About
Editors and people

Editors for Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

We aim to review studies that advance our understanding of molecular mechanisms in biology, using experimental and computational approaches to provide quantitative insights. We also welcome studies describing structure determination by methods including cryoEM, crystallography and NMR, the investigation of macromolecular dynamics, the evolution of function and specificity in molecular systems, and the application of advanced biophysical methods to capture molecules in action. Read the latest research in this subject area.

Type

Senior editors

Amy H Andreotti

Iowa State University, United States

Amy Andreotti is the Roy J Carver Chair in Biochemistry and a University Professor at Iowa State University. She joined the faculty of the Roy J Carver Department of Biochemistry, Biophysics and Molecular Biology in 1997 after earning her PhD in Chemistry at Princeton University and completing a postdoctoral training period in the Chemistry Department at Harvard University where she was a Science Scholar at the Bunting Institute of Radcliffe College. Her work explores the mechanisms of kinase regulation during cell signaling with an emphasis on the immune specific TEC family of non-receptor tyrosine kinases. A particular focus of the lab is Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK) and its interactions with small molecule therapeutics. Her lab uses a variety of biochemical, enzymatic and structural biology methods including solution NMR spectroscopy.

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
NMR spectroscopy
kinase regulation
cell signalling
Tec family kinases

Experimental organism
human

Competing interests statement
Amy Andreotti's research is currently funded by the National Institutes of Health. She also serves on the National Advisory Committee for the Biomedical Scholars program of the Pew Charitable Trusts.
Felix Campelo

The Institute of Photonic Sciences, Spain

Felix Campelo is a researcher specializing in membrane biophysics, cell biology, and fluorescence microscopy tools to understand intracellular organization. He did his PhD research in theoretical biophysics at the University of Barcelona and Tel Aviv University, developing computational and theoretical methods to study membrane shape and dynamics. In his postdoc at the Malhotra lab (CRG-Center for Genomic Regulation), he shifted to experimental cell biology and biochemistry to explore mechanisms of intracellular trafficking and the cooperation between lipids and proteins in organizing Golgi membranes.

Currently leading the Intracellular Dynamics and Nanoscopy lab at ICFO-The Institute of Photonic Sciences in Barcelona, Felix and his interdisciplinary lab focus on organelle morphology and dynamics, with a particular interest in intracellular membrane trafficking in the early secretory pathway. They employ advanced microscopy techniques, molecular and cell biology tools, and theoretical biophysics to address fundamental topics in cell biology.

Expertise
Physics of Living Systems
Cell Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
membrane mechanics
membrane curvature
intracellular trafficking
membrane organization
membrane contact sites
Golgi complex
endoplasmic reticulum exit sites
super-resolution microscopy
single-molecule microscopy

Experimental organism
human
S. cerevisiae

Competing interests statement
Dr Campelo receives funding from Government of Spain, Fundació Privada Cellex, Fundació Privada Mir-Puig, and Generalitat de Catalunya.
Nancy Carrasco

Vanderbilt University School of Medicine, United States

Nancy Carrasco is the Joe C. Davis Professor and Chair of the Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics at the Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. She obtained her MD and Master’s in Biochemistry from the National Autonomous University of Mexico in her native Mexico City. Dr Carrasco did her postdoctoral work at the Roche Institute of Molecular Biology in New Jersey, for which she received a Fogarty International Fellowship. She then joined the Department of Molecular Pharmacology at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and later the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology at the Yale School of Medicine. Dr Carrasco has a longstanding interest in transport across biological membranes and in the role of membrane proteins in physiology and pathophysiology. Her cloning of the sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) has had numerous ramifications for many other fields, including structure/function of transport proteins, molecular endocrinology, gene transfer studies, cancer, and public health (she has served on the EPA’s Science Advisory Board). She has received numerous awards, including the Pew Award; the Arnold and Mabel Beckman Foundation Award; the Maria Sibylla Merian Award (Germany); the Merck Prize from the European Thyroid Association (Poland); the Rose Pitt-Rivers Lectureship at the British Endocrine Society Meeting (Scotland); the Noun Shavit Award (Israel); the Marshall S. Horwitz Faculty Prize for Research Excellence; and the Light of Life Award. She has served as president of the Society of Latin American Biophysicists. Dr Carrasco was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2015 and to the National Academy of Medicine in 2020.

