eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Morphine regulates astrocyte transcriptional dynamics in the ventral tegmental area by stimulation of glucocorticoid signaling

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jennifer J Tuscher
   2. Angela Cleere
   3. Robert A Phillips
   4. Catherine E Newman
   5. Guy Twa
   6. Nathaniel J Robinson
   7. Lara Ianov
   8. Robert E Sorge
   9. Jeremy J Day

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines how chronic pain and opioid exposure interact at the cellular and molecular levels in a reward-related brain region. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, the authors map transcriptional changes in the rat ventral tegmental area following chronic inflammatory pain and acute morphine exposure. Notably, their convincing data support that acute morphine, not chronic pain, elicits a stress-related transcriptional response primarily in glial cells rather than neurons, challenging prevailing views of opioid action and supporting growing evidence for glucocorticoid signaling in glial responses. A limitation is the use of a single opioid dose and time point, and further discussion of these constraints would help clarify the broader implications of the findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Prophylactic Lipoxin A4 Attenuates Clostridioides difficile Infection by Augmenting Epithelial Barrier and Resolving Inflammation

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Hui Wen
   2. Yunqing Xiang
   3. Yue Yu
   4. Zhixin Ma
   5. Ying Xin
   6. Yufang Deng
   7. Huipai Peng
   8. Yong Shi
   9. Nan Li
   10. Shuqiang Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors developed and validated a gut-on-chip system to mimic the gut environment for studies of Clostridioides difficile infection in vitro. Although the data generated is useful to the field, the evidence provided to support the conclusions is incomplete. Methodology that is not complete, as well as discrepancies regarding the proposed mode of action of lipoxin A4, are significant weaknesses.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Integrated Human Transcriptomics Identifies Fallopian Tube Progenitors as Plausible Precursors of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Qian Li
   2. Keren Cheng
   3. Lili Sun
   4. Wei Yan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study reports a substantial single-cell RNAseq and bulk RNAseq dataset from multiple high-grade serous ovarian cancers, including a single-cell atlas of human fallopian tube epithelium. The bioinformatic analysis investigating the lineage and location of epithelial progenitor cells is convincing, although this will require experimental validation. The work also provides a resource to examine additional features of normal fallopian tubes and ovarian cancers, and for developing methods for early detection and tumour stratification.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The cow udder is a potential coinfection site for influenza A viruses

   This article has 34 authors:

   1. Rute Maria Pinto
   2. Colin P Sharp
   3. Maia Beeson
   4. Nunticha Pankaew
   5. Jack A Hassard
   6. Alexander Moxom
   7. Callum Magill
   8. Laura Tuck
   9. Stephen Meek
   10. Hui Min Lee
   11. Kirsty Jensen
   12. Inga Dry
   13. Pedro Melo
   14. Jiayun Yang
   15. Wenfang Spring Tan
   16. Ashwin Ashok Raut
   17. Anamika Mishra
   18. Sjaak de Wit
   19. J Ross Fitzgerald
   20. Jayne C Hope
   21. Joanne Stevens
   22. Tom Burdon
   23. Kate Sutton
   24. Cristina L Esteves
   25. F Xavier Donadeu
   26. Ian Brown
   27. Wendy Barclay
   28. Thomas P Peacock
   29. Daniel H Goldhill
   30. Munir Iqbal
   31. Pablo R Murcia
   32. Stuart M Haslam
   33. Eleanor Gaunt
   34. Paul Digard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents important findings that bovine mammary epithelial cells can be infected with both avian and human influenza A viruses, providing a potential site for viral reassortment. The evidence to support these claims is generally solid; however, the evidence suggesting lower permissiveness of cells from other organs is incomplete. The work will be of interest to virologists and evolutionary biologists working on cross-species transmission of viruses and pandemic preparedness.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Multifaceted Functional Complexity of SARS-CoV-2 Helicase Nsp13 Underlies Its Integrated Motor and Remodeling Activities

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Hai-Hong Li
   2. Jia-Li Hou
   3. Xue-Yang Yu
   4. Jie Jin
   5. Xi-Miao Hou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study characterizes several novel activities of SARS-CoV-2 helicase nsp13, providing valuable insights into potentially new functions of this essential RNA-processing enzyme in the virus life cycle. However, the experimental evidence to support the authors' claims is incomplete. In addition, the placement of the polyhistidine affinity tag on nsp13 may cause artifacts, raising concerns about the interpretation of the results.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. In vitro sexual dimorphism establishment in schistosomes

