Biophysics

Multiphase separation in postsynaptic density regulated by membrane geometry via interaction valency and volume

1. Risa Yamada
2. Giovanni B Brandani
3. Shoji Takada

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides a conceptual advance in our understanding of how membrane geometry modulates the balance between specific and non-specific molecular interactions, reversing multiphase morphologies in postsynaptic protein assemblies. Using a mesoscale simulation framework grounded in experimental binding affinities, the authors successfully recapitulate key experimental observations in both solution and membrane-associated systems, providing novel mechanistic insight into how spatial constraints regulate postsynaptic condensate organization. The conclusions are supported by solid strength of evidence and the findings are of broad significance for both computational and experimental biologists

Reviewed by eLife

Differential interfacial tension between oncogenic and wild-type populations forms the mechanical basis of tissue-specific oncogenesis in epithelia

1. Amrapali Datta
2. Phanindra Dewan
3. Aswin Anto
4. Tanya Chhabra
5. Tanishq Tejaswi
6. Sindhu Muthukrishnan
7. Akshar Rao
8. Sumantra Sarkar
9. Medhavi Vishwakarma

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reports that an oncogenic population in an epithelium can either be repressed or spread, depending on the tissues. This is explained based on the differential interfacial tension hypothesis, and supported by pharmacological perturbations and numerical simulations using the vertex model. The study conveys a key message, but, as it stands, the strength of evidence is incomplete, and a more detailed analysis of the mechanistic origin of the different tensions and better comparison between experiments and simulations would strongly strengthen the message.

Reviewed by eLife

Cryo-electron tomography reveals the microtubule-bound form of inactive LRRK2

1. Siyu Chen
2. Tamar Basiashvili
3. Joshua Hutchings
4. Marta Sanz Murillo
5. Amalia Villagran Suarez
6. Erica Xiong
7. Jaime Alegrio Louro
8. Andres E Leschziner
9. Elizabeth Villa

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this manuscript, Chen et al. used cryo-ET and in vitro reconstituted system to demonstrate that the autoinhibited form of LRRK2 can also assemble into filaments on the microtubule surface, with a new interface involving the N-terminal repeats that were disordered in the previous active-LRRK2 filament structure. The structure obtained in this study is the highest resolution of LRRK2 filaments done by subtomogram averaging, representing a major technical advance compared to the previous paper from the same group. This is an important study, especially considering the pharmacological implications of the effect of inhibitors of the protein. The strengths of the data are convincing, but the study would be considerably strengthened if the authors explored the physiological significance of the new interfaces and the incomplete decoration of microtubules described here.

Reviewed by eLife

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 structure and 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. While a solid cryo-EM method was used, enhancing the overall resolution or adding complementary biochemical data would further improve the clarity and impact of this study. This manuscript will attract researchers in cap-independent translation, host-pathogen interactions, and virology.

Reviewed by eLife

Balancing stability and flexibility when reshaping archaeal membranes

1. Miguel Amaral
2. Felix Frey
3. Xiuyun Jiang
4. Buzz Baum
5. Anđela Šarić

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study characterizes the mechanics and stability of bolalipids from archaeal membranes using a minimalist, physics-based computational model. The authors present a robust mesoscale model of bolalipids-containing membranes, systematically evaluating it across diverse membrane configurations. The results are compelling, demonstrating that the incorporation of bolalipids and regular bilayer lipids in archaeal membranes significantly enhances membrane fluidity and structural stability.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

Tension-Induced Stiffening of Cytoskeletal Components Regulates Cardiomyocyte Contractility

1. Mohammad Jafari
2. Sisir Datla
3. Elliot L. Elson
4. Brian E. Carlson
5. Tetsuro Wakatsuki
6. Farid Alisafaei

Reviewed by PREreview

Nucleosome wrapping energy in CpG islands and the role of epigenetic base modifications

1. Rasa Giniūnaitė
2. Rahul Sharma
3. John H Maddocks
4. Skirmantas Kriaučionis
5. Daiva Petkevičiūteė-Gerlach

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable simulation study proposes a new coarse-grained model to explain the effects of CpG methylation on nucleosome wrapping energy and nucleosome positioning. The evidence to support the claims in the paper looks solid and this work will be of interest to the researchers working on gene regulation and mechanisms of DNA methylation.

Reviewed by eLife

Quantifying the shape of cells - from Minkowski tensors to p-atic orders

1. Lea Happel
2. Griseldis Oberschelp
3. Valeriia Grudtsyna
4. Harish P Jain
5. Rastko Sknepnek
6. Amin Doostmohammadi
7. Axel Voigt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work describes a set of parameters that give a robust description of shape features of cells in tissues. The evidence for the usefulness of these parameters is solid. The work should be of interest for anybody analyzing epithelial dynamics, but more details about the analysis of experimental images are necessary and some streamlining of the text would increase the accessibility of the material for non-specialists.

Reviewed by eLife

Phase-Space Dynamics Reveal Structured and Chaotic Motility in Human Sperm via DTW Clustering

1. Athanasia Sergounioti
2. Efstathios Alonaris
3. Dimitrios Rigas

Reviewed by PREreview

Molecular Drivers of RNA Phase Separation

1. V Ramachandran
2. DA Potoyan

Reviewed by PREreview