Biophysical Society Bulletin | April 2024

Publications

Biophysical Journal Launches New Computational Biophysics Section Biophysical Journal has introduced a new section to highlight research in Computational Biophysics. The Journal welcomes papers on the development of methods and algorithms rationalizing biological data with biophysical/bioinformatic modeling, simulation, and artificial intelligence. We encourage submissions on research from the single molecule to the cel lular level, even up to population levels representing biodiver sity, as well as on integrative modeling of complex biological systems that marry data from multiple experimental and computational techniques. The new section will be headed by Associate Editor Jeremy Smith of the University of Tennessee/Oak Ridge National Lab oratory Center for Molecular Biophysics along with Editorial Board Members Liang Hong (Shanghai Jiaotong University), Syma Khalid (University of Oxford), and Abhishek Singharoy (Arizona State University). Submissions are now being accepted. For more information or to submit your paper, go to www.biophysj.org.

Know the Editor Howard Young University of Alberta Associate Editor Biophysical Reports

Howard Young

What are you currently working on that excites you? We are in the process of establishing a cryo-EM facility at the University of Alberta. By the end of the year, we will have a Titan Krios G4 and a Talos L120C installed and operational. This will be an exciting transition for us! My lab has a history of studying membrane transport proteins by using electron crystallography of large 2D crystals and helical crystals. We will combine these approaches with single-particle analysis to study membrane transport complexes. What has been your biggest “aha” moment in science? I believe that “aha!” or “eureka!” moments in science are rare. I often think of a quote attributed to Isaac Asimov : "The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny.’” I have had many “That’s funny” moments in my research career, and it is always an exciting process to discover the origins of such moments.

Editor’s Pick Biophysical Journal

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Modeling thick filament activation suggests a molecular basis for force depression Shuyue Liu, Chris Marang, Mike Woodward, Venus Joumaa, Tim Leonard, Brent Scott, Edward Debold, Walter Herzog, and Sam Walcott “If, like some of the Biophysical Journal Editorial Board Members, you have been teaching muscle cross-bridge kinetics as a closed book whose final chapter was the Huxley-Za halak cross-bridging model, put down your chalk and check out this new paper on thick filament biophysics. In the March 5 issue of Biophysical Journal , Liu and co-workers present

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beautiful multiscale models and experiments that look to be a central plot line of the next volume in this series. Remember that drop in isometric muscle force that we see following active shortening, or that rise following active stretching? Liu et al. provide strong evidence that it relates to memory stored in myosin itself, combined with resistance from more passive protein struc tures. The paper combines muscle fiber tests, isolated myosin test from these same muscle fibers, and multiscale modeling to show how increased force on the thick filament pulls myosin out of an inhibited state. Myosin as a protein that remembers its loading history is an exciting new concept, and this work shows how impactful it may be.

Version of Record Published January 29, 2024 DOI: https:/doi.org/10.1016/j.bpj.2024.01.024

April 2024

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