Structural biology articles within Nature

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cryo-electron microscopy structures of intermediates formed during the degradation of the 30S ribosomal unit shed light on how the 3′ to 5′ exonuclease ribonuclease R controls the ribosomal degradation process.

    • Lyudmila Dimitrova-Paternoga
    • , Sergo Kasvandik
    •  & Helge Paternoga

  • Article |

    A computational model generates conformational ensembles of 28,058 intrinsically disordered proteins and regions (IDRs) in the human proteome and sheds light on the relationship between sequence, conformational properties and functions of IDRs.

    • Giulio Tesei
    • , Anna Ida Trolle
    •  & Kresten Lindorff-Larsen

  • Technology Feature |

    Advances in artificial intelligence are at the heart of many of this year’s most exciting areas of technological innovation

    • Michael Eisenstein

  • News & Views |

    LINE-1 DNA elements self-duplicate, inserting the copy into new regions of the genome — a key process in chromosome evolution. Structures of the machinery that performs this process in humans are now reported.

    • Gael Cristofari

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The prokaryotic non-enzymatic effector protein Cam1 mediates CRISPR immunity by binding tetra-adenylate second messengers and forming a pore in the membrane that induces membrane depolarization and growth arrest.

    • Christian F. Baca
    • , You Yu
    •  & Luciano A. Marraffini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A mechanism of lipid transport inhibition has been identified for a class of peptide antibiotics effective against resistant Acinetobacter strains, which may have applications in the inhibition of other Gram-negative pathogens.

    • Karanbir S. Pahil
    • , Morgan S. A. Gilman
    •  & Daniel Kahne

  • Article |

    We report the oldest direct evidence of thylakoid membranes in a parallel-to-contorted arrangement within the enigmatic cylindrical microfossils Navifusa majensis from the McDermott Formation, Tawallah Group, Australia (1.78–1.73 Ga).

    • Catherine F. Demoulin
    • , Yannick J. Lara
    •  & Emmanuelle J. Javaux

  • Research Briefing |

    Progression into the final phase of the cell cycle is driven mainly by protein phosphorylation, although it also requires the inhibition of phosphatase proteins, such as the PP2A:B55 complex. The structures reveal how PP2A:B55 binds to two of its inhibitors.

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Structural studies show how the PfRCR complex of Plasmodium falciparum forms a bridge between erythrocyte and parasite membranes, and how PfCyRPA-binding antibodies neutralize invasion through a steric mechanism, opening the way to new approaches in rational vaccine design.

    • Brendan Farrell
    • , Nawsad Alam
    •  & Matthew K. Higgins

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray crystallography, cryo-electron microscopy, structural modelling, biochemistry, cell biology, and evolutionary analysis enable characterization of ORF2p, the reverse transcriptase of the ancient ‘parasitic’ LINE-1 retrotransposon that has written around one-third of the human genome.

    • Eric T. Baldwin
    • , Trevor van Eeuwen
    •  & Martin S. Taylor

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Human LINE-1 ORF2p relies on upstream single-stranded target DNA to position the adjacent duplex in the endonuclease active site for nicking of the longer DNA strand, with a single nick generating a staggered DNA break.

    • Akanksha Thawani
    • , Alfredo Jose Florez Ariza
    •  & Kathleen Collins

  • Article |

    Structures of human vesicular monoamine transporter 2 in complexes with serotonin and three clinical drugs provide insights into the structural basis for serotonin transport and inhibition of transporter activity by the drugs.

    • Di Wu
    • , Qihao Chen
    •  & Daohua Jiang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cryogenic electron microscopy structures of amyloid filaments extracted from patient brains reveal that the protein TAF15 forms filaments that characterize certain cases of frontotemporal lobar degeneration.

    • Stephan Tetter
    • , Diana Arseni
    •  & Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon

  • Research Briefing |

    A series of structures of the eukaryotic protein-synthesis machinery are imaged at high resolution in defined states of the elongation phase of protein synthesis. Analysis suggests that there are underlying molecular mechanisms that increase the accuracy of translation of genetic information in eukaryotes.

  • News & Views |

    A transcription factor in immune cells forms an unexpectedly ladder-like complex with two DNA molecules, allowing the expression of genes that these cells need to suppress harmful immune responses.

    • Zhi Liu
    •  & Ye Zheng

  • Article |

    The accuracy of eukaryotic ribosome translocation relies on eukaryote-specific elements of the 80S ribosome, elongation factor 2 and transfer RNAs, all of which contribute to the maintenance of the messenger RNA reading frame.

