eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Ventromedial striatal dopamine dynamically integrates motivated action and reward proximity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Eugenia Z Poh
   2. Nicky L Buitelaar
   3. Gino Hulshof
   4. Lucie Mazé
   5. Pieter N de Greef
   6. Georgios Zaverdinos
   7. Ingo Willuhn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes a series of studies using four different Go/No Go task variants in combination with fast-scan cyclic voltammetry to determine the role of dopamine release in the ventromedial striatum in action selection, controllability of reward pursuit, effort, and reward approach. The authors conclude that dopamine signals in the ventromedial striatum integrate the invigoration of action initiation with continuous estimation of spatial, but not temporal, proximity to rewards. There are, however, a number of concerns regarding methodology that could affect the interpretation of the results. Thus, while the findings are useful, they are considered incomplete, with the primary claims only partially supported.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Conformational Changes of the ABC Transporter BmrA Depend on Membrane Curvature

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Alicia Damm
   2. Kemil Belhadji
   3. Raj Kumar Sadhu
   4. Su-Jin Paik
   5. Aurélie Di-Cicco
   6. John Manzi
   7. Michele Castellana
   8. Raju Regmi
   9. Emmanuel Margeat
   10. Maxime Dahan
   11. Pierre Sens
   12. Daniel Lévy
   13. Patricia Bassereau

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study investigates whether the activity of an ABC transporter, BmrA, can be modulated by mechanical stimuli. The authors develop a single-molecule experimental system to address this question, although aspects of the methodological framework are incomplete. This work also develops a convincing theoretical model to explain the effect of membrane curvature on the conformational transitions observed during the activity cycle of this membrane protein. This study is of interest to the fields of membrane biophysics and membrane transport.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. In extracto cryo-EM reveals eEF2 as a major hibernation factor on 60S and 80S particles

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Zahra Seraj
   2. Ximena Zottig
   3. Chun-Ying Huang
   4. Anna B Loveland
   5. Stephen Diggs
   6. Emily Sholi
   7. Nikolaus Grigorieff
   8. Andrei A Korostelev

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this important work, it is demonstrated that certain high-resolution cryo-EM structures can be obtained by using concentrated cell extracts without purification. The compelling results with the mammalian ribosomes demonstrate the utility of this approach for this molecule and complexes with elongation factor 2. Moreover, this work also demonstrates the utility of 2D template matching for particle picking for structure determination by single-particle averaging pipelines.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Bone marrow hemogenic endothelial cells contribute multilineage hematopoietic progenitors in adult mice

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jing-Xin Feng
   2. Mei-Ting Yang
   3. Caiyi C. Li
   4. Ferenc Livák
   5. Abdalla Abdelmaksoud
   6. Dunrui Wang
   7. Giovanna Tosato

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study proposed hemogenic endothelium in adult BM using lineage tracing. Though the study is potentially valuable, the data is incomplete due to the lack of control and insufficient analysis. There is potential for the study to be improved by further revision.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. FRG1 Regulates Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay by Modulating UPF1 Levels

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ananya Palo
   2. Talina Mohapatra
   3. Anamika Singh
   4. Shithij Thalakkat
   5. Suryasikha Mohanty
   6. Rajeeb Kumar Swain
   7. Manjusha Dixit

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study by Palo et al proposes that FRG1 functions as a negative regulator of Nonsense-Mediated mRNA decay (NMD) by associating with the exon junction complex (EJC) and destabilizing UPF1 independently of DUX4. The authors present solid evidence to dissect the relationship between FRG1 and DUX4 in NMD. However, the evidence to support the claim that FRG1 is a component of the EJC or the NMD machinery is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Maternal SETDB1 enables development beyond cleavage stages by extinguishing the MERVL-driven 2-cell totipotency transcriptional program in the mouse embryo

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Tie-Bo Zeng
   2. Zhen Fu
   3. Mary F Majewski
   4. Ji Liao
   5. Marie Adams
   6. Piroska E Szabó

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding on maternal SETDB1 as a key chromatin repressor that shuts down the 2C gene program and enables normal mouse embryonic development. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although the inclusion of a causality test, a mechanistic understanding of SETDB1 targeting, and phenotypic quantification would have greatly strengthened the study. The work will be of broad interest to biologists working on embryonic development, stem cells and gene regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Cell cycle-resolved Hi-C reveals unexpected plasticity of A/B compartments across interphase

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Linda Choubani
   2. Hisashi Miura
   3. Takako Ichinose
   4. Asami Oji
   5. Rory T Cerbus
   6. Ichiro Hiratani

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides valuable insight into how genome organization changes as cells progress through the cell cycle after mitotic exit. The conclusions are supported by solid, rigorous data, and the use of sorted unsynchronized cells rather than cells treated with drugs is a particular strength. Two sharp genome remodeling events are identified at G1-S and to a lesser extent, at S-G2 transitions. A discussion on the limitations of Hi-C and a broader interpretation of results in the context of other mechanistic models would strengthen the overall rigor.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Jam2 Signaling Functions Downstream of Hand2 To Initiate The Formation Of Organ-Specific Vascular Progenitors In Zebrafish

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Martyna Griciunaite
   2. Julius Martinkus
   3. Sanjeeva Metikala
   4. Ricardo DeMoya
   5. Suman Gurung
   6. Diandra Rufin Florat
   7. Saulius Sumanas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study addresses the question of how organ-specific blood vessels form during different stages of development, and how specific genes may regulate these processes. New genetic tools were developed to label distinct endothelial cell populations and track them over time in different mutant backgrounds. The results are solid; however, additional data quantification, lineage tracing, and cell autonomy experiments would further strengthen the conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. AT-HOOK-MOTIF NUCLEAR LOCALIZED 15 extends plant longevity by binding at poorly accessible, epigenetic mark-depleted chromatin that surrounds transcribed regions

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Thalia Luden
   2. Jihed Chouaref
   3. Remko Offringa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents an important study into the molecular function of AT-HOOK MOTIF NUCLEAR LOCALIZED 15 (AHL15), a member of the AHL protein family, identifying it as a potential regulator of three-dimensional gene-loop organization within transcribed gene bodies. The authors support this claim with compelling genome-wide evidence, integrating AHL15 binding profiles with transcriptional and chromatin accessibility changes, as well as demonstrating overlap with genes known to form loops across transcribed regions. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid. Collectively, these findings will be of broad interest to biologists seeking to understand the core regulatory mechanisms underlying gene expression.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Uncoupling the TFIIH Core and Kinase Modules Leads To Misregulated RNA Polymerase II CTD Serine 5 Phosphorylation

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Gabriela Giordano
    2. Robin Buratowski
    3. Célia Jeronimo
    4. Christian Poitras
    5. François Robert
    6. Stephen Buratowski

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important work demonstrates the role of physically linking the core and CTD kinase modules of TFIIH via separate domains of subunit Tfb3 in confining RNA Polymerase II Serine 5 CTD phosphorylation to promoter regions of transcribed genes in budding yeast. The main findings, resulting from analyses of viable Tfb3 mutants in which the linkage between TFIIH core and kinase modules has been severed, are supported by solid evidence from in vitro and in vivo experiments. There is an intriguing possibility that the Tfb3-mediated connection between core and kinase modules of TFIIH is an evolutionary addition to an ancestral state of physically unconnected enzymes, which could be examined more rigorously with additional evolutionary analyses.

    Reviewed by eLife