eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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

4. 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

5. 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

6. 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

7. 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

8. A novel triptolide analog downregulates NF-κB and induces mitochondrial apoptosis pathways in human pancreatic cancer

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Qiaomu Tian
   2. Peng Zhang
   3. Yihan Wang
   4. Youhui Si
   5. Dengping Yin
   6. Christopher R Weber
   7. Melissa L Fishel
   8. Karen E Pollok
   9. Bo Qiu
   10. Fei Xiao
   11. Anita S Chong

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful manuscript presents a new therapeutic formulation and these solid findings have potential clinical significance as the efficacy of CK21 is relevant in various pancreatic cancer models.Further validation studies would help to strengthen the findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Indole produced during dysbiosis mediates host–microorganism chemical communication

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Rui-Qiu Yang
   2. Yong-Hong Chen
   3. Qin-yi Wu
   4. Jie Tang
   5. Shan-Zhuang Niu
   6. Qiu Zhao
   7. Yi-Cheng Ma
   8. Cheng-Gang Zou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study provides compelling evidence for a new mechanism of host-microbe interaction, with indole, produced by proliferating bacteria in the C. elegans digestive system, signalling through the host via the transcription factor DAF-16 to induce the expression of genes controlling bacterial growth in the gut. The work is relevant to a wide audience as it invites deeper research into this mechanism, while also serving as a template for similar microbiome/host interactions in other systems.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The neuronal calcium sensor NCS-1 regulates the phosphorylation state and activity of the Gα chaperone and GEF Ric-8A

    This article has 11 authors:

    1. Daniel Muñoz-Reyes
    2. Levi J McClelland
    3. Sandra Arroyo-Urea
    4. Sonia Sánchez-Yepes
    5. Juan Sabín
    6. Sara Pérez-Suárez
    7. Margarita Menendez
    8. Alicia Mansilla
    9. Javier García-Nafría
    10. Stephen Sprang
    11. Maria Jose Sanchez-Barrena

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This important study reports biochemical and structural experiments that were carried out to determine the molecular basis of calcium-sensitive regulation of the guanine exchange factor Ric8A by the neuronal calcium sensor 1 (NCS-1). Structural and biochemical evidence for the NCS-1/Ric8A interface is convincing, but evidence for the full-length interactions is incomplete due to the low resolution of cryo-EM maps. This work will have important implications for scientists interested in G-protein signaling and molecular interactions that contribute to synapse function.

    Reviewed by eLife