eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Pathologic polyglutamine aggregation begins with a self-poisoning polymer crystal

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Tej Kandola
   2. Shriram Venkatesan
   3. Jiahui Zhang
   4. Brooklyn T Lerbakken
   5. Alex Von Schulze
   6. Jillian F Blanck
   7. Jianzheng Wu
   8. Jay R Unruh
   9. Paula Berry
   10. Jeffrey J Lange
   11. Andrew C Box
   12. Malcolm Cook
   13. Celeste Sagui
   14. Randal Halfmann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors investigate the mechanism of amyloid nucleation in a cellular system using novel ratiometric measurements, providing fundamental insight into the role of polyglutamine length and the sequence features of glutamine-rich regions in amyloid formation. The problem addressed by this study is very significant and the ability to assess nucleation in cells is of considerable value. The data, as presented and analyzed, are mostly convincing.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Cell-type-specific control of secondary cell wall formation by Musashi-type translational regulators in Arabidopsis

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Alicia Kairouani
   2. Dominique Pontier
   3. Claire Picart
   4. Fabien Mounet
   5. Yves Martinez
   6. Lucie Le-Bot
   7. Mathieu Fanuel
   8. Philippe Hammann
   9. Lucid Belmudes
   10. Remy Merret
   11. Jacinthe Azevedo
   12. Marie-Christine Carpentier
   13. Dominique Gagliardi
   14. Yohann Couté
   15. Richard Sibout
   16. Natacha Bies-Etheve
   17. Thierry Lagrange

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Secondary cell walls support vascular plants and conduct water throughout the plant body, and are crucial resources for lignocellulosic feedstocks. Here the authors present convincing genetic and biochemical evidence that secondary cell wall synthesis, known already to be under complex transcriptional control, is also controlled post-transcriptionally by MUSASHI-like RNA-binding proteins. These important results point to a new mechanism for control of secondary cell wall synthesis, which will be interesting to cell biologists and biochemists studying and attempting to manipulate plant biomass.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. β-Arrestin-dependent and -independent endosomal G protein activation by the vasopressin type 2 receptor

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Carole Daly
   2. Akim Abdul Guseinov
   3. Hyunggu Hahn
   4. Adam Wright
   5. Irina G Tikhonova
   6. Alex Rojas Bie Thomsen
   7. Bianca Plouffe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important study that contributes to our understanding of the role of beta-arrestins in endosomal activation of the vasopressin type 2 receptors. While the use of a minigene as a tool is a weakness, the evidence is overall convincing and makes for significant findings whose theoretical and practical implications extend to other GPCRs.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. 100 years of anthropogenic impact causes changes in freshwater functional biodiversity

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Niamh Eastwood
   2. Jiarui Zhou
   3. Romain Derelle
   4. Mohamed Abou-Elwafa Abdallah
   5. William A Stubbings
   6. Yunlu Jia
   7. Sarah E Crawford
   8. Thomas A Davidson
   9. John K Colbourne
   10. Simon Creer
   11. Holly Bik
   12. Henner Hollert
   13. Luisa Orsini

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study advances the analytic toolset and understanding of long-term series of biological (freshwater) communities, and the impact of humans on these. The authors highlight the value of including not only spatiotemporal scales in biodiversity assessments but also some of the possible drivers of biodiversity loss. Analyzing their joint contribution as environmental stressors, the authors provide compelling evidence that ecosystem assessment methods currently used by environmental regulators throughout Europe are not fit-for-purpose, and they identify several alternatives, more robust indicators of freshwater ecosystem health. The work is timely and will be of interest to ecologists, modelers and global warming scientists in general.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Switching of RNA splicing regulators in immature neuroblasts during adult neurogenesis

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Corentin Bernou
   2. Marc-André Mouthon
   3. Mathieu Daynac
   4. Thierry Kortulewski
   5. Benjamin Demaille
   6. Vilma Barroca
   7. Sebastien Couillard-Despres
   8. Nathalie Dechamps
   9. Véronique Ménard
   10. Léa Bellenger
   11. Christophe Antoniewski
   12. Alexandra Déborah Chicheportiche
   13. François Dominique Boussin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This useful manuscript presents an intriguing potential refinement of models for adult SVZ neurogenesis, and highlights the role of RNA splicing at specific stages in the lineage. Unfortunately, the evidence does not fully support the claims, leaving it currently incomplete. The proposed role of RNA splicing in neuronal differentiation, though interesting, remains unexplored and would benefit significantly from targeted gene manipulation studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Gene–environment pathways to cognitive intelligence and psychotic-like experiences in children

