eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Ezrin defines TSC complex activation at endosomal compartments through EGFR–AKT signaling

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Giuliana Giamundo
   2. Daniela Intartaglia
   3. Eugenio Del Prete
   4. Elena Polishchuk
   5. Fabrizio Andreone
   6. Marzia Ognibene
   7. Sara Buonocore
   8. Bruno Hay Mele
   9. Francesco Giuseppe Salierno
   10. Jlenia Monfregola
   11. Dario Antonini
   12. Paolo Grumati
   13. Alessandra Eva
   14. Rossella De Cegli
   15. Ivan Conte

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Giamundo et al. present fundamental data with new insights into the role of Ezrin, a major membrane-actin linker that assembles signaling complexes, in the spatial regulation of EGF signaling mediators. The use of multiple state-of-the-art microscopy techniques, multiple cell lines and inhibitors, together with in vivo models convincingly supports the majority of their conclusions. The findings are helpful for understanding EGF/mTOR signal transduction and support a critical role for the scaffolding protein Ezrin in the upstream regulation of EGFR/AKT activity, TSC subcellular localization and mTORC1 signaling. These findings contribute substantially to understanding how endo-lysosomal signaling are regulated, alterations which are implicated in many human diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Derivation and internal validation of prediction models for pulmonary hypertension risk assessment in a cohort inhabiting Tibet, China

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Junhui Tang
   2. Rui Yang
   3. Hui Li
   4. Xiaodong Wei
   5. Zhen Yang
   6. Wenbin Cai
   7. Yao Jiang
   8. Ga Zhuo
   9. Li Meng
   10. Yali Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study retrospectively analyzed clinical data to develop a risk prediction model for pulmonary hypertension in high-altitude populations. The evidence is solid, and the findings are useful and hold clinical significance as the model can be used for intuitive and individualized prediction of pulmonary hypertension risk in these populations.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Targeting the WSB2–NOXA axis in cancer cells for enhanced sensitivity to BCL-2 family protein inhibitors

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Dongyue Jiao
   2. Kun Chang
   3. Jiamin Jin
   4. Yingji Chen
   5. Mo Ren
   6. Yucong Zhang
   7. Kun Gao
   8. Yaoting Xu
   9. Lixin Wang
   10. Chenji Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study reports a fundamental observation concerning cell death regulation by the anti-apoptotic BCL2 family NOXA. The authors convincingly demonstrate that NOXA is destabilized through the interaction with WSB2, a substrate receptor in CRL5 ubiquitin ligase complex, sensitizing the cells to treatments. These are key findings for cell biologists and cancer researchers as they identified a new target impacting drug responsiveness in cancer therapies.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Chemogenetic stimulation of phrenic motor output and diaphragm activity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ethan S Benevides
   2. Prajwal P Thakre
   3. Sabhya Rana
   4. Michael D Sunshine
   5. Victoria N Jensen
   6. Karim Oweiss
   7. David D Fuller

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors report that chemogenetic methods targeting the ventral cervical spinal cord can be used to increase phrenic inspiratory motor output and subsequent diaphragm EMG activity and ventilation in rodents. These findings are important because they are a necessary first step towards using chemogenetic methods to drive inspiratory activity in disorders in which motor neurons are compromised, such as spinal injury and degenerative disease. The data are convincing, with rigorous assessments of phrenic inspiratory activity and its ability to drive the diaphragm and subsequent ventilation, as well as assessments of DREADD expression.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. CPT1A mediates radiation sensitivity in colorectal cancer

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Zhenhui Chen
   2. Lu Yu
   3. Zhihao Zheng
   4. Xusheng Wang
   5. Qiqing Guo
   6. Yuchuan Chen
   7. Yaowei Zhang
   8. Yuqin Zhang
   9. Jianbiao Xiao
   10. Keli Chen
   11. Hongying Fan
   12. Yi Ding

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study reports a valuable finding for the treatment of colorectal cancer (CRC), as the authors demonstrated that the enzyme CPT1A plays an significant role in the response to radiotherapy in CRC patients. However, the reviewers found that the results presented are still incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Forecasting the spatial spread of an Ebola epidemic in real time: Comparing predictions of mathematical models and experts

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. James D Munday
   2. Alicia Rosello
   3. W John Edmunds
   4. Sebastian Funk

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides valuable evidence comparing the performance of mathematical models and opinions from experts engaged in outbreak response in forecasting the spatial spread of an Ebola epidemic. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing. It will be of interest to disease modellers, infectious disease epidemiologists, policy-makers, and those who need to inform policy-makers during an outbreak.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Early-life stress induces persistent astrocyte dysfunction associated with fear generalisation

