Biophysical Society Bulletin | October 2025

Meetings

Biophysical Society Conference Proton Reactions: From Basic Science to Biomedical Applications Estes Park, Colorado, USA, August 3–8, 2025

Francisco), on the emergence and evidence for proton coupling and co-transport in proteins, and by structural biophysicist Leonid Sazanov (Institute of Science and Technology, Austria), who presented the structure and function of the large mitochondrial membrane protein Complex I. Equally valuable were the lively discussions we shared—both during the poster sessions with wine and cheese and while hiking together in the impressive surroundings of the Rocky Moun tains National Park. The relatively small size of the conference made it possible to meet and speak to essentially every attendee whom one wished. These moments of exchange in a friendly and familiar atmosphere made the meeting of the community quite special. The feedback of the attendees mirrored in live communication and in the BPS survey was also very positive. This feedback suggests that the format and duration were effective for both the presentation and participant engagement with the research. We also greatly appreciate the tireless efforts of our professional organizers from the Biophysical Society, Umi Zhou and Dorothy Chaconas , as well as the generous financial support from the Chi cago Center for Theoretical Chemistry, SUTTER Instruments, and the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics. We look forward to the future 3rd edition of this meeting—in two years—to continue the discussion and collaborations on this essential area of science.

Proton coupling transport is part of many biological processes such as pH regulation, membrane potential changes, proton-cou pled transport across membranes, enzymatic reactions, and energy storage and release. Disruption of pH homeostasis has been observed in several pathological conditions (e.g., cytoplas mic acidification in ischemia). Protonation dynamics are of inter est for substrate binding and consequently for drug design. The mechanisms of proton transport have long been one of the most important research topics. Many different methods, models, and approaches are used. It was a great pleasure to attend interesting and inspiring talks held by 25 invited speakers who presented their latest exciting discoveries related to proton coupling and transport. More than 24 slots were also reserved for young researchers to present their results in short talks selected from abstracts. The scientific content and speakers’ origin represented a strong diversity of perspectives on the “proton” subject. Conference participants represented a good balance between experimental and theoret ical presentations, a high relevance of topics (particularly proton transport), and the opportunity to gain a comprehensive over view of current research. The small group size and well-paced format, including short talks and ample time for questions, were seen as conducive to productive discussion and networking. The high quality of each presentation and the depth of insight made this a memorable event. Two excellent plenary talks were given by structural biologist Robert Stroud (University of California San

— Elena E. Pohl , Conference Organizer — Gregory Voth , Conference Organizer

October 2025

14

THE NEWSLETTER OF THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY