After publishing its first volume in 2009, Biophysical Reviews—the official journal of the International Union for Pure and Applied Biophysics (IUPAB 2024)—has endeavored to serve the following roles:

  1. 1.

    Publish short review articles by experts on topical subjects within the broad remit of biophysics.

  2. 2.

    Support IUPAB in its goals to encourage both biophysical education and research from all areas of the world with a special emphasis on developing regions.

  3. 3.

    Provide an international forum for presenting and discussing topics important to both national and international biophysical society groups.

The current issue meets many of these disparate goals, and this editorial introduces and describes the articles appearing within it.

Precis of issue

As with all regular issues of Biophysical Reviews, the journal contents are split into a front section (containing editorials, process commentaries, and non-scientific letters) and a main scientific body section that contains scientific commentaries, letters, and review articles. The front section of the current issue contains three process articles, while the main body section contains seven scientific articles.

Within the front section, following the current editorial (Hall and Olson 2024), is the next installment in the continuing “Meet the Editors” series. During the course of this series, a single member of the Biophysical Reviews editorial board provides a short description of their life and career in a manner accessible to all scientists and that might be both informative and interesting. The latest effort has been contributed by Ronald Clarke who is both an editorial board member and the current Secretary General of IUPAB (Clarke 2024). In this “Meet the Editors” article, Ron first describes his origins and university training as a physical chemist before then detailing travels through an academic career split between Germany and Australia. Written with a liberal dash of humor, this piece (Clarke 2024) substantially contributes to the ongoing goal of the “Meet the Editors” series providing a human face to those working on behalf of Biophysical Reviews.

Appearing next in the front section is an announcement-type commentary that opens the call for submissions to an Issue Focus appearing in Issue 6 of the journal on the topic of nanoengineering for mechanobiology (Giampietro et al. 2024). Ostensibly based around a core of articles invited from participants at the 7th Meeting of Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology (N4M) that was held in Genoa, Italy in March of 2024, additional articles will also be considered from interested outside parties upon consultation with the Issue Focus Editors (with article submissions requested to be made prior to August 1st of 2024) (Giampietro et al. 2024).

Proceeding to the contents of the main scientific section, we encounter an interesting Commentary contributed from scientists based in the state of Karnataka in India that deals with the rise of the use of smartphone technology for constructing serviceable scientific equipment for both research and diagnostic purposes (Raju et al. 2024). While written from a practical technology perspective, the many examples of clever leveraging of the ubiquitousness smartphone technology described in this Commentary reveal how high-quality measurement and data transmission capabilities are now available to all scientists, essentially removing much of the equipment cost barriers for those carrying out optical microscope-based research. As such, this article is a very fitting piece for the IUPAB Biophysical Reviews journal to open with (Raju et al. 2024).

Next up is another Commentary contributed from a group of Russian neurobiologists who discuss both their own recent findings (and others) on two classes of calcium-permeable sodium channels that are defined by their ligand sensitivity to kainic acid or α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) (Zinchenko et al. 2024). Describing both molecular and tissue-level events, the authors explore relationships between processes associated with calcium and ligand-induced neuronal depolarization, the release of the neurotransmitter gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), and the follow-on induced changes in neuronal linkages and synaptic plasticity. Written in a straightforward manner, the authors do a good job of stressing the role and importance of this sub-class of neurons in determining behavior and memory (Zinchenko et al. 2024).

The third article is a scientific letter from two physicists working in Luxembourg who present an original take on the physical factors affecting bacterial growth within the “in-between” spaces posited by porous environments such as soil and glacial ice (Jin and Sengupta 2024). Concentrating particularly on how the constraints of small spaces can affect bacterial growth, movement, communication, and colony formation, this article raises points that are particularly germane to those interested in investigating pathogens in hard-to-reach biological niches that may be regarded as biologically resistant (Jin and Sengupta 2024).

