eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Evolutionary rate covariation is a reliable predictor of co-functional interactions but not necessarily physical interactions

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Jordan Little
   2. Maria Chikina
   3. Nathan L Clark

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful study seeks to address the importance of physical interaction between proteins in higher-order complexes for covariation of evolutionary rates at different sites in these interacting proteins. Following up on a previous analysis with a smaller dataset, the authors provide compelling evidence that the exact contribution of physical interactions, if any, remains difficult to quantify. The work will be of relevance to anyone interested in protein evolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Dynamic localization of the chromosomal passenger complex in trypanosomes is controlled by the orphan kinesins KIN-A and KIN-B

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Daniel Ballmer
   2. Bungo Akiyoshi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study identifies the mitotic localization mechanism for Aurora B and INCENP (parts of the chromosomal passenger complex, CPC) in Trypanosoma brucei. The mechanism differs from that in the more commonly studied opisthokonts and is supported by compelling RNAi and imaging experiments, targeted mutations, immunoprecipitations with crosslinking/mass spec, and AlphaFold interaction predictions. The findings will be of interest to cell biologists working on cell division, parasitologists, and those interested in the evolution of mitotic mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. MAFB drives differentiation by permitting WT1 binding to podocyte specific promoters

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Filippo M. Massa
   2. Fariba Jian-Motamedi
   3. Marijus Šerys
   4. Amelie Tison
   5. Agnès Loubat
   6. Sandra Lacas-Gervais
   7. Luc Martin
   8. Hassiba Belahbib
   9. Sandrine Sarrazin
   10. Michael H. Sieweke
   11. Andreas Schedl

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents valuable insights into the epigenetic landscape in adult kidney podocytes. A series of solid experiments demonstrate that genes that are regulated by a key kidney transcription factor, Mafb, are essential for H3K4me3 methylation and recruitment of Wt1 to Nphs1 and Nphs2. This new information provides insights into the potential relationship and coordination of transcription factors in regulating target genes in podocytes in glomerular diseases, although the conclusion that MafB is generally required for Wt1 to bind to podocyte-specific promoters is incomplete and should be extended beyond two or three genes.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A kidney-hypothalamus axis promotes compensatory glucose production in response to glycosuria

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Tumininu S Faniyan
   2. Xinyi Zhang
   3. Donald A Morgan
   4. Jorge Robles
   5. Siresha Bathina
   6. Paul S Brookes
   7. Kamal Rahmouni
   8. Rachel J Perry
   9. Kavaljit H Chhabra

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presents valuable findings on compensatory mechanisms in response to glycosuria. The evidence supporting the claims is solid, although a causal relationship is somewhat uncertain and the addition of a more clinically relevant model would have strengthened the findings. The work will be of interest to diabetes investigators.

   Reviewed by eLife, PREreview

5. Early moderate prenatal alcohol exposure and maternal diet impact offspring DNA methylation across species

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Mitchell Bestry
   2. Alexander N Larcombe
   3. Nina Kresoje
   4. Emily K Chivers
   5. Chloe Bakker
   6. James P Fitzpatrick
   7. Elizabeth J Elliott
   8. Jeffrey M Craig
   9. Evelyne Muggli
   10. Jane Halliday
   11. Delyse Hutchinson
   12. Sam Buckberry
   13. Ryan Lister
   14. Martyn Symons
   15. David Martino

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study unveils the significant impact of prenatal alcohol exposure on epigenetic patterns, offering new insights into its adverse health outcomes through solid evidence from both mouse models and human data. The findings, which reveal how a high-methyl diet can mitigate these epigenetic alterations, present a promising prenatal care strategy. Despite its solid data overall, the study's small sample size and unaccounted confounders suggest the need for further research to confirm these findings and explore their practical implications.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A latent clinical-anatomical dimension relating metabolic syndrome to brain structure and cognition

