eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The Alk receptor tyrosine kinase regulates Sparkly, a novel activity regulating neuropeptide precursor in the Drosophila central nervous system

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Sanjay Kumar Sukumar
   2. Vimala Antonydhason
   3. Linnea Molander
   4. Jawdat Sandakly
   5. Malak Kleit
   6. Ganesh Umapathy
   7. Patricia Mendoza-Garcia
   8. Tafheem Masudi
   9. Andreas Schlosser
   10. Dick R Nässel
   11. Christian Wegener
   12. Margret Shirinian
   13. Ruth H Palmer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment:

     This paper characterises a novel gene (Spar), and presenting valuable findings in the field of insect biology and behaviour. The experiments are well designed, with attention to detail, showcasing the potential of the Drosophila melanogaster model and the use of online resources. The mixed approach presents a convincing argument for a genetic interaction between Alk and Spar.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Chromatin and gene expression changes during female Drosophila germline stem cell development illuminate the biology of highly potent stem cells

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Liang-Yu Pang
   2. Steven DeLuca
   3. Haolong Zhu
   4. John M Urban
   5. Allan C Spradling

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work significantly advances our comprehension of the molecular events occurring during germline stem cell differentiation in the Drosophila melanogaster ovary. The conclusions are strongly supported by compelling evidence, including rigorous data sets and complementary whole-genome analyses. As a result, this research holds substantial interest for developmental and stem cell biologists alike.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The Calpain-7 protease functions together with the ESCRT-III protein IST1 within the midbody to regulate the timing and completion of abscission

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Elliott L Paine
   2. Jack J Skalicky
   3. Frank G Whitby
   4. Douglas R Mackay
   5. Katharine S Ullman
   6. Christopher P Hill
   7. Wesley I Sundquist

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript by Paine and coworkers provides a fundamental improvement on how the enzymatic activity of CALPAIN7 (a Cys protease) influences cytokinesis mediated by the ESCRT (endosomal sorting complexes required for transport) pathway. The authors provide a convincing molecular and cellular basis for one of the several key steps involved in membrane fission during the separation of dividing eukaryotic cells. These findings should be of interest to a wide scientific audience including biochemists, structural biologists, and cell biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Lmx1a is a master regulator of the cortical hem

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Igor Y Iskusnykh
   2. Nikolai Fattakhov
   3. Yiran Li
   4. Laure Bihannic
   5. Matthew K Kirchner
   6. Ekaterina Y Steshina
   7. Paul A Northcott
   8. Victor V Chizhikov

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work advances our understanding of the generation of a main organizer of the vertebrate brain, the cortical hem. The authors convincingly show the contribution of multiple downstream effectors, each involved in specific processes regulated by the master gene, Lmx1a. This study has broader implications for how secondary organizers are created in the embryo and will be of interest to a wide readership.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Systems level identification of a matrisome-associated macrophage polarisation state in multi-organ fibrosis

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. John F Ouyang
   2. Kunal Mishra
   3. Yi Xie
   4. Harry Park
   5. Kevin Y Huang
   6. Enrico Petretto
   7. Jacques Behmoaras

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study deepens our understanding of macrophage phenotypes in pathological contexts and identifies a new macrophage state associated with tissue fibrosis, as well as putative drivers of this cellular state. The authors provide convincing evidence and performed a well-thought-out and thoroughly described computational analysis of single-cell RNA-sequencing data. This work will be of broad interest to the fields of tissue inflammation, fibrosis, macrophage biology, and immunology.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Statin-mediated reduction in mitochondrial cholesterol primes an anti-inflammatory response in macrophages by upregulating Jmjd3

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Zeina Salloum
   2. Kristin Dauner
   3. Yun-feng Li
   4. Neha Verma
   5. David Valdivieso-González
   6. Víctor Almendro-Vedia
   7. John D Zhang
   8. Kiran Nakka
   9. Mei Xi Chen
   10. Jeffrey McDonald
   11. Chase D Corley
   12. Alexander Sorisky
   13. Bao-Liang Song
   14. Iván López-Montero
   15. Jie Luo
   16. Jeffrey F Dilworth
   17. Xiaohui Zha

