Biophysics

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

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

ADAPT-M: A workflow for rapid, quantitative in vitro measurements of enriched protein libraries

1. Carla P. Perez
2. Nicole V. DelRosso
3. Cameron L. Noland
4. Udit Parekh
5. Christian A. Choe
6. Raphael R. Eguchi
7. Qi Wen
8. Polly M. Fordyce
9. Po-Ssu Huang

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Structural insights into the recruitment of viral Type 2 IRES to ribosomal preinitiation complex for protein synthesis

1. Deepakash Das
2. Tanweer Hussain

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript offers valuable structural and mechanistic insights into the assembly of the Type II internal ribosome entry site (IRES) from encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV) and the translation initiation complex, revealing a direct interaction between the IRES and the 40S ribosomal subunit. A solid experimental strategy, combining cryo-EM analysis, complementary biochemistry, and detailed structural comparisons, provides mechanistic insights into IRES-based translation initiation systems. This paper will attract researchers in cap-independent translation, host-pathogen interactions, and virology.

Reviewed by eLife

Quantifying intracellular mechanosensitive response upon spatially defined mechano-chemical triggering

1. Elaheh Zare-Eelanjegh
2. Renard TM Lewis
3. Ines Lüchtefeld
4. Ulrike Kutay
5. Tomaso Zambelli

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study provides evidence that the integration of the nuclear envelope into the endoplasmic reticulum provides a mechanism for mechanical integration across this continuous membrane system. This work opens up new avenues for studying organelle membrane tension homeostasis. The evidence was found to be convincing and carefully quantified, with minor limitations that we expect to be further explored in future work.

Reviewed by eLife

Distinct energetic blueprints diversify function of conserved protein folds

1. Malcolm L. Wells
2. Chenlin Lu
3. Daniel Sultanov
4. Kyle C. Weber
5. Erin Ahern
6. Zhen Gong
7. Ethan Chen
8. Anum Glasgow

Reviewed by PREreview

Bifunctional Architecture Enables Substrate Catalysis and Channeling in Paracoccus TMAO Demethylase

1. Trung Thach
2. KanagaVijayan Dhanabalan
3. Shiwangi Maurya
4. Yu Han-Hallet
5. Senwei Quan
6. Jane Allison
7. Gurunath Ramanathan
8. Ramaswamy Subramanian

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript reports high-resolution cryo-EM structures of a trimethylamine N-oxide demethylase and advances the hypothesis that the enzyme is bifunctional, coupling TMAO demethylation to formaldehyde capture via an enclosed intramolecular tunnel. The structural findings remain valuable, particularly the unusual oligomeric architecture and proposed conduit for a reactive intermediate. While the revision improves clarity and addresses several technical concerns, the central mechanistic framework remains incomplete, with persistent concerns regarding the proposed catalytic mechanism and metal dependence.

Reviewed by eLife