The next article appearing in the lineup by Uceda et al. (2024) is concerned with the chemical mechanisms and biological outcomes by which sugar molecules become covalently attached to proteins and nucleic acids to produce advanced glycation end (AGE) products. Contributed by a biophysical research team from Spain, this review article is quite wide in scope covering both the diverse chemical range of AGE components, the specialist receptor-mediated mechanisms for detecting AGE products (RAGE system), and the many medical conditions such as diabetes, cancer, and Alzheimer’s disease that are closely associated with the buildup of AGE products (Uceda et al. 2024).

Contributed by biophysicists based in Dresden, Germany, the next review article is concerned with the use of infrared spectroscopy and microscopy for investigating biological structures appearing within thin-section tissue samples of healthy and diseased brain specimens (Galli and Uckermann 2024). Providing some physical background to the techniques such as Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) and Raman spectroscopy, coherent Raman scattering microscopy (stimulated Raman scattering (SRS) and coherent anti-Stokes Raman scattering (CARS)), second and third harmonic generation (SHG, THG), and two-photon excited autofluorescence (TPEF) microscopy, the authors provide many practical examples from the literature as to how these various techniques can be used to visualize axons, myelin sheaths, collagen fibers, adipocytes, and specialist cells (Galli and Uckermann 2024).

The penultimate review article contribution from a group of Russian biophysicists explores the role of various metal cation centers on the oxygen production step of the photosynthesis reaction catalyzed by photosystem II (Semin et al. 2024). Reviewing relevant literature associated with the structural biology and redox chemistry, the authors discuss the spatial aspects of the Mn2+ and Ca2+ cations within the four cofactor sites of PSII, their potential replacement with Fe2+, and the limited reaction kinetics effected upon making this replacement. Well written and informative in nature, this review will prove useful to those looking to further “tune” the photosynthesis reaction via molecular biology means (Semin et al. 2024).

Contributed by an Indian chemist, the final review article appearing within the current issue is concerned with the role of different metal cofactors in the aminopeptidase family of enzymes responsible for cleaving N-terminal amino acid residues from peptides (Bhat 2024). Concentrating on the diverse array of potential metal cofactor replacements, the author discusses how the choice of metal cofactor can alter protein stability and enzymatic efficiency and how these differences may potentially confound both in vitro and in silico drug screening trials (Bhatt 2024).

Some upcoming events

Biophysical Reviews publishes six issues per year, and within the remaining issues, there are a number of notable highlights which we list below:

  1. 1.

    Issue 3—“Special Issue on Multiscale Simulations of DNA from Electrons to Nucleosomes” (Olson et al. 2023).

  2. 2.

    June 30, 2024—“Opening of nominations for the 2025 Michèle Auger Award for Young Scientists’ Independent Research” (nominations close October 31, 2024)

  3. 3.

    Issue 5—“Special Issue on the 21st IUPAB Congress 2024” Kyoto, Japan (Olson and Hall 2024).

  4. 4.

    Issue 6—“Issue Focus on the 7th Nanoengineering for Mechanobiology” symposium 2024 Camogli, Genoa, Italy (Giampietro et al. 2024).

More information about each event can be gained by contacting the relevant handling editors listed within the cited references.

A new Chief Editor

Since the journal’s inception, the IUPAB executive has appointed a new Chief Editor of Biophysical Reviews every five years. To date, the period from 2009 to 2024 has seen three people holding this position, and with the next issue, Wilma Olson will take over from the current Chief Editor Damien Hall to become the fourth. Damien  will assume the role of Editor Emeritus and Wilma will build upon the work of Damien and the first two Chief Editors [Cristobal dos Remedios (2014–2018) and Jean Garnier (2009–2013)] to further strengthen and develop the journal.

Concluding remarks

More can be learned about the journal at its official Springer Nature website and also from its social media pages on Twitter and YouTube.

Web: https://www.springer.com/journal/12551

Twitter: @BiophysicalRev1

YouTube: @biophysicalreviews9844

Potential authors interested in submitting an article to Biophysical Reviews are encouraged to first raise the matter with either the Chief Editor or the Executive Editor or an Editorial Board Members from their local geographic area. After discussion on the suitability of the article, a timetable for submission will be arranged in conjunction with the professional officers of the journal.