ArticleNature methods2022
NTR 2.0: a rationally engineered prodrug-converting enzyme with substantially enhanced efficacy for targeted cell ablation.
Article in Nature methods, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 54 papers.
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Who cites it
54 citing papers in PubMed, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Article
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- Optimized chemogenetic ablation and regeneration of enteric nervous system neurons in zebrafish.Stem cell reports · 2026Article
- Cell death analysis of inducible, titratable neurodegenerative disease models in zebrafish and human stem cell-derived retinal organoids.Disease models & mechanisms · 2026Article
- tBid-Mediated Genetic Ablation of Connective Tissue Cells Reveals Their Key Regulatory Function During Limb Regeneration in Axolotls.Advanced science (Weinheim, Baden-Wurttemberg, Germany) · 2026Article
- Review
- Fluorescently-labeled split-QF hemidrivers: simplifying and enhancing methods enabling intersectional targeting of discrete cell types.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Mesenchymal-derived neural progenitors underlie localbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Cell death modalities modulate inflammatory and regenerative programs in zebrafish sensory organs.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A genetic reporter for visualizing nitroreductase activity using magnetic resonance imaging.Chemistry methods : new approaches to solving problems in chemistry · 2026Article
- CellCousin2: an optimized system for partial ablation and tracing of regenerative lineages.NPJ Regenerative medicine · 2026Article
- Hb-EGF directs systemic muscle repair.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- Advancing knock-in approaches for robust genome editing in zebrafish.Biology open · 2026Article
- Müller glial and microglial responses coupled to recovery of cone photoreceptors following limited cone ablation in zebrafish retina.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Two axolotl-adapted cell-ablation platforms reveal macrophage-dependent processes essential for spinal-cord and skeletal regeneration.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Zebrafish macrophages convert physical wound signals into rapid vascular permeabilization.Nature communications · 2026Article
- A brief guide to the in vivo chemogenetic cell ablation approach in zebrafish.Molecules and cells · 2026Article
- Ependymoglial cells are critical for cortex regeneration in axolotls.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Pth4 neurons define a novel hypothalamic circuit that promotes sleep via brainstem monoaminergic neurons.Current biology : CB · 2026Article
- Retinal Degeneration and Regeneration in Xenopus laevis Tadpoles.Methods in molecular biology (Clifton, N.J.) · 2026Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
21 authors at 3 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Transgenic expression of bacterial nitroreductase (NTR) enzymes sensitizes eukaryotic cells to prodrugs such as metronidazole (MTZ), enabling selective cell-ablation paradigms that have expanded studies of cell function and regeneration in vertebrates. However, first-generation NTRs required confoundingly toxic prodrug treatments to achieve effective cell ablation, and some cell types have proven resistant. Here we used rational engineering and cross-species screening to develop an NTR variant, NTR 2.0, which exhibits ~100-fold improvement in MTZ-mediated cell-specific ablation efficacy, eliminating the need for near-toxic prodrug treatment regimens. NTR 2.0 therefore enables sustained cell-loss paradigms and ablation of previously resistant cell types. These properties permit enhanced interrogations of cell function, extended challenges to the regenerative capacities of discrete stem cell niches, and novel modeling of chronic degenerative diseases. Accordingly, we have created a series of bipartite transgenic reporter/effector resources to facilitate dissemination of NTR 2.0 to the research community.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.