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Remi Pichon
   2. Magda E Lotkowska
   3. Jude LD Bulathsinghalage
   4. Madeleine McMath
   5. Mary Evans
   6. Benjamin J Hulme
   7. Kirsty Ambridge
   8. Geetha Sankaranarayanan
   9. Simon Kershenbaum
   10. Sarah D Davey
   11. Josephine E Forde-Thomas
   12. Karl F Hoffmann
   13. Matthew Berriman
   14. Gabriel Rinaldi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study presents an improved protocol for long-term in vitro culture of Schistosoma mansoni that enables progression toward sexually dimorphic stages, representing a meaningful advance for studying parasite development and reducing reliance on animal models. The findings show that host-specific culture conditions support essential developmental and metabolic functions required for parasite maturation, although development remains delayed compared to in vivo conditions. The evidence is solid overall, but limited pairing efficiency and the absence of egg production indicate that the system does not yet fully recapitulate complete reproductive development.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. mRNA Imprinting: transcription apparatus can remotely control cytoplasmic post-transcriptional mechanisms by dozens of proteins

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Shira Urim
   2. Artyom Artamov
   3. Shubham B Deshmukh
   4. Mordechai Choder

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, the authors develop new approaches to investigate mRNA imprinting, a phenomenon in which RNA-protein complexes form in the nucleus to influence the fate of transcripts in the cytoplasm. They propose that the Pol II subunit Rpb4 serves as a key node in this pathway, recruiting proteins involved in cytoplasmic processes. Notably, some of the candidates identified in this study were previously thought to function exclusively in the cytoplasm. However, the evidence remains incomplete, as key controls are lacking and alternative explanations have not been fully addressed; additional validation would help strengthen the authors' conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. New insights into the evolution of spider silk proteins illuminated by long-read transcriptomes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Kesen Zhu
   2. Shiyi Zhou
   3. Mo Lyu
   4. Jiahao Xiang
   5. Shaohan Niu
   6. Yongping Huang
   7. Lei Gao
   8. Anjiang Tan
   9. Hui Xiang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study by Zhu et al. offers a high-resolution evolutionary framework for spider silk proteins (spidroins) through long-read transcriptomics across a broad phylogenetic range, with theoretical implications for protein family evolution, biomaterials, and silk biology. By identifying putative ancestral spidroin templates in early-diverging spiders, the authors make a significant contribution to understanding genetic innovations underlying silk diversification. The long-read sequencing approach is well-suited to these highly repetitive genes. However, the support is incomplete: key claims regarding direct ancestry between silk protein families, the independent origin of certain silk types, and the co-option of flagelliform spidroins in non-web-building spiders rely on absence-based inferences and indirect phylogenetic reasoning that the data cannot yet fully substantiate, and some gene family assignments overreach the available molecular evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

9. The endoderm cell trajectory of urochordate Styela clava reveals the dual developmental origin and evolution of digestive tract

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Yonghang Ge
   2. Wei Zhang
   3. Penghui Liu
   4. Jianqing Bi
   5. Haiyan Yu
   6. Bo Dong
   7. Jiankai Wei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This potentially important paper questions the evolutionary origin of the tunicate endoderm, using single-cell sequencing on a developmental series of the ascidian Styela clava that covers metamorphosis and gut development. The authors base their conclusions on a comparison with the development of mouse gut endoderm, where they point out similarities in the origin of tissues, perhaps representing a case of "deep homology". This work has the potential to make a significant contribution to the field of chordate evolution, but in its current form, the evidence it presents is incomplete and is limited by a problematic discussion of evolutionary implications and by major issues regarding the clarity and cogency of data presentation.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. DEER of Singly Labelled Proteins to Evaluate Supramolecular Packing of Amyloid Fibrils

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Karen Tsay
    2. Asif Equbal
    3. Yuanxin Li
    4. Tiffany Tsui
    5. Songi Han
    6. Yann Fichou

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a valuable methodological contribution exploiting the DEER background decay to quantify supramolecular packing in amyloid fibrils. The evidence is incomplete: the observation of D < 1 is inconsistent with the theoretical lower bound of the model, and it remains unclear whether this reflects a genuine systematic limitation or falls within experimental uncertainty.

    Reviewed by eLife