eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Deuterium metabolic imaging phenotypes mouse glioblastoma heterogeneity through glucose turnover kinetics

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Rui Vasco Simoes
   2. Rafael Neto Henriques
   3. Jonas L Olesen
   4. Beatriz M Cardoso
   5. Francisca F Fernandes
   6. Mariana AV Monteiro
   7. Sune N Jespersen
   8. Tânia Carvalho
   9. Noam Shemesh

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides a valuable approach to image and analyze in vivo metabolic flux through glucose turnover kinetics in glioblastoma tumor microenvironments. The evidence for the method's validity is convincing, which establishes the dynamic Deuterium Metabolic Imaging technique as an effective tool enabling non-invasive exploration of various tumors.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. One N-glycan regulates natural killer cell antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity and modulates Fc γ receptor IIIa/CD16a structure

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Paul G Kremer
   2. Elizabeth A Lampros
   3. Allison M Blocker
   4. Adam W Barb

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study explores the mechanistic link between glycosylation at the N162 site of the Fc gamma receptor FcγRIIIa and the modulation of NK cell-mediated antibody-dependent cytotoxicity. Using innovative isotope labeling strategies and advanced NMR spectroscopy techniques, the authors provide compelling evidence of how glycan composition influences receptor stability and immune function. These findings offer fundamental insights that may contribute to the development of more effective therapeutic antibodies. The manuscript will be of significant interest to immunologists and researchers focused on therapeutic antibody design.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Allosteric inhibition of trypanosomatid pyruvate kinases by a camelid single-domain antibody

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Joar Esteban Pinto Torres
   2. Mathieu Claes
   3. Rik Hendrickx
   4. Meng Yuan
   5. Natalia Smiejkowska
   6. Pieter Van Wielendaele
   7. Aysima Hacisuleyman
   8. Hans De Winter
   9. Serge Muyldermans
   10. Paul AM Michels
   11. Malcolm D Walkinshaw
   12. Wim Versées
   13. Guy Caljon
   14. Stefan Magez
   15. Yann G-J Sterckx

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work presents valuable data demonstrating that a camelid single-domain antibody can selectively inhibit a key glycolytic enzyme in trypanosomes via an allosteric mechanism. The claim that this information can be exploited for the design of novel chemotherapeutics is solid but limited by the modest effects on parasite growth, as well as the lack of evidence for cellular target engagement in vivo.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A model-based factorization method for scRNA data unveils bifurcating transcriptional modules underlying cell fate determination

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jun Ren
   2. Ying Zhou
   3. Yudi Hu
   4. Jing Yang
   5. Hongkun Fang
   6. Xuejing Lyu
   7. Jintao Guo
   8. Xiaodong Shi
   9. Qiyuan Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     MGPfactXMBD is a novel computational method for investigating cell evolutionary trajectory for scRNA-seq samples. It is important, with several potential future applications. The authors benchmarked this method using synthetic and real-world samples and showed superior performance for some of the tasks in cell trajectory analysis compared to other methods with compelling evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Redistribution of fragmented mitochondria ensures symmetric organelle partitioning and faithful chromosome segregation in mitotic mouse zygotes

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Haruna Gekko
   2. Ruri Nomura
   3. Daiki Kuzuhara
   4. Masato Kaneyasu
   5. Genpei Koseki
   6. Deepak Adhikari
   7. Yasuyuki Mio
   8. John Carroll
   9. Tomohiro Kono
   10. Hiroaki Funahashi
   11. Takuya Wakai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates the role of Drp1 in early embryo development. The authors have addressed most of the original comments and the work now presents convincing evidence on how this protein influences mitochondrial localization and partitioning during the first embryonic divisions. The research employs the Trim-Away technique to eliminate Drp1 in zygotes, revealing critical insights into mitochondrial clustering, spindle formation, and embryonic development.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. ZNHIT1-dependent H2A.Z deposition at meiotic prophase I underlies pachytene gene expression and meiotic progression during male meiosis