Expertise
Medicine
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
molecular endocrinology
biochemistry of membrane proteins
biophysics of membrane proteins
mechanistic information of NIS
regulation of NIS
sodium/iodide symporter
cross-talk between hormones
metabolism

Experimental organism
mouse
human

Competing interests statement
Dr Carrasco’s research has been funded by NIH. She is on the NICHD Board of Scientific Counselors.
Qiang Cui

Boston University, United States

Qiang Cui is a professor of Chemistry at Boston University and also affiliated with the Departments of Physics and Biomedical Engineering. He received a B.S. in Chemical Physics from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1993, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Chemistry in 1997 from Emory University under the tutelage of Professor Keiji Morokuma. He conducted postodctoral research with Professor Martin Karplus at Harvard University and, in 2001, moved to the University of Wisconsin, Madison, as a faculty member in the Chemistry department. After spending almost 17 wonderful years in Madison, he moved back to Boston in 2018. His current research interests include quantum chemistry and statistical mechanics and their applications to various chemical, biological, and materials problems.

Expertise: Computational biophysics, especially molecular dynamics, hybrid quantum mechanical/molecular mechanics simulations, free energy simulations applied to enzymes, biomolecular machines and lipid membranes.

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
molecular dynamics
hybrid quantum
classical simulations
enzyme catalysis
allostery
protein dynamics
membrane remodeling

Competing interests statement
Qiang Cui currently serves as an associate editor for the Journal of Chemical Theory and Computation (American Chemical Society).
Volker Dötsch

Goethe University, Germany

Volker Dötsch is Professor of Biophysical Chemistry at Goethe University and a member of the Magnetic Resonance Center Frankfurt. He studied chemistry at the University of Göttingen and obtained a PhD from the ETH in Zürich. As a postdoctoral fellow he used NMR to determine the structure of protein-DNA complexes at the Harvard Medical School. In 1998 he moved as assistant professor to the University of California San Francisco (UCSF). In 2003 he was appointed professor at the Institute of Biophysical Chemistry of Goethe University in Frankfurt. His research interests focus on the structural and functional characterization of members of the p53 protein family, in particular p63 and its involvement in genetic quality control in germ cells. In addition, his laboratory uses a combination of NMR spectroscopy and cell-free protein expression to investigate the structure and function of membrane proteins and studies molecular interactions regulating autophagy. His lab uses a wide variety of biophysical methods including NMR spectroscopy and combines these studies with investigations in cell culture experiments and mouse models. Volker Dötsch is an elected EMBO member.

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
p53 protein family
cell-free expression and membrane protein structure and function
autophagy

Competing interests statement
Volker Dötsch has received funding from the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, the National Institutes of Health and the Deutsche Krebshilfe. He is on the Scientific Advisory Board of the Frankfurt Institute of Advanced Studies and a member of the editorial boards of Journal of Biological Chemistry and Cell Death & Disease.
Merritt Maduke

Stanford University School of Medicine, United States

Merritt Maduke is an Associate Professor of Molecular & Cellular Physiology and co-director of the Neurosciences Interdisciplinary Graduate Program at Stanford University School of Medicine. She received her PhD in Chemistry from the University of California, San Diego and did postdoctoral training at Brandeis University with Professor Chris Miller. Her research at Stanford is centered on the biophysics of ion channels and transporters, with the overarching goal of understanding molecular mechanisms within the context of physiological functions. She also applies her mechanistic approach in the field of ultrasound neuromodulation. She was awarded the Society of General Physiologist’s Cranefield Award for her research on ion channels (2008) and served as the Society’s President from 2018-2019.

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
ion channel and transporter molecular mechanisms
ion channel and transporter physiology
ion channel and transporter pharmacology
ultrasound neuromodulation

Experimental organism
E. coli
mouse
rat

Competing interests statement
Merritt Maduke is employed by Stanford University and receives research funding from the National Institutes of Health and Stanford Innovative Medicine Accelerator. She has served on the BPNS and BBM study sections at the NIH and as ad hoc member of additional panels. She serves on the editorial boards of the Biophysical Journal and The Journal of General Physiology and is a founding curator for Biophysics Colab.
Kenton J Swartz

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, NIH, United States

Kenton Swartz has been a Senior Investigator in the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke within the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland since 2003. He obtained a BS in Chemistry and Biology from Eastern Mennonite College in 1986 and a PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard Medical School in 1993, where he worked with Bruce Bean studying the regulation of voltage-gated calcium channels by G-proteins and protein kinases. He obtained postdoctoral training with Roderick MacKinnon at Harvard Medical School, where he began isolating and studying toxins that interact with voltage-activated potassium channels. His laboratory uses biochemical, molecular biological, biophysical and structural techniques to understand how ion channel proteins sense critical biological stimuli, including membrane voltage, temperature, and both chemical and mechanical signals. He received an NIH Directors Award for Scientific Achievement in 2008, an NIH Office of the Director Honor Award on behalf of the Diversity Task Force in 2011 and the Kenneth S. Cole Award from the Biophysical Society in 2017. He has also served as the president of the Society of General Physiologists.

