eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Preferential formation of NUP98-KDM5A condensates at specific H3K4me3-rich loci drives leukemogenic gene expression

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Augusto Berrocal
   2. Jonathan E Sandoval
   3. Neha Khetan
   4. Alexa Ma
   5. Tianhong Wang
   6. Camille Moore
   7. Geeta J Narlikar
   8. Hao Li
   9. Danica Galonić Fujimori
   10. Bo Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is an important study establishing the mechanistic principles how NUP98-KDM5A phase separates together with H3K4me3 chromatin in leukemia. Methods are sound and results are convincing, providing a framework to understand gene expression changes in leukemia patients.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. CDK4 or CDK6 upregulation induces DNA replication stress and genomic instability to cause EGFR targeted therapy resistance in lung cancer

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Beatrice Gini
   2. Philippe Gui
   3. Wei Wu
   4. D Lucas Kerr
   5. Lisa Tan
   6. Dora Barbosa
   7. Victor Olivas
   8. Paul Allegakoen
   9. Carlos Gomez
   10. Patrick R Halliday
   11. Sarah Elmes
   12. Veronica Steri
   13. Turja Chakrabarti
   14. Trever G Bivona
   15. Collin M Blakely

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this important study, the authors describe the mechanisms by which CDK4/6 overexpression mediates resistance to Osimertinib in EGFR mutant lung cancer models. Their data show that CD4/6 overexpressing cells had increased replicative stress and genomic instability. The evidence is solid, but inclusion of some additional experiments would make this stronger.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The structure-interaction model of polymyxin lipopeptides with human oligopeptide transporter 2

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Xukai Jiang
   2. Yining Luo
   3. Mohammad A. K. Azad
   4. Limei Xu
   5. Min Xiao
   6. Tony Velkov
   7. Kade D. Roberts
   8. Visanu Thamlikitkul
   9. Qi Tony Zhou
   10. Fanfan Zhou
   11. Jian Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a potentially important structure-interaction model describing recognition of polymyxin antibiotics by the human transporter hPepT2 and applies these insights to guide the rational design of potent polymyxin B analogues with reduced nephrotoxicity. The conclusions are supported by compelling evidence, integrating molecular dynamics simulations, transporter mutagenesis, uptake assays, protein expression analyses, antibacterial testing, and mouse nephrotoxicity studies, although some mechanistic interpretations remain limited by altered transporter expression and the absence of direct structural validation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. N6-Adenosine Methylation of a Single Site in SARS-CoV-2 5′-UTR Promotes Translation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Ammar Aly
   2. Gary Scott
   3. Mario Calderon
   4. A Pejmun Haghighi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study provides solid evidence that N6 methylation of A74 by METTL3 is required for efficient translation directed by the SARS-CoV-2 5′UTR in uninfected cells, likely by limiting access of protein factors to the 5′UTR that are necessary for efficient translation. These findings advance our understanding of the role of RNA modification in coronavirus replication and m6A-mediated regulation of gene expression more broadly, while further supporting METTL3 as a potential anticoronaviral therapeutic target. However, the evidence that m6A acts by destabilizing the third stem-loop (SL3) of the 5′UTR remains incomplete. The impact of the study would be strengthened by biochemical analyses directly assessing structural changes in the 5′UTR induced by A74 methylation.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Adaptive plasticity of aspartate metabolism in succinate dehydrogenase-deficient cancer cells

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. David Sokolov
   2. Eric Zheng
   3. Serwah Danquah
   4. Madeleine L Hart
   5. Lucas B Sullivan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study on the metabolic adaptations upon succinate dehydrogenase loss in cancer cells. If confirmed, this study will offer some therapeutic vulnerabilities in treating SDH-deficient cancer. However, the evidence supporting the authors' claim is incomplete and would benefit from additional experimental evidence. This study will be of broad interest for cancer biologists focusing on metabolism.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Multi-area activity in mouse motor cortex associated with one- and two-handed oromanual dexterity

