eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The evolution of transposable elements in Brachypodium distachyon is governed by purifying selection, while neutral and adaptive processes play a minor role

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Robert Horvath
   2. Nikolaos Minadakis
   3. Yann Bourgeois
   4. Anne C Roulin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study seeks to disentangle the different selective forces shaping the evolutionary dynamics of transposable elements (TEs) in the wild grass Brachypodium distachyon. Using haplotype-length metrics, and genetic and environmental differentiation tests, the authors present convincing evidence that positive selection on TE polymorphisms is rare and that the distribution of TE ages points to purifying selection being the main force acting on TE evolution in this species. This study will be relevant for anyone interested in the role of TEs in evolution and adaptation.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Divergent folding-mediated epistasis among unstable membrane protein variants

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Laura M Chamness
   2. Charles P Kuntz
   3. Andrew G McKee
   4. Wesley D Penn
   5. Christopher M Hemmerich
   6. Douglas B Rusch
   7. Hope Woods
   8. Dyotima
   9. Jens Meiler
   10. Jonathan P Schlebach

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study describes exhaustive deep mutational scanning (DMS) of the gonadotropin-releasing hormone wild-type receptor and for two single point mutations that impact its folding and structure, monitoring how plasma membrane expression levels are influenced by the introduced mutations. With solid evidence, the authors have pioneered an exploration of the interaction between mutations (epistasis) in a membrane protein, with a potential for explaining membrane protein evolution and genetic diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2306.03218v2

4. An optogenetic cell therapy to restore control of target muscles in an aggressive mouse model of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. J Barney Bryson
   2. Alexandra Kourgiantaki
   3. Dai Jiang
   4. Andreas Demosthenous
   5. Linda Greensmith

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study presents a method to restore muscle innervations in ALS mouse models using optogenetics. It is convincing that embryonic stem cell derived motor neurons can be transplanted into and applied to reinnervate the muscles in an ALS mouse model. The work will be of broad interest to researchers and medical biologists to develop new strategies for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders resulting from denervated skeletal muscles.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Growth inhibitory factor/metallothionein-3 is a sulfane sulfur-binding protein

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Yasuhiro Shinkai
   2. Yunjie Ding
   3. Toru Matsui
   4. George Devitt
   5. Masahiro Akiyama
   6. Tang-Long Shen
   7. Motohiro Nishida
   8. Tomoaki Ida
   9. Takaaki Akaike
   10. Sumeet Mahajan
   11. Jon M. Fukuto
   12. Yasuteru Shigeta
   13. Yoshito Kumagai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable work provides solid evidence that a neuronal metallothionein, GIF/MT-3, incorporates metal-persulfide clusters. A variety of well-designed assays support the authors' hypothesis, revealing that sulfane sulfur is released from MT-3. The biological role of the persulfidated form is not yet clearly defined. There are caveats to the findings that limit the study, but the work will nevertheless prompt major follow-up work.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Open-top Bessel beam two-photon light sheet microscopy for three-dimensional pathology

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Won Yeong Park
   2. Jieun Yun
   3. Jinho Shin
   4. Byung Ho Oh
   5. Gilsuk Yoon
   6. Seung-Mo Hong
   7. Ki Hean Kim

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work by Park et al. demonstrates an open-top two-photon light sheet microscopy (OT-TP-LSM) for lesser invasive evaluation of intraoperative 3D pathology. The authors provide convincing evidence for the effectiveness of this technique investigating various human cancer cells. This article will be of broad interest to biologists and, specifically, pathologists utilizing 3D optical microscopy.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The catalytic mechanism of the RNA methyltransferase METTL3

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Ivan Corbeski
   2. Pablo Andrés Vargas-Rosales
   3. Rajiv Kumar Bedi
   4. Jiahua Deng
   5. Dylan Coelho
   6. Emmanuelle Braud
   7. Laura Iannazzo
   8. Yaozong Li
   9. Danzhi Huang
   10. Mélanie Ethève-Quelquejeu
   11. Qiang Cui
   12. Amedeo Caflisch

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study combines experimental and computational data to address crucial aspects of RNA methylation by a vital RNA methyltransferase (MTase). The authors have provided compelling, strong evidence, utilizing well-established techniques, to elucidate aspects of the methyl transfer mechanism of methyltransferase-like protein 3 (METTL3), which is a part of the METTL3-14 complex. This work will be of broad interest to biochemists, biophysicists, and cell biologists alike.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. ESAT-6 undergoes self-association at phagosomal pH and an ESAT-6-specific nanobody restricts M. tuberculosis growth in macrophages

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Timothy A Bates
   2. Mila Trank-Greene
   3. Xammy Nguyenla
   4. Aidan Anastas
   5. Sintayehu K Gurmessa
   6. Ilaria R Merutka
   7. Shandee D Dixon
   8. Anthony Shumate
   9. Abigail R Groncki
   10. Matthew AH Parson
   11. Jessica R Ingram
   12. Eric Barklis
   13. John E Burke
   14. Ujwal Shinde
   15. Hidde L Ploegh
   16. Fikadu G Tafesse

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful study investigates two secreted Mycobacterium tuberculosis proteins, ESAT-6 and CFP10, using biochemical assays, including a Biolayer Interferometry assay. Solid experimental evidence demonstrates that ESAT-6 forms a tight interaction with CFP10 as a heterodimer at neutral pH and that ESAT-6 also forms a homodimer at acidic pH. Additional, more definitive evidence is required to describe how these proteins disrupt the phagosomal membrane. While improved compared to a previous version, the revised manuscript did not address these concerns adequately.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Yeast eIF2A has a minimal role in translation initiation and uORF-mediated translational control in vivo

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Swati Gaikwad
   2. Fardin Ghobakhlou
   3. Hongen Zhang
   4. Alan G Hinnebusch

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this important study, Gaikwad and colleagues employed ribosome profiling in conjunction with standard biochemical approaches to investigate the role of eIF2A in translation initiation in yeast under optimal growth conditions or stress. The authors provide convincing data that eIF2A is not implicated in translation initiation in yeast, a finding that is anticipated to inspire future investigations to identify the cellular role(s) of eIF2A in yeast. Considering the broad scope of cellular functions attributed to eIF2A, this study should be of interest to a wide spectrum of biomedical researchers ranging from those studying mechanisms of translation regulation to virologists and cancer biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. WASP facilitates tumor mechanosensitivity in T lymphocytes

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Srishti Mandal
    2. Mariane Melo
    3. Pavlo Gordiichuk
    4. Sayanti Acharya
    5. Yeh-Chuin Poh
    6. Na Li
    7. Aereas Aung
    8. Eric L. Dane
    9. Darrell J. Irvine
    10. Sudha Kumari

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable study employs a diverse array of techniques encompassing cell biological manipulations, biophysical measurements, and mouse models to elucidate the impact of target cell stiffness on CD8+ cytotoxic T cell activation, with a particular focus on the actin nucleator protein WASP. The finding that WASP is essential for the stiffness-dependent phosphorylation of ZAP70 in CD8 T cells is convincing. However, the data regarding the role of WASP in mechanosensing within CD8 T cell-mediated anti-tumor immunity is incomplete and would benefit from a more rigorous study design. This work would be of interest to cell biologists and investigators studying mechanosensing within the immune system.

    Reviewed by eLife