Biochemistry

Differing structures of galactoglucomannan in eudicots and non-eudicot angiosperms

1. Konan Ishida
2. Yusuke Ohba
3. Yoshihisa Yoshimi
4. Louis F. L. Wilson
5. Alberto Echevarría-Poza
6. Li Yu
7. Hiroaki Iwai
8. Paul Dupree

Reviewed by PREreview

Evolution towards simplicity in bacterial small heat shock protein system

1. Piotr Karaś
2. Klaudia Kochanowicz
3. Marcin Pitek
4. Przemyslaw Domanski
5. Igor Obuchowski
6. Barlomiej Tomiczek
7. Krzysztof Liberek

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study advances our understanding of the evolution of protein complexes and their functions. Through convincing experimental and computational methodologies, the authors show that the specialization of protein function following gene duplication can be reversible. The work will be of interest to investigators working in biochemical evolution and those working on heat shock proteins.

Reviewed by eLife

Optimization of extraction, Structural characterization of immunomodulatory acidic polysaccharide from Euphorbia caducifolia

1. Kusuma Venumadhav
2. Kottapalli Seshagirirao

Reviewed by PREreview

Venom diversity in Naja mossambica : Insights from proteomic and immunochemical analyses reveal intraspecific differences

1. Konrad K. Hus
2. Justyna Buczkowicz
3. Monika Pietrowska
4. Vladimír Petrilla
5. Monika Petrillová
6. Jaroslav Legáth
7. Thea Litschka-Koen
8. Aleksandra Bocian

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The mRNACalc web server accounts for the hypochromicity of modified nucleosides and enables the accurate quantification of nucleoside-modified mRNA

1. Esteban Finol
2. Sarah E. Krul
3. Sean J. Hoehn
4. Carlos E. Crespo-Hernández

Reviewed by Review Commons

Recognition of the Nucleotide-Dependent Feature Facilitates the Microtubule End-Binding of MCAK

1. Wei Chen
2. Yin-Long Song
3. Jian-Feng He
4. Xin Liang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work presents valuable new information on the microtubule-binding mode of the microtubule kinesin-13, MCAK. The authors use quantitative single-molecule studies to propose that MCAK preferentially binds to a GDP-Pi-tubulin portion of the microtubule end. However, the evidence provided to support this claim remains incomplete and would benefit from a more rigorous methodology. Additionally, the physiological relevance of the proposed binding mode remains speculative.

Reviewed by eLife

Ice nucleation proteins self-assemble into large fibres to trigger freezing at near 0 °C

1. Thomas Hansen
2. Jocelyn Lee
3. Naama Reicher
4. Gil Ovadia
5. Shuaiqi Guo
6. Wangbiao Guo
7. Jun Liu
8. Ido Braslavsky
9. Yinon Rudich
10. Peter L Davies

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study provides molecular-level insights into the functional mechanism of bacterial ice-nucleating proteins, detailing electrostatic interactions in the domain architecture of multimeric assemblies. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, with results from protein engineering experiments, functional assays, and cryo-electron tomography, while the proposed structural model of protein self-assembly remains hypothetical. The work is of broad interest to researchers in the fields of protein structural biology, biochemistry, and biophysics, with implications in microbial ecology and atmospheric glaciation.

Reviewed by eLife

High-throughput Automated Muropeptide Analysis (HAMA) Reveals Peptidoglycan Composition of Gut Microbial Cell Walls

1. Ya-Chen Hsu
2. Pin-Rui Su
3. Lin-Jie Huang
4. Kum-Yi Cheng
5. Chun-hsien Chen
6. Cheng-Chih Hsu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study reports a new approach to determine the architecture of peptidoglycan (PG), the primary component of the bacterial cell wall, validating the pipeline through an architectural analysis of several members of the human gut microbiota. The technique is potentially valuable for this sub-field as it would enable researchers interested in peptidoglycan in a range of organisms to easily assess muropeptide composition in an easy, automated manner. However, there is some uncertainty about whether the pipeline was fully automated and it was noted that the pipeline requires prior knowledge of the peptidoglycan composition of an organism. Additionally, the use of the technique to investigate whether PG cross-bridge length is a determinant of cell wall stiffness produced evidence that would need more direct support and is therefore so far incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife

Disulfide bridge-dependent dimerization triggers FGF2 membrane translocation into the extracellular space

1. Fabio Lolicato
2. Julia P Steringer
3. Roberto Saleppico
4. Daniel Beyer
5. Jaime Fernandez-Sobaberas
6. Sebastian Unger
7. Steffen Klein
8. Petra Riegerová
9. Sabine Wegehingel
10. Hans-Michael Müller
11. Xiao J Schmitt
12. Shreyas Kaptan
13. Christian Freund
14. Martin Hof
15. Radek Šachl
16. Petr Chlanda
17. Ilpo Vattulainen
18. Walter Nickel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript reports important findings, demonstrating a critical role for a cysteine-containing dimerization interface in the secretion of FGF2 through an unconventional pathway. The authors provide compelling evidence, combining in vitro biochemical assays with structural simulation. The work will be of interest to researchers working on protein trafficking and secretion.

Reviewed by eLife

Mitochondrial temperature homeostasis resists external metabolic stresses

1. Mügen Terzioglu
2. Kristo Veeroja
3. Toni Montonen
4. Teemu O Ihalainen
5. Tiina S Salminen
6. Paule Bénit
7. Pierre Rustin
8. Young-Tae Chang
9. Takeharu Nagai
10. Howard T Jacobs

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study provides useful data supporting prior findings that mitochondria in cultured cells maintain a temperature that is up to 15°C above the external temperature at which cultured cells are maintained. The evidence supporting the hypothesis is solid, although direct measures of temperature in isolated mitochondria or comparison with other cellular compartments would have strengthened the ability to interpret the relevance of the findings. Nevertheless, the bioenergetic implications of the work will be of interest to cell biologists, biochemists, and physiologists.

Reviewed by eLife