Deep penetration and transmission of mechanical force to regulate ER functions depends on not only the passive cytoskeletal support, but also the active actomyosin contractility, which is dispensable for mechanotransduction at the plasma membrane.

A new optical tweezers assay sheds light on the mechanism of cooperation and force generation by the subunits of RecBCD, critical for the repair of double strand breaks in bacteria.

A phase shift between local contractions drives 3D cell motility in experiments and in model or how a finite area in the dipole-quadrupole space explains cell motion with zero total force.

The protofilaments that curl outward from a disassembling microtubule tip carry a large amount of strain energy and they can drive movement with an efficiency similar to conventional motor proteins.

Sec1/Munc18-family proteins chaperone SNARE assembly via a common templating mechanism.

Building on previous work (Syrjänen, Pellegrini, & Davies, 2014), it is shown that SYCP3 contributes to the architecture of meiotic chromosomes through local bridging interactions that result in large-scale compaction of the chromosome axis.

The helical rod structure and dynamic spring-like properties of the type 1 pilus are evolutionarily fine-tuned for functioning in host-pathogen interactions during urinary tract infection and gut colonization.

‘Optical tweezers’ measurements of single ribosomes and single mRNA molecules show that the translation rate depends exponentially on the applied force, and suggests that the ribosome functions as a Brownian ratchet.

In vitro single-particle tracking reveals that ATP binding increases the one-dimensional diffusion of yeast chromatin remodeler SWR1 on DNA stretched between optical tweezers and diffusion is confined by protein roadblocks and nucleosomes.

Single-particle imaging of RSC and ISW2 chromatin remodelers on DNA stretched between dual optical tweezers reveals distinctive 1D diffusion and opposing push–pull nucleosome translocation on engagement with sparse nucleosome arrays.