eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Enhancing CRISPR prime editing by reducing misfolded pegRNA interactions

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Weiting Zhang
   2. Karl Petri
   3. Junyan Ma
   4. Hyunho Lee
   5. Chia-Lun Tsai
   6. J Keith Joung
   7. Jing-Ruey Joanna Yeh

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful paper reports on two simple methods for improving the efficiency of prime editing, a prominent gene editing technique. In combination with published modifications, the strategies described in this study may lead to significant improvements in editing efficiencies. The data are solid, and the methods will be of broad interest to anyone using gene editing.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. TLR2 regulates hair follicle cycle and regeneration via BMP signaling

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Luyang Xiong
   2. Irina Zhevlakova
   3. Xiaoxia Z West
   4. Detao Gao
   5. Rakhilya Murtazina
   6. Anthony Horak
   7. J Mark Brown
   8. Iuliia Molokotina
   9. Eugene A Podrez
   10. Tatiana V Byzova

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Toll like receptor 2 (TLR2) signaling has traditionally been viewed a surface protein that induces innate immune responses and improves acquired immunity. Here, the authors suggest a different role for TLR2 in the hair cycle. By using a Cre reporter that is largely, but not solely active in hair follicle stem cells, the authors conditionally delete Tlr2 in mice and report that BMP signaling is sustained and hair cycle entry is delayed. Delving further, the authors identify CEP (2-ω-carboxyethyl pyrrole) as an endogenous ligand of TLR2 in hair follicle stem cell regulation. Although a role for TLR2 signaling in hair follicle stem cells is potentially novel and important, the reviewers remain in consensus that evidence presented in two significant areas continues to be incomplete: 1) where TLR2 and CEP are expressed and how specific is their expression to the hair follicle stem cells; 2) whether as the authors suggest, TLR2 functions by regulating BMP signaling in the stem cell niche of the hair follicle.

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

3. Dynamic simulations of feeding and respiration of the early Cambrian periderm-bearing cnidarian polyps

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Yiheng Zhang
   2. Xing Wang
   3. Jian Han
   4. Juyue Xiao
   5. Yuanyuan Yong
   6. Chiyang Yu
   7. Ning Yue
   8. Jie Sun
   9. Kaiyue He
   10. Wenjing Hao
   11. Tao Zhang
   12. Bin Wang
   13. Deng Wang
   14. Xiaoguang Yang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of early Cambrian cnidarian paleoecology and suggests that the reconstructed ancestral feeding and respiration mechanisms predate jet-propelled swimming utilized by modern jellyfish. The work combines solid evidence of fluid and structural mechanics modeling, simulating for the first time the feeding and respiratory capacities in a microfossil (Quadrapyrgites), which in turn opens new possibilities using this approach for paleontological research. Assuming that the prior interpretations and assumptions concerning the modeled organism's soft part and skeletal anatomy are correct, the hypotheses that (1) the organism could alternately contract and expand the oral region and (2) such movement increased feeding efficiency seem plausible.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Continuous endosomes form functional subdomains and orchestrate rapid membrane trafficking in trypanosomes

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Fabian Link
   2. Alyssa Borges
   3. Oliver Karo
   4. Marvin Jungblut
   5. Thomas Müller
   6. Elisabeth Meyer-Natus
   7. Timothy Krüger
   8. Stefan Sachs
   9. Nicola G Jones
   10. Mary Morphew
   11. Markus Sauer
   12. Christian Stigloher
   13. J Richard McIntosh
   14. Markus Engstler

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study combines a range of advanced ultrastructural imaging approaches to define the unusual endosomal system of African trypanosomes. Compelling images reveal that, unlike a conventional set of compartments, the endosome in these protists forms a continuous membrane system with functionally distinct subdomains, as defined by canonical markers for early, late, and recycling endosomes. The findings compellingly support that the endocytic system in bloodstream stages has adapted to support remarkably high rates of membrane turnover necessary for immune complex removal and survival in the blood. This research is particularly relevant to those investigating infectious diseases

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Double and triple thermodynamic mutant cycles reveal the basis for specific MsbA-lipid interactions

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jixing Lyu
   2. Tianqi Zhang
   3. Michael T Marty
   4. David Clemmer
   5. David H Russell
   6. Arthur Laganowsky

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important biophysical study combining native mass spectrometry with mutant cycles to estimate the thermodynamic components of lipid A binding to the ABC transporter MsbA. Solid evidence supports the binding energies for lipid-protein interactions to MsbA using this approach, which could be later applied to other membrane proteins in general.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Dual recognition of multiple signals in bacterial outer membrane proteins enhances assembly and maintains membrane integrity

