eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Characterisation and comparison of semen microbiota and bacterial load in men with infertility, recurrent miscarriage, or proven fertility

   This article has 19 authors:

   1. Shahriar Mowla
   2. Linda Farahani
   3. Tharu Tharakan
   4. Rhianna Davies
   5. Goncalo DS Correia
   6. Yun S Lee
   7. Samit Kundu
   8. Shirin Khanjani
   9. Emad Sindi
   10. Raj Rai
   11. Lesley Regan
   12. Dalia Khalifa
   13. Ralf Henkel
   14. Suks Minhas
   15. Waljit S Dhillo
   16. Jara Ben Nagi
   17. Phillip Bennett
   18. David A MacIntyre
   19. Channa N Jayasena

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study reports a potential connection between the seminal microbiome and sperm quality/male fertility. The data are generally convincing. This study will be of interest to clinicians and biomedical researchers who work on microbiome and male fertility.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Novel 3D Approach to Model Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease using human Pluripotent Stem Cells

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Carola Maria Morell
   2. Samantha Grace Tilson
   3. Rute Alexandra Tomaz
   4. Arash Shahsavari
   5. Andi Munteanu
   6. Giovanni Canu
   7. Brandon Tyler Wesley
   8. Marion Perrin
   9. Imbisaat Geti
   10. Subhankar Mukhopadhyay
   11. Francesca Mazzacuva
   12. Paul Gissen
   13. Jose Garcia-Bernardo
   14. Martin Bachman
   15. Casey Allison Rimland
   16. Fotios Sampaziotis
   17. Irina Mohorianu
   18. Ludovic Vallier

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors present an important study of a multi-cellular platform involving co-culturing of various hiPSC-derived hepatocyte like cells, cholangiocytes, stellate cells and macrophages to mimic the liver microenvironment. The aggregates are then treated with fatty acids and examined through transcriptomic and functional assays. The techniques and methodologically are sound, and the evidence supporting the conclusion is convincing, although more clinically relevant data demonstrating the effect of some potential pharmacological agents on the platform would serve to strengthen the study.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Transcription factor condensates, 3D clustering, and gene expression enhancement of the MET regulon

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. James Lee
   2. Leman Simpson
   3. Yi Li
   4. Samuel Becker
   5. Fan Zou
   6. Xin Zhang
   7. Lu Bai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study investigates the relationship between transcription factor condensate formation, transcription, and 3D gene clustering of the MET regulon in the model organism S. cerevisiae. The authors provide solid experimental evidence that transcription factor condensates enhance transcription of MET-regulated genes, but evidence for the role of Met4 IDRs and Met4-containing condensates in mediating target gene clustering in the MET regulon is not as strong. This paper will be of interest to molecular biologists working on chromatin and transcription, although its impact would be strengthened by further investigation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2202.13658v4

5. Expression of most retrotransposons in human blood correlates with biological aging

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Yi-Ting Tsai
   2. Nogayhan Seymen
   3. I Richard Thompson
   4. Xinchen Zou
   5. Warisha Mumtaz
   6. Sila Gerlevik
   7. Ghulam J Mufti
   8. Mohammad M Karimi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study by Tsai et al. employed multi-omics approaches, including transcriptomic, methylomic, and single-cell RNA-seq, and provided a solid and comprehensive analysis of the correlation between retrotransposable element (RTE) expression and biological aging in human blood. Their findings highlight the differential roles of RTE families, providing valuable insights for understanding the mechanisms of human aging.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Deciphering the actin structure-dependent preferential cooperative binding of cofilin

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Kien Xuan Ngo
   2. Huong T Vu
   3. Kenichi Umeda
   4. Minh-Nhat Trinh
   5. Noriyuki Kodera
   6. Taro Uyeda

