eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Opposing, spatially-determined epigenetic forces impose restrictions on stochastic olfactory receptor choice

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Elizaveta V Bashkirova
   2. Nell Klimpert
   3. Kevin Monahan
   4. Christine E Campbell
   5. Jason Osinski
   6. Longzhi Tan
   7. Ira Schieren
   8. Ariel Pourmorady
   9. Beka Stecky
   10. Gilad Barnea
   11. Xiaoliang Sunney Xie
   12. Ishmail Abdus-Saboor
   13. Benjamin M Shykind
   14. Bianca J Marlin
   15. Richard M Gronostajski
   16. Alexander Fleischmann
   17. Stavros Lomvardas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important paper that revises the canonical model of how olfactory sensory neurons choose which odor receptor to express. The data presented in the paper are convincing and the model proposed is provocative and likely to enable future work.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. The acetylase activity of Cdu1 regulates bacterial exit from infected cells by protecting Chlamydia effectors from degradation

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Robert J Bastidas
   2. Mateusz Kędzior
   3. Robert K Davidson
   4. Stephen C Walsh
   5. Lee Dolat
   6. Barbara S Sixt
   7. Jonathan N Pruneda
   8. Jörn Coers
   9. Raphael H Valdivia

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study combines state-of-the art proteomics and genetic manipulation of Chlamydia trachomatis to study the function of a chlamydial effector, Cdu1, with deubiquitination and acetylation activities. Solid evidence is provided to show that Cdu1 is able to protect itself and three other chlamydial effectors, which are involved in the control of chlamydial egress from host cells, from ubiquitin-mediated degradation, and that this depends on the acetylation activity of Cdu1, but not on its deubiquitination activity. This work will be of interest to microbiologists and cell biologists studying host cell-pathogen interactions.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Vangl2 suppresses NF-κB signaling and ameliorates sepsis by targeting p65 for NDP52-mediated autophagic degradation

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Jiansen Lu
   2. Jiahuan Zhang
   3. Huaji Jiang
   4. Zhiqiang Hu
   5. Yufen Zhang
   6. Lian He
   7. Jianwu Yang
   8. Yingchao Xie
   9. Dan Wu
   10. Hongyu Li
   11. Ke Zeng
   12. Peng Tan
   13. Qingyue Xiao
   14. Zijing Song
   15. Chenglong Pan
   16. Xiaochun Bai
   17. Xiao Yu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable manuscript describes a novel role of Vangl2, a core planar cell polarity protein, in linking the NF-kB pathway to selective autophagic protein degradation in myeloid cells. The mechanistic studies provide convincing evidence that Vangl2 targets p65 for NDP52-mediated autophagic degradation, limiting inflammatory NF-kB response, with functional significance of the proposed mechanism in sepsis. Additional future studies dissecting autophagic Vangl2 functions in various myeloid subsets in the context of inflammation could be informative, and additional Vangl2 targets in the inflammatory pathway, including IKK2, could also be explored. Overall, this exciting study can advance our understanding of NF-kB control, particularly in the context of inflammatory diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Robust membrane protein tweezers reveal the folding speed limit of helical membrane proteins

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Seoyoon Kim
   2. Daehyo Lee
   3. WC Bhashini Wijesinghe
   4. Duyoung Min

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work presents an important methodological advance for single-molecule force spectroscopy of membrane proteins providing a new robust design of the linkage between a target single molecule and solid support. The data provide compelling evidence of the improved mechanical stability of the pulling system. Allowing more statistically reliable force measurements of biomolecules, this method may be broadly applicable in the field of single-molecule biophysics.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Cell Rearrangement Generates Pattern Emergence as a Function of Temporal Morphogen Exposure

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Timothy Fulton
   2. Kay Spiess
   3. Lewis Thomson
   4. Yuxuan Wang
   5. Bethan Clark
   6. Seongwon Hwang
   7. Brooks Paige
   8. Berta Verd
   9. Benjamin Steventon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors present an exciting idea about how to integrate morphogens into a gene regulatory network with the dynamics of morphogenesis and cell movement. It represents a novel methodology, but in its current form the hypotheses, data and relationships described do not provide a sufficiently compelling model to disentangle cause and effect or elucidate the impact of cell movements on differentiation dynamics the zebrafish mesoderm.

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

6. Dendritic growth and synaptic organization from activity-independent cues and local activity-dependent plasticity

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Jan H Kirchner
   2. Lucas Euler
   3. Ingo Fritz
   4. André Ferreira Castro
   5. Julijana Gjorgjieva

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work investigates how two distinct processes, morphological changes and synaptic plasticity, contribute to the final shape of neuronal dendrites and the spatial structure of their synaptic inputs. The modelling is convincing and could be broadly applied to other similar questions. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying dendritic development and connectivity at a single-cell level.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Structural and mechanistic insights into the MCM8/9 helicase complex

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Zhuangfeng Weng
   2. Jiefu Zheng
   3. Yiyi Zhou
   4. Zuer Lu
   5. Yixi Wu
   6. Dongyi Xu
   7. Huanhuan Li
   8. Huanhuan Liang
   9. Yingfang Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper presents important findings on the hexametric structure of MCM8/9, which potentially explain its role as a DNA helicase in homologous recombination. This solid work will be of interest to biologists studying DNA transactions.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Two-way Dispatched function in Sonic hedgehog shedding and transfer to high-density lipoproteins

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Kristina Ehring
   2. Sophia Friederike Ehlers
   3. Jurij Froese
   4. Fabian Gude
   5. Janna Puschmann
   6. Kay Grobe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful manuscript presents an analysis of different factors that are required for release of the lipid-linked morphogen Shh from cellular membranes. The evidence is still incomplete, as experiments rely on over-expression of Shh in a single cell line and are sometimes of a correlative nature. The study, which otherwise confirms and extends previous findings, will be of interest to developmental biologists who work on Hedgehog signaling.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Reciprocal discoidin domain receptor signaling strengthens integrin adhesion to connect adjacent tissues

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Kieop Park
   2. Ranjay Jayadev
   3. Sara G Payne
   4. Isabel W Kenny-Ganzert
   5. Qiuyi Chi
   6. Daniel S Costa
   7. William Ramos-Lewis
   8. Siddharthan B Thendral
   9. David R Sherwood

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important paper reveals how cells in adjacent tissues use the extracellular matrix to establish mechanical connections. Through a series of crisp genetic manipulations and quantitative image analyses, the authors provide compelling evidence to show how an essential adhesion between the uterus and the seam cells in the nematode C. elegans is formed. The assembly of type IV collagen triggers internalization of a cell surface receptor, which then signals from endocytic vesicles to strengthen the connection.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Mice lacking triglyceride synthesis enzymes in adipose tissue are resistant to diet-induced obesity

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Chandramohan Chitraju
    2. Alexander W Fischer
    3. Yohannes A Ambaw
    4. Kun Wang
    5. Bo Yuan
    6. Sheng Hui
    7. Tobias C Walther
    8. Robert V Farese

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment:

      This study introduces a valuable paradigm in the field of adipose tissue biology: blocking triglyceride storage in adipose tissue does not lead to lipodystrophy and impaired glucose homeostasis but instead improves metabolic health. The evidence supporting these claims is convincing, based on a comprehensive metabolic analysis, although mechanistic studies would strengthen the study and its impact. This study will be of high interest to those in the adipose tissue biology and metabolism fields.

    Reviewed by eLife