eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Polysaccharides induce deep-sea Lentisphaerae strains to release chronic bacteriophages

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Chong Wang
   2. Rikuan Zheng
   3. Tianhang Zhang
   4. Chaomin Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript presents valuable findings on two isolates of deep sea Lentisphaerae strains, which further our understanding of deep sea microbial life. The manuscript's primary claim is that phage isolates augment polysaccharide use in Pseudomonas bacteria, with preliminary evidence for the potential auxiliary metabolic genes in chronic phage infection and/or host proliferation. The strength of the evidence is overall solid and there are only minor weaknesses regarding the mechanism of polysaccharide use by the phages and the evidence for chronic infection. Overall, the data on Lentisphaerae strains will deepen our understanding of microbial life in the deep sea.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Leveraging mobility data to analyze persistent SARS-CoV-2 mutations and inform targeted genomic surveillance

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Riccardo Spott
   2. Mathias W Pletz
   3. Carolin Fleischmann-Struzek
   4. Aurelia Kimmig
   5. Christiane Hadlich
   6. Matthias Hauert
   7. Mara Lohde
   8. Mateusz Jundzill
   9. Mike Marquet
   10. Petra Dickmann
   11. Ruben Schüchner
   12. Martin Hölzer
   13. Denise Kühnert
   14. Christian Brandt

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors analyze the relationship between human mobility and genomic data of SARS-CoV-2 using mobile phone mobility data and sequence data and present a solid proof of concept. This useful work was conducted on a fine spatial scale and provides suggestions on how mobility-derived surveillance could be conducted, although these results are mixed. The primary significance of this work is the strong use of large datasets that were highly granular. The authors provide a rigorous study, but with less clear predictive power of mobility to inform transmission patterns.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Immunogenicity and safety of a live-attenuated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate based on multiple attenuation mechanisms

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Mie Suzuki Okutani
   2. Shinya Okamura
   3. Tang Gis
   4. Hitomi Sasaki
   5. Suni Lee
   6. Akiho Kashiwabara
   7. Simon Goto
   8. Mai Matsumoto
   9. Mayuko Yamawaki
   10. Toshiaki Miyazaki
   11. Tatsuya Nakagawa
   12. Masahito Ikawa
   13. Wataru Kamitani
   14. Shiro Takekawa
   15. Koichi Yamanishi
   16. Hirotaka Ebina

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study on the efficacy of a live attenuated vaccine that was tested in different animal models and the evidence is convincing. The study has been strengthened after revisions.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A direct experimental test of Ohno’s hypothesis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ljiljana Mihajlovic
   2. Bharat Ravi Iyengar
   3. Florian Baier
   4. Içvara Barbier
   5. Justyna Iwaszkiewicz
   6. Vincent Zoete
   7. Andreas Wagner
   8. Yolanda Schaerli

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This fundamental study uses a creative experimental system to directly test Ohno's hypothesis, which describes how and why new genes might evolve by duplication of existing ones. In agreement with existing criticism of Ohno's original idea, the authors present compelling evidence that having two gene copies does not speed up the evolution of a new function as posited by Ohno, but instead leads to the rapid inactivation of one of the copies through the accumulation of mostly deleterious mutations. These findings will be of broad interest to evolutionary biologists and geneticists.

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

5. Functional identification of soluble uric acid as an endogenous inhibitor of CD38

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Shijie Wen
   2. Hiroshi Arakawa
   3. Shigeru Yokoyama
   4. Yoshiyuki Shirasaka
   5. Haruhiro Higashida
   6. Ikumi Tamai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study shows that soluble uric acid is an endogenous inhibitor of CD38, a regulator of inflammatory responses. The convincing evidence draws both on biochemical analyses and in vivo models. This work provides insights into NAD+ metabolism, with significant implications for inflammation and potential roles in metabolic diseases and aging.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Alternative splicing across the tree of life

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Rebeca de la Fuente
   2. Wladimiro Dı́az-Villanueva
   3. Vicente Arnau
   4. Andres Moya

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors examined the frequency of alternative splicing across prokaryotes and eukaryotes and found that the rate of alternative splicing varies with taxonomic groups and genome coding content. This solid work, based on nearly 1,500 high-quality genome assemblies, relies on a novel genome-scale metric that enables cross-species comparisons and that quantifies the extent to which coding sequences generate multiple mRNA transcripts via alternative splicing. This timely study provides an important basis for improving our general understanding of genome architecture and the evolution of life forms.

   Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

7. On the role of VP3-PI3P interaction in birnavirus endosomal membrane targeting

   This article has 23 authors:

   1. Flavia A Zanetti
   2. Ignacio Fernandez
   3. Eduard Baquero
   4. Pablo Guardado-Calvo
   5. Andres Ferrino-Iriarte
   6. Sarah Dubois
   7. Etienne Morel
   8. Victoria Alfonso
   9. Milton Osmar Aguilera
   10. María E Celayes
   11. Luis Mariano Polo
   12. Laila Suhaiman
   13. Vanesa V Galassi
   14. Maria V Chiarpotti
   15. Carolina Allende-Ballestero
   16. Javier M Rodriguez
   17. Jose R Castón
   18. Diego Lijavetzky
   19. Oscar Taboga
   20. María I Colombo
   21. Mario Del Pópolo
   22. Félix A Rey
   23. Laura Ruth Delgui

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Zanetti et al use convincing biophysical and cellular assays to investigate the interaction of the birnavirus VP3 protein with the early endosome lipid PI3P. The study provides valuable insights and will be of interest to virologists. In future studies, it would be interesting to demonstrate that VP3-PIP3P is a specific interaction and not a general interaction with other PIPs.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Protection afforded by post-infection SARS-CoV-2 vaccine doses: A cohort study in Shanghai

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Bo Zheng
   2. Bronner P Gonçalves
   3. Pengfei Deng
   4. Weibing Wang
   5. Jie Tian
   6. Xueyao Liang
   7. Ye Yao
   8. Caoyi Xue

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work by Zheng and colleagues uses a large cohort database from Shanghai to identify that post-infection vaccination among previously vaccinated individuals provides significant low to moderate protection against re-infection. The evidence supporting the conclusion is convincing with some limitations, e.g., lack of symptom severity as an outcome, and no inclusion of time since infection as an independent variable). This study will be of interest to vaccinologists, public health officials and clinicians.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. High-throughput expansion microscopy enables scalable super-resolution imaging

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. John H Day
   2. Catherine M Della Santina
   3. Pema Maretich
   4. Alexander L Auld
   5. Kirsten K Schnieder
   6. Tay Shin
   7. Edward S Boyden
   8. Laurie A Boyer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study develops a high throughput version of expansion microscopy that can be performed in 96-well plates. The engineered technology is convincing and compatible with standard microplates and automated microscopes and thus will be of broad interest. The application to hiPCS-derived cardiomyocytes treated with doxorubicin provides a solid proof-of-concept demonstrating the potential for high-throughput analysis.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. High-frequency terahertz stimulation alleviates neuropathic pain by inhibiting the pyramidal neuron activity in the anterior cingulate cortex of mice

    This article has 14 authors:

    1. Wenyu Peng
    2. Pan Wang
    3. Chaoyang Tan
    4. Han Zhao
    5. Kun Chen
    6. Huaxing Si
    7. Yuchen Tian
    8. Anxin Lou
    9. Zhi Zhu
    10. Yifang Yuan
    11. Kaijie Wu
    12. Chao Chang
    13. Yuanming Wu
    14. Tao Chen

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      Peng et al. reported important findings that 36THz high-frequency terahertz stimulation (HFTS) could suppress the activity of pyramidal neurons by enhancing the conductance of voltage-gated potassium channels. The significance of the findings in this paper is that chronic pain remains a significant medical problem, and there is a need to find non-pharmacological interventions for treatment. The authors present convincing evidence that high-frequency stimulation of the anterior cingulate cortex can alter neuronal activity and improve sensory pain behaviors in mice.

    Reviewed by eLife