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Shenfei Sun
   2. Yamei Jiang
   3. Ning Jiang
   4. Qiaoli Zhang
   5. Hongjie Pan
   6. Fujing Huang
   7. Xinna Zhang
   8. Yuxuan Guo
   9. Xiaoyu You
   10. Kai Gong
   11. Wei Wei
   12. Hanmin Liu
   13. Zhenju Song
   14. Yuanlin Song
   15. Xiaofang Tang
   16. Miao Yu
   17. Runsheng Li
   18. Xinhua Lin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study shows that Znhit1, a regulator of chromatin and of the histone variant H2A.Z, is required for progression through meiotic prophase. It is an important observation that describes the role of epigenetics and gene expression during meiosis. The analysis is based on complementary approaches at the cytological, single-cell, and genomic levels that provide solid evidence for the role of Znhit1 in the control of gene expression and in the loading of H2A.Z in mouse spermatocytes.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Reported transgenerational responses to Pseudomonas aeruginosa in Caenorhabditis elegans are not robust

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Daniel Patrick Gainey
   2. Andrey V Shubin
   3. Craig P Hunter

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports numerous attempts to replicate reports on transgenerational inheritance of a learned behavior – pathogen avoidance – in C. elegans. While the authors observe parental effects that are limited to a single generation (also called intergenerational inheritance), the authors failed to find evidence for transmission over multiple generations, or transgenerational inheritance. The experiments presented are meticulously described, making for compelling evidence that in the authors' hands transgenerational inheritance cannot be observed. There remains the possibility that different assay setups explain the failure to reproduce previous observations, although the authors present data suggesting that details of the assay are not that significant. There also remains the possibility that differences in culture conditions or lab environment explain the failure to reproduce previous observations, with updates to the paper having further reduced the probability that this applies here. Even if this were the case, it would imply that the original experimental paradigm was dependent on a very specific context. Given the prominence of the original reports of transgenerational inheritance, the present study is of broad interest to anyone studying genetics, epigenetics, or learned behavior.

     [As also pointed out by the authors of this study, the authors of the original reports have provided a response on bioRxiv (DOI: https://doi.org/10.1101/2025.01.21.634111).]

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Distinct activation mechanisms of CXCR4 and ACKR3 revealed by single-molecule analysis of their conformational landscapes

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Christopher T Schafer
   2. Raymond F Pauszek
   3. Martin Gustavsson
   4. Tracy M Handel
   5. David P Millar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes the characterization of the conformational dynamics of two chemokine receptors at the single-molecule level using FRET. The authors make a convincing case for attributing the distinct interaction and pharmacology of the two receptors to differences in their conformational energy landscape. These important findings will be of interest to scientists working on activation mechanisms of GPCRs and signal transduction.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Bam complex associated proteins in Escherichia coli are functionally linked to peptidoglycan biosynthesis, membrane fluidity and DNA replication

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Jack A Bryant
   2. Kara A Staunton
   3. Hannah M Doherty
   4. Micheal B Alao
   5. Xuyu Ma
   6. Joanna Morcinek-Orłowska
   7. Emily CA Goodall
   8. Jessica Gray
   9. Mathew Milner
   10. Jeffrey A Cole
   11. Felicity de Cogan
   12. Timothy J Knowles
   13. Monika Glinkowska
   14. Danesh Moradigaravand
   15. Ian R Henderson
   16. Manuel Banzhaf

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a useful study that generated a rich inventory of genetic interactions with the potential to produce new insight into the molecular function of Bam-associated proteins. The interactions with genes of unknown function are of special interest as they may suggest experiments to find the functions of these genes. The overall data provided to support their conclusions is solid, but there is a major concern with known polar effects on certain mutations, which should be addressed by complementation.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The paradox of extremely fast evolution driven by genetic drift in multi-copy gene systems

    This article has 11 authors:

    1. Xiaopei Wang
    2. Yongsen Ruan
    3. Lingjie Zhang
    4. Xiangnyu Chen
    5. Zongkun Shi
    6. Haiyu Wang
    7. Bingjie Chen
    8. Miles Tracy
    9. Liying Huang
    10. Chung-I Wu
    11. Haijun Wen

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a useful theoretical model of molecular evolution of multi-copy gene systems by extending the classic Haldane model and applies the model to explain the surprisingly rapid evolution of rRNA genes. Although the conceptual model is intuitive and provides a new perspective for contextualizing this problem, the model presented does not adequately consider plausible biological constraints on the molecular and genetic processes. The lack of such constraints in the model, along with technical issues in the data analysis, provide incomplete support for the conclusion that the genetic variation patterns of rRNA genes in mouse is compatible with neutral evolution.

    Reviewed by eLife