eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Genetic parallels in biomineralization of the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum and stony corals

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Oliver Voigt
   2. Magdalena V. Wilde
   3. Thomas Fröhlich
   4. Benedetta Fradusco
   5. Sergio Vargas
   6. Gert Wörheide

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important paper reports the discovery of calcarins, a protein family that seems to be involved in calcification in the calcareous sponge Sycon ciliatum, significantly enhancing our understanding of the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying spicule formation in sponges and the evolution of carbonate biomineralization. The conclusions are supported by compelling evidence based on an integrated analysis that combines transcriptomics, genomics, proteomics, and precise in situ hybridization. These findings will be of broad interest to cell biologists, biochemists, and evolutionary biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Mitochondrial ETF insufficiency drives neoplastic growth by selectively optimizing cancer bioenergetics

   This article has 27 authors:

   1. David Papadopoli
   2. Ranveer Palia
   3. Predrag Jovanovic
   4. Sébastien Tabariès
   5. Emma Ciccolini
   6. Valerie Sabourin
   7. Sebastian Igelmann
   8. Shannon McLaughlan
   9. Lesley Zhan
   10. HaEun Kim
   11. Nabila Chekkal
   12. Krzysztof J. Szkop
   13. Thierry Bertomeu
   14. Jibin Zeng
   15. Julia Vassalakis
   16. Farzaneh Afzali
   17. Slim Mzoughi
   18. Ernesto Guccione
   19. Mike Tyers
   20. Daina Avizonis
   21. Ola Larsson
   22. Lynne-Marie Postovit
   23. Sergej Djuranovic
   24. Josie Ursini-Siegel
   25. Peter M. Siegel
   26. Michael Pollak
   27. Ivan Topisirovic

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors present an important set of data implicating ETFDH as an epigenetically suppressed gene in cancer with tumor suppressive functions. The evidence is solid, with the authors demonstrating that ETFDH suppression results in accumulation of amino acids that impact metabolism via hyperactive mTORC1.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. p66Shc Mediates SUMO2-induced Endothelial Dysfunction

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jitendra Kumar
   2. Shravan K. Uppulapu
   3. Sujata Kumari
   4. Kanika Sharma
   5. William Paradee
   6. Ravi Prakash Yadav
   7. Vikas Kumar
   8. Santosh Kumar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study offers valuable insights into the role of post-translational modifiers, specifically SUMO2ylation at K81 in p66Shc, and its impact on endothelial function through reactive oxygen species. A series of compelling experiments demonstrated that lysine 81 of p66Shc is the site of SUMO2 conjugation, which is crucial for mitochondrial localization and essential for S36 phosphorylation, leading to specific pathological effects. While the combination of cell overexpression and animal studies provides solid data supporting this mechanistic link.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Krüppel Regulates Cell Cycle Exit and Limits Adult Neurogenesis of Mushroom Body Neural Progenitors in Drosophila

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Dongni Shao Chen
   2. Jin Man
   3. Xian Shu
   4. Haoer Shi
   5. Xue Xia
   6. Yusanjiang Abula
   7. Yuu Kimata

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides important insights into the regulation of neuroblast lifespan and proliferation in the Drosophila mushroom body, identifying Krüppel (Kr) as a key transcription factor promoting timely termination of these neuroblasts by repressing Imp expression, and proposes an antagonistic role of Krüppel homolog 1 (Kr-h1), whose overexpression leads to prolonged mushroom body neuroblast proliferation and tumor-like expansion. The findings are impactful for researchers interested in temporal patterning and neural development, and the methods and data analysis are solid, however, the precise regulatory interactions between Kr and Kr-h1 and their modes of action remain incompletely tested. Further experiments would be required to fully elucidate the mechanistic interplay between the factors involved.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The alternative oxidase reconfigures the larval mitochondrial electron transport system to accelerate growth and development in Drosophila melanogaster

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Geovana S Garcia
   2. Murilo F Othonicar
   3. Antonio Thiago P Campos
   4. Eric A Kilbourn
   5. Kenia C Bicego
   6. Johannes Lerchner
   7. Jason M Tennessen
   8. Marcos T Oliveira