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript by Salloum and colleagues shows that cholesterol-lowering statins can reduce mitochondrial cholesterol and impact epigenetic programs in macrophages. The findings could be valuable for understanding statin-mediated anti-inflammatory functions in macrophages. The major claims describing new mechanisms by which statins may regulate macrophage function via epigenetic programming are partially supported by the data presented.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Conditional blastocyst complementation of a defective Foxa2 lineage efficiently promotes the generation of the whole lung

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Akihiro Miura
   2. Hemanta Sarmah
   3. Junichi Tanaka
   4. Youngmin Hwang
   5. Anri Sawada
   6. Yuko Shimamura
   7. Takehiro Otoshi
   8. Yuri Kondo
   9. Yinshan Fang
   10. Dai Shimizu
   11. Zurab Ninish
   12. Jake Le Suer
   13. Nicole C Dubois
   14. Jennifer Davis
   15. Shinichi Toyooka
   16. Jun Wu
   17. Jianwen Que
   18. Finn J Hawkins
   19. Chyuan-Sheng Lin
   20. Munemasa Mori

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This current study provides a new model of lung agenesis to explore the generation of the ability of blastocyst complementation to generate an entire organ. These studies will provide new avenues for organ bioengineering and additional insight into early contribution of mesoendoderm to lung development.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. SIRT2 inhibition protects against cardiac hypertrophy and ischemic injury

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Xiaoyan Yang
   2. Hsiang-Chun Chang
   3. Yuki Tatekoshi
   4. Amir Mahmoodzadeh
   5. Maryam Balibegloo
   6. Zeinab Najafi
   7. Rongxue Wu
   8. Chunlei Chen
   9. Tatsuya Sato
   10. Jason Shapiro
   11. Hossein Ardehali

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this study, Yang et al. have shown that SIRT2 has adverse effects on the heart in response to injury. Further, they demonstrate that deletion of Sirt2 is protective through stabilization and increased nuclear translocation of NRF2, which leads to increased expression of antioxidant genes. They also show that pharmacological inhibition of SIRT2 protects the heart against the development of cardiac hypertrophy.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Syntaxin-6 delays prion protein fibril formation and prolongs the presence of toxic aggregation intermediates

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Daljit Sangar
   2. Elizabeth Hill
   3. Kezia Jack
   4. Mark Batchelor
   5. Beenaben Mistry
   6. Juan M Ribes
   7. Graham S Jackson
   8. Simon Mead
   9. Jan Bieschke

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors attempted to show that syntaxin 6 (Stx6) delays PrP fibril formation and in presence of Stx6, PrP forms amorphous aggregates which are more toxic to neuronal cells, indicative of Stx6's anti-chaperone activity. This useful study has potential to provide important understanding of the molecular mechanism of PrP aggregation and neurotoxicity. However, the evidence supporting the physiological relevance and robustness of the assays is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Vicia faba SV channel VfTPC1 is a hyperexcitable variant of plant vacuole Two Pore Channels

    This article has 12 authors:

    1. Jinping Lu
    2. Ingo Dreyer
    3. Miles Sasha Dickinson
    4. Sabine Panzer
    5. Dawid Jaślan
    6. Carlos Navarro-Retamal
    7. Dietmar Geiger
    8. Ulrich Terpitz
    9. Dirk Becker
    10. Robert M Stroud
    11. Irene Marten
    12. Rainer Hedrich

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      Plant intracellular ion channels are poorly understood. In this important manuscript, patch-clamp is used to define functional differences between two cation channels present in the vacuole of different plants. The authors find a calcium-biding site whose absence or presence modulate activation at lower voltages and is responsible for increased excitability in the vacuole of the faba bean plant. The experimental evidence presented is convincing and findings have practical implications for the field of plant electrophysiology and channel biophysics.

    Reviewed by eLife