Membranes
Order parameters in membranes: Following Joachim Seelig’s path.
Morvan E, Grélard A, Dufourc EJ.
Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2025 Dec;1867(8):184449.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2025.184449. Epub 2025 Aug 31.
PMID: 40897290.
Joachim Seelig was the first to experimentally demonstrate the dynamic nature of biological membrane models in the 1970s.
Here: Review of the principles and tech developments regarding the study of membrane order parameters, honoring Joachim Seelig’s contributions. It explains how NMR-derived order informs lipid and protein behavior.
Applications span phase behavior, protein–lipid coupling, and curvature.
Physics-based evolution of transmembrane helices reveals mechanisms of cholesterol attraction.
Methorst J, Verwei N, Hoffmann C, Chodnicki P, Sansevrino R, Pyne P, Wang H, van Hilten N, Aschmann D, Kros A, Andreas L, Czub J, Milovanovic D, Risselada HJ.
Nat Commun. 2025 Oct 20;16(1):9275.
doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-63769-5.
PMID: 41115860.
Physics-based evolution of transmembrane helices reveals sequence features that attract cholesterol.
Simulations and experiments identify motifs and roughness patterns that promote sterol association.
=> Help in predicting cholesterol sensing across proteomes.
Cell membrane asymmetries and cellular aging.
Salzman V, Aguilar PS.
Biochem J. 2025 Oct 9;482(20):BCJ20253265.
doi: 10.1042/BCJ20253265.
PMID: 41065409.
Membrane asymmetry as a determinant of cellular aging.
Asymmetric defects accumulate and influence signaling and proteostasis.
Molecular basis for the regulation of membrane proteins through preferential lipid solvation.
Bernhardt N, Ozturk TN, Zhang S, Schwartz N, Chadda R, Gil-Ley A, Robertson JL, Faraldo-Gómez JD.
Nat Chem Biol. 2025 Sep 26. doi: 10.1038/s41589-025-02032-w. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 41006774.
Preferential lipid solvation regulates MP conformations.
Lipids stabilize specific functional states by selective enrichment.
Lipid composition shifts conformational equilibria and activity.
Study provides a unifying mechanism for lipid allostery.
Designing biologically-relevant cell membrane models with natural lipid mixtures.
Batchu KC, Corucci G, Laux V, Gabel F, Fragneto G, Luchini A.
Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2025 Oct 13;1868(1):184474.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2025.184474. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 41093266.
Strategies to build biologically relevant membrane models using natural lipid mixtures. Neutron and X-ray methods validate composition, asymmetry, and phase behavior.
=> tailored mixtures recapitulate protein activity and signaling.
The density of Braun’s Lipoprotein determines vesicle production in E. coli.
Weaver BP, Zhao F, Gao Y, Boedicker JQ, Haselwandter CA.
PLoS One. 2025 Sep 19;20(9):e0332156.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0332156. eCollection 2025.
PMID: 40971851.
Modulation of Braun’s lipoprotein density => control of outer-membrane vesicle production in E. coli.
High Lpp crosslinking reduces vesiculation / low density enhances release.
Biophysical measurements connect envelope tension to vesicle yield.
Bacterial outer membrane vesicles: a novel target in mediating bacterial infection and host immune responses.
Miao B, Han J, Jiang Y, Yu L, Liu Y, Du F, Zhu X, Gong X, Li Z, Chen Z, Liu S.
World J Microbiol Biotechnol. 2025 Oct 8;41(10):363.
doi: 10.1007/s11274-025-04597-z.
PMID: 41060345 Review.
Bacterial OMVs mediate infection and host immune responses.
Catalogs of virulence cargoes and their delivery mechanisms. Host sensing pathways and immunomodulatory effects are discussed.
Overproduction of β-barrel outer membrane proteins in Escherichia coli BL21(DE3) induces hypervesiculation.
Sahu S, Koningstein G, Bunduc CM, van der Wel N, Luirink J, van Ulsen P.
Extracell Vesicles Circ Nucl Acids. 2025 Jul 17;6(3):386-402.
doi: 10.20517/evcna.2025.27. eCollection 2025.
PMID: 41132503.
Overexpression of β-barrel OM proteins in BL21(DE3) => hypervesiculation. Envelope stress linked to increased OMV release and altered cargo profiles.
Molecules
An amphipol-stabilized multi-pass transmembrane protein as an immunogen to generate mouse memory B cells against native VMAT2.
Yang J, Liu T, Mai X, Kong S, He J, Wang Z, Shen J, He X, Xing Y, Qian H, Tong P.
FEBS Lett. 2025 Sep;599(18):2629-2643. doi: 10.1002/1873-3468.70092. Epub 2025 Jun 17.
PMID: 40527604.
A8-35-stabilized VMAT2 used as an immunogen to generate mouse memory B cells recognizing the native transporter => Antibodies that bind functional conformations.
Biochemical characterization confirms specificity.
Lateral lipid packing governs bilayer solubilization by styrene-maleic acid copolymers: a case study with cardiolipin-containing membranes.
Iovine JC, Garrett BT, Alder NN.
Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2025 Oct 5:184470.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2025.184470. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 41057051.
Lateral lipid packing controls bilayer solubilization by SMA, focusing on CL-containing membranes. Neutron and fluorescence assays correlate packing defects with solubilization thresholds.
CL enrichments modulate ”ND” formation efficiency.
Examining the thermotropic properties of large circularized nanodiscs.
Arcario MJ, Dalal V, Fan D, Hsu FF, Cheng WWL.
Biochim Biophys Acta Biomembr. 2025 Dec;1867(8):184451.
doi: 10.1016/j.bbamem.2025.184451. Epub 2025 Sep 11.
PMID: 40945562.
Large circularized NDs characterized for their thermotropic properties.
DSC + lipid analyses => stable phase behavior across temperatures.
NDs maintain protein-compatible environments while resisting aggregation.
=> these features support applications in structural biology of big complexes.
Unveiling Eukaryotic Membrane Proteins in High Resolution Using Peptide Solubilization.
Zang J, Shi Y, Tao W, Liu X, Guo W, Chen L.
J Mol Biol. 2025 Oct 6:169467.
doi: 10.1016/j.jmb.2025.169467. Online ahead of print.
PMID: 41061950.
Peptide-based solubilization strategy for high-resolution studies of eukaryotic MPs.
Improved homogeneity and functional retention relative to detergents.
Structural analyses => preserved native conformations.
Structural and functional analysis of Escherichia coli membrane disruption by Ib-M peptides.
Farfán-García AE, Hernández-Peñaranda IP, Gómez-Duarte OG, Rincón-Barón EJ, Torres-Rodríguez GA, Flórez-Castillo JM.
PLoS One. 2025 Oct 8;20(10):e0334029.
doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0334029. eCollection 2025.
PMID: 41061016.
Ib-M peptides => disruption of E. coli membranes through defined physicochemical interactions.
Microscopy + leakage assays => rapid permeabilization and bacterial killing.
Sequence variants map features controlling selectivity and potency.
Pendant-bearing detergents: strategies and membrane protein stabilization.
Yewon Lee Hong Sik Yun Muhammad Ehsan Bernadette Byrne Pil Seok Chae.
Published online September 18, 2025.
DOI: 10.1016/j.trechm.2025.08.010.
Review on pendant-bearing detergents as tools for stabilizing MPs.
Tailored headgroup pendants modulate micelle properties and protein interactions.
Coming Clean and Avoiding Bubble Trouble–Using Detergents Wisely in the Purification of Membrane Proteins for Cryo-EM Studies.
Chen, B., Harrison, P., Kargas, V., Pollock, N., Ford, R. C., Prince, S. M., & Collins, R. F.
Biomolecules, 2025 15(9), 1315.
https://doi.org/10.3390/biom15091315.
A practical guide discusses using detergents wisely for cryo-EM purification of MPs: selection, exchange, and pitfalls like bubble formation.
Stabilization versus flexibility: detergent-dependent trade-offs in neurotensin receptor 1 GPCR ensembles.
James B Bower, Wijnand J.C. van der Velden, Karen P Gomez, Mingzhe Pan, Fabian Bumbak, Nagarajan Vaidehi, and Joshua J Ziarek.
bioRxiv posted 24 September 2025.
doi:10.1101/2025.09.22.677830.
Detergent choice biases the conformational ensemble of the neurotensin receptor 1. sm spectroscopy and modeling => compromise between stabilization and functional flexibility.
Specific detergents favor inactive or active-like states, altering ligand responses.
Miscellaneous
Should genetically modified wildlife be banned? Scientists weigh the risks.
Lenharo M.
Nature. 2025 Oct 10.
doi: 10.1038/d41586-025-03288-x. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 41073529.
At a congress of the International Union for Conservation of Nature this week, delegates will vote on a proposal to ban use of genetically modified organisms in the wild. Such technology — such as the release of genetically-engineered mosquitoes to control the spread of malaria — could have unpredictable ecological consequences that need more thorough evaluation, say those in favour of the ban. Others argue that a blanket moratorium is too restrictive and suggest that the risks of synthetic biology projects could be assessed on a case-by-case basis by regulatory agencies.
Time-resolved fluorescent proteins expand the microscopy palette.
Melchor S.
Nature. 2025 Oct 17.
doi: 10.1038/d41586-025-03318-8. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 41107582.
Fluorescent dyes can help researchers to visualize the structure of a cell but it can be difficult to use more than a handful because their colours only vary by so much. Now researchers have designed more than two dozen fluorescent proteins that differ not only by colour, but also their fluorescence lifetime. The researchers call these molecules time-resolved fluorescent proteins, or tr-FPs.
Want to do disruptive science? Include more rookie researchers.
Kavanagh K.
Nature. 2025 Oct;646(8084):269-270.
doi: 10.1038/d41586-025-03117-1.
PMID: 41023491.
Lab leaders who want to produce innovative research should welcome ‘beginner’ scientists with little or no prior publication history, suggests a new preprint study. A team looked at more than 28 million articles and scored them for ‘disruption’ — being cited more times than the papers it referenced were. Across team sizes, decades and disciplines, “as the fraction of beginners increases in teams, the disruptivity and innovation go up”, says computational social scientist and co-author Raiyan Abdul Baten. He credits newbies for having “less loyalty to prevailing assumptions”.
Jane Goodall’s legacy: three ways she changed science.
Fieldhouse R, Basu M.
Nature. 2025 Oct 2.
doi: 10.1038/d41586-025-03209-y. Epub ahead of print.
PMID: 41039102.
Primatologist Jane Goodall, known for her work with chimpanzees, has died aged 91. During her career, Goodall “proved that science could extend its boundaries without losing rigour”, says anthropologist and primatologist Mierya Mayor — she broke scientific convention by using names to identify animals and was among the first to show that they had emotions, empathy and culture. Beyond primatology, Goodall’s talent as a storyteller showed it is possible for researchers to be advocates and be taken seriously, says conservation scientist Euan Ritchie. She inspired generations of women to follow in her scientific footsteps, adds Mayor.