Reposted by Linus B Boll
Check out this bombshell publication by Michael Fischbach @mfgrp.bsky.social and coworkers @stanford-chemh.bsky.social @stanfordmedicine.bsky.social, imagine a cancer immune therapy/vaccine where treatment begins and ends with a painless topical skin treatment! 🤯

www.nature.com/articles/s41...
Discovery and engineering of the antibody response to a prominent skin commensal - Nature
Nature - Discovery and engineering of the antibody response to a prominent skin commensal
www.nature.com
December 11, 2024 at 7:26 PM