eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Deciphering the complex relationship between type 2 diabetes and fracture risk with both genetic and observational evidence

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Pianpian Zhao
   2. Zhifeng Sheng
   3. Lin Xu
   4. Peng Li
   5. Wenjin Xiao
   6. Chengda Yuan
   7. Zhanwei Xu
   8. Mengyuan Yang
   9. Yu Qian
   10. Jiadong Zhong
   11. Jiaxuan Gu
   12. David Karasik
   13. Hou-Feng Zheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study aims to explore the diabetes-bone paradox using the Mendelian Randomization approach. That diabetes itself is not the direct cause, but rather the complications or associated risk factors increase the risk of fracture, constitutes a valuable insight. Mendelian randomization to explain the relationship of two complex conditions is solid and conducted properly; however, the efforts to reconcile the discrepancies between the Mendelian Randomization analysis and observational studies are incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Sex-biased regulatory changes in the placenta of native highlanders contribute to adaptive fetal development

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Tian Yue
   2. Yongbo Guo
   3. Xuebin Qi
   4. Wangshan Zheng
   5. Hui Zhang
   6. Bin Wang
   7. Kai Liu
   8. Bin Zhou
   9. Xuerui Zeng
   10. Ouzhuluobu
   11. Yaoxi He
   12. Bing Su

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study reports differential expression of key genes in full-term placenta between Tibetans and Han Chinese at high elevations, which are more pronounced in the placenta of male fetus than in female fetus. The gene expression data were collected and analyzed using solid and validated methodology, although there is limited support for hypoxia-specific responses due to a lack of low-altitude samples. Several of the placental genes found in this study have been previously reported to show signatures of positive selection in Tibetans, pointing to a potential mechanism of how human populations adapt to high elevation by mitigating the negative effects of low oxygen on fetal growth. The work will be of interest to evolutionary and population geneticists as well as researchers working on human hypoxic response.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Non-cognate immunity proteins provide broader defenses against interbacterial effectors in microbial communities

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Abigail Knecht
   2. Denise Sirias
   3. Daniel R Utter
   4. Karine A Gibbs

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into the specificity and promiscuity of toxic effector and immunity protein pairs. While the work is improved over a previous version, there are still some questions regarding the methodology used to draw certain conclusions, rendering the study somewhat incomplete. Nevertheless, this work will likely be of interest to microbiologists and biochemists working with toxin-antitoxin systems and effector-immunity proteins.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A new pipeline SPICE identifies novel JUN-IKZF1 composite elements

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Peng Li
   2. Sree Pulugulla
   3. Sonali Das
   4. Jangsuk Oh
   5. Rosanne Spolski
   6. Jian-Xin Lin
   7. Warren J Leonard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study presents a screening pipeline (SPICE) for detecting DNA motif spacing preferences between TF partners. SPICE predicts previously known composite elements, but experiments to elucidate the nature of the predicted novel interaction between JUN and IKZF1 are incomplete. These experiments would benefit from more rigorous approaches using other databases to explore additional relevant data. The work will be of broad interest to those involved in dissecting the regulatory logic of mammalian enhancers and promoters.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. PYCR1 Levels Track with Premature and Chronological Skin Aging

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Kortessa Sotiropoulou
   2. Saniye Yumlu
   3. Tomoko Hirano
   4. Michael Maier
   5. Abigail Loh
   6. Peh Fern Ong
   7. Onn Siong Yim
   8. Chunping Liu
   9. Emmanuel Vial
   10. Umut Altunoğlu
   11. Sheela Nampoothiri
   12. Deepthi de Silva
   13. Björn Fischer-Zirnsak
   14. Hülya Kayserili
   15. Poh San Lai
   16. Oliver Dreesen
   17. Kenji Kabashima
   18. Uwe Kornak
   19. Nathalie Escande-Beillard
   20. Bruno Reversade

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript uses genetic mouse modeling to delve deeper into a rare human disease of aging. The targeted approaches employed lend greater pathophysiologic insight and makes this paper valuable to the field art large. Additionally, the approaches used are rigorous and solid in supporting their conclusions. Some minor weaknesses were noted along with suggestions to add greater clarity.

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

6. The infection-tolerant white-footed deermouse tempers interferon responses to endotoxin in comparison to the mouse and rat

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Ana Milovic
   2. Jonathan V Duong
   3. Alan G Barbour

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides a comprehensive whole genome transcriptomic analysis of three small mammals, including Peromyscus leucopus, after exposure to endotoxin lipopolysaccharide. The authors find that the inflammatory response of the three species is complex and that P. leucopus responds differently compared to mice and rats. The data are convincing and constitute an important advance in our understanding of inflammatory responses in animals that serve as reservoirs for relevant pathogens.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Inflammasomes primarily restrict cytosolic Salmonella replication within human macrophages

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Marisa S Egan
   2. Emily A O'Rourke
   3. Shrawan Kumar Mageswaran
   4. Biao Zuo
   5. Inna Martynyuk
   6. Tabitha Demissie
   7. Emma N Hunter
   8. Antonia R Bass
   9. Yi-Wei Chang
   10. Igor E Brodsky
   11. Sunny Shin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper provides fundamental insights into the control of Salmonella within human macrophages, with convincing evidence that Salmonella can replicate in the macrophage cytosol in the absence of inflammasome signaling. This paper, which improves our understanding of how the immune system fights bacterial infections, will be of broad interest to cell biologists, immunologists and microbiologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Improving PD-1 blockade plus chemotherapy for complete remission of lung cancer by nanoPDLIM2

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Fan Sun
   2. Pengrong Yan
   3. Yadong Xiao
   4. Hongqiao Zhang
   5. Steven D Shapiro
   6. Gutian Xiao
   7. Zhaoxia Qu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding for the immunotherapy of cancer. The data support the role of PDLIM2 as a tumor suppressor, and more immediately, its relevance for strategies to improve the efficacy of immunotherapy. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling and the work will be of interest to biomedical scientists working on cancer immunology.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Mechanically stimulated osteocytes maintain tumor dormancy in bone metastasis of non-small cell lung cancer by releasing small extracellular vesicles

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Jing Xie
   2. Yafei Xu
   3. Xuhua Liu
   4. Li Long
   5. Ji Chen
   6. Chunyan Huang
   7. Yan Shao
   8. Zhiqing Cai
   9. Zhimin Zhang
   10. Ruixin Zhou
   11. Jiarong Leng
   12. Xiaochun Bai
   13. Qiancheng Song

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important study, that adds to the field a new understanding of exercise or mechanical loading, microRNAs, and secreted extracellular vessicles in the field of lung cancer (NSCLC), which may have relevance to other osteolytic cancers. The strength of the evidence was mixed: whereas in vitro microRNA experiments were convincing, other elements were incomplete (e.g., proving the roles of osteocytes, as opposed to other mechanosensitive cells, in vivo). This work would be of broad interest to those investigating osteolytic cancers, and the role of exercise in bone cancer, preclinically.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. YAP/TAZ enhances P-body formation to promote tumorigenesis

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Xia Shen
    2. Xiang Peng
    3. YueGui Guo
    4. Zhujiang Dai
    5. Long Cui
    6. Wei Yu
    7. Yun Liu
    8. Chen-Ying Liu

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable study advances our understanding that YAP/TAZ, as well as their target genes, play a prominent role in the formation of processing bodies (P-bodies). The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing. The article could be improved through further analysis to elucidate the mechanistic link between P-body formation and oncogenesis. The work will be of broad interest to scientists working in the field of Hippo signaling and cancer biology.

    Reviewed by eLife