eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Dopamine and its receptor DcDop2 are involved in the mutualistic interaction between ‘Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus’ and Diaphorina citri

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Xiaoge Nian
   2. Jiayun Li
   3. Jilei Huang
   4. Weiwei Yuan
   5. Paul Holford
   6. George Andrew Charles Beattie
   7. Jielan He
   8. Yijing Cen
   9. Yurong He
   10. Songdou Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Insects can act as vectors of plant diseases, hence the study of insect-pathogen interactions is relevant for agriculture. This important study identifies in Diaphorina citri a dopamine receptor responsive to 'Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus' infection, demonstrate direct regulation of this receptor by a microRNA, and integrate dopamine signaling into an established insect reproductive hormone framework. Multiple complementary experimental approaches convincingly support the findings, but key conclusions rely on correlative data and the mechanistic evidence for the proposed linear signaling cascade is incomplete. This work will be of interest for insect physiology and vector-pathogen biology, and more broadly for citrus agriculture.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Benchmarking of signaling networks generated by large language models

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Jeevan Tewari
   2. Benjamin W Dahl
   3. Jeffrey J Saucerman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors address a hard question and propose a pipeline for using Large Language Models to reconstruct signalling networks as well as to benchmark future models. The findings are valuable for a defined subfield, as the proposed framework allows for assessing such approaches systematically. The overall support is solid, although the present evaluation remains limited in scope and would benefit from a wider range of networks and performance metrics.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Subregional activity in the dentate gyrus is amplified during elevated cognitive demands

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Charlotte CM Castillon
   2. Shintaro Otsuka
   3. John N Armstrong
   4. Anis Contractor

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents a valuable study of the activity and functional relevance of different circuits in the dentate gyrus of mice performing a pattern separation task. The study is likely to be of interest to those studying the subregional organization and cell type-specific functions of the dentate gyrus. However, the strength of evidence for the study's conclusions is currently incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Activation of the Spx redox sensor counters cysteine-driven Fe(II) depletion under disulfide stress

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Abigail G Hall
   2. Abdulelah A Alqarzaee
   3. Aliyah J Collins
   4. Sasmita Panda
   5. Svetlana Romanova
   6. Sujata S Chaudhari
   7. Andrew J Monteith
   8. Dorte Frees
   9. Vinai C Thomas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides new insights into how Staphylococcus aureus adapts to disulfide stress through the redox-sensitive regulator Spx, which coordinates nutrient uptake, cysteine import, redox homeostasis, and bacterial growth. While the authors present compelling evidence supporting the central role of Spx in managing disulfide stress, several aspects require further clarification. In particular, the precise mechanisms regulating cysteine uptake and the proposed link between disulfide stress responses and iron limitation would benefit from additional explanation and experimental or conceptual justification.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. RiboTRAP-seq identifies spatially distinct functions for the anterior and posterior intestine in immune and metabolic regulation in C. elegans

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Chung-Chih Liu
   2. Nicolas Seban
   3. Supriya Srinivasan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, the authors performed cell-specific ribosome pulldown to identify gene expression (translatome) differences in the anterior (NT1) vs middle & posterior (NT2-9) cells of the C. elegans intestine, under fed, starved, or refeeding conditions. The data generated will be very helpful to the C. elegans community, and the evidence supporting the conclusions of the study is assessed to be solid. Some methodological caveats remain and are discussed.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Purified Zymogens Reveal Mechanisms of Snake Venom Metalloproteinase Auto-Activation

