eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Degradation of LMO2 in T cell leukaemia results in collateral breakdown of transcription complex partners and causes LMO2-dependent apoptosis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Naphannop Sereesongsaeng
   2. Carole JR Bataille
   3. Angela J Russell
   4. Nicolas Bery
   5. Fernando Sialana
   6. Jyoti Choudhary
   7. Ami Miller
   8. Terry H Rabbitts

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper reports the development of proteins and small molecules that drive bridge LMO2, an oncogenic transcription factor in T-ALL, to E3 ligases (Cereblon and VHL), and demonstrates their effectiveness in degrading FMO2, causing growth arrest and inducing apoptosis in T cell lines in vitro. The findings are valuable because they provide evidence that intrinsically disordered proteins can be targeted for degradation by PROTAC-type chemicals. The paper also provides a route for rational PROTAC design based on intracellular antibody paratopes. Overall, the paper is supported by solid evidence and will be of interest to chemical biologists and cancer pharmacologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Endoscopic liquid biopsies of gastric fluid in a large patient cohort reveal DNA content as a candidate tumor biomarker in gastric cancer

   This article has 25 authors:

   1. Francine Carla Cadoná
   2. Thais F Bartelli
   3. Adriane Graicer Pelosof
   4. Claudia Zitron Sztokfisz
   5. Adriana Passos Bueno
   6. Luana Batista do Carmo dos Santos
   7. Gabriela Pereira Branco
   8. Gabriel Oliveira dos Santos
   9. Warley Abreu Nunes
   10. Fernanda Araújo Pintor
   11. Laís Lie Senda de Abrantes
   12. Alexandre Defelicibus
   13. Luiz Gonzaga Vaz Coelho
   14. Marcis Leja
   15. Haejin In
   16. Sharon Li
   17. Howard Hochster
   18. Felipe José Fernandez Coimbra
   19. Rodrigo D Drummond
   20. Israel Tojal da Silva
   21. Ravi J Chokshi
   22. Renata Pasqualini
   23. Wadih Arap
   24. Diana Noronha Nunes
   25. Emmanuel Dias-Neto

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper reports a valuable finding that gastric fluid DNA content can be used as a potential biomarker for human gastric cancer. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although an inclusion of explanations for the methodological limitations, moderate diagnostic performance, and the unexpected survival correlation would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to medical biologists working in the field of breast cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. An evolutionarily conserved scheme for reformatting odor concentration in early olfactory circuits

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Yang Shen
   2. Arkarup Banerjee
   3. Dinu F Albeanu
   4. Saket Navlakha

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable computational study of odor responses in the early olfactory system of insects and vertebrates. The study addresses the question of how information about odor concentration is encoded by second-order neurons in the invertebrate and vertebrate olfactory system; it offers insights into the transformation of neural signals from receptors to second-order neurons. While reanalysis of published data presents solid evidence supporting compression of concentration information, incomplete analysis is provided to resolve how this observation could be reconciled with the need to preserve information about changes in stimulus intensity. This work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying sensory processing broadly and olfaction specifically.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Characterisation of cell-scale signalling by the core planar polarity pathway during Drosophila wing development

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Alexandre Carayon
   2. Helen Strutt
   3. David Strutt

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful paper examined the mechanism of planar cell polarity (PCP) using Drosophila pupal wing, investigating how 'cellular level', 'molecular level' and 'tissue level' mechanisms intersect to establish PCP. This represents a progress for the field, and the conclusions are mostly backed up by solid data. Whereas the manuscript is sound overall, the reviewers found remaining concerns, which can mostly be addressed by textual clarification of the concepts used in the manuscript.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Life-history trade-offs explain local adaptation in Arabidopsis thaliana

   This article has 21 authors:

