Molecular Biology

Molecular dependencies and genomic consequences of a global DNA damage tolerance defect

1. Daniel de Groot
2. Aldo Spanjaard
3. Ronak Shah
4. Maaike Kreft
5. Ben Morris
6. Cor Lieftink
7. Joyce J.I. Catsman
8. Shirley Ormel
9. Matilda Ayidah
10. Bas Pilzecker
11. Olimpia Alessandra Buoninfante
12. Paul C.M. van den Berk
13. Roderick L. Beijersbergen
14. Heinz Jacobs

Reviewed by Review Commons

Tead1 reciprocally regulates adult β-cell proliferation and function to maintain glucose homeostasis

1. Jeongkyung Lee
2. Ruya Liu
3. Byung S. Kim
4. Yiqun Zhang
5. Feng Li
6. Rajaganapti Jagannathan
7. Ping Yang
8. Vinny Negi
9. Joseph Danvers
10. Eliana Melissa Perez-Garcia
11. Pradip K. Saha
12. Omaima Sabek
13. Chad J. Creighton
14. Cristian Coarfa
15. Mark O. Huising
16. Hung-Ping Shih
17. Rita Bottino
18. Ke Ma
19. Mousumi Moulik
20. Vijay K. Yechoor

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The Hippo signaling pathway plays a crucial role in controlling organ size, cell proliferation, and apoptosis, though its role in endocrine pancreas development has remained unclear. In this useful work, the authors study the function of the Tead1 transcription factor, a Hippo effector, specifically in pancreatic beta cells. They provide solid evidence, using multiple different conditional knockout models to reveal Tead1's regulatory functions in insulin secretion and beta cell proliferation. However, deeper exploration of their data and incorporating findings from existing literature on this topic would provide a clearer understanding of Tead1's role in β-cell function, within or beyond the Hippo pathway.

Reviewed by eLife

ChAHP2 and ChAHP control diverse retrotransposons by complementary activities

1. Josip Ahel
2. Aparna Pandey
3. Michaela Schwaiger
4. Fabio Mohn
5. Anja Basters
6. Georg Kempf
7. Aude Andriollo
8. Lucas Kaaij
9. Daniel Hess
10. Marc Bühler

Reviewed by Review Commons

Affinity-tagged SMAD1 and SMAD5 mouse lines reveal transcriptional reprogramming mechanisms during early pregnancy

1. Zian Liao
2. Suni Tang
3. Kaori Nozawa
4. Keisuke Shimada
5. Masahito Ikawa
6. Diana Monsivais
7. Martin Matzuk

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents two valuable new mouse models that individually tag proteins from the SMAD family to identify distinct roles during early pregnancy. Convincing evidence is provided that SMAD1 and SMAD5 target many of the same genomic regions as each other and the progesterone receptor. Given the broad effect of these signaling pathways in multiple systems, these new tools will most likely interest readers across biological disciplines.

Reviewed by eLife

Proteolytic cleavage and inactivation of the TRMT1 tRNA modification enzyme by SARS-CoV-2 main protease

1. Kejia Zhang
2. Patrick Eldin
3. Jessica H Ciesla
4. Laurence Briant
5. Jenna M Lentini
6. Jillian Ramos
7. Justin Cobb
8. Joshua Munger
9. Dragony Fu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript provides important insights into the degradation of the host tRNA modification enzyme TRMT1 by the SARS-CoV-2 protease Nsp5 (nonstructural protein 5 or MPro). The data convincingly support the main conclusions of the paper. These results will be of interest to virologists studying the alterations in tRNA modifications, host methyltransferases, and viral infections.

Reviewed by eLife

Synthetic type III-E CRISPR-Cas effectors for programmable RNA-targeting

1. Daniel J. Brogan
2. Elena Dalla Benetta
3. Tianqi Wang
4. Calvin P. Lin
5. Fangying Chen
6. Harry Li
7. Claire Lin
8. Elizabeth A. Komives
9. Omar S. Akbari

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Multi-omics characterization of partial chemical reprogramming reveals evidence of cell rejuvenation

1. Wayne Mitchell
2. Ludger JE Goeminne
3. Alexander Tyshkovskiy
4. Sirui Zhang
5. Julie Y Chen
6. Joao A Paulo
7. Kerry A Pierce
8. Angelina H Choy
9. Clary B Clish
10. Steven P Gygi
11. Vadim N Gladyshev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reports comprehensive multi-omics data on the changes induced in young and aged male mouse tail fibroblasts after treatment with chemical reprogramming factors. The authors provide solid evidence to support their claim that chemical reprogramming factors induce changes consistent with a reduction of cellular 'biological' age (e.g., correlations with established aging markers in whole tissues).

Reviewed by eLife

A myristoyl switch at the plasma membrane triggers cleavage and oligomerization of Mason-Pfizer monkey virus matrix protein

1. Markéta Častorálová
2. Jakub Sýs
3. Jan Prchal
4. Anna Pavlů
5. Lucie Prokopová
6. Zina Briki
7. Martin Hubálek
8. Tomas Ruml

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study advances our understanding of how the viral protease in a D-type retrovirus is activated and in particular how the exposure of the myristoyl group is required for processing of the Gag matrix precursor. The supporting evidence is convincing, but the work would benefit from additional data in support of the claims. This manuscript is of interest to retrovirologists and structural biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Integrative omics analysis reveals gene regulatory mechanisms distinguishing organoid-derived hepatocytes from primary human hepatocytes

1. Haoyu Wu
2. Annie S. P. Yang
3. Suzan Stelloo
4. Floris J. M. Roos
5. René H. M. te Morsche
6. Anne H. Verkerk
7. Maria V. Luna-Velez
8. Laura Wingens
9. Johannes H. W. de Wilt
10. Robert W. Sauerwein
11. Klaas W. Mulder
12. Simon J. van Heeringen
13. Monique M. A. Verstegen
14. Luc J. W. van der Laan
15. Hendrik Marks
16. Richárd Bártfai

Reviewed by Review Commons

SPAG7 deletion causes intrauterine growth restriction, resulting in adulthood obesity and metabolic dysfunction

1. Stephen E Flaherty
2. Olivier Bezy
3. Brianna LaCarubba Paulhus
4. LouJin Song
5. Mary Piper
6. Jincheng Pang
7. Yoson Park
8. Shoh Asano
9. Yu-Chin Lien
10. John D Griffin
11. Andrew Robertson
12. Alan Opsahl
13. Dinesh Hirenallur Shanthappa
14. Youngwook Ahn
15. Evanthia Pashos
16. Rebecca A Simmons
17. Morris J Birnbaum
18. Zhidan Wu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study combines molecular genetics and target validation to discover genes involved in obesity and determine their role. It was unanimously agreed that the work is important in terms of significance as it has conceptual and practical implications beyond metabolism, including embryonic and placental development. The strength of evidence is convincing from the use of their forward genetic screen in mice.

Reviewed by eLife