Biophysics

Molecular dynamics simulations illuminate the role of sequence context in the ELF3-PrD-based temperature sensing mechanism in plants

1. Richard J Lindsay
2. Rafael Giordano Viegas
3. Vitor BP Leite
4. Philip A Wigge
5. Sonya M Hanson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this potentially valuable computational study, the authors conducted extensive atomistic and coarse-grained simulations to probe the temperature-dependent phase behaviors of ELF3, a disordered component of the evening complex in plant. The results aim to highlight the role of polyQ tracts in modulating temperature-responsive structural and condensation behavior. Despite considerable improvements in the revised manuscript, the level of evidence is considered incomplete, since several of the supplementary observables introduced to support the revised claim indicate that the variants studied are not statistically distinguishable within the reported replicate uncertainty.

Reviewed by eLife

Multiscale effects of perturbed translation dynamics inform antimalarial design

1. Leonie Anton
2. Wenjing Cheng
3. Meseret T. Haile
4. David W. Cobb
5. Xiyan Zhu
6. Leyan Han
7. Emerson Li
8. Anjali Nair
9. Carolyn L. Lee
10. Hangjun Ke
11. Guoan Zhang
12. Emma H. Doud
13. Chi-Min Ho

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases

Lenacapavir-induced Lattice Hyperstabilization is Central to HIV-1 Capsid Failure at the Nuclear Pore Complex and in the Cytoplasm

1. Arpa Hudait
2. Ryan C Burdick
3. Ellie K Bare
4. Vinay K Pathak
5. Gregory A Voth

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study investigates how the HIV inhibitor lenacapavir influences capsid mechanics and interactions with the nuclear pore complex. It provides important insights into how drug-induced hyperstabilization of the viral shell can compromise its structural integrity during nuclear entry. The modeling is technically sophisticated, and the analyses provide convincing support for the mechanistic conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

Conformational Variability of HIV-1 Env Trimer and Viral Vulnerability

1. Yiwei Cao
2. Wonpil Im

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study, the authors conducted an impressive amount of atomistic simulations with a glycosylated HIV-1 envelope glycoprotein (Env) trimer in a realistic asymmetric lipid bilayer. The aim was to probe how Env transmembrane domain, cytoplasmic tail, and membrane environment influence ectodomain orientation and antibody epitope exposure. The simulations convincingly show that ectodomain motion is dominated by tilting relative to the membrane and explicitly demonstrate the role of membrane asymmetry in modulating the protein conformation and orientation. Additional analyses of the authors' deposited MD trajectories could serve as invaluable extensions of this work to probe, for example, for exposure of cryptic epitopes and potential allosteric coupling.

Reviewed by eLife

Collective directional memory controls the range of epithelial cell migration

1. Helena Canever
2. Hugo Lachuer
3. Quentin Delaunay
4. François Sipieter
5. Nicolas Audugé
6. Philippe P Girard
7. Nicolas Borghi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors make the valuable observation that directional memory during epithelial cell migration is enhanced compared to single-cell migration. They attribute this effect to adherens junctions and vinculin dimerization. In the work, central measures should be defined more precisely, and the support for their claims about the roles of adherens junctions and vinculin dimerization in memory enhancement remains incomplete.

  [Editors' note: this paper was previously reviewed by another journal.]

Reviewed by eLife

RNA Selectively Modulates Activity of Virulent Amyloid PSMα3 and Host Defense LL-37 via Phase Separation and Aggregation Dynamics

1. Bader Rayan
2. Eilon Barnea
3. Rinat Indig
4. Christian F Pantoja
5. Jesse Gayk
6. Yael Lupu-Haber
7. Alexander Upcher
8. Amir Argoetti
9. Jacob Aunstrup Larsen
10. Alexander K Buell
11. Markus Zweckstetter
12. Meytal Landau

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable findings on the differential effects of RNA on the phase separation, aggregation dynamics, and bioactivity of PSMα3 and LL-37. The authors provide solid evidence from complementary biophysical and cell-based experiments that RNA influences peptide assembly and associated in vitro activities. The study is of interest for understanding interactions between amyloidogenic peptides and nucleic acids, although the physiological significance and some aspects of the mechanistic interpretation would benefit from further clarification.

Reviewed by eLife

When can AlphaFold predict the oligomeric states of proteins?

1. Yiechang Lin
2. Ciara Wallis
3. Ben Corry

Reviewed by PREreview

Sarcomere dynamic instability and stochastic heterogeneity drive robust cardiomyocyte contraction

1. Daniel Haertter
2. Lara Hauke
3. Til Driehorst
4. Kengo Nishi
5. Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann
6. Christoph F Schmidt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides a detailed characterization of individual sarcomeres' contractility and of their synchrony in spontaneously beating cardiomyocytes derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells. The combination of high-resolution tracking, statistical analysis and mesoscopic modeling leads to compelling evidence that sarcomeres operate as dynamically unstable units, leading to stochastic heterogeneities in their contraction-elongation cycles depending on substrate stiffness. The work will be relevant to scientists interested in muscle biophysics, nonlinear dynamics and synchronization phenomena in biological systems.

Reviewed by eLife

Universal length fluctuations of actin structures found in cells

1. Aldric Rosario
2. Shane G McInally
3. Predrag R Jelenkovic
4. Bruce L Goode
5. Jane Kondev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a theoretical analysis that gives compelling evidence that length control of bundles of actin filaments undergoing assembly and disassembly emerges even in the absence of a length control mechanism at the individual filament level. Furthermore, the length distribution should exhibit a variance that grows quadratically with the average bundle length. The experimental data are compatible with these fundamental theoretical findings, but further investigations are necessary to make the work conclusive concerning the validity of the inferences for filamentous actin structures in cells.

Reviewed by eLife

Inorganic phosphate in Arp2/3 complex acts as a rapid switch for the stability of actin filament branches

1. Jiu Xiao
2. Rebecca Pagès
3. Guillaume Romet-Lemonne
4. Antoine Jégou

Reviewed by Review Commons