Cell Biology

Capsaicin acts as a novel NRF2 agonist to suppress ethanol induced gastric mucosa oxidative damage by directly disrupting the KEAP1-NRF2 interaction

1. Xiaoning Gao
2. WuYan Guo
3. Peiyuan Liu
4. Mingyue Yuwen
5. Zixiang Liu
6. Ruyang Tan
7. Kairui Liu
8. Zhiru Yang
9. Junli Ba
10. Xue Bai
11. Shiti Shama
12. Cong Tang
13. Kai Miao
14. Haozhi Pei
15. Liren Liu
16. Cheng Zhu
17. Tao Wang
18. Bo Zhang
19. Jun Kang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study suggests that capsaicin nanoparticle administration in rats activates the transcription factor Nrf2 by directly binding to its repressor KEAP1, leading to cytoprotective gene induction, and preventing alcohol-induced gastric damage, an avenue to treat alcoholism-related gastric disorders. The evidence is currently incomplete as there is no experimental proof that capsaicin exerts its cytoprotective effects via Nrf2, and not via any of its multiple known pharmacological effects. In particular, Nrf2-deficient mice should be used to show that Nrf2 is causal to the cytoprotective effect, and better controls should be provided for the direct KEAP2-capsaicin interaction, given the high concentrations used.

Reviewed by eLife

Partitioning to ordered membrane domains regulates the kinetics of secretory traffic

1. Ivan Castello-Serrano
2. Frederick A Heberle
3. Barbara Diaz-Rohrer
4. Rossana Ippolito
5. Carolyn R Shurer
6. Pablo Lujan
7. Felix Campelo
8. Kandice R Levental
9. Ilya Levental

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this important study, Castello-Serrano and colleagues describe, model and quantify the role of transmembrane domains in protein sorting in the secretory pathway, first at the ER and subsequently at the Golgi. Convincing data support the role of a cytoplasmic motif in ER exit, while further experiments are necessary to support a direct connection between the phase partitioning capability of the transmembrane regions and the sorting potential of domains at the Golgi/TGN.

Reviewed by eLife

A novel human pluripotent stem cell-based gene activation system identifies IGFBP2 as a mediator in the production of hematopoietic progenitors in vitro

1. Paolo Petazzi
2. Telma Ventura
3. Francesca Paola Luongo
4. Heather McClafferty
5. Alisha May
6. Helen Alice Taylor
7. Micheal J Shipston
8. Nicola Romanò
9. Lesley M. Forrester
10. Pablo Menéndez
11. Antonella Fidanza

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents useful findings to inform and improve the in vitro differentiation of hematopoietic progenitor cells from human induced pluripotent stem cells. However, while relying on a well-characterized technical approach, the data analysis is overall incomplete and only partially supports the main conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

BEND2 is a crucial player in oogenesis and reproductive aging

1. Yan Huang
2. Nina Bucevic
3. Carmen Coves
4. Natalia Felipe-Medina
5. Marina Marcet-Ortega
6. Nikoleta Nikou
7. Cristina Madrid-Sandín
8. Neus Ferrer Miralles
9. Antoni Iborra
10. Alberto M. Pendás
11. Ignasi Roig

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides valuable information on a novel gene that regulates meiotic progression in both male and female meiosis, but the evidence supporting the conclusions of the authors on the role of BEND2 in oogenesis and reproductive aging is incomplete. This study will be of interest to developmental and reproductive biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

A genetic and physiological model of renal dysfunction in Lowe syndrome

1. Navyashree A Ramesh
2. Vaishali Kataria
3. Indra Sara Lama
4. Rajan Thakur
5. Avishek Ghosh
6. Sanjeev Sharma
7. Aishwarya Venugopal
8. Anil Vasudevan
9. Raghu Padinjat

Reviewed by Review Commons

Spindle assembly checkpoint-dependent mitotic delay is required for cell division in absence of centrosomes

1. KC Farrell
2. Jennifer T Wang
3. Tim Stearns

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work explores how centrosomes, which function as the primary microtubule organizing center in animal cells, regulate cell division by examining the process in cells in which centrosome formation has been inhibited. The carefully conducted experiments provide convincing support for the important observation that elongated, but successful, mitosis observed in cells lacking centrosomes is due to delays in cell cycle progression.

Reviewed by eLife

The transmembrane protein Syndecan regulates stem cell nuclear properties and cell maintenance

1. Buffy L. Eldridge-Thomas
2. Jerome G. Bohere
3. Chantal Roubinet
4. Alexandre Barthelemy
5. Tamsin J. Samuels
6. Felipe Karam Teixeira
7. Golnar Kolahgar

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mecp2 fine-tunes quiescence exit by targeting nuclear receptors

1. Jun Yang
2. Shitian Zou
3. Zeyou Qiu
4. Mingqiang Lai
5. Qing Long
6. Huan Chen
7. Ping lin Lai
8. Sheng Zhang
9. Zhi Rao
10. Xiaoling Xie
11. Yan Gong
12. Anling Liu
13. Mangmang Li
14. Xiaochun Bai

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study provides insights into the mechanism controlling cell cycle reentry, establishing a regulatory role for Mecp2 degradation in shifting transcription from metabolic to proliferation genes during quiescence exit. The evidence, which includes experimental data from in vitro cell culture and an in vivo injury-induced liver regeneration model, is convincing but the trigger for MeCP2 degradation and how MeCP2 differentially regulates proliferation and metabolic genes remain unclear.

Reviewed by eLife

IF1 is a cold-regulated switch of ATP synthase to support thermogenesis in brown fat

1. Henver S. Brunetta
2. Anna S. Jung
3. Fernando Valdivieso-Rivera
4. Stepheny C. C. Zani
5. Joel Guerra
6. Vanessa Furino
7. Annelise Francisco
8. Marcelo Berçot
9. Pedro M. M. Moraes-Vieira
10. Susanne Keipert
11. Martin Jastroch
12. Laurent O. Martinez
13. Carlos H. Sponton
14. Roger F. Castilho
15. Marcelo A. Mori
16. Alexander Bartelt

Reviewed by Review Commons

Full-length direct RNA sequencing uncovers stress-granule dependent RNA decay upon cellular stress

1. Showkat A. Dar
2. Sulochan Malla
3. Vlastimil Martinek
4. Matthew J. Payea
5. Christopher T. Lee
6. Jessica Martin
7. Aditya J. Khandeshi
8. Jennifer L. Martindale
9. Cedric Belair
10. Manolis Maragkakis

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study describes mRNA shortening during cellular stress and interestingly observes that this shortening is dependent on localization in stress granules. Surprisingly, this mRNA shortening does not appear to require the shortening of polyA tails. These are in principle novel findings, but the evidence for them is currently incomplete. Additional experiments would help bolster confidence in how the authors interpret their data.

Reviewed by PREreview, eLife