    • Nemanja Milicevic
    • , Lasse Jenner
    •  & Gulnara Yusupova

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A time-resolved cryogenic electron microscopy analysis provides structural information on the processes of primary and secondary nucleation of tau amyloid formation, with implications for the development of new therapies.

    • Sofia Lövestam
    • , David Li
    •  & Sjors H. W. Scheres

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Analysis of the group II intron ribonucleoprotein shows the molecular interactions involved in branchpoint adenosine recognition, lariat formation and exon ligation, providing clues to the evolutionary conservation of structural components and catalytic mechanisms in premessenger RNA splicing.

    • Ling Xu
    • , Tianshuo Liu
    •  & Anna Marie Pyle

  • Article
    | Open Access

    X-ray crystallography, cryo-EM and biochemical analysis provide insight into the assembly of the bacterial Gabija complex, an anti-phage system, and reveal how viruses can evade this defence mechanism.

    • Sadie P. Antine
    • , Alex G. Johnson
    •  & Philip J. Kranzusch

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Single-particle cryo-electron microscopy structures of HIV-1 envelope (Env) trimers bound to one or two CD4 receptors identify intermediate Env conformations that precede host–virus fusion and inform the design of therapeutics to prevent HIV-1 infection.

    • Kim-Marie A. Dam
    • , Chengcheng Fan
    •  & Pamela J. Bjorkman

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A protein interaction network constructed with data from high-throughput affinity enrichment coupled to mass spectrometry provides a highly saturated yeast interactome with 31,004 interactions, including low-abundance complexes, membrane protein complexes and non-taggable protein complexes.

    • André C. Michaelis
    • , Andreas-David Brunner
    •  & Matthias Mann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    An analysis of the evolutionary distribution of predicted structures for the metamorphic protein KaiB using AF-Cluster reveals that both conformations of KaiB were distributed in clusters across the KaiB family.

    • Hannah K. Wayment-Steele
    • , Adedolapo Ojoawo
    •  & Dorothee Kern

  • News & Views |

    Thick filaments contain the protein myosin that generates the force of every heartbeat. Two studies report how these myosin molecules pack together in thick filaments with other proteins to form a surprisingly complex structure.

    • Peter J. Knight

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A cryo-electron tomography study reports the structure of thick myosin filaments of mouse cardiac muscle in the relaxed state in situ and the MyBP-C links that connect them with the surrounding thin actin filaments.

    • Davide Tamborrini
    • , Zhexin Wang
    •  & Stefan Raunser

  • Article |

    The intricate molecular architecture and interactions of the human cardiac myosin filament offer insights into cardiac physiology, disease and drug therapy.

    • Debabrata Dutta
    • , Vu Nguyen
    •  & Roger Craig

  • News & Views |

    A membrane-transport protein in sperm exchanges sodium and hydrogen ions. Its activations by voltage and by cyclic nucleotide molecules are usually only features of ion channels. Structural data shed light on this protein.

    • John Orlowski

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Upon hyperpolarization, the S4 voltage-sensing segment of sea urchin SLC9C1 moves down, removing inhibition caused by an intracellular helix and enabling Na+/H+ exchange, leading to pH-dependent activation of sAC and sperm chemotaxis.

    • Hyunku Yeo
    • , Ved Mehta
    •  & David Drew

  • Technology Feature |

    Linking mass spectrometry with cryo-electron microscopy could transform understanding of complex protein structures — if scientists can show that samples remain intact when they hit their target.

    • Michael Eisenstein

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Binding of a sialoglycan-based primary receptor by the spike protein of the common cold human coronavirus HKU1 triggers conformational changes to a state that would allow binding to a second receptor required for cell entry.

    • Matti F. Pronker
    • , Robert Creutznacher
    •  & Daniel L. Hurdiss

  • Review Article |

    Structural studies of amyloid filaments purified from brains of people with neurodegenerative diseases link specific amyloid folds with distinct diseases and provide a basis for the development of models of neurodegenerative disease.

    • Sjors H. W. Scheres
    • , Benjamin Ryskeldi-Falcon
    •  & Michel Goedert

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The exploration of voltage-gated potassium channels using cryo-electron microscopy and electrophysiology identifies a mechanism of inactivation involved in regulating neuron firing.

    • Ana I. Fernández-Mariño
    • , Xiao-Feng Tan
    •  & Kenton J. Swartz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The endoribonuclease PUCH, a trimer of Schlafen-like-domain proteins, initiates piRNA processing in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans through 5′-end piRNA precursor cleavage.

    • Nadezda Podvalnaya
    • , Alfred W. Bronkhorst
    •  & René F. Ketting

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