This week's articles highlight immune receptors that protect rice from a fungal pathogen without reducing crop yield, an engineered opioid receptor agonist that relieves pain without side effects, structural analysis of a voltage-gated sodium channel, and the biophysics of bacteriorhodopsin folding.
PLANT BIOLOGY
Widespread resistance, localized relief
Deng et al. found that heterodimerization of immune receptors protects rice plants from blast disease without affecting the growth of rice grains.
PHARMACOLOGY
A pain killer without side effects
Spahn et al. engineered a novel opioid that selectively activates peripheral opioid receptors only in inflamed tissue.
STRUCTURAL BIOLOGY
Navigating regulated cell excitation
Shen et al. present the cryo–electron microscopy structure of a voltage-gated sodium channel from cockroach that provides a foundation for understanding the function of similar channels and their contribution to disease mechanisms.
BIOPHYSICS
Pulling apart protein unfolding
Yu et al. report that mechanical unfolding of a membrane protein reveals previously undetected intermediates and equilibrium refolding (see the Perspective by Müller and Gaub).