Pharmacology and Toxicology

Mid-zone hepatocytes trade proliferation for survival via Atf4-Chop axis in early acute liver injury

1. Yaying Zhu
2. Chengxiang Deng
3. Bo Chen
4. Jia He
5. Yanan Liu
6. Shan Lei
7. Weiju Lu
8. Cheng Peng
9. Zhao Shan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study addresses an important question in liver biology: how zonal hepatocytes balance survival and proliferation following injury? The authors propose that a mid-zone Atf4-Chop axis to Btg2 program temporarily suppresses proliferation to promote survival after a variety of chemical and surgical liver injury models. The authors provide evidence that some zones mount tailored stress responses, which ultimately promote regeneration and liver healing; however, the "mid-zone" changes with different injury models, making it difficult to conclude that the ATF4-CHOP response is specific to this zone in all injury contexts. In addition, it is possible that Atf4 and Btg2 overexpression could lead to Cyp2e1 suppression, which could reduce the extent of injury after CCl4 or APAP. To some extent, these points make the strength of the evidence incomplete, but do not entirely detract from the significance of the study, which is underscored by the helpful observation that there are zone-specific stress responses that mediate liver regeneration and survival.

Reviewed by eLife

Hippocampal single-cell RNA Atlas of chronic methamphetamine abuse-induced cognitive decline in mice

1. Hai Qiu
2. Xia Yue
3. Yuebing Huang
4. Ziling Meng
5. Jiahong Wang
6. Dongfang Qiao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors proposed two hypotheses: first, that methamphetamine induces neuroinflammation, and second, that it alters neuronal stem cell differentiation. These are valuable hypotheses, and the authors provided in vivo observations of the methamphetamine response in mice. However, concerns about data interpretation, and the current evidence is incomplete, requiring further experimental validation.

Reviewed by eLife

Identification of 14 Known Drugs as Inhibitors of the Main Protease of SARS-CoV-2

1. Mohammad M. Ghahremanpour
2. Julian Tirado-Rives
3. Maya Deshmukh
4. Joseph A. Ippolito
5. Chun-Hui Zhang
6. Israel Cabeza de Vaca
7. Maria-Elena Liosi
8. Karen S. Anderson
9. William L. Jorgensen

Reviewed by Rapid Reviews Infectious Diseases, ScreenIT

Snake venom metalloproteinases are predominantly responsible for the cytotoxic effects of certain African viper venoms

1. Keirah E. Bartlett
2. Adam Westhorpe
3. Mark C. Wilkinson
4. Nicholas R. Casewell

Reviewed by preLights

In vitro pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the diarylquinoline TBAJ-587 and its metabolites against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

1. Diana Angelica Aguilar Ayala
2. Marie Sylvianne Rabodoarivelo
3. Maxime R. Eveque-Mourroux
4. Albin AM Leding
5. Lindsay Sonnekalb
6. Ana Picó Marco
7. Nicolas Willand
8. Natalya Serbina
9. Ulrika SH Simonsson
10. Ainhoa Lucía
11. Santiago Ramón-García
12. ERA4TB consortium

Reviewed by preLights