eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. CHOP promotes the transition to chronic integrated stress response signaling with suppression of hepatocyte identity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Theo F Velarde
   2. Kaihua Liu
   3. Zewei Zhang
   4. Reed C Adajar
   5. Chaoxian Zhao
   6. Huojun Cao
   7. D Thomas Rutkowski

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This fundamental manuscript describes a key role for the integrated stress response-regulated transcription factor CHOP in regulating liver biology in response to endoplasmic reticulum stress through both the downregulation of transcription factors involved in regulating hepatic identity and altering the capacity for integrated stress response and unfolded protein response signaling to induce protective signaling. The data supporting this model is convincing, but including some additional discussion on the mechanism and importance of the work in the context of the published literature would be helpful to better define the complex importance of CHOP signaling. This work will be of interest to a wide range of biologists interested in liver biology, stress-responsive signaling, and ER stress.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Nanoscale organization of betaII-spectrin within segments of the membrane-associated periodic skeleton in mouse sciatic nerve axons

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Nahir Guadalupe Gazal
   2. Gonzalo Escalante
   3. Lucía F Lopez
   4. Laurence Goutebroze
   5. Mariano Bisbal
   6. E Axel Gorostiza
   7. Alan M Szalai
   8. Fernando D Stefani
   9. Nicolás Unsain

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable paper looking at nanoscale organization of the membrane associated periodic cytoskeleton in mouse sciatic nerve axons. Despite previous studies, the precise organisation of the structure remains unclear, especially in vivo, and this manuscript significantly adds to this knowledge with solid data. An unexpected observation is the presence of discrete nanoscale clusters, regularly distributed around sections of axons. However, the paper misses a description of these clusters along the longitudinal axis of the axons.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Fourfold lifespan extension in C. elegans daf-2 mutant males

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Mike Russell
   2. Michelle Lin
   3. Alexander Tate Lasher
   4. Steven N Austad
   5. Liou Y Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study reports on lifespan extension in C. elegans males that carry a mutation in a gene for an insulin receptor; while the observations are striking, the strength of evidence is currently incomplete. The central claim of male-specificity is undermined by the absence of direct hermaphrodite healthspan comparisons, and the reliance on a single mutant allele leaves open the possibility that background mutations, rather than daf-2 loss-of-function, drive the phenotype. Methodological details critical for reproducibility are also lacking, particularly regarding male housing density, censoring of plate-leaving animals, and the adequacy of replication for the key epistasis experiment. The work could be substantially strengthened by a targeted set of additional experiments and fuller engagement with the existing literature on sex-specific aging in C. elegans.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. PCNA-Polκ-Polδ/USP18 axes stabilize replication fork and restart to reduce cisplatin cytotoxicity

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Ipsita Subhadarsini
   2. Jugal Kishor Sahu
   3. Shweta Thakur
   4. Rupesh Dash
   5. Narottam Acharya

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Building on earlier studies, this manuscript reports a role for pol kappa in cisplatin resistance in the very specific scenarios of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, providing evidence that the PIP box of Pol kappa is critical for cisplatin resistance in these cells. The findings are of a highly focused relevance and will be useful in the field, but the conclusions are limited to very specific cancer cells. Conclusions cannot be generalized to all cisplatin resistance mechanisms and cell types and are based on incomplete evidence that presents uncertainties and discrepancies that need to be resolved.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Primate Hippocampus Reveals Distinct Rules for Associative Synaptic Plasticity

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Anoop Manakkadan
   2. Krishna Kumar
   3. Yee Song Chong
   4. Wong Lik-Wei
   5. Sheeja Navakkode
   6. Yuk Peng Wong
   7. Soong Tuck Wah
   8. Camilo Libedinsky
   9. Sreedharan Sajikumar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a potentially important study comparing LTP mechanisms between primates and rodents. The experimental methods have some possible confounds, and the power (replicates) and design of the statistical methods could be strengthened, hence the support for the central claims of species differences is currently incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Estimating the replicability of Brazilian biomedical science

   This article has 1 author:

   1. The Brazilian Reproducibility Initiative

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study assessed the replicability of a selection of lab-based biomedical experiments in papers published by authors based in Brazil. The study adds a unique perspective to the literature on replication, and provides rich data on the approach taken, the outcomes, and the challenges involved in conducting large-scale crowd-sourced research. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing, but there is scope for clarifying the presentation of the results and extending the discussion section.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Yoda molecules agonize PIEZO2

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Tharaka D Wijerathne
   2. Aneesh Chandrasekharan
   3. Aashish Bhatt
   4. Yun L Luo
   5. Jérôme J Lacroix

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study shows that the compound Yoda potentiates the function of the PIEZO2 channel, challenging the assumption that they selectively activate PIEZO1. This is an important finding and the evidence supporting this claim is solid. The authors have addressed the methodological and conceptual issues raised during review. Overall, this work will be of broad interest to researchers working with PIEZO channels across various biological scales.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Characterization of an early-diverging KCNE potassium-channel auxiliary subunit in the jawless vertebrate lamprey

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Go Kasuya
   2. Kaei Ryu
   3. Buntaro Zempo
   4. Emi Kawano-Yamashita
   5. Koichi Nakajo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors describe a new member of the KCNE auxiliary subunits of potassium channels from a lamprey. This new subunit represents an early evolutionary member which confers new properties when expressed along with KCNQ channels. In the revised version of the manuscript, the authors present convincing evidence from several experimental approaches. The contents of this manuscript are important and should be relevant to understanding both the mechanism of modulation of KCNQ channels by KCNE subunits and the evolutionary history of these subunits, which this manuscript now extends to the divergence of early vertebrates.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Whisker-based pre-neuronal and peripheral encoding of surface stickiness

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Isis S Wyche
   2. Michaela A O’Neil
   3. Daniel H O’Connor

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates how surface stickiness shapes whisker mechanics and peripheral neural responses during active touch. The biomechanical evidence that surface stickiness alters whisker mechanics and stick-slip dynamics is compelling, supported by a large and high-quality 3D dataset, while the electrophysiological evidence is solid but limited by a small sample size and insufficient validation of the sticky stimuli. The work will be of broad interest to sensory neuroscientists studying active touch.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Single-cell transcriptome-wide Mendelian randomization and colocalization analyses reveal immune-cell-specific mechanisms and actionable drug targets in prostate cancer

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Yanggang Hong
    2. Yi Wang
    3. Yirong Wang
    4. Feng Chen
    5. Jiajun Li

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a useful compendium of triangulated single-cell eQTLs, Mendelian randomisation and colocalization of genetic signals in prostate cancer datasets. Biological interpretation in the context of the aging prostate gland, the tumour microenvironment and immune cell specificity is incomplete, so this study is a starting point for further study, and would require validation of the resulting putative causal genes.

    Reviewed by eLife