eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Twelve phosphomimetic mutations induce the assembly of recombinant full-length human tau into paired helical filaments

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Sofia Lövestam
   2. Jane L. Wagstaff
   3. Taxiarchis Katsinelos
   4. Stefan M.V. Freund
   5. Michel Goedert
   6. Sjors H.W. Scheres

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes the identification and characterization of 12 specific phosphomimetic mutations in the recombinant full-length human tau protein that trigger tau to form fibrils. This fundamental study will allow in vitro mechanistic investigations. The presented evidence is solid but a higher purity of these fibril types might be required for future studies. This manuscript will be of interest to all scientists in the amyloid formation field.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Secretory leukocyte protease inhibitor influences periarticular joint inflammation in B. burgdorferi -infected mice

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Qian Yu
   2. Xiaotian Tang
   3. Thomas Hart
   4. Robert Homer
   5. Alexia A. Belperron
   6. Linda K. Bockenstedt
   7. Aaron Ring
   8. Akira Nakamura
   9. Erol Fikrig

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding on the role of secretory leukocyte protease inhibitors (SLPI) in developing Lyme disease in mice infected with Borrelia burgdorferi. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although there are a few concerns that need to be addressed, including patient sample sizes, and the potential contribution of the greater bacterial burden to the enhanced inflammation. This paper would be of interest to scientists in the infectious inflammatory disease field.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Teichoic acids in the periplasm and cell envelope of Streptococcus pneumoniae

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Mai Nguyen
   2. Elda Bauda
   3. Célia Boyat
   4. Cédric Laguri
   5. Céline Freton
   6. Anne Chouquet
   7. Benoit Gallet
   8. Morgane Baudoin
   9. Yung-Sing Wong
   10. Christophe Grangeasse
   11. Christine Moriscot
   12. Claire Durmort
   13. André Zapun
   14. Cecile Morlot

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The bacterial cell wall is crucial to maintain viability. It has previously been suggested that Gram-positive bacteria have a periplasmic region between the cell membrane and peptidoglycan cell wall that this is maintained by the presence of teichoic acids. In this valuable study, Nguyen et al. make clever use of electron microscopy and metabolic labelling to interrogate the role of teichoic acids in supporting the maintenance of the periplasmic region in Streptococcus pneumoniae. The findings are potentially significant but incomplete to fully support the conclusions drawn.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Interaction hierarchy among Cdv proteins drives recruitment to membrane necks

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Nicola De Franceschi
   2. Alberto Blanch-Jover
   3. Cees Dekker

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study investigates how the proteins of the Cdv division system in Metallosphaera sedula archaea sequentially interact with curved membranes in vitro, extending our understanding of this reduced ESCRT-like machinery. While the data support key aspects of protein recruitment and membrane remodeling, missing controls and statistical analysis information, unaddressed discrepancies, and limitations in recapitulating native geometry leave the data incomplete to fully support the proposed conclusions. The work will be of interest to evolutionary and synthetic biologists as membrane biophysicists but would benefit from additional experiments and a more cautious interpretation of results.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Chromatin activity of IκBα mediates the exit from naïve pluripotency

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Luis G. Palma
   2. Daniel Álvarez-Villanueva
   3. María Maqueda
   4. Mercedes Barrero
   5. Arnau Iglesias
   6. Joan Bertran
   7. Damiana Álvarez-Errico
   8. Carlos A. García-Prieto
   9. Cecilia Ballaré
   10. Virginia Rodriguez-Cortez
   11. Clara Bueno
   12. August Vidal
   13. Alberto Villanueva
   14. Pablo Menéndez
   15. Gregoire Stik
   16. Luciano Di Croce
   17. Bernhard Payer
   18. Manel Esteller
   19. Lluís Espinosa
   20. Anna Bigas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reveals a role for IκBα in the regulation of embryonic stem cell pluripotency. The solid data in mouse embryonic stem cells include separation of function mutations in IκBα to dissect its non-canonical role as a chromatin regulator and its canonical function as NF-κB inhibitor. The conclusions could be strengthened by including better markers of differentiation status and additional controls or orthogonal approaches.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Human eIF2A has a minimal role in translation initiation and in uORF-mediated translational control

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Mykola Roiuk
   2. Marilena Neff
   3. Aurelio A. Teleman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, Roiuk et al employed a combination of ribosome profiling and reporter assays to provide convincing evidence that eIF2A is not involved in translational regulation in cultured human cells. In conjunction with several recent publications (spanning yeast to mammalian systems), these findings disaffirm the previously proposed role of eIF2A in directing protein synthesis, including its implication in translational reprogramming under stress. Whilst clearly delinating something eIF2A does not do, identifying cellular role(s) for eIF2A could further strengthen this article.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Blocking SHP2 benefits FGFR2 inhibitor and overcomes its resistance in FGFR2-amplified gastric cancer

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Yue Zhang
   2. Hanbing Wang
   3. Yutao Wei
   4. Yunfeng Pan
   5. Xueru Song
   6. Tao Shi
   7. Jie Shao
   8. Lixia Yu
   9. Baorui Liu
   10. Yue Wang
   11. Jia Wei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Based on the perceived low efficacy of current therapies targeted to FGFR2 in gastric cancer (GC), the authors investigate an approach which combines SHP2 inhibition with existing FGFR2 inhibitors. The data were largely collected and analysed using solid and validated methodology. There is some useful data regarding combination therapy in a new clinical cohort, which supports previous studies that have reported the potential of targeting RTKs together with phosphatases.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Membrane mimetic thermal proteome profiling (MM-TPP) towards mapping membrane protein-ligand dynamics

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Rupinder Singh Jandu
   2. Mohammed Al-Seragi
   3. Hiroyuki Aoki
   4. Mohan Babu
   5. Franck Duong van Hoa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study introduces the peptidisc-TPP approach as a promising solution to challenges in membrane proteomics, enabling thermal proteome profiling in a detergent-free system. While the concept is innovative and holds significant potential, the demonstration of its utility and validation remains incomplete. The method presents a strong foundation for broader applications in identifying physiologically and pharmacologically relevant membrane protein-ligand interactions.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Functionally Important Residues from Graph Analysis of Coevolved Dynamic couplings

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Manming Xu
   2. Sarath Chandra Dantu
   3. James A Garnett
   4. Robert A Bonomo
   5. Alessandro Pandini
   6. Shozeb Haider

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper reports the analysis of coevolutionary patterns and dynamical information for identifying functionally relevant sites. These findings are considered important due to the broad utility of the unified framework and network analysis capable of revealing communities of key residues that go beyond the residue-pair concept. The data is solid, and the results are clearly presented.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Mettl5 coordinates protein production and degradation of PERIOD to regulate sleep in Drosophila

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Xiaoyu Wu
    2. Xingzhuo Yang
    3. Tiantian Fu
    4. Yikang S. Rong
    5. Juan Du

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      In this manuscript, the authors present useful findings demonstrating that the RNA modification enzyme Mettl5 regulates sleep in Drosophila. Through transcriptome- and proteome-wide analyses, the authors identified downstream targets affected in heterozygous mutants and proposed that Mettl5 regulates the translation and degradation of clock genes to maintain normal sleep function. However, the mechanisms by which Mettl5 achieves these functions, and whether they are direct or indirect, remain incomplete and would benefit from further analysis.

    Reviewed by eLife