Molecular Biology

Interaction of GAT1 with sodium ions: from efficient recruitment to stabilisation of substrate and conformation

1. Erika Lazzarin
2. Ralph Gradisch
3. Sophie MC Skopec
4. Leticia Alves da Silva
5. Chiara Sebastianelli-Schoditsch
6. Dániel Szöllősi
7. Julian Maier
8. Sonja Sucic
9. Marko Roblek
10. Baruch I Kanner
11. Harald H Sitte
12. Thomas Stockner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The study elucidates a detailed molecular mechanism of the initial stages of transport in the medically relevant Na+-coupled GABA neurotransmitter transporter GAT1 and thus generates important new insights into this protein family. In particular, it presents convincing evidence for the presence of a "staging binding site" that locally concentrates Na+ ions to increase transport activity, whilst solid evidence for how Na+ binding influences larger scale dynamics.

Reviewed by eLife

The RNA binding protein HNRNPA2B1 regulates RNA abundance and motor protein activity in neurites

1. Joelle Lo
2. Katherine F. Vaeth
3. Gurprit Bhardwaj
4. Neelanjan Mukherjee
5. Holger A. Russ
6. Jeffrey K. Moore
7. J. Matthew Taliaferro

Reviewed by preLights

A comparative study of the cryo-EM structures of Saccharomyces cerevisiae and human anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C)

1. Ester Vazquez-Fernandez
2. Jing Yang
3. Ziguo Zhang
4. Antonina E Andreeva
5. Paul Emsley
6. David Barford

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides compelling data that defines the structure of the S. cerevisiae APC/C. The structure reveals overall conservation of its mechanism of action compared to the human APC/C but some important differences that indicate that activation by co-activator binding and phosphorylation are not identical to the human APC/C. Thus this study will be of considerable value to the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Chromatin endogenous cleavage provides a global view of yeast RNA polymerase II transcription kinetics

1. Jake VanBelzen
2. Bennet Sakelaris
3. Donna Garvey Brickner
4. Nikita Marcou
5. Hermann Riecke
6. Niall Mangan
7. Jason H. Brickner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable paper uses the ChEC-seq2 technique to investigate RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) binding patterns in yeast and demonstrates that this technique is a complementary method for investigating transcription mechanisms, especially slow steps at the initiation and termination regions. The authors use ChEC-seq2 data to investigate RNAPII kinetics and obtain solid data providing new insights into transcription regulation. This study highlights the importance of careful methodological comparisons in understanding RNAPII dynamics.

Reviewed by eLife

LncRNA Snhg3 Aggravates Hepatic Steatosis via PPARγ Signaling

1. Xianghong Xie
2. Mingyue Gao
3. Wei Zhao
4. Chunmei Li
5. Weihong Zhang
6. Jiahui Yang
7. Yinliang Zhang
8. Enhui Chen
9. Yanfang Guo
10. Zeyu Guo
11. Minglong Zhang
12. Ebenezeri Erasto Ngowi
13. Heping Wang
14. Xiaoman Wang
15. Yinghan Zhu
16. Yiting Wang
17. Xiaolu Li
18. Hong Yao
19. Li Yan
20. Fude Fang
21. Meixia Li
22. Aijun Qiao
23. Xiaojun Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides useful evidence substantiating a role for long noncoding RNAs in liver metabolism and organismal physiology. Using murine knockout and knock-in models, the authors invoke a previously unidentified role for the lncRNA Snhg3 in fatty liver. The revised manuscript has improved and most studies are backed by solid evidence but the study was found to be incomplete and will require future studies to substantiate some of the claims.

Reviewed by eLife

Fission yeast Caprin protein is required for efficient heterochromatin establishment

1. Haidao Zhang
2. Ekaterina Kapitonova
3. Adriana Orrego
4. Christos Spanos
5. Joanna Strachan
6. Elizabeth H. Bayne

Reviewed by Review Commons

ADAR1 orchestrates the ZBP1-mediated PANoptosis and heart transplant rejection

1. Haitao Lu
2. Jifu Jiang
3. Xuyan Huang
4. Aaron Haig
5. Lakshman Gunaratman
6. Anthony M. Jevnikar
7. Zhu-Xu Zhang

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes to study inflammation-induced aberrant calcium transient

1. Yuki Tatekoshi
2. Chunlei Chen
3. Jason Solomon Shapiro
4. Hsiang-Chun Chang
5. Malorie Blancard
6. Davi M Lyra-Leite
7. Paul W Burridge
8. Matthew Feinstein
9. Richard D'Aquila
10. Priscilla Hsue
11. Hossein Ardehali

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This useful study focuses on heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpFE), common in patients with HIV. Researchers used induced human pluripotent stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes (hiPSC-CMs) to stimulate HEFpEF) and found that inflammatory cytokines alter Ca2+ transients. SGLT2 inhibitors and mitochondrial antioxidants reversed this effect. While the study is incomplete and preliminary, its strength lies in introducing hiPSC-CMs as a tool for investigating HFpEF mechanisms. A major weakness was found to be limited functional assessment relevant to HFpEF.

Reviewed by eLife

A cryo-ET study of ciliary rootlet organization

1. Chris van Hoorn
2. Andrew P Carter

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study offers a compelling molecular model for the organization of rootlets, a critical organelle that links cilia to the basal body, ensuring proper anchoring. While previous research has explored rootlet structure and organization, this study delivers an unprecedented level of resolution, valuable to the centrosome and cilia field. This research marks a significant step forward in our understanding of rootlets' molecular organization.

Reviewed by eLife

Cryo-EM structure of the CBC-ALYREF complex

1. Bradley P Clarke
2. Alexia E Angelos
3. Menghan Mei
4. Pate S Hill
5. Yihu Xie
6. Yi Ren

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports the cryo-electron microscopy structure of a multi-protein complex that recognizes the 5'-end cap of mRNAs and plays a critical role in mRNA export. The structural and biochemical analyses in this study provide convincing evidence to support the major claims of the authors, with the inclusion of more functional characterizations in cell-based systems having corroborated the claims further and and thus strengthening the study. This paper would be of interest to structural biologists and RNA biologists working on mRNA metabolism.

Reviewed by eLife