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
ion channel structure
ion channel mechanisms
ion channel physiology
ion channel pharmacology

Experimental organism
mouse

Competing interests statement
Kenton Swartz is employed by the Intramural Research Program of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health. In addition to serving as a Senior Editor at eLife, he has served as a Reviewing Editor for eLife and as an Associate Editor at the Journal of General Physiology. He also teaches yoga at LifeTime Athletic.

Reviewing editors

Sameh Ali

Children's Cancer Hospital Egypt, Egypt

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cancer Biology
Cell Biology
Immunology and Inflammation
Neuroscience
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
metabolism
mitochondria
redox biology
reactive oxygen species
membrane biophysics
inflammation
aging
oncology
Toby W Allen

RMIT University, Australia

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Physics of Living Systems
Neuroscience

Research focus
computational biophysics
molecular dynamics
free-energy calculations
ion channels
ion permeation
membranes
Demet Araç

University of Chicago, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR)
synapse formation
cell adhesion
Patricia Bassereau

Institut Curie, France

Expertise
Cell Biology
Physics of Living Systems
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
physics of cells
membrane biophysics
mechanobiology
intracellular traffic
endocytosis
adhesion
cellular protrusions
biomimetic membranes
Kurt Beam

University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience
Physics of Living Systems

Research focus
excitation-contraction coupling in skeletal muscle
voltage-gated calcium channels
calcium release channels
Amie K Boal

Pennsylvania State University, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
bioinorganic chemistry
enzymes
microbial chemistry
x-ray crystallography
Henry M Colecraft

Columbia University, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Cell Biology

Research focus
ion channels
ion channel regulation
voltage-gated calcium channels
ubiquitin
ion channelopathy

Experimental organism
human
mouse
rat
Rosana Collepardo

University of Cambridge, United Kingdom

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
epigenetic phenomena
DNA structure
gene expression
molecular modeling
Mauricio Comas-Garcia

Universidad Autónoma de San Luis Potosí, Mexico

Expertise
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
physical virology
RNA packaging
viral assembly
virus-like-particle
vaccines
RNA viruses
structural virology
biophysics
Laszlo Csanady

Semmelweis University, Hungary

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channel structure-function
CFTR
TRPM2
Laura R Delgui

National Scientific and Technical Research Council, Argentina

Expertise
Cell Biology
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
virus-host cell interactions
membranes
molecular biology
cellular biology
structural biology
biophysics
molecular dynamics
Aaron Frank

Arrakis Therapeutics, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
molecular modeling
biophysics
structural biology
computation
RNA biochemistry
RNA structural biology
Adam Frost

University of California, San Francisco, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology

Research focus
cryo-EM
electron cryo-microscopy
membranes
membrane remodeling
proteostasis
stress responses
translation
mitochondria
nuclear envelope
intracellular trafficking
Teresa Giraldez

Universidad de La Laguna, Spain

Expertise
Neuroscience
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channels
neuronal excitability
channelopathies

Experimental organism
mouse
Marcel Goldschen-Ohm

University of Texas at Austin, United States

Expertise
Neuroscience
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channel structure and mechanisms
single molecule dynamics
single molecule fluorescence
patch-clamp electrophysiology
ligand binding
Ruben Gonzalez

Columbia University, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
translation
translational control
ribosomes
RNA
tRNA
single-molecule biophysics
single-molecule fluorescence resonance energy transfer
cryo-EM
biochemistry
live cell imaging

Experimental organism
B. subtilis
E. coli
human
S. cerevisiae
Martin Graña

Institut Pasteur de Montevideo, Uruguay

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Evolutionary Biology
Physics of Living Systems
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
protein 3D structure
structural bioinformatics
structure/function relationships
evolution
Nikolaus Grigorieff

Janelia Research Campus, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
cryo-EM methods
image processing
algorithms
molecular mechanisms

Experimental organism
S. cerevisiae
rotavirus
Yogesh K Gupta

The University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio, United States

Expertise
Medicine
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Cancer Biology
Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Research focus
drug discovery
nucleic acid modifications
cancer epigenetics
structures of viral proteins
host-pathogen interactions
Shozeb Haider

University College London, United Kingdom

Expertise
Medicine
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Computational and Systems Biology
Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Research focus
X-ray crystallography
molecular dynamics simulations
allostery
structure-based drug design
structural bioinformatics
computational chemistry
nucleic acids
rare diseases
Donald Hamelberg

Georgia State University, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
molecular dynamics
classical simulations
protein dynamics
protein allostery
enzyme catalysis
Long time scale dynamics
Heedeok Hong

Michigan State University, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
membrane proteins
membrane protein folding
membrane protein stability
rhomboid proteases
ATP-dependent proteolysis
AAA+
GlpG
FtsH
Leon D. Islas

