Biophysics

Interplay Between Pulmonary Membrane Properties and Lung Disease: A Study of Seven Bottlenose Dolphins

1. Marilyn Porras-Gómez
2. Bengu Sueda Sengul
3. Nurila Kambar
4. Sari Gluck
5. Kristen Flatt
6. Celeste Parry
7. Carolina Ruiz Le-Bert
8. Diego Hernández-Saavedra
9. Cecília Leal

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study presents data on the possible connection of respiratory pathologies like pneumonia in a cohort of dolphins with altered composition and concomitant perturbed biophysical properties of pulmonary surfactant complexes. Overall, it is a valuable contribution that could be of interest to scientists in the field. However, the study as it is appears somewhat incomplete and additional clarification and discussions are required in order to explain a few methodological questions that may limit the impact of the work considerably.

Reviewed by eLife

Open Raman Microscopy (ORM): A Modular Hardware and Software Framework for Accessible Raman Imaging

1. Kevin T. Uning
2. Henry Brisebois
3. Conor C. Horgan
4. Magnus Jensen
5. Yue Yuan
6. Shiyue Liu
7. Elzbieta Stepula
8. Steven Vanuytsel
9. Vishal Kumar
10. Stephen Goldrick
11. Robert D. Knight
12. Martin A. B. Hedegaard
13. Michael B. Albro
14. Mads S. Bergholt
15. Michael R. Thomas

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Structural Basis of Cold and Menthol Sensing by TRPM8

1. Hyuk-Joon Lee
2. Cheon-Gyu Park
3. Justin Gerald Fedor
4. Wyatt A. Peele
5. Mario J. Borgnia
6. Seok-Yong Lee

Reviewed by PREreview

Theory of non-dilute binding and surface phase separation applied to membrane-binding proteins

1. Xueping Zhao
2. Daxiao Sun
3. Giacomo Bartolucci
4. Anthony A Hyman
5. Alf Honigmann
6. Christoph A Weber

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study presents a compelling theoretical framework for understanding condensation or phase separation of membrane-bound proteins, with a focus on the organization of tight junction components. By incorporating non-dilute binding effects into thermodynamic models and validating the model's predictions with in vitro experiments on the tight junction protein ZO-1, the authors provide a quantitative tool that combines theory and experiments and will help researchers in the field quantitatively interpret their findings. Given that phase separation of membrane bound molecules is becoming key in signaling, spanning from immune signaling to cell-cell adhesion, this work will be of broad interest for cell biologists and biophysicists.

Reviewed by eLife