Cover Feature: Real‐Time and Label‐Free Measurement of Deubiquitinase Activity with a MspA Nanopore (ChemBioChem 17/2021)

Ubiquitination plays a prominent role in cell signaling networks. Enzymes governing ubiquitination include the conjugation machinery along with the deconjugating enzymes ‐ deubiquitases. A MspA nanopore is demonstrated as a sensor for discriminating and quantifying various ubiquitin proteins. Real‐time measurement of polymeric ubiquitin chain disassembly by a deubiquitinating enzyme was performed and enzyme kinetics were determined. The implementation of MspA into arrays could enable high throughput characterizations of unknown deubiquitinases as well as drug screening against disease‐related enzymes. More information can be found in the Communication by Min Chen et al.