Biophysics

Microtubules under mechanical pressure can breach dense actin networks

1. Matthieu Gélin
2. Alexandre Schaeffer
3. Jérémie Gaillard
4. Christophe Guérin
5. Benoit Vianay
6. Magali Orhant-Prioux
7. Marcus Braun
8. Christophe Leterrier
9. Laurent Blanchoin
10. Manuel Théry

Reviewed by Review Commons

Diffusive mediator feedback explains the health-to-disease transition of skin inflammation

1. Maki Sudo
2. Koichi Fujimoto

Reviewed by Review Commons

Constitutive activity of ionotropic glutamate receptors via hydrophobic substitutions in the ligand-binding domain

1. Sandra Seljeset
2. Oksana Sintsova
3. Yuhong Wang
4. Hassan Y. Harb
5. Timothy Lynagh

• Curated by Biophysics Colab

  Evaluation statement (8 March 2024)

  Seljeset et al. investigate the mechanism by which NMDA receptors are activated by co-agonists glutamate and glycine. By mutating residue Asp732 in the glycine-binding site, they generate receptors activated by glutamate, and not glycine, but inhibited by glycine antagonists. Conventional and unnatural amino acid mutagenesis reveals that Asp732 interacts with nearby residues to influence channel gating as well as ligand binding. Furthermore, a homomeric receptor from Trichoplax adhaerens, which has a tyrosine in the homologous position, displays constitutive activity that becomes glycine-dependent when the tyrosine is mutated to aspartate. The study is valuable because it reveals the importance of position 732 for controlling ligand potency and channel activity in glutamate receptors, which should lead to a better understanding of how these receptors are primed for channel opening.

  Biophysics Colab recommends this study to scientists interested in the structure and function of glutamate receptors

  Biophysics Colab has evaluated this study as one that meets the following criteria:

  • Rigorous methodology
  • Transparent reporting
  • Appropriate interpretation

  (This evaluation refers to version 2 of this preprint, which has been revised in response to peer review of version 1.)

Reviewed by Biophysics Colab

A novel bivalent interaction mode underlies a non-catalytic mechanism for Pin1-mediated Protein Kinase C regulation

1. Xiao-Ru Chen
2. Karuna Dixit
3. Yuan Yang
4. Mark I. McDermott
5. Hasan T. Imam
6. Vytas A. Bankaitis
7. Tatyana I. Igumenova

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Pin1 as an essential prolyl cis/trans isomerase has attracted considerable attention because this enzyme family is implicated in cancer and neurodegenerative diseases. However, the requirement for its catalytic function remains a matter of dispute. The authors provide solid evidence that Pin1 modulates the activity of an important cell signaling kinase, Protein Kinase C, by a non-catalytic mechanism, acting as a chaperone to regulate the stability of this kinase.

Reviewed by eLife

Optical mapping of ground reaction force dynamics in freely behaving Drosophila melanogaster larvae

1. Jonathan H Booth
2. Andrew T Meek
3. Nils M Kronenberg
4. Stefan R Pulver
5. Malte C Gather

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study reports important findings about new locomotory dynamics of crawling Drosophila larva based on imaging the reaction forces during larval crawling. The evidence with the new high-resolution microscopy method is compelling, as it significantly improves the spatial, temporal, and force resolution compared to previous methods for studying Drosophila larva and could be applied to other crawling organisms. The manuscript explains the new technology, WARP microscopy, and provides analysis of the data to characterize small animal behavior and discover new crawling-associated anatomical features and motor patterns. The work will be of interest to the broad neuroscience community interested in the mechanisms of locomotion in a highly tractable model.

Reviewed by eLife

Cryo-EM structure of Slo1 with the auxiliary γ1 subunit suggests mechanism of depolarization-independent activation

1. Milena Redhardt
2. Stefan Raunser
3. Tobias Raisch

Reviewed by Review Commons

Dynamic 1D search and processive nucleosome translocations by RSC and ISW2 chromatin remodelers

1. Jee Min Kim
2. Claudia C Carcamo
3. Sina Jazani
4. Zepei Xie
5. Xinyu A Feng
6. Maryam Yamadi
7. Matthew Poyton
8. Katie L Holland
9. Jonathan B Grimm
10. Luke D Lavis
11. Taekjip Ha
12. Carl Wu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript describes fundamental single-molecule correlative force and fluorescence microscopy experiments to visualize the 1D diffusion dynamics and long-range nucleosome sliding activity of the yeast chromatin remodelers, RSC and ISW2. Compelling evidence shows that both remodelers exhibit 1D diffusion on bare DNA but utilize different mechanisms, with RSC primarily hopping and ISW2 mainly sliding on DNA. These results will be of interest to researchers working on chromatin remodeling.

Reviewed by eLife

A binding site for phosphoinositides described by multiscale simulations explains their modulation of voltage-gated sodium channels

1. Yiechang Lin
2. Elaine Tao
3. James P Champion
4. Ben Corry

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study employs multiscale simulations to show that PIP2 lipids bind to DIV S4-S5 linkers within the inactivated state of a voltage-gated sodium channel, affecting the coupling of voltage sensors to the ion-conducting pore. The authors demonstrate that PIP2 prolongs inactivation by binding to the same site that binds the C-terminal during recovery from inactivation, and they suggest that binding to gating charges in the resting state may impede activation, both findings that contribute to our understanding of sodium channel modulation. The coarse-grained and atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are convincing, including state dependence and linker mutants to back up the claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Caveolin-1 protects endothelial cells from extensive expansion of transcellular tunnel by stiffening the plasma membrane

1. Camille Morel
2. Eline Lemerle
3. Feng-Ching Tsai
4. Thomas Obadia
5. Nishit Srivastava
6. Maud Marechal
7. Audrey Salles
8. Marvin Albert
9. Caroline Stefani
10. Yvonne Benito
11. François Vandenesch
12. Christophe Lamaze
13. Stéphane Vassilopoulos
14. Matthieu Piel
15. Patricia Bassereau
16. David Gonzalez-Rodriguez
17. Cecile Leduc
18. Emmanuel Lemichez

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study identifies the role of Caveolin1 and Cavin1 as regulators of TransEndothelial Macroaperture (TEM). The methodology used is rigorous and compelling, and further research can point to more mechanistic understanding of the process.

Reviewed by eLife

Substrate evaporation drives collective construction in termites

1. Giulio Facchini
2. Alann Rathery
3. Stéphane Douady
4. David Sillam-Dussès
5. Andrea Perna

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study investigates the environmental drivers behind termite construction, focusing, in particular, on pellet deposition behavior, with the conclusion that termites likely sense curvature indirectly through substrate evaporation. The findings reconcile discrepancies between previous studies through experimental and computational approaches. While the strength of the evidence supporting these claims is compelling, the authors do not discuss how their results affect our understanding of insect nest construction or animal-built structures more broadly.

Reviewed by eLife