Biophysics

eLife Assessment

This manuscript presents useful insights into the molecular basis underlying the positive cooperativity between the co-transported substrates (galactoside sugar and sodium ion) in the melibiose transporter MelB. Building on years of previous studies, this convincing study improves on the resolution of previously published structures and reports the presence of a water molecule in the sugar binding site that would appear to be key for its recognition, introduces further structures bound to different substrates, and utilizes binding and transport assays, as well as HDX-MS and molecular dynamics simulations to further understand the positive cooperativity between sugar and the co-transported sodium cation. The work will be of interest to biologists and biochemists working on cation-coupled symporters, which mediate the transport of a wide range of solutes across cell membranes.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study presents Altair-LSFM, a well-documented implementation of a light-sheet fluorescence microscope (LSFM) designed for accessibility and reduced cost. The approach provides compelling evidence of its strengths, including the use of custom-machined baseplates, detailed assembly instructions, and demonstrated live-cell imaging capabilities. This manuscript will be of interest to microscopists and potentially biologists seeking accessible LSFM tools.