Biochemistry

Phase separation-mediated actin bundling by the postsynaptic density condensates

1. Xudong Chen
2. Bowen Jia
3. Shihan Zhu
4. Mingjie Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript presents an exciting set of experiments on the mechanisms through which PSD proteins induce actin bundle formation. The work included deep mechanistic analyses which determine the necessity of upper vs. lower levels of PSD proteins for actin bundle formation, identify the domains and interactions of these proteins that are necessary and sufficient to induce actin bundles, and provide a first assessment in neurons of potential roles of the newly discovered mechanisms.

Reviewed by eLife

Branched‐chain amino acid synthesis is coupled to TOR activation early in the cell cycle in yeast

1. Heidi M Blank
2. Carsten Reuse
3. Kerstin Schmidt‐Hohagen
4. Staci E Hammer
5. Karsten Hiller
6. Michael Polymenis

Reviewed by Review Commons

Ancestral protein reconstruction reveals evolutionary events governing variation in Dicer helicase function

1. Adedeji M Aderounmu
2. P Joseph Aruscavage
3. Bryan Kolaczkowski
4. Brenda L Bass

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This is a valuable paper describing an attempt to reconstruct the evolution of Dicer. Using ancestral reconstruction approaches, the authors carefully examine the biochemical characteristics of reconstructed proteins at various junction points in the animal lineage. They provide solid evidence that the deepest ancestrally reconstructed protein has double-stranded RNA stimulated ATPase activity and that this characteristic was lost along the vertebrate lineage. This paper will be of interest to scientists in the RNA-protein interaction and protein evolution fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Aedes aegypti eggs use rewired polyamine and lipid metabolism to survive extreme desiccation

1. Anjana Prasad
2. Sreesa Sreedharan
3. Baskar Bakthavachalu
4. Sunil Laxman

Reviewed by Review Commons

Optical tools for visualizing and controlling human GLP-1 receptor activation with high spatiotemporal resolution

1. Loïc Duffet
2. Elyse T Williams
3. Andrea Gresch
4. Simin Chen
5. Musadiq A Bhat
6. Dietmar Benke
7. Nina Hartrampf
8. Tommaso Patriarchi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable Tools and Resources paper presents new tools for investigating GLP-1 signaling: a genetically-encoded sensor constructed from a mutated GLP1R receptor as well as a caged agonist peptide. The evidence for these tools working as advertised is solid and they may be helpful for screening compounds that bind to GLP1R.

Reviewed by eLife

Structural and regulatory insights into the glideosome-associated connector from Toxoplasma gondii

1. Amit Kumar
2. Oscar Vadas
3. Nicolas Dos Santos Pacheco
4. Xu Zhang
5. Kin Chao
6. Nicolas Darvill
7. Helena Ø Rasmussen
8. Yingqi Xu
9. Gloria Meng-Hsuan Lin
10. Fisentzos A Stylianou
11. Jan Skov Pedersen
12. Sarah L Rouse
13. Marc L Morgan
14. Dominique Soldati-Favre
15. Stephen Matthews

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The authors describe the first full-length crystal structure and solution conformation of the GAC protein from Toxoplasma gondii. The data are convincing and support a model in which GAC uses multiple conformations and lipid-binding surfaces. This paper presents an important contribution to our understanding of the molecular machinery involved in host cell invasion, but questions remain about how this protein links to the cytoskeleton and functions during the invasion process.

Reviewed by eLife

Cryo-EM structure of the endothelin-1-ETB-Gi complex

1. Fumiya K Sano
2. Hiroaki Akasaka
3. Wataru Shihoya
4. Osamu Nureki

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Based on the Cryo-EM structure of human ETB in complex with the vasoconstricting peptide ET-1 and the inhibitory G-protein (Gi), this valuable study presents convincing data on how agonist binding is coupled to Gi-protein binding. The complex structure is solid and will appeal to the GPCR and pharmacology communities.

Reviewed by eLife

Concurrent remodelling of nucleolar 60S subunit precursors by the Rea1 ATPase and Spb4 RNA helicase

1. Valentin Mitterer
2. Matthias Thoms
3. Robert Buschauer
4. Otto Berninghausen
5. Ed Hurt
6. Roland Beckmann

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study substantially advances our understanding of the process of ribosome maturation. The authors have purified and determined the structures of several nucleolar ribosome assembly intermediates in yeast using cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). The study combines genetic, biochemical, and structural analysis to provide compelling support for the conclusions the authors wish to draw. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists, biochemists, and structural biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Targeted proteomics as a tool to detect SARS-CoV-2 proteins in clinical specimens

1. Karel Bezstarosti
2. Mart M. Lamers
3. Wouter A. S. Doff
4. Peter C. Wever
5. Khoa T. D. Thai
6. Jeroen J. A. van Kampen
7. Bart L. Haagmans
8. Jeroen A. A. Demmers

Reviewed by PREreview, ScreenIT

Structural insights into regulation of CNNM-TRPM7 divalent cation uptake by the small GTPase ARL15

1. Luba Mahbub
2. Guennadi Kozlov
3. Pengyu Zong
4. Emma L Lee
5. Sandra Tetteh
6. Thushara Nethramangalath
7. Caroline Knorn
8. Jianning Jiang
9. Ashkan Shahsavan
10. Lixia Yue
11. Loren Runnels
12. Kalle Gehring

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this potentially important study, Mahbub and colleagues examine how the small GTPase ARL15 regulates ion transport. Using a complementary array of techniques, the authors gathered solid evidence for the binding of ARL15 to CNNM proteins, resulting in a proposal how this may affect the function of the TRPM7 channel. Additional experiments are required to fully substantiate the claims.

Reviewed by eLife