Sialic acids, which reside on the surface of many cell types, mediate various types of cell–cell interactions, including those involved in the immune response, host–pathogen interactions, and cancer metastasis. The numerous modifications found on sialic acids, such as acetylation and sulfation, coupled with challenges associated with oligosaccharide synthesis, complicate investigations into how sialic-acid-containing glycans interact with their various receptors. Chokhawala et al. now present a combinatorial chemoenzymatic method that facilitates the creation and characterization of sialic-acid-containing biomolecules.

As a polypeptide chain materializes from the ribosome, a functional protein results only if the polypeptide folds correctly. Little is known, however, about the dynamics of nascent chains while they are still bound to the ribosome. Ellis et al. use dynamic fluorescence depolarization, a technique that enables discrimination of different types of molecular motion, to explore movement of nascent chains as they emerge from the ribosomal tunnel.

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