eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Comparative analysis of the syncytiotrophoblast in placenta tissue and trophoblast organoids using snRNA sequencing

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Madeline M Keenen
   2. Liheng Yang
   3. Huan Liang
   4. Veronica J Farmer
   5. Rizban E Worota
   6. Rohit Singh
   7. Amy S Gladfelter
   8. Carolyn B Coyne

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses single-cell transcriptomics to analyze syncytiotrophoblasts in two trophoblast organoid models compared to primary placental tissue, providing compelling insights into syncytialization and highlighting the utility of organoid models in placental research. It also serves as an invaluable resource for the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Multi-gradient permutation survival analysis identifies mitosis and immune signatures steadily associated with cancer patient prognosis

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Xinlei Cai
   2. Yi Ye
   3. Xiaoping Liu
   4. Zhaoyuan Fang
   5. Luonan Chen
   6. Fei Li
   7. Hongbin Ji

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper contains valuable ideas for methodology concerned with the identification of genes associated with disease prognosis in a broad range of cancers. However, there are concerns that the statistical properties of MEMORY are incompletely investigated and described. Further, more precise details about the implementation of the method would increase the replicability of the findings by other researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. RNase III in Salmonella Enteritidis enhances bacterial virulence by reducing host immune responses

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Bill Kwan-wai Chan
   2. Yingxue Li
   3. Hongyuhang Ni
   4. Edward Wai-chi Chan
   5. Xin Deng
   6. Linfeng Huang
   7. Sheng Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study examines the function of the rnc gene, which encodes the RNase III ribonuclease, as it relates to virulence of Salmonella Enteritidis. The authors demonstrate that the rnc gene is markedly upregulated in strains proposed to exhibit high virulence and that the product of the rnc gene promotes the expression of SodA, which contributes to the survival of Salmonella Enteritidis in the face of oxidative stress. The study also suggests that elevated levels of rnc gene expression assist Salmonella Enteritidis in evading immune responses by diminishing the presence of accumulated double-stranded RNA (dsRNA), although the evidence substantiating this and the above assertions remains incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Individual differences in tail risk sensitive exploration using Bayes-adaptive Markov decision processes

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Tingke Shen
   2. Peter Dayan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Shen et al. present a computational account of individual differences in mouse exploration when faced with a novel object in an open field from a previously published study (Akiti et al.) that relates subject-specific intrinsic exploration and caution about potential hazards to the spectrum of behaviors observed in this setting. Overall, this computational study is an important contribution that leverages a very general modeling framework (a Bayes Adaptive Markov Decision Process) to quantify and interrogate distinct drivers of exploratory behavior under potential threat. Given their assumptions, the modeling results are convincing: the authors are able to describe a substantial amount of the behavioral features and idiosyncracies in this dataset, and their model affords a normative interpretation related to inherent risk aversion and predation hazard "flexibility" of individual animals and should be of broad interest to researchers working to understand open-ended exploratory behaviors.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Sld3CBD–Cdc45 structural insights into Cdc45 recruitment for CMG complex formation during DNA replication

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Hao Li
   2. Izumi Ishizaki
   3. Koji Kato
   4. Xiaomei Sun
   5. Sachiko Muramatsu
   6. Hiroshi Itou
   7. Toyoyuki Ose
   8. Hiroyuki Araki
   9. Min Yao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable paper describes the crystal structure of a complex of the Sld3-Cdc45-binding domain (CBD) with Cdc45, which is essential for the assembly of an active Cdc45-MCM-GINS (CMG) double-hexamer at the replication origin. The structural and biochemical analyses of protein-protein interactions and DNA binding provided solid evidence to support the authors' conclusion. The results shown in the paper are of interest to researchers in DNA replication and genome stability.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Cellular and circuit features distinguish mouse dentate gyrus semilunar granule cells and granule cells activated during contextual memory formation

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Laura Dovek
   2. Mahboubeh Ahmadi
   3. Krista Marrero
   4. Edward Zagha
   5. Vijayalakshmi Santhakumar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study describes distinctive characteristics of dentate gyrus granule cells and semilunar cells that are recruited during contextual memory processing. The study provides solid evidence to suggest mechanisms that may be involved in the recruitment of neurons into memory engrams in the dentate gyrus.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. DNA O-MAP uncovers the molecular neighborhoods associated with specific genomic loci

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Yuzhen Liu
   2. Christopher D McGann
   3. Conor P Herlihy
   4. Mary Krebs
   5. Thomas A Perkins
   6. Rose Fields
   7. Conor K Camplisson
   8. David Z Nwizugbo
   9. Qiaoyi Lin
   10. Nicolas J Longhi
   11. Chris Hsu
   12. Shayan C Avanessian
   13. Ashley F Tsue
   14. Evan E Kania
   15. David M Shechner
   16. Brian J Beliveau
   17. Devin K Schweppe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents an important new method for probing the DNA and proteins associated with targeted chromatin domains in cells. The authors present solid evidence that the method can map DNA-DNA interactions for individual loci and can detect proteins enriched near repetitive DNA loci or targeted gene clusters. The methodological details of this study will be of particular interest and utility to chromatin biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Target protein identification in live cells and organisms with a non-diffusive proximity tagging system

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Yingjie Sun
   2. Changheng Li
   3. Xiaofei Deng
   4. Wenjie Li
   5. Xiaoyi Deng
   6. Weiqi Ge
   7. Miaoyuan Shi
   8. Ying Guo
   9. Yanxun V Yu
   10. Hai-bing Zhou
   11. Youngnam N Jin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents important findings that reveal SEPHS2 and VPS37C as new potential drug targets for dasatinib and hydroxychloroquine respectively in addition to confirming known targets of these drugs. The evidence provided is compelling as observed in the methods, data and analyses. This article will be of great interest to chemical biologists, biochemists, and scientists in drug discovery and diagnostics.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Terminal tracheal cells of Drosophila are immune privileged to maintain their Foxo-dependent structural plasticity

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Judith Bossen
   2. Reshmi Raveendran
   3. Jingjing He
   4. Thomas Roeder

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable report of tracheal terminal cells (TTCs) in Drosophila being immune privileged. The authors demonstrated that TTCs lack the expression of membrane-associated peptidoglycan recognition receptor PGRP-LC, which protects these cells from activating immune pathway or JNK-mediated cell death to maintain TTC homeostasis. While genetic experiments using RNAi and overexpression are mostly convincing, the data on the expression of PGRP-LCx and cell death phenotypes following immune activation are currently incomplete. The work will be of interest to researchers in innate immunity across various model systems.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Diverse somatic Transformer and sex chromosome karyotype pathways regulate gene expression in Drosophila gonad development

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Sharvani Mahadevaraju
    2. Soumitra Pal
    3. Pradeep Bhaskar
    4. Brennan D McDonald
    5. Leif Benner
    6. Luca Denti
    7. Davide Cozzi
    8. Paola Bonizzoni
    9. Teresa M Przytycka
    10. Brian Oliver

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study offers a valuable genomic dataset, analyses, and functional studies on gonadal sex determination and development. The work addresses long-standing questions regarding the role of the Drosophila sex determination hierarchy, sex chromosomes, and the interaction between the sex determination hierarchy and sex chromosome composition in gonad development. Although this convincing work has been conducted rigorously, the authors missed some key opportunities in their analysis.

    Reviewed by eLife