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Sophie Hall
   2. Iara Aimê Cardoso
   3. Mark C Wilkinson
   4. Maria Molina Carretero
   5. Srikanth Lingappa
   6. Bronwyn Rand
   7. Dakang Shen
   8. Johara Boldrini-França
   9. Richard Stenner
   10. Stefanie K Menzies
   11. Georgia Balchin
   12. Konrad Kamil Hus
   13. Renaud Vincentelli
   14. Andrew Mumford
   15. Nicholas R Casewell
   16. Imre Berger
   17. Christiane Schaffitzel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this useful paper, the authors present a comprehensive method for the purification of recombinant Snake Venom Metalloproteinases (SVMPs) using the MultiBac expression system, explain the self-activation of the enzymes by Zn2+ incubation, and establish high-throughput screening (HTS) techniques. The authors addressed a key problem: producing a substantial amount of pure and enzymatically active SVMPs required for structural and functional studies. Altogether, this work builds a solid foundation for the large-scale production of active SVMPs for future biochemical and structural characterization as well as for drug discovery, albeit leaving certain caveats about the universal applicability of the described methodology for the production of any recombinant SVMPs.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Human spinal cord organoids reveal cell intercalation as a conserved mechanism for secondary neurulation

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. José Blanco-Ameijeiras
   2. Yara El Majzoub
   3. Mar García-Valero
   4. Mariana M Faustino
   5. Elena Rebollo
   6. Javier Macho-Rendón
   7. Jorge Corbacho
   8. Juan Ramón Martínez-Morales
   9. Elisa Martí

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable human stem cell-derived organoid model that captures key morphological and cellular features of spinal cord development and provides evidence for a YAP-dependent mechanism of lumen formation relevant to secondary neurulation. Overall, the evidence is convincing, using strong and validated approaches consistent with the current state of the art, including systematic protocol optimisation across multiple cell lines and quantitative analysis of tissue architecture. However, some claims regarding precise anterior-posterior and dorsoventral spinal cord identity, as well as several novelty claims, are at times overstated and would benefit from more direct validation and more careful positioning. The work will be of interest to developmental biologists and researchers studying neural tube defects.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Patient-specific iPSC models of neural tube defects identify underlying deficiencies in neuroepithelial cell shape regulation and differentiation

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ioakeim Ampartzidis
   2. Elliott M Thompson
   3. Yashica Gupta
   4. Andrea Krstevski
   5. Nicola Elvassore
   6. Eirini Maniou
   7. Paolo de Coppi
   8. Gabriel L Galea

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors used genetic mutations in VANGL2 to study cell morphological changes during differentiation of hPSCs and understand the mechanisms underlying neural tube closure defects. The findings are important as they establish a quantitative, reproducible 2D human iPSC-to-neural-progenitor platform for analyzing cell-shape dynamics during differentiation. The convincing evidence provided, combined with the relative simplicity of the model and its tractability as a patient-specific and reverse genetic platform, make it attractive.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

9. RAB14-dependent tubulovesicular recycling directs MET to invadopodia, promoting TNBC cell invasion

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Amrita Khamari
   2. Atreyee Guria
   3. Kiran Tak
   4. Rajiv Sharma
   5. Yannis Kalaidzidis
   6. Sunando Datta

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable paper advances understanding of the role of the HGF receptor, MET, in cancer cell invasion by demonstrating HGF-induced coordinated trafficking of MET and metalloprotease MT1-MMP into invadopodia. The results are generally solid, but there are concerns about the cell biology and whether the trafficking mechanism is clinically relevant. It's also unclear whether this is a general mechanism or specific to triple-negative breast cancer cells. The paper will be of interest to cancer cell biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Bruce suppresses autophagy-regulated caspase activity and wing tissue growth in Drosophila

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Natsuki Shinoda
    2. Yutaro Hama
    3. Nozomi Hanawa
    4. Masayuki Miura

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study reports insights into how the caspase Dcp-1, best known for cell death, can also promote tissue growth in Drosophila, extending the authors' earlier work by identifying regulatory factors that shape this non-lethal activity. The valuable findings identify new Dcp-1-interacting proteins Sirt1, Fkbp59, Debcl, Buffy, Atg2, and Atg8a, and help broaden understanding of how growth and death pathways intersect. The evidence is solid, but some conclusions would be strengthened by additional studies, particularly regarding the nature of the cell death observed and the involvement of autophagy.

    Reviewed by eLife