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this manuscript the authors present high-speed atomic force microscopy (HSAFM) to analyze real-time structural changes in actin filaments induced by cofilin binding. This important study enhances our understanding of actin dynamics which plays a crucial role in a broad spectrum of cellular activities based on solid experimental evidence. Some technical questions, however, remain, making the data interpretation incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Feature sequence-based genome mining uncovers the hidden diversity of bacterial siderophore pathways

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Shaohua Gu
   2. Yuanzhe Shao
   3. Karoline Rehm
   4. Laurent Bigler
   5. Di Zhang
   6. Ruolin He
   7. Ruichen Xu
   8. Jiqi Shao
   9. Alexandre Jousset
   10. Ville-Petri Friman
   11. Xiaoying Bian
   12. Zhong Wei
   13. Rolf Kümmerli
   14. Zhiyuan Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study presents a novel pipeline for the large-scale genomic prediction of members of the non-ribosomal peptide group of pyoverdines based on a dataset from nearly 2000 Pseudomonas genomes. The advance presented in this study is based on convincing evidence. This study of bacterial siderophores has broad theoretical and practical implications beyond a singular subfield.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Syngap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of Parvalbumin-positive interneurons in mouse auditory cortex

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ruggiero Francavilla
   2. Bidisha Chattopadhyaya
   3. Jorelle Linda Damo Kamda
   4. Vidya Jadhav
   5. Said Kourrich
   6. Jacques L Michaud
   7. Graziella Di Cristo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable evidence indicating that SynGap1 regulates the synaptic drive and membrane excitability of parvalbumin- and somatostatin-positive interneurons in the auditory cortex. Since haplo-insufficiency of SynGap1 has been linked to intellectual disabilities without a well-defined underlying cause, the central question of this study is timely. The experimental data is solid, as in their revisions the authors successfully addressed questions related to changes in thalamocortical presynaptic excitability, the contradiction between spontaneous and mini EPSCs data, and the anatomical analysis of excitatory synapses.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. CD81+ senescent-like fibroblasts exaggerate inflammation and activate neutrophils via C3/C3aR1 axis in periodontitis

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Liangliang Fu
   2. Chenghu Yin
   3. Qin Zhao
   4. Shuling Guo
   5. Wenjun Shao
   6. Ting Xia
   7. Quan Sun
   8. Liangwen Chen
   9. Jinghan Li
   10. Min Wang
   11. Haibin Xia

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study identifies a population of CD81-positive fibroblasts showing senescence signatures that can activate neutrophils through the C3/C3aR1 axis, hence contributing to the inflammatory response in periodontitis. Solid evidence, combining in vitro and in vivo analyses and mouse and human data, supports these findings. The revised manuscript has addressed many concerns significantly. The work would be of interest to researchers working in the senescence and oral medicine fields.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Insights into metabolic heterogeneity of colorectal cancer gained from fluorescence lifetime imaging

    This article has 14 authors:

    1. Anastasia D Komarova
    2. Snezhana D Sinyushkina
    3. Ilia D Shchechkin
    4. Irina N Druzhkova
    5. Sofia A Smirnova
    6. Vitaliy M Terekhov
    7. Artem M Mozherov
    8. Nadezhda I Ignatova
    9. Elena E Nikonova
    10. Evgeny A Shirshin
    11. Liubov E Shimolina
    12. Sergey V Gamayunov
    13. Vladislav I Shcheslavskiy
    14. Marina V Shirmanova

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study presents a valuable finding on the heterogeneity of tumour metabolism using fluorescence lifetime imaging, measured across 4 cell lines, 4 tumour types of in vivo mouse models, and 29 patient samples. The indication is that the level of heterogeneity of cellular metabolism increases with model complexity and demonstrates high heterogeneity at a clinical level. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, and at the revision stage, the authors have included additional samples from 8 patients in the data pool, which is helpful for the conclusions that the authors are trying to draw. The work will be of interest to medical biologists developing methods for quantifying metabolic heterogeneity.

    Reviewed by eLife