eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. PROTAC-induced protein structural dynamics in targeted protein degradation

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Kingsley Y Wu
   2. Ta I Hung
   3. Chia-en A Chang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides important computational insights into the dynamics of PROTAC-induced degradation complexes, offering a convincing demonstration that differences in degradation efficacy can be linked to linker properties. The analyses address reproducibility considerations comprehensively, reinforcing the study's conclusions. Overall, these findings are significant for advancing cancer treatments and will be of broad interest to both biochemists and biophysicists.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Steady-state neuron-predominant LINE-1 encoded ORF1p protein and LINE-1 RNA increase with aging in the mouse and human brain

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Tom Bonnifet
   2. Sandra Sinnassamy
   3. Olivia Massiani-Beaudoin
   4. Philippe Mailly
   5. Heloise Monnet
   6. Damarys Loew
   7. Berangere Lombard
   8. Nicolas Servant
   9. Rajiv L Joshi
   10. Julia Fuchs

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Bonnifet et al. present data on the expression and interacting partners of the transposable element L1 in the mammalian brain. The work includes important findings addressing the potential role of L1 in aging and neurodegenerative disease. The reviewers conclude that several aspects of the study are well done and most evidence is solid, with a noted concern related to the RNA-seq analysis.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The multifaceted role of the inferior colliculus in sensory prediction, reward processing, and decision-making

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Xinyu Du
   2. Haoxuan Xu
   3. Peirun Song
   4. Yuying Zhai
   5. Hangting Ye
   6. Xuehui Bao
   7. Qianyue Huang
   8. Hisashi Tanigawa
   9. Zhiyi Tu
   10. Pei Chen
   11. Xuan Zhao
   12. Josef P Rauschecker
   13. Xiongjie Yu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents a finding on the role of the Inferior Colliculus in sensory prediction, cognitive decision-making, and reward prediction. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing. The work will be of broad interest to sensory neuroscientists.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. CellSeg3D, Self-supervised 3D cell segmentation for fluorescence microscopy

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Cyril Achard
   2. Timokleia Kousi
   3. Markus Frey
   4. Maxime Vidal
   5. Yves Paychere
   6. Colin Hofmann
   7. Asim Iqbal
   8. Sebastien B Hausmann
   9. Stéphane Pagès
   10. Mackenzie Weygandt Mathis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work presents a self-supervised method for the segmentation of 3D cells in fluorescent microscopy images, conveniently packaged as a Napari plugin and tested on an annotated dataset. The segmentation method is solid and compares favorably to other learning-based methods and Otsu thresholding on four datasets, offering the possibility of eliminating time-consuming data labeling to speed up quantitative analysis. This work will be of interest to a wide variety of laboratories analysing fluorescently labeled images.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Aminergic and peptidergic modulation of insulin-producing cells in Drosophila

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Martina Held
   2. Rituja S Bisen
   3. Meet Zandawala
   4. Alexander S Chockley
   5. Isabella S Balles
   6. Selina Hilpert
   7. Sander Liessem
   8. Federico Cascino-Milani
   9. Jan M Ache

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This fundamental study comprehensively characterizes insulin producing cells (IPCs) resident in the Drosophila melanogaster brain. A compelling experimental tour de force, the combination of connectomics, mapping of receptors for neuromodulators, electrophysiological recordings, Calcium imaging and optogenetics demonstrates that IPCs operate as a functionally heterogeneous population, as necessary to address continuously changing metabolic demands. These findings will be of interest to both neuroscientists and physiologists seeking to study context-dependent neuroendocrine regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Intergenerational transport of double-stranded RNA in C. elegans can limit heritable epigenetic changes

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Nathan M Shugarts Devanapally
   2. Aishwarya Sathya
   3. Andrew L Yi
   4. Winnie M Chan
   5. Julia A Marre
   6. Antony M Jose

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this report, the authors present valuable findings identifying a novel worm-specific protein (sdg-1) that is induced upon loss of dsRNA import via SID-1, but is not required to mediate SID-1 RNA regulatory effects. The genetic and genomic approaches are well-executed and the revision contain generally solid support for the central findings of the work. These findings will be of interest to those working in the germline epigenetic inheritance field.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. RUNX2 isoform II protects cancer cells from ferroptosis and apoptosis by promoting PRDX2 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Junjun Huang
   2. Rong Jia
   3. Jihua Guo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper investigates how isoform II of transcription factor RUNX2 promotes cell survival and proliferation in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The authors used gain and loss of function techniques to provide convincing evidence showing that RUNX2 isoform silencing led to cell death via several mechanisms including apoptosis and ferroptosis that was partially suppressed through RUNX2 regulation of PRDX2 expression. The study provides valuable insight into the underlying mechanism by which RUNX2 acts in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Prophage-encoded Hm-oscar gene recapitulates Wolbachia-induced male-killing in the tea tortrix moth Homona magnanima

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Hiroshi Arai
   2. Susumu Katsuma
   3. Noriko Matsuda-Imai
   4. Shiou-Ruei Lin
   5. Maki N Inoue
   6. Daisuke Kageyama

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Hardly anything is known about the genetic basis and mechanism of male-killing. Recently, a gene called oscar, in the bacterium Wolbachia, was implicated in killing male corn borer moths by interfering with moth genes that control sex determination and proper dosage of sex-specific genes. In this paper, the authors show that a distantly related oscar gene in another strain of Wolbachia kills male tea tortrix moths in a similar mechanism. This valuable study cements our understanding of the sophisticated way that Wolbachia kills male moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) so early in their development. The conclusions are supported by solid evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Hypersensitivity of the vimentin cytoskeleton to net-charge states and Coulomb repulsion

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Bret A Unger
   2. Chun Ying Wu
   3. Alexander A Choi
   4. Changdong He
   5. Ke Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study provides new insight into the disassembly of vimentin filaments and the dependence of this mechanism on net charge, albeit with incomplete evidence. In particular, the experimental replicates are limited (in most cases n=1), there is a lack of quantitative analysis to substantiate claims, inconsistency of the proposed mechanisms with previously published work, and lack of biochemical evidence supporting the observations in cells. Addressing these concerns would strengthen the manuscript and help support the proposed hypothesis on vimentin disassembly.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Pronounced expression of extracellular matrix proteoglycans regulated by Wnt pathway underlies the parallel evolution of lip hypertrophy in East African cichlids

    This article has 9 authors:

    1. Nagatoshi Machii
    2. Ryo Hatashima
    3. Tatsuya Niwa
    4. Hideki Taguchi
    5. Ismael A Kimirei
    6. Hillary DJ Mrosso
    7. Mitsuto Aibara
    8. Tatsuki Nagasawa
    9. Masato Nikaido

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      Cichlid fishes have attracted attention from a wide range of biologists because of their
      extensive species diversification at the ecological and phenotypic levels. In this important study, the authors have partially revealed the mechanism behind lip thickening in cichlid fishes, which has evolved independently across three lakes in Africa. To explore this phenomenon, the authors used histological comparison, proteomics, and transcriptomics, all of which are well suited for their objectives. With compelling evidence, this contribution provides insights into parallel evolution in polygenic traits and holds significant value for the field.

    Reviewed by eLife