eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Neuroprotective role of Hippo signaling by microtubule stability control in Caenorhabditis elegans

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Hanee Lee
   2. Junsu Kang
   3. Sang-Hee Lee
   4. Dowoon Lee
   5. Christine H Chung
   6. Junho Lee

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In their valuable study, Lee et al. explore a role for the Hippo signaling pathway, specifically wts-1/LATS and the downstream regulator yap, in age-dependent neurodegeneration and microtubule dynamics using C. elegans mechanosensory neurons as a model. The authors demonstrate that disruption of wts-1/LATS leads to age-associated morphological and functional neuronal abnormalities, linked to enhanced microtubule stabilization, and show a genetic connection between yap and microtubule stability. Overall, the study employs robust genetic and molecular approaches to reveal a convincing link between the Hippo pathway, microtubule dynamics, and neurodegeneration.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Vasopressin 1a receptor antagonist disrupts male-male affiliative relationships formed by triadic cohabitation in large-billed crows

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Akiko Seguchi
   2. Ei-Ichi Izawa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates the role of vasopressin in modulating same-sex affiliative relationships in the context of linear dominance hierarchies. It provides convincing evidence that vasopressin signaling is involved in modulating aspects of affiliative behavior, although the evidence that affiliative relationships specifically arise from the triadic interaction study design is incomplete. Nevertheless, its focus on broadening the types of social relationships and species studied in this area makes it of interest to both neuroendocrinologists and colleagues studying the evolution and mechanisms underlying social affiliation.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Enzymatic protein fusions with 100% product yield

   This article has 1 author:

   1. Adrian CD Fuchs

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This revision of important work is a versatile addition to the chemical protein modifications and bioconjugation toolbox in synthetic biology. The technology developed cleverly uses Connectase to irreversibly fuse proteins of interest together so they can be studied in their native context, with compelling well-controlled data showing the technique works for various protein partners. This work will help multiple fields to explore multi-function constructs in basic synthetic biology. This work will also be of interest to those studying fusion oncoproteins commonly expressed in various human pathologies.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Dorsal/NF-κB exhibits a dorsal-to-ventral mobility gradient in the Drosophila embryo

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Hadel Al Asafen
   2. Natalie M Clark
   3. Etika Goyal
   4. Thomas Jacobsen
   5. Sadia Siddika Dima
   6. Hung-Yuan Chen
   7. Rosangela Sozzani
   8. Gregory T Reeves

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable quantitative data and analysis that reveals variations in 'Dorsal' nuclear dynamics along the dorso-ventral axis in the early Drosophila embryo. The evidence that supports that these variations are due to Dorsal/Cactus interactions in dorsal nuclei is convincing, albeit incomplete to understand the biological implications of these findings for developmental patterning.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Defective Neurogenesis in Lowe Syndrome is Caused by Mitochondria Loss and Cilia-related Sonic Hedgehog Defects

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Chien-Hui Lo
   2. Siyu Chen
   3. Jingyu Zhao
   4. Zhiquan Liu
   5. Biao Wang
   6. Qing Wang
   7. Tia J Kowal
   8. Yang Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study investigated mitochondrial dysfunction and the impairment of the ciliary Sonic Hedgehog signaling in Lowe syndrome (LS), a timely topic given the limited research in this area. The data from patient iPSC-derived neurons and a mouse model were collected using solid methods, but the evidence supporting key claims is incomplete, and some technical aspects fall short of expectations. Despite these limitations, the study provides a useful foundation for exploring the relationship between mitochondrial defects and primary cilia in neural development.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Vesiculation pathways in clathrin-mediated endocytosis

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Xinran Wang
   2. Julien Berro
   3. Rui Ma

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study proposes a theoretical model of clathrin coat formation based on membrane elasticity that seeks to determine whether this process occurs by increasing the area of a protein-coated patch with constant curvature, or by increasing the curvature of a protein-coated patch that forms in an initially flat conformation (so called constant curvature or constant area models). Identifying energetically favorable pathways and comparing the obtained shapes with experiments provides solid support to the constant-area pathway. This work will be of interest for biologists and biophysicists interested in membrane remodelling and endocytosis. It provides an innovative approach to tackle the question of constant curvature vs. constant area coat protein formation, although some of the model's assumption are only partially supported by experimental evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Exploiting functional regions in the viral RNA genome as druggable entities

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Dehua Luo
   2. Yingge Zheng
   3. Zhiyuan Huang
   4. Zi Wen
   5. Lijun Guo
   6. Yingxiang Deng
   7. Qingling Li
   8. Yuqing Bai
   9. Shozeb Haider
   10. Dengguo Wei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents a fundamental advance in antiviral RNA research by adapting SHAPE-Map to chart the secondary structure of the Porcine Epidemic Diarrhoea Virus (PEDV) genome in infected cells and pinpointing structurally conserved, accessible RNA elements as therapeutic targets. A broad, well-documented integration of biochemical probing, computational analysis, and functional validation provides convincing evidence that these regions are both biologically relevant and druggable. Beyond PEDV, the work offers a generalizable framework for RNA-guided antiviral discovery that will interest researchers in RNA therapeutics and viral genome biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Animacy semantic network supports causal inferences about illness

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Miriam Hauptman
   2. Marina Bedny

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study investigates the neural basis of causal inference of illness, suggesting that it relies on semantic networks specific to living things in the absence of a generalized representation of causal inference across domains. The main hypothesis is compelling, and is supported by solid methods and data analysis. Overall, the findings make a valuable contribution to understanding the role of domain-specific semantic networks, particularly the precuneus, in implicit causal inference about illness.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.31219/osf.io/wvfnb

10. Flexibility in PAM recognition expands DNA targeting in xCas9

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Kazi A Hossain
    2. Lukasz Nierzwicki
    3. Modesto Orozco
    4. Jacek Czub
    5. Giulia Palermo

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This manuscript describes a fundamental investigation of the functioning of Cas9 and in particular on how variant xCas9 expands DNA targeting ability by an increase-flexibility mechanism. The authors provide compelling evidence to support their mechanistic models and the relevance of flexibility and entropy in recognition. This work can be of interest to a broad community of structural biophysicists, computational biologists, chemists, and biochemists.

    Reviewed by eLife