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The findings in this manuscript are important because they demonstrate the key role of metabolism in insect development. The data were collected and analyzed using solid and validated methodologies, but the evidence is incomplete, as the extent of the involvement of AOX activity in vivo and in physiological conditions is not addressed. This manuscript will be of interest for the fields of mitochondrial bioenergetics, metabolism and development.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Genetic evidence: zebrafish hoxba and hoxbb clusters are essential for the anterior-posterior positioning of pectoral fins

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Morimichi Kikuchi
   2. Renka Fujii
   3. Daiki Kobayashi
   4. Yuki Kawabe
   5. Haruna Kanno
   6. Sohju Toyama
   7. Farah Tawakkal
   8. Kazuya Yamada
   9. Akinori Kawamura

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of vertebrate forelimb development, specifically the contribution of Hox genes to zebrafish pectoral fin formation. While there are reservations about some of the descriptions and interpretations of the data, the results are mostly convincing. The authors have employed a robust and extensive genetic approach to tackle a key and unresolved question. The findings will be of broad interest to developmental and evolutionary biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Targeted Protein Degradation by KLHDC2 Ligands Identified by High Throughput Screening

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Han Zhou
   2. Tongliang Zhou
   3. Wenli Yu
   4. Liping Liu
   5. Yeonjin Ko
   6. Kristen A. Johnson
   7. Ian A. Wilson
   8. Peter G. Schultz
   9. Michael J. Bollong

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study aims to advance the toolkit of small molecules used for approaches to targeted protein degradation for research and therapeutic applications. The authors provide solid data demonstrating the use of a high-throughput screen of small molecules to target a specific E3 ligase, KLHDC2 (Kelch-like homology domain containing protein 2); the resulting compounds then form the basis for new PROTAC (proteolysis targeting chimera) reagents. The strength of the work lies in expanding the PROTAC reagent inventory. The current work would be strengthened further by confirming that the PROTAC's activity is dependent on KLHDC2 and by a more thorough examination of off-target effects in cellular applications.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Ubiquitination-activated TAB–TAK1–IKK–NF-κB axis modulates gene expression for cell survival in the lysosomal damage response

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Akinori Endo
   2. Chikage Takahashi
   3. Yasumasa Nishito
   4. Keiji Tanaka
   5. Yukiko Yoshida

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents the important finding that lysosomal damage triggers inflammatory signaling through ubiquitination and the TAB-TAK1-IKK-NF-kB axis. The data obtained from the unbiased transcriptomic and proteomic analyses are convincing and provide invaluable information to the field. Although further experiments will be required to clarify how TAB2/3 are activated, this work will be of interest to researchers in the fields of organelle biology and inflammation.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Epitope Sequence and Modification Fingerprints of Anti-Aβ Antibodies

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Ivan Talucci
   2. Timon Leske
   3. Hans-Wolfgang Klafki
   4. Mohammed Mehedi Hassan
   5. Annik Steiert
   6. Barbara Morgado
   7. Sebastian Bothe
   8. Lars van Werven
   9. Thomas Liepold
   10. Jochen Walter
   11. Hermann Schindelin
   12. Jens Wiltfang
   13. Oliver Wirths
   14. Olaf Jahn
   15. Hans-Michael Maric

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Antibodies that selectively bind distinct amyloid-beta variants are vital tools for Alzheimer's disease research. This valuable manuscript aims to delineate the epitope specificity in a panel of anti-amyloid-beta antibodies, including some with clinical relevance. The experiments were rigorously conducted, employing an interesting combination of established and state-of-the-art methodologies, yielding mostly robust findings. While the data regarding antibody sequence preferences for distinct amyloid-beta regions and aggregation states are convincing, a thorough revision of the manuscript would help to highlight the key results.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Endothelial Slit2 guides the Robo1-positive sympathetic innervation during heart development

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Juanjuan Zhao
    2. Susann Bruche
    3. Konstantinos Lekkos
    4. Carolyn Carr
    5. Joaquim M. Vieira
    6. John G. Parnavelas
    7. William D. Andrews
    8. Mathilda T.M. Mommersteeg

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a valuable finding on the role of Slit-Robo signaling in cardiac innervation. The evidence supporting the main claims of the authors is solid. The use of several mouse models including constitutive and cell type specific knockout models make the findings more robust. The scope of the presented studies is somewhat limited, as they primarily focus on evaluating the phenotypic changes in cardiac innervation following the loss of various Slit or Robo genes.

    Reviewed by eLife