Molecular biophysics articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    The gastric proton pump, H+,K+-ATPase, contributes to stomach acidification and is a target of acid suppressants. Here, the three-dimensional structure of the pump is determined using electron crystallography, providing the first structural information about the binding of a new class of acid suppressants.

    • Kazuhiro Abe
    • , Kazutoshi Tani
    •  & Yoshinori Fujiyoshi

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Deformations in nanocrystals smaller than 10 nm are not well understood. The authors perform compression high-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies of gold nanoparticles, and determine that the nanoparticles deform through the emission of partial dislocations from free surfaces.

    • He Zheng
    • , Ajing Cao
    •  & Scott X. Mao

  • Article |

    Materials such as rubber tend to soften when cyclically deformed. Here, however, the authors find that bundled actin networks can show cyclic hardening and retain a memory of the maximum strain they have been subjected to.

    • K. M. Schmoller
    • , P. Fernández
    •  & A. R. Bausch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    γ-Secretase modulators have promise in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, but their molecular target is uncertain. Here, fluorescence resonance energy transfer is used to determine that the γ-secretase allosteric site is within the γ-secretase complex and that substrate docking is required for modulators to access the site.

    • Kengo Uemura
    • , Katherine C. Farner
    •  & Oksana Berezovska

  • Article |

    Fusion proteins containing blue-light-activated domains have been used as molecular switches to investigate cell signalling, but molecular understanding of the transduction pathway is lacking. Here, MD simulations are used to elucidate the transduction mechanism in a light oxygen voltage2-Ja photosensor.

    • Emanuel Peter
    • , Bernhard Dick
    •  & Stephan A. Baeurle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Mutation of theTectbgene reduces auditory sensitivity but increases frequency selectivity. Here the authors show that Tectb mutation reduces both the spatial and temporal propagation of travelling waves along the tectorial membrane, explaining the unexpected auditory abnormalities in this mutant.

    • Roozbeh Ghaffari
    • , Alexander J. Aranyosi
    •  & Dennis M. Freeman

  • Article |

    Protein interactions in biological environments are expected to differ from the situationin vitro. In this study, a thermophoresis-based technique is described that allows the analysis of protein and small-molecule interactions in biological liquids; the work may allow more efficient drug development.

    • Christoph J. Wienken
    • , Philipp Baaske
    •  & Stefan Duhr

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Frataxin is an essential protein that has been linked to iron–sulphur cluster assembly, and reduced levels are associated with Friedrich's ataxia. In this study, a combination of techniques is used to probe the interactions of the bacterial frataxin orthologue CyaY with the iron–sulphur cluster assembly machinery.

    • Filippo Prischi
    • , Petr V. Konarev
    •  & Annalisa Pastore

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