Filamins are essential, evolutionary conserved, modular, multi-domain, actin-binding proteins that organize the actin cytoskeleton and maintain extracellular matrix connections by anchoring actin filaments to transmembrane receptors. By crosslinking and anchoring actin filaments, filamins stabilize the plasma membrane, provide cellular cortical rigidity and contribute to the mechanical stability of the plasma membrane and the cell cortex. In addition to actin, filamins interact with over 90 other binding partners including intracellular signaling molecules, receptors, ion channels, transcriptions factors and cytoskeletal and adhesion proteins. Thus, filamins scaffold a wide range of signaling pathways and are implicated in the regulation of a diverse array of cellular functions including motility, maintenance of cell shape and differentiation. Here, we review emerging structural and functional evidence that filamins are mechanosensors and/or mechanotransducers, playing essential roles in helping cells to detect and respond to physical forces in their local environment.

The halogen‐bonding interaction is one of the rising stars in supramolecular chemistry. Although other weak interactions and their influence on the structure and chemistry of various molecules, complexes and materials have been investigated thoroughly, the field of halogen bonding is still quite unexplored and its impact on chemistry in general is yet to be fully revealed. In principle, every Y–X bond (Y = electron‐withdrawing atom or moiety, X = halogen atom) can act as a halogen‐bond donor when the halogen is polarized enough by Y. Perfluorohalocarbons are iconic halogen‐bond donor molecules in which Y is a perfluorinated aryl or alkyl moiety and X is either iodine or bromine. In this article, alternative halogen‐bond motifs such as X2···A and Ar–X···A [A = Lewis basic halogen‐bond‐accepting atom of a molecule or ion; Ar = neutral or charged (hetero)aromatic system] are reviewed. In addition, haloalkenes, haloalkynes, N‐haloamides and other non‐metallic halogen‐bond donors and their respective halogen‐bonded structures will also be described. Although purely organic halogen‐bonding motifs are very prominent, the role of metal complexes in halogen bonding is becoming increasingly evident as well, which is also reflected in this review. Finally, halogen bonding in solution is briefly highlighted. Contemporary research is proving that halogen bonding is more than a solid‐state phenomenon and is now a well‐recognized weak interaction in chemistry.

A new (-)N-X(+)(-)O-N(+) paradigm for halogen bonding is established by using an oxygen atom as an unusual halogen bond acceptor. The strategy yielded extremely strong halogen bonded complexes with very high association constants characterized in either CDCl3 or acetone-d6 solution by (1)H NMR titrations and in the solid-state by single crystal X-ray analysis. The obtained halogen bond interactions, RXB, in the solid-state are found to be in the order of strong hydrogen bonds, viz. RXB ≈ RHB.

A study of the strong N−X⋅⋅⋅−O−N+ (X=I, Br) halogen bonding interactions reports 2×27 donor×acceptor complexes of N‐halosaccharins and pyridine N‐oxides (PyNO). DFT calculations were used to investigate the X⋅⋅⋅O halogen bond (XB) interaction energies in 54 complexes. A simplified computationally fast electrostatic model was developed for predicting the X⋅⋅⋅O XBs. The XB interaction energies vary from −47.5 to −120.3 kJ mol−1; the strongest N−I⋅⋅⋅−O−N+ XBs approaching those of 3‐center‐4‐electron [N−I−N]+ halogen‐bonded systems (ca. 160 kJ mol−1). 1H NMR association constants (KXB) determined in CDCl3 and [D6]acetone vary from 2.0×100 to >108 m−1 and correlate well with the calculated donor×acceptor complexation enthalpies found between −38.4 and −77.5 kJ mol−1. In X‐ray crystal structures, the N‐iodosaccharin‐PyNO complexes manifest short interaction ratios (RXB) between 0.65–0.67 for the N−I⋅⋅⋅−O−N+ halogen bond.