Biochemistry

Conformation selection by ATP-competitive inhibitors and allosteric communication in ERK2

1. Jake W Anderson
2. David Vaisar
3. David N Jones
4. Laurel M Pegram
5. Guy P Vigers
6. Huifen Chen
7. John G Moffat
8. Natalie G Ahn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study provides compelling evidence to explain how chemical variations within a set of kinase inhibitors drive the selection of specific Erk2 conformations. Conformational selection plays a critical role in targeting medically relevant kinases such as Erk2 and the findings reported here open new avenues for designing small molecule inhibitors that block the active site while also steering the population of the enzyme into active or inactive conformations. Since protein dynamics and conformational ensembles are essential for enzyme function, this work will be of broad interest to those working in drug development, signal transduction, and enzymology.

Reviewed by eLife

Dual recognition of multiple signals in bacterial outer membrane proteins enhances assembly and maintains membrane integrity

1. Edward M Germany
2. Nakajohn Thewasano
3. Kenichiro Imai
4. Yuki Maruno
5. Rebecca S Bamert
6. Christopher J Stubenrauch
7. Rhys A Dunstan
8. Yue Ding
9. Yukari Nakajima
10. XiangFeng Lai
11. Chaille T Webb
12. Kentaro Hidaka
13. Kher Shing Tan
14. Hsinhui Shen
15. Trevor Lithgow
16. Takuya Shiota

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports the identification of a new amino acid sequence motif (i.e., "internal beta-signal") on outer membrane proteins, which is recognized by beta-assembly machinery in gram-negative bacteria. The authors carried out rigorous experiments, providing compelling evidence in support of their conclusions. This work significantly advances our understanding of the biogenesis of outer membrane proteins.

Reviewed by eLife

A bioactive peptide from the pearl has dual roles in resisting SARS-CoV-2 infection and its complications

1. Xiaojun Liu
2. Yayu Wang
3. Zehui Yin
4. Qin Wang
5. Xinjiani Chen
6. Bailei Li
7. Liping Yao
8. Zhen Zhang
9. Rongqing Zhang

Reviewed by PREreview

Structural assembly of the bacterial essential interactome

1. Jordi Gómez Borrego
2. Marc Torrent Burgas

Reviewed by Review Commons

Variety in the USP deubiquitinase catalytic mechanism

1. Niels Keijzer
2. Anu Priyanka
3. Yvette Stijf-Bultsma
4. Alexander Fish
5. Malte Gersch
6. Titia K Sixma

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mapping the architecture of the initiating phosphoglycosyl transferase from S. enterica O-antigen biosynthesis in a liponanoparticle

1. Greg J Dodge
2. Alyssa J Anderson
3. Yi He
4. Weijing Liu
5. Rosa Viner
6. Barbara Imperiali

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment:

  This valuable manuscript provides solid methodologies for utilizing SMALP nanodisks for oligomer characterization. The authors present a platform for capturing and studying native membrane protein oligomerization and subsequent cryoEM analysis. The specific application of the method to WbaP, a membrane-bound phosphoglycosyl transferase, adds to our understanding of glycoconjugate production in bacteria. This manuscript would be of interest to those focusing on native membrane protein studies and antimicrobial resistance.

Reviewed by eLife

Unveiling the domain-specific and RAS isoform-specific details of BRAF kinase regulation

1. Tarah Elizabeth Trebino
2. Borna Markusic
3. Haihan Nan
4. Shrhea Banerjee
5. Zhihong Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript describes useful information on the interactions of the BRAF N-terminal regulatory regions (CRD, RBD and BSR) with the C-terminal kinase domain and with the upstream regulators HRAS and KRAS. The authors provide solid evidence that the BRAF BSR domain may negatively regulate RAS binding and propose that the presence of the BSR domain in BRAF provides an additional layer of autoinhibitory constraints. The data will be of interest for researchers in the RAS/RAF and general kinase regulation fields.

Reviewed by eLife

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