Biophysics

Speed variations of bacterial replisomes

1. Deepak Bhat
2. Samuel Hauf
3. Charles Plessy
4. Yohei Yokobayashi
5. Simone Pigolotti

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript uses experiments and theory to characterize the variations in replication speed of E.coli throughout cell cycle. The authors developed a theory to account for fluctuations in the replication velocity as well as a cell-cycle-dependent speed, and by using sequencing data they analyzed the variations in the speed for E. coli. They found that replication speed increases with increasing temperature, and also observed oscillatory patterns in the speed of the replisome, consistent with variations in mutation rate (accuracy) across the genome. These observations suggest a tradeoff between replication speed and accuracy in E.coli.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

High-throughput molecular dynamics-based alchemical free energy calculations for predicting the binding free energy change associated with the common mutations in the spike receptor-binding domain of SARS-CoV-2

1. Rajendra Bhadane
2. Outi M. H. Salo-Ahen

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Cryo-EM structure of the human somatostatin receptor 2 complex with its agonist somatostatin delineates the ligand-binding specificity

1. Yunseok Heo
2. Eojin Yoon
3. Ye-Eun Jeon
4. Ji-Hye Yun
5. Naito Ishimoto
6. Hyeonuk Woo
7. Sam-Yong Park
8. Ji-Joon Song
9. Weontae Lee

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript reports the cryoEM structure of somatostatin receptor 2 (SSTR2) bound to its agonist SST-14 and a heterotrimeric G protein. In addition to presenting the structure itself, the authors include discussion and analysis of ligand recognition and subtype specificity, guided by AlphaFold2 modeling of other somatostatin receptor subtypes. Additional functional data to test the importance of proposed receptor-ligand contacts will be critical to understanding which of the features directly contribute to subtype specificity. Because somatostatin signaling is important in endocrine biology, including in diseases such as acromegaly and some cancers, the work should in principle be of interest to a broad audience.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

In Silico Screening and Testing of FDA-Approved Small Molecules to Block SARS-CoV-2 Entry to the Host Cell by Inhibiting Spike Protein Cleavage

1. E. Sila Ozdemir
2. Hillary H. Le
3. Adem Yildirim
4. Srivathsan V. Ranganathan

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Characterization of Hydrophobic Interactions of SARS-CoV-2 and MERS-CoV Spike Protein Fusion Peptides Using Single Molecule Force Measurements

1. Cindy Qiu
2. Gary R. Whittaker
3. Samuel H. Gellman
4. Susan Daniel
5. Nicholas L. Abbott

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Molecular determinants of complexin clamping and activation function

1. Manindra Bera
2. Sathish Ramakrishnan
3. Jeff Coleman
4. Shyam S Krishnakumar
5. James E Rothman

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Berra and colleagues revisit several mechanistic questions mainly centered on the accessory helix of mouse complexin (mCpx) and its contribution to the 'fusion clamp' property of mCpx whereby mCpx-SNARE interactions prevent full assembly and subsequent membrane fusion. This clamping function is believed to help generate a metastable pool of release-ready vesicles at the synapse, and it has been studied in a wide variety of systems including mouse, fly, worm, squid, fish, and diverse in vitro biochemical preps over the past ~ 20 years. The authors derive several conclusions from their efforts, but most relevant is a reiteration of a previous proposal that the accessory helix region of mCpx stabilizes a pre-fusion clamped state via interactions with SNAREs.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

A strategy to optimize the peptide-based inhibitors against different mutants of the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2

1. Prerna Priya
2. Abdul Basit
3. Pradipta Bandyopadhyay

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Omicron and Alpha P680H block SARS-CoV2 spike protein from accessing cholinergic inflammatory pathway via α9-nAChR mitigating the risk of MIS-C

1. Ulises Santiago
2. Carlos J. Camacho

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Biophysical Fitness Landscape of the SARS-CoV-2 Delta Variant Receptor Binding Domain

1. Casey Patrick
2. Vaibhav Upadhyay
3. Alexandra Lucas
4. Krishna M.G. Mallela

Reviewed by ScreenIT

Effect of an amyloidogenic SARS-COV-2 protein fragment on α-synuclein monomers and fibrils

1. Asis K. Jana
2. Chance W. Lander
3. Andrew D. Chesney
4. Ulrich H. E. Hansmann

Reviewed by ScreenIT