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Junghoon Park
   2. Eunji Lee
   3. Gyeongcheol Cho
   4. Heungsun Hwang
   5. Bo-Gyeom Kim
   6. Gakyung Kim
   7. Yoonjung Yoonie Joo
   8. Jiook Cha

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a useful inventory of the joint effects of genetic and environmental factors on psychotic-like experiences and identifies cognitive ability as a potential underlying mediating pathway. The data were analyzed using a solid and validated methodology based on a large, multi-center dataset. The claim that these findings are of relevance to psychosis risk and have implications for policy changes is partially supported by the results.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The cation channel mechanisms of subthreshold inward depolarizing currents in the mice VTA dopaminergic neurons and their roles in the chronic-stress-induced depression-like behavior

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Jing Wang
   2. Min Su
   3. Dongmei Zhang
   4. Ludi Zhang
   5. Chenxu Niu
   6. Chaoyi Li
   7. Shuangzhu You
   8. Yuqi Sang
   9. Yongxue Zhang
   10. Xiaona Du
   11. Hailin Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study examined the mechanisms underlying reduced excitability of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons in mice that underwent a chronic mild unpredictable stress treatment. The authors identify NALCN and TRPC6 channels as key mechanisms that regulate spontaneous firing of ventral tegmental area dopamine neurons and examined their roles in reduced firing in mice that underwent a chronic mild unpredictable stress treatment. The authors' conclusions on neurophysiological data are supported by multiple approaches and are convincing, although the relevance of the behavioral results to human depression remains unclear.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A Pvr–AP-1–Mmp1 signaling pathway is activated in astrocytes upon traumatic brain injury

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Tingting Li
   2. Wenwen Shi
   3. Margaret S Ho
   4. Yong Q Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study represents a valuable finding on the neuron-glia communication and glial responses to traumatic brain injury (TBI). The data supporting the authors' conclusions on TBI analysis, RNA-seq on FACS sorted astrocytes, genetic analyses on Pvr-JNK/MMP1 are solid. However, cellular aspects of the response to TBI, statistical analysis, and molecular links between Pvr-AP1 are incomplete, which could be further strengthened in the future by more rigorous analyses.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. TLR7 activation at epithelial barriers promotes emergency myelopoiesis and lung antiviral immunity

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. William D Jackson
   2. Chiara Giacomassi
   3. Sophie Ward
   4. Amber Owen
   5. Tiago C Luis
   6. Sarah Spear
   7. Kevin J Woollard
   8. Cecilia Johansson
   9. Jessica Strid
   10. Marina Botto

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work advances our understanding of TLR7 signaling at epithelial surfaces that drives monocytes expansion and its impact on viral responses. The evidence supporting this conclusion is solid, particularly data demonstrating TLR7 stimulation and the requirement for TLR7 in the monocyte expansion. The work will be of interest to immunologists and virologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Conformational regulation and target-myristoyl switch of calcineurin B homologous protein 3

    This article has 14 authors:

    1. Florian Becker
    2. Simon Fuchs
    3. Lukas Refisch
    4. Friedel Drepper
    5. Wolfgang Bildl
    6. Uwe Schulte
    7. Shuo Liang
    8. Jonas Immanuel Heinicke
    9. Sierra C Hansen
    10. Clemens Kreutz
    11. Bettina Warscheid
    12. Bernd Fakler
    13. Evgeny V Mymrikov
    14. Carola Hunte

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      In this work, the authors provide important mechanistic insights into how the intracellular effector protein Calcineurin B homologous protein 3 (CHP3) can be regulated in a calcium-independent manner to expose its lipid binding site. Compelling evidence demonstrates a binding partner protein (NHE1) triggers a conformation change and exposure of the myristoyl group in CHP3 resulting in membrane association. This provides mechanistic insight into the signalling mechanisms achieved by CHP3 in a target-dependent manner, which will be of broad scientific interest.

    Reviewed by eLife