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Mexico

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
molecular computation
membrane protein
ion channels
fluorescence
models
Andres Jara-Oseguera

University of Texas at Austin, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience

Research focus
ion channels
Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) channels
membrane transport proteins
nociception
voltage-activated channels
cellular excitability
pain-signaling
Tatiana G Kutateladze

University of Colorado School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
epigenetics
chromatin
protein structure
NMR spectroscopy
molecular mechanisms

Experimental organism
human
Joanne Lemieux

University of Alberta, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
protease
intramembrane protease
crystallography
membrane proteins
structural biology
Richard Lewis

Stanford University School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channels
calcium signaling
Chang Liu

Johns Hopkins University, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Research focus
coronavirus
cryo-EM
viral replication
transcriptional regulation
virus-host interactions
RNA structure and processing
ribonucleoprotein complex
Andrei Lupas

Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Germany

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Evolutionary Biology

Research focus
bacterial surface proteins
bioinformatics
coiled coils
protein design
protein evolution
protein structure
transmembrane signal tranduction
Mark T. Nelson

The University of Vermont, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience

Research focus
ion channels
calcium signaling
neurovascular coupling in the brain
vascular, cell and systems biology

Experimental organism
mouse
Hannes Neuweiler

University of Würzburg, Germany

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
protein folding
protein dynamics
protein engineering
fluorescence spectroscopy
fluorescence probes
kinetics
single-molecule fluorescence spectroscopy
Stephan Pless

University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
ion channels
pharmacology
electrophysiology
biophysics
chemical biology
non-canonical amino acids
protein engineering
neurobiology
Owen Pornillos

University of Virginia, United States

Expertise
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
higher-order assembly
cell-free reconstitution
retrovirus structure
tripartite motif proteins
Murali Prakriya

Northwestern University, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience

Research focus
cell imaging
cellular electrophysiology
calcium signaling
ion channels
neurobiology
cell physiology

Experimental organism
mouse
Arun Radhakrishnan

University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
lipid sensors
cholesterol
sphingomyelin
cholesterol transport
SREBP
Scap
cholesterol homeostasis
endoplasmic reticulum

Experimental organism
E. coli
human
mouse
Rina Rosenzweig

Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
NMR
protein folding
chaperones
Jon T Sack

University of California, Davis, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Neuroscience

Research focus
ion channels
voltage gating
voltage clamp electrophysiology
ligand binding
allostery
rate theory modeling
thermodynamics
Rajan Sankaranarayanan

CSIR – Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology, India

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
crystal structure
mechanism
translation of genetic code
proofreading
editing
tRNA synthetase

Experimental organism
E. coli
Sjors HW Scheres

Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, United Kingdom

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
cryo-EM
maximum likelihood
image processing
amyloids
tau
alpha-synuclein
Sang-Hee Shim

Korea University, South Korea

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
super-resolution optical microscopy
in situ structural biology
multiplexed microscopy
spatial genome organization and dynamics
Jungsan Sohn

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Immunology and Inflammation
Microbiology and Infectious Disease

Research focus
innate immunity
inflammasomes
X-ray crystallography
cryo-EM
biochemistry
enzyme kinetics
Randy B Stockbridge

University of Michigan, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channels
transporters
microbial membrane proteins
crystallography
electrophysiology

Experimental organism
E. coli
Thomas Surrey

The Francis Crick Institute, United Kingdom

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
cytoskeleton
spindle assembly
cell division
motor proteins
microtubules
self-organization
active networks

Experimental organism
human
Alan Talevi

National University of La Plata, Argentina

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Computational and Systems Biology
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
bioinformatics
drug discovery
cheminformatics
pharmacy
Mohamed Trebak

University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics
Cell Biology
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology

Research focus
calcium channels
receptor signalling
ion channel regulation
vascular remodeling
smooth muscle
Julie P I Welburn

University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
mitosis
cytoskeleton
motors
phosphorylation
kinase
microtubule
cilia
kinetochore

Experimental organism
human
in vitro
Jie Xiao

Johns Hopkins University, United States

Expertise
Biochemistry and Chemical Biology
Cell Biology
Chromosomes and Gene Expression
Microbiology and Infectious Disease
Physics of Living Systems
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
single molecule biophysics
microbiology
cell division
cell wall
gene expression

Experimental organism
E. coli
Bin Zhang

Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States

Expertise
Physics of Living Systems
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
computational biophysics
molecular dynamics
chromatin organization
biomolecular condensates
genome folding
coarse graining
Lejla Zubcevic

University of Kansas Medical Center, United States

Expertise
Structural Biology and Molecular Biophysics

Research focus
ion channels
membrane transport
structural biology