eLife

Stability vs flexibility: reshaping archaeal membranes in silico

This ‘fundamental’ study characterises the mechanics and stability of bolalipids from archaeal membranes using a minimalist, physics-based computational model.
buff.ly/jCnRfkO

eLife Technology Powering real change in the way the research is shared and discovered. Discover how eLife Technology enhances open science with innovative technology, integrated services, and sustainable…

True transformation in publishing requires a robust and flexible infrastructure behind the scenes.

Our technology arm builds, integrates and services #OpenSource technologies and infrastructure, collaborating with the wider #OpenScience community.

Wnt Signaling: Exploring the origins of a signaling pathway The 19 Wnt proteins found in humans are part of a larger superfamily of proteins that are also found in Archaea and Bacteria.

Wnt Signalling: Exploring the origins of a signalling pathway

High-resolution #CryoET provides ‘compelling’ evidence for the true 3D architecture of glutamatergic synapses: a complex ‘synaptoplasm’ rather than the textbook postsynaptic density.
buff.ly/hOYKjHH

Membrane geometry can flip the arrangement of postsynaptic protein condensates, shifting from core-shell structures in solution to reversed layering on membranes. Simulations reveal how spatial constraints control molecular interactions.
buff.ly/faCc2tF

2/ They are all recognised for their groundbreaking discoveries concerning peripheral immune tolerance that prevents the immune system from harming the body. Please join us in congratulating them on this fantastic achievement!

The official website of the Nobel Prize - NobelPrize.org The Nobel Prize rewards science, humanism and peace efforts. This is one of the central concepts in the will of Alfred Nobel, and it also permeates the outreach activities that have been developed for...

1/ We’re delighted to hear that our Reviewing Editor, Shimon Sakaguchi, has been awarded the 2025 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine today alongside colleagues Fred Ramsdell and Mary Brunkell: www.nobelprize.org

The koji-fungus, Aspergillus oryzae, traditionally used in Japanese brewing, is now widely used to make enzymes.

It seems its capacity for enzyme production is thanks to its unique ability to proportionally increase cell volume and nuclear number.
buff.ly/bPSNRL6

Trained immunity in skin infections: Macrophages and beyond Review of the emerging understanding of trained immunity in the skin and how infection-driven cellular processes induce long-lasting immune adaptation and modulate skin barrier integrity.

Trained immunity in skin infections: Macrophages and beyond:

doi.org/10.7554/eLif...

Reviewed by Vitka & Merve!

@elife.bsky.social

Fascinating work on the regulation of telomere length - molecular clocks we all have in our cells controlling aging and disease.

Emerging evidence of their role pulmonary fibrosis.

#CureIPF
#Telomeres

@elife.bsky.social
@rcsi.bsky.social
@kaminskimed.bsky.social

In the very first days of life, not all embryo cells are truly identical. Small differences in an enzyme called CARM1 guide the timing of cell changes that decide which cells make the embryo, and which make the placenta.
buff.ly/YAZZ2Rs

English is the dominant language of science. Does this help us share knowledge? Or does it further exclude the already excluded?

This webinar looks back at the colonial past of science communication and how we can better embrace multilingual science: buff.ly/5f2uPQi

illustration of chromatin

Transcription Factor-Dependent Cancers: Targeting chromatin remodelling complexes to treat uveal melanoma.
buff.ly/ALwM42Y

Inflexible anxieties Instead of having an overactive fear system, people with anxiety disorders may suffer from an inability to flexibly reduce the influence of fear as a situation becomes more predictable.

In anxiety disorders, the problem may not be an overactive fear system, but rather difficulty in switching off fear when a situation becomes safe and predictable.

Keeping telomeres at the right length The key telomere protein TRF2 helps regulate telomere length by interacting with the telomerase gene TERT in a length-dependent manner.

Your chromosomes have protective ends called telomeres. As they shorten, your cells age. This study reveals how a protein, TRF2, directly regulates telomerase activity to keep telomeres in check.

Adaptations in wing morphology rather than wingbeat kinematics enable flight in small hoverfly species Small hoverflies compensate for size-related flight challenges through evolutionary changes in wing shape rather than altered wingbeat kinematics.

The physics of flight becomes more difficult the smaller animals are. So how does a tiny hoverfly keep up? By flapping harder?

New research suggests they employ a smarter strategy.

Strip cropping for biodiversity Strip cropping can increase insect biodiversity without reducing crop yield and productivity.

🌍 Insect #biodiversity is declining worldwide, with agriculture being a major contributor to this decline. It’s thought that strip cropping, an alternative to monocultures, could help, but is there any evidence? #Ecology

Get to the heart of what research really means.

eLife Insight Articles explain the latest studies and why they matter.

Explore them all today: buff.ly/AuJrkKL

🌱 Using ‘compelling’ methods, including #CryoET, researchers mapped spinach thylakoid membranes at single-molecule precision, revealing how photosynthetic complexes are organised and settling long-standing debates on chloroplast architecture.
buff.ly/P8ZTl0A

A new #CryoET study shows that the protein ZapD helps organise FtsZ filaments into stable ring-like structures in building bacterial division machinery.
buff.ly/saLPqJM

Magnetotactic bacteria optimally navigate natural pore networks Diverse magnetotactic bacteria are adapted to the local geomagnetic field and grain size to maximize their swimming speed through the pore space.

Magnetotactic bacteria swim along geomagnetic field lines to navigate sediments. Using microfluidics and simulations, this study shows their motility is optimised, revealing how evolution fine-tunes life for challenging environments.

C. elegans uses an "accept-reject" behavioural strategy, based on learned features of its environment, to make decisions about food. This research tackles a core problem in #neuroscience: how neural circuits mediate decision-making.
buff.ly/AXcsRVX

Cryogenic electron microscopy has been used to determine the detailed structure of an intermediate state called a “D-loop” that forms when strands of DNA are exchanged during homologous recombination.
buff.ly/pZZfIso

The gut-brain connection Glia cells mediate cytokine signaling between the gut and the brain, linking sleep to inflammation in the gut.

The gut-brain connection

Glia cells mediate cytokine signalling between the gut and the brain, linking sleep to inflammation in the gut.

Wnt Signaling: Exploring the origins of a signaling pathway The 19 Wnt proteins found in humans are part of a larger superfamily of proteins that are also found in Archaea and Bacteria.

Wnt Signalling: Exploring the origins of a signalling pathway

Inside a thylakoid membrane

The molecular architecture of the thylakoid membrane in a vascular plant has been determined with single-molecule precision.
buff.ly/U9TzrOh

"One of the biggest advantages is that the authors have a lot of control in the publication process" Dr Meike Van der heijden assistant professor neuroscience Virginia Tech Carilion. Own your impact.

Publishing your research is a little different with eLife.

✅ We'll post a preprint for you
✅ Reviews written for the public
✅ No accept/reject after review
✅ Total freedom over revisions

Sound interesting? Find out more.
🔗 buff.ly/zLeLJiv

From Vienna to New York, a family rug became a witness to history, survival, migration, and change.

Eve Marder draws connections between personal stories of displacement and the essential role of migration in sustaining science today.
buff.ly/smgHkJ1

Heads or tails Efficient navigation in magnetotactic bacteria requires an optimal combination of swimming speed, magnetic moment and body size.

Efficient navigation in magnetotactic bacteria requires an optimal combination of swimming speed, magnetic moment and body size.
buff.ly/wmdBbD1.

The origins of Wnt signalling reveal a protein superfamily across the Tree of Life.
buff.ly/CvRLoAy