eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Food-washing monkeys recognize the law of diminishing returns

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jessica E Rosien
   2. Luke D Fannin
   3. Justin D Yeakel
   4. Suchinda Malaivijitnond
   5. Nathaniel J Dominy
   6. Amanda Tan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study that tests the functional role of food-washing behavior in removing tooth-damaging sand and grit in long-tailed macaques and whether dominance rank predicts level of investment in the behavior. The evidence that food-washing is deliberate is compelling and the evidence that individual investment in the behavior varies is solid. Overall, the paper should be of interest to researchers interested in foraging behavior, cognition, and primate evolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. ANKEF1 is a key axonemal component essential for murine sperm motility and male fertility

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Shuntai Yu
   2. Guoliang Yin
   3. Peng Jin
   4. Weilin Zhang
   5. Yingchao Tian
   6. Xiaotong Xu
   7. Tianyu Shao
   8. Yushan Li
   9. Fei Sun
   10. Yun Zhu
   11. Fengchao Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study reports a critical role of the axonemal protein ANKRD5 in sperm motility and male fertility. Convincing data were presented to support the main conclusion. This work will be of interest to biomedical researchers who study ciliogenesis, sperm biology, and male fertility.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Afadin sorts different retinal neuron types into accurate cellular layers

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Matthew R Lum
   2. Sachin Patel
   3. Hannah K Graham
   4. Mengya Zhao
   5. Yujuan Yi
   6. Liang Li
   7. Melissa Yao
   8. Anna La Torre
   9. Luca Della Santina
   10. Ying Han
   11. Yang Hu
   12. Derek S Welsbie
   13. Xin Duan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study demonstrates the critical role of Afadin on the generation and maintenance of complex cellular layers in the mouse retina. The data are solid, which provides important insights into how cell-adhesion molecules contribute to retinal organization. However, further investigations are needed to clarify the mechanisms underlying the cellular disorganization phenotype in the retina and axonal projection to the brain.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Structure and Cl- Conductance Properties of the Open State of Human CFTR

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Zhi-Wei Zeng
   2. Christopher E Ing
   3. Régis Pomès

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports a detailed computational analysis of the CFTR ion channel's permeation mechanism, advancing our understanding of its structure-function relationship. The conclusions are based on extensive molecular dynamics simulations and thorough analysis, but the use of an approximate chloride ion model, known to underestimate key ion-protein interactions, leaves them incomplete without experimental or alternative computational validation. The work will be of interest to biophysicists working on CFTR and cystic fibrosis.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Iridescent structural coloration in a crested Cretaceous enantiornithine bird from the Jehol Biota

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Zhiheng Li
   2. Jinsheng Hu
   3. Thomas A Stidham
   4. Mao Ye
   5. Min Wang
   6. Yanhong Pan
   7. Tao Zhao
   8. Jingshu Li
   9. Zhonghe Zhou
   10. Julia A Clarke

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a potentially fundamental analysis of a fossil feather from a 125-million-year-old enantiornithine bird. Using sophisticated 3D microscopic and numerical methods, the authors conclude that the feather was iridescent and brightly colored, possibly indicating that this was a male bird that used its crest in sexual displays. At present, the strength of evidence supporting the conclusions is considered incomplete based on methodological shortcomings and questions about taphonomy.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Structure-guided loop grafting improves expression and stability of influenza neuraminidase for vaccine development

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Pramila Rijal
   2. Leiyan Wei
   3. Guido C Paesen
   4. David I Stuart
   5. Mark Haworth
   6. Kuan-Ying A Huang
   7. Thomas A Bowden
   8. Alain RM Townsend

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors developed a methodology to graph antigenic surface loops on influenza virus neuraminidases. The hybrid proteins retained the structure of the neuraminidase scaffold and the antigenicity of the grafted loops. This fundamental work should help in developing novel neuraminidase constructs for use in influenza virus vaccines. The paper presents compelling evidence supporting the conclusions arrived at by the authors.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Scheduled feeding improves behavioral outcomes and reduces inflammation in a mouse model of fragile X syndrome

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Huei-Bin Wang
   2. Natalie E Smale
   3. Sarah H Brown
   4. Sophia AMB Villanueva
   5. David Zhou
   6. Aly Mulji
   7. Deap S Bhandal
   8. Kyle Nguyen-Ngo
   9. John R Harvey
   10. Cristina A Ghiani
   11. Christopher S Colwell

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents solid experimental data using Fmr1 knockout mice to explore the fundamental role of Fmr1 in sleep regulation. The study supports the hypothesis that scheduled feeding can improve circadian rhythm and behavior in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome. These findings may offer new insights into neurodevelopmental disorders and their potential treatment strategies.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Structure-guided secretome analysis of gall-forming microbes offers insights into effector diversity and evolution

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Soham Mukhopadhyay
   2. Muhammad Asim Javed
   3. Jiaxu Wu
   4. Edel Perez-Lopez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents an important discovery regarding the diversity and evolution of gall-forming microbial effectors. Supported by convincing computational structural predictions and analyses, the research provides insights into the unique mechanisms by which gall-forming microbes exert their pathogenicity in plants. This study also offers guidance that is of value for future studies on pathogen effector function and co-evolution with host plants.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Applying 3D correlative structured illumination microscopy and X-ray tomography to characterise herpes simplex virus-1 morphogenesis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Kamal L Nahas
   2. Viv Connor
   3. Kaveesha J Wijesinghe
   4. Henry G Barrow
   5. Ian M Dobbie
   6. Maria Harkiolaki
   7. Stephen C Graham
   8. Colin M Crump

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This landmark manuscript comprehensively examines the roles of nine structural proteins in herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV-1) assembly and nuclear egress. By integrating cryo-light microscopy and soft X-ray tomography, the study presents an innovative approach to investigating viral assembly within cells. The research is thoroughly executed, yielding exceptional data that explain previously unknown functions expected to bear widespread influence. This work is of broad interest to virologists, cellular biologists, and structural biologists, offering a robust, contextually rich methodology for studying large protein complex assembly within the cellular environment, serving as an excellent starting point for high-resolution techniques.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A thermodynamic framework for nonequilibrium self-assembly and force morphology tradeoffs in branched actin networks

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Elisabeth Rennert
    2. Suriyanarayanan Vaikuntanathan

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      Rennert et al. developed a valuable thermodynamic framework to study the force response of branched actin networks from the crucial and unexplored perspective of energetic cost. They used the fact that the entropy production rate must be positive to derive inequalities that set limits on the maximum force produced by branched actin networks, and speculate that the dissipative cost beyond that required to move the load may be necessary to maintain an adaptive steady state. This work is highly innovative, but remains incomplete until the hypotheses of the model are better justified and the conclusions about the dissipative cost of the system are better established.

    Reviewed by eLife