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Mathias Guayasamin
   2. Lewis R Depaauw-Holt
   3. Ifeoluwa I Adedipe
   4. Ossama Ghenissa
   5. Juliette Vaugeois
   6. Manon Duquenne
   7. Benjamin Rogers
   8. Jade Latraverse-Arquilla
   9. Sarah Peyrard
   10. Anthony Bosson
   11. Ciaran Murphy-Royal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important paper explores the impact of early life stress (ELS) on adult brain and behavior. The significance of the convincing findings are that they implicate regulation of non-neuronal cells in the development of brain and behavioral dysfunction associated with ELS. With an elegant combination of behavioral models, morphological and functional assessments using immunostaining, electrophysiology, and viral-mediated loss-of-function approaches, the authors report that astrocyte dysfunction plays a role in ELS responses. The work is of interest to a broad behavioral and cellular neuroscience audience.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Ventral tegmental area interneurons revisited: GABA and glutamate projection neurons make local synapses

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Lucie Oriol
   2. Melody Chao
   3. Grace J Kollman
   4. Dina S Dowlat
   5. Sarthak M Singhal
   6. Thomas Steinkellner
   7. Thomas S Hnasko

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides convincing evidence derived from diverse state-of-the-art approaches to suggest that non-dopaminergic projection neurons in the ventral tegmental area (VTA) make local synapses. These important findings challenge the prevailing wisdom that VTA interneurons exclusively form local synaptic contacts and instead reveal that VTA neurons expressing interneuron markers also form long-range projections to forebrain targets such as the cortex, ventral pallidum, and nucleus accumbens. Given the importance of VTA interneurons to many models of VTA-linked behavioral functions, these findings have significant implications for our understanding of the neural circuits underlying reward, motivation, and addiction.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. 3D genomic features across >50 diverse cell types reveal insights into the genomic architecture of childhood obesity

   This article has 28 authors:

   1. Khanh B Trang
   2. Matthew C Pahl
   3. James A Pippin
   4. Chun Su
   5. Sheridan H Littleton
   6. Prabhat Sharma
   7. Nikhil N Kulkarni
   8. Louis R Ghanem
   9. Natalie A Terry
   10. Joan M O'Brien
   11. Yadav Wagley
   12. Kurt D Hankenson
   13. Ashley Jermusyk
   14. Jason Hoskins
   15. Laufey T Amundadottir
   16. Mai Xu
   17. Kevin Brown
   18. Stewart Anderson
   19. Wenli Yang
   20. Paul Titchenell
   21. Patrick Seale
   22. Klaus H Kaestner
   23. Laura Cook
   24. Megan Levings
   25. Babette S Zemel
   26. Alessandra Chesi
   27. Andrew D Wells
   28. Struan FA Grant

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents genome-wide high-resolution chromatin-based 3D genomic interaction maps for over 50 diverse human cell types and integrates these data with pediatric obesity GWAS. The work provides convincing evidence that multiple pancreatic islet cell types are key effector cell types. The authors also perform variant-to-gene mapping to nominate genes underlying several GWAS hits. Overall, the results will be of interest to both the fields of 3D genome architecture and pediatric obesity.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. MicroRNA-26b protects against MASH development in mice and can be efficiently targeted with lipid nanoparticles

    This article has 24 authors:

    1. Linsey Peters
    2. Leonida Rakateli
    3. Rosanna Huchzermeier
    4. Andrea Bonnin-Marquez
    5. Sanne L Maas
    6. Cheng Lin
    7. Alexander Jans
    8. Yana Geng
    9. Alan Gorter
    10. Marion Gijbels
    11. Sander Rensen
    12. Peter Olinga
    13. Tim Hendrikx
    14. Marcin Krawczyk
    15. Malvina Brisbois
    16. Joachim Jankowski
    17. Kiril Bidzhekov
    18. Christian Weber
    19. Erik AL Biessen
    20. Ronit Shiri-Sverdlov
    21. Tom Houben
    22. Yvonne Döring
    23. Matthias Bartneck
    24. Emiel van der Vorst

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents valuable insights into the involvement of miR-26b in the progression of metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). The delivery of microRNA-containing nanoparticles to reduce MASH severity has practical implications as a therapeutic strategy. The authors use two sets of transgenic mouse models, conducted kinase activity profiling of mouse liver samples, and supplemented their findings with additional experiments on human liver and plasma, providing solid support for their findings.

    Reviewed by eLife