The Complex Macromolecular

Complex
Nicole Neuman1,*
Trends in Biochemical Sciences (TiBS) has a lot to celebrate. Our 40th anniversary, a new design, a very special issue,
and two spectacular series lined up for the rest of the year; yes, it is a good time to be a biochemist.

Forty years ago this month, TiBS was launched as a joint venture between the International Union of Biochemistry
and Elsevier. Together, they created TiBS to combat the growing problems of overspecialization and isolation. By
publishing concise, accessible reviews written by experts, TiBS’ goal was to enable general biochemists to stay
abreast of the most recent advances in all subfields of biochemistry, within the constraints of their limited free time.
It soon became clear that biochemistry was not the only field that needed this type of journal, and the Trends journal
series was born. Today there are 15 Trends journals (Table 1) including Trends in Cancer, which was just launched in
2015. TiBS, and the Trends series, remains a vibrant, growing, and evolving source of biological reviews.

In the past couple of months, you might have noticed some changes to the look and structure of TiBS articles. Leading
up to our 40th anniversary, TiBS and the rest of the Trends team reexamined the presentation and organization of
our content in light of the way that modern readers interact with it. Today's reader might pore over a TiBS review on
their computer or tablet, never printing it out; they might skip around to the parts that interest them rather than
reading the article from title to last reference. With these changes in mind, we set out to redesign our articles to make
them even more accessible to the modern reader. The result is a sleek, crisp, contemporary design that is easier to
read on a screen (especially mobile devices) and visually highlights the most crucial information in boiled-down
boxes and eye-catching figures. We are proud to enter our 41st year on the heels of the introduction of this new style,
which reflects our enduring vision to provide accessible reviews for the evolving general biochemist.

When considering what topics to highlight in this 40th anniversary issue, we reflected on how the field of
biochemistry has evolved over the past 40 years. In 1976, the strength of biochemistry was its reductionist approach;
the modus operandi was to observe a biological activity of interest, purify the biological molecule that performed the
activity, then study the molecular and chemical mechanism of that activity. Although reductionist thinking can still
lend insight in many areas, in some areas we can build on the massive knowledge accumulated from many
reductionist studies to begin to enter an era of post-reductionism. For many subfields, we can now ask not just how
one molecule performs its job in isolation but how it works in conjunction with all of the other components of a
macromolecular complex, and how that complex works in the context of the cell, tissue, or organism. These are some
of the most exciting questions in biochemical research today, and so we have dedicated this Special Issue to the
beautiful, complex, macromolecular complex. This issue explores several emerging themes within the context of
particular complexes, including the evolutionary history and diversification of complexes [1–3], our structural
understanding of complexes [2–7], how their parts and functions

Trends in Biochemical Sciences, January 2016, Vol. 41, No. 1

1
Editor, Trends in Biochemical Sciences

*Correspondence: nneuman@cell.com (N. Neuman).

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.tibs.2015.11.006 1 © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Table 1. Current Trends Journals, Sorted in Order of Launch Year

Journal Year Launched

Trends in Biochemical Sciences 1976
Trends in Neurosciences 1978
Trends in Pharmacological Sciences 1979
Trends in Immunology (formerly Immunology Today) 1980
Trends in Biotechnology 1983
Trends in Genetics 1985
Trends in Parasitology (formerly Parasitology Today) 1985
Trends in Ecology & Evolution 1986
Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism 1990
Trends in Cell Biology 1991
Trends in Microbiology 1993
Trends in Molecular Medicine (formerly Molecular Medicine Today) 1995
Trends in Plant Science 1996
Trends in Cognitive Sciences 1997
Trends in Cancer 2015

vary with subcellular, cellular, and tissue contexts [8], and how individual components interact and communicate to
perform the function of the whole [4,5,9]. Finally, we highlight some of the recent technical advances that are
encouraging exploration of the function and mechanism of macromolecular complexes within a cellular context
[1,10].

In addition to this Special Issue, watch TiBS in the upcoming year for some other special celebratory events. In
particular, we will run two series to highlight the past and future of TiBS. The first series will focus on revisiting some
TIBS’ classic reviews. We scoured our archives to find our most beloved reviews and were pleasantly surprised to
find that many of the topics are still active, vibrant areas of research today. In most cases we have been able to bring
on board the original authors to reprise the topic, highlighting the most important advances that have occurred since
publishing that classic review. In the second series, we ask what will the future of biochemistry look like. To address
this question, we have recruited some of the rising stars within biochemistry. New investigators, within a few years
of establishing their own labs, will give their opinions on the most important outstanding questions and recent
advances in their fields.

We hope you enjoy this issue and the upcoming series in 2016. If there is a classic TiBS review you think we should
revisit, or there a rising star in biochemistry who you want highlighted, send us an e-mail at tibs@cell.com. We would
love to hear from you.

References

1. Greco, T.M. and Cristea, I.M. (2016) The biochemical evolution of protein complexes. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 4–6
2. Kü hlbrandt, W. and Davies, K.M. (2016) Rotary ATPases: a new twist to an ancient machine. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 106–116
3. Papasaikas, P. and Valcá rcel, J. (2016) The spliceosome, the ultimate RNA chaperone and sculptor. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 33–45
4. Finley, D. et al. (2016) Gates, channels, and switches: elements of the proteasome machine. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 77–93
5. Hayer-Hartl, M. et al. (2016) The GroEL–GroES chaperonin machine: a nano-cage for protein folding. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 62–76
6. Lechtenberg, B.C. and Riedl, S.J. (2016) Rosetta Stone of NLR innate immunity. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 7–8
7. Bhabha, G. et al. (2016) How dynein moves along microtubules. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 94–105

2 Trends in Biochemical Sciences, January 2016, Vol. 41, No. 1

8. Kondo, T. et al. (2016) Polycomb in transcriptional phase transition of developmental genes. Trends Biochem. Sci. 41, 9–19
9. Schmidt, H.B. and Gö rlich, D. (2016) Transport selectivity of nuclear pores, phase separation and membraneless organelles. Trends

Biochem. Sci. 41, 46–61

10. Leitner, A. et al. (2016) Cross-linking and mass spectrometry: an integrated technology to understand structure and function of molecular machines. Trends Biochem. Sci.
41, 22–32

Trends in Biochemical Sciences, January 2016, Vol. 41, No. 1 3