   1. Benjamin Brachi
   2. Danièle L Filiault
   3. Rahul Pisupati
   4. Tal Dahan-Meir
   5. Anna Igolkina
   6. Alison Anastasio
   7. Mathew S Box
   8. Susan Duncan
   9. Talia L Karasov
   10. Envel Kerdaffrec
   11. Laura Merwin
   12. Timothy C Morton
   13. Viktoria Nizhynska
   14. Polina Yu Novikova
   15. Fernando Rabanal
   16. Takashi Tsuchimatsu
   17. Torbjörn Säll
   18. Caroline Dean
   19. Svante Holm
   20. Joy Bergelson
   21. Magnus Nordborg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports a large series of experiments to investigate specific aspects of plant adaptation, leveraging genetic and genomic resources of Arabidopsis thaliana. The study provides convincing evidence for local adaptation in this highly selfing plant. This is an important dataset contributing to the developing understanding of non-linear selection in plants and beyond.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Life-cycle-related gene expression patterns in the brown algae

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Pélagie Ratchinski
   2. Olivier Godfroy
   3. Benjamin Noel
   4. Jean-Marc Aury
   5. J Mark Cock

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents an in-depth analysis of gene expression across multiple brown algal species with differing life histories, providing convincing evidence for the conservation of life cycle-specific gene expression. While largely descriptive, the study is an important step forward in understanding the core cellular processes that differ between life cycle phases, and its findings will be of broad interest to developmental and evolutionary biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. A three-dimensional immunofluorescence atlas of the brain of the hackled-orb weaver spider, Uloborus diversus

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Gregory Artiushin
   2. Abel Corver
   3. Andrew Gordus

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study provides a 3D standardised anatomical atlas of the brain of an orb-weaving spider. The authors describe the brain's shape and its inner compartments - the neuropils - and add information on the distribution of a number of neuroactive substances such as transmitters and neuropeptides. Through the use of histological and microscopy methods, the authors provide a more complete view of an arachnid brain than previous studies and also present convincing evidence about the organisation and homology of brain regions. The work will serve as a reference for future studies on spider brains and will enable comparisons of brain regions with insects so that the evolution of these structures can be inferred across arthropods.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Enhanced Tactile Coding in Rat Neocortex Under Darkness

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Kotaro Yamashiro
   2. Shiyori Tanaka
   3. Nobuyoshi Matsumoto
   4. Yuji Ikegaya

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents useful findings on how the transient absence of visual input (i.e., darkness) affects tactile neural encoding in the somatosensory cortex. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is incomplete, as key conclusions rely on subtle differences in surface roughness discriminability between sensory conditions, whose physiological underpinnings remain unclear. Potential methodological confounds are also not fully addressed. With additional analyses and methodological clarifications, this work could substantially inform neuroscientists studying cross-modal interactions.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Single-mRNA imaging and modeling reveal coupled translation initiation and elongation rates

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Irene Lamberti
   2. Jeffrey A Chao
   3. Cédric Gobet
   4. Felix Naef

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides evidence for dynamic coupling between translation initiation and elongation that can help maintain low ribosome density and translational homeostasis. The authors combine single-molecule imaging with a new approach to analyze mRNA translation kinetics using Bayesian modeling. This work is overall solid, but certain key aspects and model assumptions could be strengthened.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A Conserved Mycobacterial Nucleomodulin Hijacks the Host COMPASS Complex to Reprogram Pro-Inflammatory Transcription and Promote Intracellular Survival

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Liu Chen
    2. Baojie Duan
    3. Pingping Chen
    4. Qiang Jiang
    5. Yifan Wang
    6. Lu Lu
    7. Yingyu Chen
    8. Changmin Hu
    9. Lei Zhang
    10. Aizhen Guo

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This valuable study provides solid evidence that MgdE, a conserved mycobacterial nucleomodulin, downregulates inflammatory gene transcription by interacting with the histone methyltransferase COMPASS complex and altering histone H3 lysine methylation. There are areas where the evidence could be strengthened, for example, GFP immunoblotting and examining MgdE localization during infection. To enhance impact, the authors could consider Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection experiments and/or reworking the manuscript to emphasize general relevance to microbiologists and cell biologists.

    Reviewed by eLife