eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Adaptation of an herbivorous arthropod to green tea plants by overcoming catechin defenses

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Naoki Takeda
   2. Brendan Abiskaroon
   3. Ricardo Hernandez Arriaza
   4. Ryutaro Murakami
   5. Shogo Sasaki
   6. Masanobu Yamamoto
   7. Vladimir Zhurov
   8. Vojislava Grbić
   9. Maksymilian Chruszcz
   10. Takeshi Suzuki

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides mechanistic evidence that tea-adapted two-spotted spider mite overcomes green tea catechin defenses via the horizontally transferred dioxygenase TkDOG15, supporting a two-step adaptation model, combining enzyme refinement and inducible upregulation. The evidence is convincing because multi-omics signals converge with functional validation (RNAi knockdown and recombinant enzyme assays) and well-controlled behavioral/toxicity assays to link TkDOG15 activity and expression to survival and feeding on tea.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. A Structural Code for Assembly Specificity in GID/CTLH-Type E3 Ligases

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Pia Maria van gen Hassend
   2. Hermann Schindelin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This structural biology study provides insights into the assembly of the GID/CTLH E3 ligase complex. The multi-subunit complex forms unique, ring shaped assemblies and the findings presented here describe a "specificity code" regulates formation of subunit interfaces. The data supporting the conclusions are convincing, both in thoroughness and rigor. This study will be valuable to biochemists, structural biologists, and could lay foundation for novel designed protein assemblies.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. A novel RAB5 binding site in human VPS34-CII that is likely the primordial site in eukaryotic evolution

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Saulė Špokaitė
   2. Yohei Ohashi
   3. Maxime Bourguet
   4. Antoine N. Dessus
   5. Roger L. Williams

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This convincing study examines a novel interaction of RAB5 with VPS34 complex II. Structural data are combined with site-directed mutagenesis, sequence analysis, biochemistry, yeast mutant analysis, and prior data on RAB1-VPS34 and RAB5-VPS34 interactions to provide a new perspective on how RAB GTPases recruit related but distinct VPS34 complexes to different organelles. Although minor revisions are recommended, the judgment is that this work represents a fundamental advance in our understanding of VPS34 localization and regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Interrogating the structure and function of the human voltage-gated proton channel (hH _v 1) with a fluorescent noncanonical amino acid

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Emerson M. Carmona
   2. William N. Zagotta
   3. Sharona E. Gordon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This elegant study presents a valuable approach to probing the structural features of the full-length human Hv1 channel as a purified protein, supported by rigorous biochemical assays and spectral FRET analysis, which will interest biophysicists and physiologists studying Hv1 and other ion channels. Overall, the work introduces an interesting labeling strategy and provides methodological observations that are of value in investigating hHV1. However, the analysis appears incomplete, requiring additional structural interpretation and mechanistic insight. Since the manuscript does not provide compelling evidence regarding the possible conformational change induced by zinc, we suggest that the manuscript be changed to "Tools and resources".

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Developmental sleep reallocation enables metabolic adaptation in desert flies

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Shuhao Li
   2. Milan Szuperak
   3. Ceazar Nave
   4. Si Hao Tang
   5. Jeffrey M. Donlea
   6. Matthew S. Kayser

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Li et al. present an important and innovative study linking developmental changes in sleep to ecological context in Drosophila mojavensis, and propose that sleep at one stage of an animal's life might anticipate needs at a future stage. The results fit well with this model, but are correlative in nature. The work is convincing, scientifically rigorous, and effectively bridges sleep biology and evolutionary ecology, opening promising new directions for the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Sleep-Wake Transitions Are Impaired in the App ^NL-G-F Mouse Model of Early Onset Alzheimer’s Disease

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Ryan K. Tisdale
   2. Yu Sun
   3. Stephanie R. Miller
   4. Stephanie M. Lee
   5. Sunmee Park
   6. Jia Shin
   7. Giancarlo Allocca
   8. Jorge J. Palop
   9. Thomas S. Kilduff

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides useful insights regarding the alterations of sleep architecture in a knock-in mouse model of Alzheimer's Disease (AD). These include age-related hyperactivity that is typically associated with increased arousal, a normal homeostatic response to sleep loss, and a stronger AD-like phenotype in females. Although the analyses are robust, evidence for the proposed mechanisms underlying abnormal sleep architecture is incomplete. Overall, the study may have a focused impact on the sleep and AD fields.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Drosophila melanogaster model of RVCL-S demonstrates age dependent disease progression

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Elena Gracheva
   2. Abigail Matt
   3. Fei Wang
   4. Raymond Hsin
   5. Hongwu Liang
   6. Xiangping Ouyang
   7. Jimin Ding
   8. Jonathan J. Miner
   9. Chao Zhou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describing the phenotypes associated with loss and gain of RVCL-S documents important findings that have practical implications. Although the data and methods are solid and support many claims, there remain some concerns about mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Bifunctional Architecture Enables Substrate Catalysis and Channeling in Paracoccus TMAO Demethylase

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Trung Thach
   2. KanagaVijayan Dhanabalan
   3. Shiwangi Maurya
   4. Yu Han-Hallett
   5. Senwei Quan
   6. Jane Allison
   7. Gurunath Ramanathan
   8. Ramaswamy Subramanian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports high-resolution cryo-EM structures of a trimethylamine N-oxide demethylase and advances the intriguing hypothesis that the enzyme is bifunctional, coupling TMAO demethylation to formaldehyde capture at a distal tetrahydrofolate-binding site via an enclosed intramolecular tunnel. Supported by biochemical assays and molecular dynamics simulations, the structural findings are valuable and potentially of broad interest, particularly the unusual oligomeric architecture and the proposed conduit for a reactive intermediate. However, the mechanistic framework is considered incomplete, raising substantial concerns regarding the proposed catalytic mechanism, metal/cofactor requirements, and the interpretation of biochemical data supporting formaldehyde channelling.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Distinct Mechanisms for Inhibition of SARS-CoV-2 Main Protease: Dimerization Promoted by Peptidomimetic Inhibitors and Disrupted by Ebselen

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Chengxi Liu
   2. Qinyu Jia
   3. Chang Zhao
   4. Zhong-Ping Yao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides a comprehensive comparison of the mechanisms through which different inhibitors affect the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a pivotal antiviral drug target, and suggests a potentially broad-spectrum strategy to inhibit this critical viral enzyme by disrupting its dimerization states. However, whereas the biophysical analyses of the dimer stability are convincing, evidence supporting this new mode of mechanism to inhibit the main protease is incomplete and would benefit from a correlation of the biophysical observations with functional activity. With the functional validation part strengthened, this work would be of interest to biochemists and virologists working on anti-coronavirus drug discovery.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Language comprehension functionally modulates first-order relay thalamic nuclei

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Liu Mengxing
    2. Shiya Wang
    3. Carmen Vidaurre
    4. Sara Guediche
    5. Garikoitz Lerma-Usabiaga
    6. Pedro M. Paz-Alonso

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a potentially valuable exploration of the role of thalamic nuclei in language processing. The results will be of interest to researchers interested in the neurobiology of language. However, the evidence is incomplete to support robust conclusions at this point.

    Reviewed by eLife