eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Depletion of SMN protein in mesenchymal progenitors impairs the development of bone and neuromuscular junction in spinal muscular atrophy

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Sang-Hyeon Hann
   2. Seon-Yong Kim
   3. Ye Lynne Kim
   4. Young-Woo Jo
   5. Jong-Seol Kang
   6. Hyerim Park
   7. Se-Young Choi
   8. Young-Yun Kong

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work by Hann et al. advances our understanding of the role of the survival motor neuron (SMN) protein in coordinating pathogenesis of the spinal muscular atrophy (SMA). The authors addressed many concerns raised by the reviewers, providing convincing evidence in terms of skeletal analyses not being able to satisfactorily elucidate SMN regulation of bone development.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. The larva and adult of Helicoverpa armigera use differential gustatory receptors to sense sucrose

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Shuai-Shuai Zhang
   2. Pei-Chao Wang
   3. Chao Ning
   4. Ke Yang
   5. Guo-Cheng Li
   6. Lin-Lin Cao
   7. Ling-Qiao Huang
   8. Chen-Zhu Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study identifies the gustatory receptors for sugar sensing in the larval and adult forms of the cotton bollworm, which is responsible for the destruction of many food crops world-wide. The authors find that the larval and adult forms utilise different receptors to sense sugars. The data are convincing and will be of interest neuroscientists working in sensory coding of sugars and to the pest management field.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Genomic and epigenomic evolution of metastatic prostate cancer: the first warm autopsy in China

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Wenhui Zhang
   2. Yan Wang
   3. Min Qu
   4. Haoqing Shi
   5. Xin Lu
   6. Qingsong Yang
   7. Fang Liu
   8. Tao Wang
   9. Ziwei Wang
   10. Bijun Lian
   11. Ling Chen
   12. Xiaoyi Yin
   13. Yongwei Yu
   14. Jing Li
   15. Xu Gao
   16. Zhuan Liao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a valuable report on the first warm autopsy case of a metastatic prostate cancer patient and the follow-up genomic and epigenomic analysis. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although inclusion of more discussion of the study limitation and elaboration of mechanistic link for TP53, CDK12, and CDKN1B mutations would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to medical biologists working on prostate cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Modeling corticotroph deficiency with pituitary organoids supports the functional role of NFKB2 in human pituitary differentiation

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Thi Thom Mac
   2. Teddy Fauquier
   3. Nicolas Jullien
   4. Pauline Romanet
   5. Heather Etchevers
   6. Anne Barlier
   7. Frederic Castinetti
   8. Thierry Brue

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines the effects of NFKB2 mutations on pituitary gland development through hypothalamic-pituitary organoids. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is solid, although analysis of additional clones to exclude inter-clone variability would strengthen the conclusions. This is a revised study, but insight into the mechanism of action of NFKB2 during pituitary development is incomplete. This work will be of interest to endocrinologists and biologists working on pituitary gland development and disease.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The impact of surgery and oncological treatment on risk of type 2 diabetes onset in patients with colorectal cancer: nationwide cohort study in Denmark

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Caroline Krag
   2. Maria Saur Svane
   3. Sten Madsbad
   4. Susanne Boel Graversen
   5. Jesper Frank Christensen
   6. Thorkild IA Sørensen
   7. Louise Lang Lehrskov
   8. Tinne Laurberg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study presents findings that suggest the need for postoperative type 2 diabetes screening and that this should be prioritized in colorectal cancer survivors with overweight/obesity regardless of the type of colorectal cancer treatment applied. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid and the authors use a population-based cohort study including all Danish colorectal patients who had undergone colorectal cancer surgery between 2001-2018. The work will be of interest to medical biologists, endocrinologists and oncologists working on colorectal cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Eugenol mimics exercise to promote skeletal muscle fiber remodeling and myokine IL-15 expression by activating TRPV1 channel

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Tengteng Huang
   2. Xiaoling Chen
   3. Jun He
   4. Ping Zheng
   5. Yuheng Luo
   6. Aimin Wu
   7. Hui Yan
   8. Bing Yu
   9. Daiwen Chen
   10. Zhiqing Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful paper addresses a novel exercise mimetic agent on muscle exercise and performance. While the data provided are interesting, the evidence is incomplete, as much of it is correlative.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Single-cell transcriptomics-informed induced pluripotent stem cells differentiation to tenogenic lineage

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Angela Papalamprou
   2. Victoria Yu
   3. Wensen Jiang
   4. Julia Sheyn
   5. Tina Stefanovic
   6. Angel Chen
   7. Chloe Castaneda
   8. Melissa Chavez
   9. Dmitriy Sheyn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors established a useful syndetome differentiation protocol from human induced pluripotent stem cells, guided by single-cell transcriptomic analysis. Their findings could significantly impact the field, particularly for patients needing tendon cell therapy. However, the evidence presented is currently incomplete, as the authors did not yet test the applicability of their protocol across multiple human induced pluripotent stem cell lines.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. PKR activation-induced mitochondrial dysfunction in HIV-transgenic mice with nephropathy

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Teruhiko Yoshida
   2. Khun Zaw Latt
   3. Avi Z Rosenberg
   4. Briana A Santo
   5. Komuraiah Myakala
   6. Yu Ishimoto
   7. Yongmei Zhao
   8. Shashi Shrivastav
   9. Bryce A Jones
   10. Xiaoping Yang
   11. Xiaoxin X Wang
   12. Vincent M Tutino
   13. Pinaki Sarder
   14. Moshe Levi
   15. Koji Okamoto
   16. Cheryl A Winkler
   17. Jeffrey B Kopp

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents valuable new insights into a HIV-associated nephropathy (HIVAN) kidney phenotype in the Tg26 transgenic mouse model, and delineates the kidney cell types that express HIV genes and are injured in these HIV-transgenic mice. A series of compelling experiments demonstrated that PKR inhibition can ameliorate HIVAN with reversal of mitochondrial dysfunction (mainly confined to endothelial cells), a prominent feature shared in other kidney diseases. The data support that inhibition of PKR and mitochondrial dysfunction has potential clinical significance for HIVAN.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Ex vivo expansion potential of murine hematopoietic stem cells is a rare property only partially predicted by phenotype

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Qinyu Zhang
   2. Rasmus Olofzon
   3. Anna Konturek-Ciesla
   4. Ouyang Yuan
   5. David Bryder

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a valuable dissection on how functional HSCs are expanded in PVA cultures. The functional and multi-omic analyses provided are convincing, although the additional data and their analysis provided during revision could have been included in the test to assist readers and to strengthen the published manuscript. Nevertheless, the present work will be of value for stem cell biologists interested in HSC regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Hybridization breaks species barriers in long-term coevolution of a cyanobacterial population

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Gabriel Birzu
    2. Harihara Subrahmaniam Muralidharan
    3. Danielle Goudeau
    4. Rex R Malmstrom
    5. Daniel S Fisher
    6. Devaki Bhaya

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study provides important insights into bacterial genome evolution by analyzing single-cell genome sequences of cyanobacteria from Yellowstone hot springs. Using compelling evidence, the authors demonstrate that both homologous recombination within species and frequent hybridization across species are major drivers of genome diversification. Despite the challenges that are inherent to sparse and fragmented single-cell data, the analyses are thorough, carefully controlled, and supported by multiple complementary approaches, making the conclusions highly robust. This work represents a significant advance in our understanding of microbial evolution in natural environments.

    Reviewed by eLife