Biochemistry

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

Mechanism of stepwise electron transfer in six-transmembrane epithelial antigen of the prostate (STEAP) 1 and 2

1. Kehan Chen
2. Lie Wang
3. Jiemin Shen
4. Ah-Lim Tsai
5. Ming Zhou
6. Gang Wu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides useful insights into the mechanisms of electron transport in STEAP proteins, consistent with current models. The work strengthens and supports previously published biochemical and structural data, and the experimental results are of solid technical quality. The manuscript will be of interest to colleagues who work on STEAP proteins and related electron transfer systems.

Reviewed by eLife

Engineered Active Zymogen of Microbial Transglutaminase

1. Ryutaro Ariyoshi
2. Takashi Matsuzaki
3. Ryo Sato
4. Kosuke Minamihata
5. Kounosuke Hayashi
6. Rie Wakabayashi
7. Masahiro Goto
8. Noriho Kamiya

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The structural basis for deubiquitination by the fingerless USP-type effector TssM

1. Thomas Hermanns
2. Matthias Uthoff
3. Ulrich Baumann
4. Kay Hofmann

Reviewed by Review Commons

Structural foundation for the role of enterococcal PrgB in conjugation, biofilm formation, and virulence

1. Wei-Sheng Sun
2. Lena Lassinantti
3. Michael Järvå
4. Andreas Schmitt
5. Josy ter Beek
6. Ronnie P-A Berntsson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents valuable structural data for the bacterial adhesin PrgB, an atypical microbial cell surface-anchored polypeptide that binds DNA. There is convincing support for the claims regarding the overall function and importance of individual domains, which integrate a wide range of new and previously published experimental data. The structure-based model of PrgB molecular activity will be impactful in the field of bacterial adhesins, conjugation, and biofilm formation, especially because it focuses on a clinically relevant Gram-positive pathogen, whereas most work in the field has been focused on Gram-negative model systems.

Reviewed by eLife