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. John M Barrett
   2. Joshua I Glaser
   3. Andrew Miri
   4. Gordon MG Shepherd

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study documents, for the first time, the degree of preference for contralateral versus ipsilateral forelimb movements in the motor cortex of mice, revealing subtly distinct profiles across cortical areas, with the orofacial region showing comparatively little limb selectivity relative to the forelimb motor areas. The experiments and analyses are, in general, solid and well-designed, and the data support the paper's conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Identifying molecular instructions to hard-wire a sensory neuron’s synaptic connectivity

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Júnia Vieira dos Santos
   2. Renee Yin Yu
   3. Andrea Araceli Terceros
   4. Peter Mussells Pires
   5. Denisa Rusu
   6. Vedrana Cvetkovska
   7. Alyeri Bucio-Méndez
   8. Tsung-Jung Lin
   9. Farida Emran
   10. Haig Djambazian
   11. Pierre Bérubé
   12. Robert Sladek
   13. Brian E Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study addresses how the molecular identity of a single neuron specifies its hard-wired synaptic connectivity, using repeated single-cell RNA sequencing of identified Drosophila sensory neurons together with functional perturbation of candidate cell-surface molecules. It demonstrates remarkably low transcriptomic variability across animals for the same identified neuron, defines a tractable set of differentially expressed cell-surface molecules that distinguish mechanosensory from chemosensory neurons, and links several of these molecules to axonal targeting and circuit function. The evidence is solid, with the single-neuron transcriptomic datasets and Dscam isoform repertoires offering a lasting resource for the field, though clearer articulation of the experimental logic, additional controls in the RNAi screen, and a more complete characterization of the neuronal re-wiring would further strengthen the central claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. ITK Deficiency Attenuates Alveolar Hemorrhage by Enhancing Regulatory T Cell-Mediated Tissue Resilience

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Mohammad Saddam Hossain
   2. Ali Mobeen
   3. Hui Xiong
   4. Rosanne Trevail
   5. Li Chen
   6. Liye Suo
   7. Mobin Karimi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study investigates the role of Interleukin-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK) deficiency in autoimmune lung injury using a pristane-induced pulmonary hemorrhage (PH) model, suggesting that ITK-deficient regulatory T cells (Tregs) restrict severe tissue pathology. The work represents a valuable addition to the fields of autoimmunity, inflammation, and T-cell biology in the lung. However, the experimental evidence supporting the underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms and the integration of foundational background literature to provide the necessary context are incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Junctional β-Catenin Stabilization Links Wnt Signaling and Force Generation

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Agimaa Otgonbaatar
   2. Sujithra Shankar
   3. Prameet Kaur
   4. Prabhat Tawari
   5. Nicholas S Tolwinski

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study by Otgonbaatar and colleagues employs advanced live microscopy, optogenetics, and an endogenous fluorescent timer system to investigate short- and long-term stabilization dynamics of β-catenin/Armadillo (Arm) during Drosophila development. The authors identify an unexpected and functionally relevant enrichment of stabilized junctional Arm in leading-edge cells during dorsal closure, providing evidence for a stabilization mechanism that appears independent of canonical Wingless signaling. These findings are significant because they expand current understanding of β-catenin/Arm beyond its canonical signaling functions and suggest a role in tissue mechanics and force transmission during dorsal closure. The proposed model represents a key advance in the field, but the strength of evidence is currently incomplete: the main conclusions regarding Wingless independence, JNK-mediated regulation, and the mechanical role of stabilized Arm are only partially supported by the available data and would benefit from further experimental testing and corroboration.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Excitation–inhibition balance controls coupling stability and network reorganization in a plastic Kuramoto model

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Satoshi Kuroki
    2. Kenji Mizuseki

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This useful study investigates how plasticity and homeostatic adaptation can lead to the emergence of synchronization patterns associated with different sleep phases. The ideas are novel and interesting, but the evidence at present remains incomplete. Further work is needed to determine whether the reported states persist for larger system sizes, longer integration times, and how robust the results are to different initial conditions.

    Reviewed by eLife