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Marvin Petersen
   2. Felix Hoffstaedter
   3. Felix L Nägele
   4. Carola Mayer
   5. Maximilian Schell
   6. D Leander Rimmele
   7. Birgit-Christiane Zyriax
   8. Tanja Zeller
   9. Simone Kühn
   10. Jürgen Gallinat
   11. Jens Fiehler
   12. Raphael Twerenbold
   13. Amir Omidvarnia
   14. Kaustubh R Patil
   15. Simon B Eickhoff
   16. Goetz Thomalla
   17. Bastian Cheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work contributes to our understanding of the combined effects of metabolic syndrome on fronto-temporal gray matter morphology from two large-scale datasets. The evidence based on state-of-the art multivariate imaging analysis and detailed micro- and macrostructural contextualization analyses is convincing and provides an understanding of the neurological correlates of metabolic syndrome, although the study would have benefitted from the inclusion of longitudinal data.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Chromosome-level genome assembly of hadal snailfish reveals mechanisms of deep-sea adaptation in vertebrates

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Wenjie Xu
   2. Chenglong Zhu
   3. Xueli Gao
   4. Baosheng Wu
   5. Han Xu
   6. Mingliang Hu
   7. Honghui Zeng
   8. Xiaoni Gan
   9. Chenguang Feng
   10. Jiangmin Zheng
   11. Jing Bo
   12. Li-Sheng He
   13. Qiang Qiu
   14. Wen Wang
   15. Shunping He
   16. Kun Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of the potential mechanisms of deep-sea adaptation and sheds light on the evolutionary history of hadal snailfish. Through comparative genomic analysis, the authors provide convincing evidence and propose hypotheses on the timing of trench colonization, population structure, and adaptations to the hadal snailfish genome in response to their environment.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. G protein subunit Gγ13-mediated signaling pathway is critical to the inflammation resolution and functional recovery of severely injured lungs

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Yi-Hong Li
   2. Yi-Sen Yang
   3. Yan-Bo Xue
   4. Hao Lei
   5. Sai-Sai Zhang
   6. Junbin Qian
   7. Yushi Yao
   8. Ruhong Zhou
   9. Liquan Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This, in principle, useful study suggests that the G-protein subunit Gng13 is required for limiting injury and inflammation following H1N1 influenza infection via anti-inflammatory effects from ectopic tuft cells. While support for Gng13 helping to limit influenza injury in the transgenic mouse models used here is solid, evidence for these effects being mediated by normal tuft cells remains incomplete, giving conflicting data from mice that lack tuft cells entirely.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Systemic pharmacological suppression of neural activity reverses learning impairment in a mouse model of Fragile X syndrome

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Amin MD Shakhawat
   2. Jacqueline G Foltz
   3. Adam B Nance
   4. Jaydev Bhateja
   5. Jennifer L Raymond

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important manuscript follows up on previous findings from the same lab supporting the idea that deficits in learning due to enhanced synaptic plasticity are due to saturation effects. Compelling evidence is presented that behavioral learning deficits associated with enhanced synaptic plasticity in a transgenic mouse model can be rescued by manipulations designed to reverse the saturation of synaptic plasticity. In particular, the finding that a previously FDA-approved therapeutic can rescue learning could provide new insights for biologists, psychologists, and others studying learning and neurodevelopment.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The zinc-finger transcription factor Sfp1 imprints specific classes of mRNAs and links their synthesis to cytoplasmic decay

    This article has 11 authors:

    1. Moran Kelbert
    2. Antonio Jordán-Pla
    3. Lola de Miguel-Jiménez
    4. José García-Martínez
    5. Michael Selitrennik
    6. Adi Guterman
    7. Noa Henig
    8. Sander Granneman
    9. José E Pérez-Ortín
    10. Sebastián Chávez
    11. Mordechai Choder

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This important study reports that a transcription factor stimulating mRNA synthesis can stabilize its target transcripts. The convincing results demonstrate, with multiple independent approaches, co-transcriptional binding, stabilization of a family of mRNAs, and cytoplasmic activities of the transcription factor Sfp1. The results lead to the conclusion that the co-transcriptional association of Sfp1 with specific transcripts is a critical step in the stabilization of such transcripts in the cytoplasm.

    Reviewed by eLife