eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. β-cell intrinsic dynamics rather than gap junction structure dictates subpopulations in the islet functional network

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jennifer K Briggs
   2. Anne Gresch
   3. Isabella Marinelli
   4. JaeAnn M Dwulet
   5. David J Albers
   6. Vira Kravets
   7. Richard KP Benninger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript describes a set of detailed modeling and experimental studies to disentangle the respective roles of gap junctional electrical vs. metabolic coupling mechanisms in the synchronization of islet activity. This is of interest due to the importance of islet synchronization and generally islet network properties in the regulation of insulin secretion from the pancreas. The significance of the findings was judged to be mostly important and the strength of evidence provided was judged to be mostly solid overall.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Continuous sensing of nutrients and growth factors by the mTORC1-TFEB axis

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Breanne Sparta
   2. Nont Kosaisawe
   3. Michael Pargett
   4. Madhura Patankar
   5. Nicholaus DeCuzzi
   6. John G Albeck

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this study, Sparta et al., generated and employed a battery of fluorescent reporters that allowed them to perform time-resolved monitoring of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) responses to stimuli including glucose, amino acids, and insulin at the single cell resolution. The results of this elegant approach support a model of graded mTORC1 activation in response to the aforementioned stimuli when applied individually or in combination. This model is consistent with continuous adjustment of mTORC1 signaling to changes in cellular environment and opposed to the "on/off" model of mTORC1 function. Considering the pivotal role of mTORC1 in integrating signals such as nutrients, hormones, growth factors, oxygen, and energy status with a plethora of outputs that affect cell fate and organismal physiology, it was thought that this study will be of interests across a variety of biomedical disciplines. Overall, the elegance and robustness of the approach was highly appreciated, though the paper would be strengthened by addressing some technical issues and concerns regarding the positioning of the proposed model of mTORC1 regulation in the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Coupling and uncoupling of midline morphogenesis and cell flow in amniote gastrulation

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Rieko Asai
   2. Vivek N Prakash
   3. Shubham Sinha
   4. Manu Prakash
   5. Takashi Mikawa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Large scale cell movements occur during gastrulation in vertebrate embryos but their role in this major morphogenetic transition in formation of the body plan is poorly understood. Using the chick embryo model system, this study makes important advances using elegant methods to show that extension of the primitive streak during gastrulation, occurring through cell proliferation, polarisation and intercalation, and large-scale polonaise cell movements, can be uncoupled. Although the driving mechanism and precise role of these movements remains a mystery, the study provides convincing evidence for the uncoupling through independent approaches, the most creative of which are the effects shown after induction of a supernumerary primitive streak.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Minimal twister sister-like self-cleaving ribozymes in the human genome revealed by deep mutational scanning

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Zhe Zhang
   2. Xu Hong
   3. Peng Xiong
   4. Junfeng Wang
   5. Yaoqi Zhou
   6. Jian Zhan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uncovers a surprising link between two self-cleaving RNAs that belong to the same structural family. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is convincing and based on extensive biochemical and bioinformatic analysis. This research will be of broad interest to RNA molecular biologists and biochemists.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Stratification of enterochromaffin cells by single-cell expression analysis

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Yan Song
   2. Linda J Fothergill
   3. Kari S Lee
   4. Brandon Y Liu
   5. Ada Koo
   6. Mark Perelis
   7. Shanti Diwakarla
   8. Brid Callaghan
   9. Jie Huang
   10. Jill Wykosky
   11. John B Furness
   12. Gene W Yeo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents a transcriptomic analysis of enterochromaffin cells in the intestine. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is solid, although the functional analysis is focused on the Piezo2-expressing subset in the colon. The work will be of interest to biologists working on intestinal mucosal biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Taste shaped the use of botanical drugs

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Marco Leonti
   2. Joanna Baker
   3. Peter Staub
   4. Laura Casu
   5. Julie Hawkins

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study links the "taste" of botanicals to their application as medicines used by the ancient Greco-Roman society. The authors used phylogenetic linear mixed models in a Bayesian framework to test the relationships between taste qualities, intensities, complexities, and therapeutic use. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid, although there is a minor weakness concerning the somewhat inconsistent method of botanical preparation and presentation to the taster panelists; subjective bias and robustness of the participants' responses might have been overlooked. The study may be of broad interest to pharmacologists and scientists working on drug discovery, particularly those interested in natural products.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Major patterns in the introgression history of Heliconius butterflies

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Yuttapong Thawornwattana
   2. Fernando Seixas
   3. Ziheng Yang
   4. James Mallet

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study revises the evolutionary history of Heliconius butterflies, a well-established model system for understanding speciation in the presence of gene flow between species. Using a convincing statistical phylogenetic approach that relies on the multispecies coalescent, the authors reconstruct the evolution of the lineage, including the timing of speciation events and the history of gene flow. The new phylogeny will be of interest to all researchers working on Heliconius butterflies, and the phylogenetic approach to investigators aiming to understand the history of lineages that have experienced extensive gene flow.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A TOPBP1 allele causing male infertility uncouples XY silencing dynamics from sex body formation

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Carolline Ascenção
   2. Jennie R Sims
   3. Alexis Dziubek
   4. William Comstock
   5. Elizabeth A Fogarty
   6. Jumana Badar
   7. Raimundo Freire
   8. Andrew Grimson
   9. Robert S Weiss
   10. Paula E Cohen
   11. Marcus B Smolka

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study reports a new mutant mouse line with compromised function of a DNA damage response protein. The evidence supporting the conclusion that the mutants display defective maintenance of meiotic sex chromosome inactivation is solid. This work is of interest to biomedical researchers working on meiosis and meiotic sex chromosome inactivation.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Fluorescein-based sensors to purify human α-cells for functional and transcriptomic analyses

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Sevim Kahraman
   2. Kimitaka Shibue
   3. Dario F De Jesus
   4. Hyunki Kim
   5. Jiang Hu
   6. Debasish Manna
   7. Bridget Wagner
   8. Amit Choudhary
   9. Rohit N Kulkarni

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript by Kahraman et al. describes the use of a fluorescent dye for purifying and analyzing human islet alpha cells. The study provides solid evidence that the alpha cells can be purified using this method and the cells remained viable and functional after culturing for several days. The significance of the study is access to a new tool that will be useful for islet biologists and researchers studying diabetes mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Fungal–bacteria interactions provide shelter for bacteria in Caesarean section scar diverticulum

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Peigen Chen
    2. Haicheng Chen
    3. Ziyu Liu
    4. Xinyi Pan
    5. Qianru Liu
    6. Xing Yang

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This important study reports the fungal composition and its interaction with bacteria in the Caesarean section scar diverticulum. The data are solid and supportive of the conclusion. This work will be of interest to researchers and clinicians who work on women's health.

    Reviewed by eLife