eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Caspase-1 activates gasdermin A in non-mammals

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Zachary Paul Billman
   2. Stephen Bela Kovacs
   3. Bo Wei
   4. Kidong Kang
   5. Ousmane H Cissé
   6. Edward A Miao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents valuable insights into the evolution of the gasdermin family, making a strong case that a GSDMA-like gasdermin activated by caspase-1 cleavage was already present in early land vertebrates. Convincing biochemical evidence is provided that extant avian, reptilian, and amphibian GSDMA proteins can still be activated by caspase-1 and upon cleavage induce pyroptosis-like cell death -- at least that they do so in the context of human cell lines. The caspase-1 cleavage site has only been lost in mammals, which use the more recently evolved GSDMD as a caspase-1 cleavable pyroptosis inducer. The presented work will be of considerable interest to scientists working on the evolution of cell death pathways, or on cell death regulation in non-mammalian vertebrates.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. TRIP13 localizes to synapsed chromosomes and functions as a dosage-sensitive regulator of meiosis

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jessica Y Chotiner
   2. N Adrian Leu
   3. Fang Yang
   4. Isabella G Cossu
   5. Yongjuan Guan
   6. Huijuan Lin
   7. P Jeremy Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study defined the physiological function of a conserved meiosis factor during murine spermatogenesis. The genetic and cellular biological evidence supporting the conclusion is convincing. This work will be of broad interest to cell biologists, geneticists, and reproductive biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Affinity-tagged SMAD1 and SMAD5 mouse lines reveal transcriptional reprogramming mechanisms during early pregnancy

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Zian Liao
   2. Suni Tang
   3. Kaori Nozawa
   4. Keisuke Shimada
   5. Masahito Ikawa
   6. Diana Monsivais
   7. Martin Matzuk

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents two valuable new mouse models that individually tag proteins from the SMAD family to identify distinct roles during early pregnancy. Convincing evidence is provided that SMAD1 and SMAD5 target many of the same genomic regions as each other and the progesterone receptor. Given the broad effect of these signaling pathways in multiple systems, these new tools will most likely interest readers across biological disciplines.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Dynamics of transcriptional programs and chromatin accessibility in mouse spermatogonial cells from early postnatal to adult life

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Irina Lazar-Contes
   2. Rodrigo G Arzate-Mejia
   3. Deepak K Tanwar
   4. Leonard C Steg
   5. Kerem Uzel
   6. Olivier Ulrich Feudjio
   7. Marion Crespo
   8. Pierre-Luc Germain
   9. Isabelle M Mansuy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study reports datasets on gene expression and chromatin accessibility profiles of spermatogonia at different postnatal ages in mice. Overall, the technical aspects of the sequencing analyses and computational/bioinformatics are solid. This study may be of interest to biomedical researchers working on male germline stem cells and male fertility.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Asymmetric framework motion of TCRαβ controls load-dependent peptide discrimination

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Ana C Chang-Gonzalez
   2. Robert J Mallis
   3. Matthew J Lang
   4. Ellis L Reinherz
   5. Wonmuk Hwang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Using extensive atomistic molecular dynamics simulations, the authors analyzed the TCR/pMHC interface with different peptide sequences and protein constructs. The results provide important insights into the catch-bond phenomenon in the context of T-cell activation. In particular, the analysis points to convincing evidence that supports the role of force in further discriminating different peptides during the activation process beyond structural considerations.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Altered transcriptomic immune responses of maintenance hemodialysis patients to the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine

   This article has 25 authors:

   1. Yi-Shin Chang
   2. Kai Huang
   3. Jessica M Lee
   4. Christen L Vagts
   5. Christian Ascoli
   6. Md-Ruhul Amin
   7. Mahmood Ghassemi
   8. Claudia M Lora
   9. Russell Edafetanure-Ibeh
   10. Yue Huang
   11. Ruth A Cherian
   12. Nandini Sarup
   13. Samantha R Warpecha
   14. Sunghyun Hwang
   15. Rhea Goel
   16. Benjamin A Turturice
   17. Cody Schott
   18. Montserrat Hernandez
   19. Yang Chen
   20. Julianne Jorgensen
   21. Wangfei Wang
   22. Mladen Rasic
   23. Richard M Novak
   24. Patricia W Finn
   25. David L Perkins

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a valuable inventory of immune responses to the BTN162b2 mRNA COVID-19 vaccination in 20 hemodialyses (HD) patients and controls at different time courses. The transcriptomic sequencing data were collected and analyzed using a solid and validated methodology. The data analysis and clinical predictors to predict anti-Spike IgG titers in HD can be a starting point for further studies characterizing the immune dysregulation seen in ESRD.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Evaluating hippocampal replay without a ground truth

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Masahiro Takigawa
   2. Marta Huelin Gorriz
   3. Margot Tirole
   4. Daniel Bendor

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work is a valuable presentation of sharp-wave-ripple reactivation of hippocampal neural ensemble activity recorded as animals explored two different environments. It attempts to use the fact that the ensemble code remaps between the two mazes to identify the best replay-detection procedures for analyzing this type of data. The reviewers found the evidence for a prescriptive conclusion inadequate, while still appreciating the concept of comparing maze-identity discrimination with replay.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Activin A marks a novel progenitor cell population during fracture healing and reveals a therapeutic strategy

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Lutian Yao
   2. Jiawei Lu
   3. Leilei Zhong
   4. Yulong Wei
   5. Tao Gui
   6. Luqiang Wang
   7. Jaimo Ahn
   8. Joel D Boerckel
   9. Danielle Rux
   10. Christina Mundy
   11. Ling Qin
   12. Maurizio Pacifici

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work is a valuable presentation of sharp-wave-ripple reactivation of hippocampal neural ensemble activity recorded as animals explored two different environments. It attempts to use the fact that the ensemble code remaps between the two mazes to identify the best replay-detection procedures for analyzing this type of data. The reviewers found the evidence for a prescriptive conclusion inadequate, while still appreciating the concept of comparing maze-identity discrimination with replay.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. The population genetics of convergent adaptation in maize and teosinte is not locally restricted

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Silas Tittes
   2. Anne Lorant
   3. Sean P McGinty
   4. James B Holland
   5. Jose de Jesus Sánchez-González
   6. Arun Seetharam
   7. Maud Tenaillon
   8. Jeffrey Ross-Ibarra

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study examines patterns of diversity and divergence in two closely related sub-species of Zea mays, patterns that have bearings on local adaptation in maize and teosinte at intermediate geographic scales. The authors suggest that convergent evolution has been facilitated by both standing variation and gene flow, with independent selective sweeps in the two species. While the data themselves are solid, there are limitations concerning population sampling, false positive rates in sweep detection and integration of phenotypic data, which make it difficult to draw definitive conclusions. The work should in principle be of broad interest to colleagues studying the relationship between domesticated species and their progenitors, as well as those studying instances of parallel evolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
    10.48550/arxiv.2305.04587v2