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Edward M Germany
   2. Nakajohn Thewasano
   3. Kenichiro Imai
   4. Yuki Maruno
   5. Rebecca S Bamert
   6. Christopher J Stubenrauch
   7. Rhys A Dunstan
   8. Yue Ding
   9. Yukari Nakajima
   10. XiangFeng Lai
   11. Chaille T Webb
   12. Kentaro Hidaka
   13. Kher Shing Tan
   14. Hsinhui Shen
   15. Trevor Lithgow
   16. Takuya Shiota

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study reports the identification of a new amino acid sequence motif (i.e., "internal beta-signal") on outer membrane proteins, which is recognized by beta-assembly machinery in gram-negative bacteria. The authors carried out rigorous experiments, providing compelling evidence in support of their conclusions. This work significantly advances our understanding of the biogenesis of outer membrane proteins.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Alzheimer’s disease linked Aβ42 exerts product feedback inhibition on γ-secretase impairing downstream cell signaling

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Katarzyna Marta Zoltowska
   2. Utpal Das
   3. Sam Lismont
   4. Thomas Enzlein
   5. Masato Maesako
   6. Mei CQ Houser
   7. Maria Luisa Franco
   8. Burcu Özcan
   9. Diana Gomes Moreira
   10. Dmitry Karachentsev
   11. Ann Becker
   12. Carsten Hopf
   13. Marçal Vilar
   14. Oksana Berezovska
   15. William Mobley
   16. Lucía Chávez-Gutiérrez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this manuscript, the authors tested the hypothesis that Aβ42 toxicity arises from its proven affinity for γ-secretases. The authors provide useful findings, showing convincingly that human Abeta42 inhibits gamma-secretase activity. The data will be of interest to all scientists working on neurodegenerative diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Revealing a hidden conducting state by manipulating the intracellular domains in KV10.1 exposes the coupling between two gating mechanisms

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Reham Abdelaziz
   2. Adam P Tomczak
   3. Andreas Neef
   4. Luis A Pardo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study examines the role of the interaction between cytoplasmic N- and C-terminal domains in voltage-dependent gating of Kv10.1 channels. The authors suggest that they have identified a hidden open state in Kv10.1 mutant channels, thus providing a window for observing early conformational transitions associated with channel gating. The evidence supporting the major conclusions is solid, but additional work is required to determine the molecular mechanism underlying the observations in this study. Learning the molecular mechanisms could be significant in understanding the gating mechanisms of the KCNH family and will appeal to biophysicists interested in ion channels and physiologists interested in cancer biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. A logic-incorporated gene regulatory network deciphers principles in cell fate decisions

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Gang Xue
   2. Xiaoyi Zhang
   3. Wanqi Li
   4. Lu Zhang
   5. Zongxu Zhang
   6. Xiaolin Zhou
   7. Di Zhang
   8. Lei Zhang
   9. Zhiyuan Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presented in this manuscript makes important contributions to our understanding of cell fate decisions and the role of noise in gene regulatory networks. Through computational and theoretical analysis, the authors provide solid support for distinguishing distinct driving forces behind fate decisions based on noise profiles and reprogramming trajectories. While acknowledging the potential limitations of small gene regulatory networks in capturing the richness of whole-transcriptome sequencing datasets, this study offers a creative approach for formulating hypotheses about gene regulation during stem cell differentiation using single-cell sequencing data.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Targeting sex determination to suppress mosquito populations

    This article has 15 authors:

    1. Ming Li
    2. Nikolay P Kandul
    3. Ruichen Sun
    4. Ting Yang
    5. Elena D Benetta
    6. Daniel J Brogan
    7. Igor Antoshechkin
    8. Héctor M Sánchez C
    9. Yinpeng Zhan
    10. Nicolas A DeBeaubien
    11. YuMin M Loh
    12. Matthew P Su
    13. Craig Montell
    14. John M Marshall
    15. Omar S Akbari

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable paper builds on a method, previously conceptualized and validated, of genetic control for insect populations. The method, called pgSIT, uses integrated CRISPR-Cas9 based constructs to generate, in certain combinations of genotypes, mutations that cause both male sterility and female inviability. Release of such genotypes in sufficiently large numbers can lead to an inundation of a local insect population with sterile males and this can lead to localised population suppression, which represents an effective method of control for problematic insect populations. The data are convincing and will be of interest to anyone working on vector control strategies.

    Reviewed by eLife