eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Structural and functional properties of a plant NRAMP-related aluminum transporter

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Karthik Ramanadane
   2. Márton Liziczai
   3. Dragana Markovic
   4. Monique S Straub
   5. Gian T Rosalen
   6. Anto Udovcic
   7. Raimund Dutzler
   8. Cristina Manatschal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides valuable insight into the diversity within the NRAMP superfamily of transporters. Evidence of divalent metal ion transport and the structure (obtained without added metal ions) are convincing. However, molecular insight into Al3+ recognition and transport is incomplete, and the work would be strengthened by the determination of a metal-bound structure or additional experiments (such as molecular dynamics simulations or quantitative Al3+ binding/transport assays) to support the proposed Al3+ binding site. The work will be of interest to structural biologists and biophysicists studying NRAMP transporters.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Changes in transmission of Enterovirus D68 (EV-D68) in England inferred from seroprevalence data

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Margarita Pons-Salort
   2. Ben Lambert
   3. Everlyn Kamau
   4. Richard Pebody
   5. Heli Harvala
   6. Peter Simmonds
   7. Nicholas C Grassly

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors use data from 3 cross-sectional age-stratified serosurveys on Enterovirus D68 from England between 2006 and 2017 to examine the transmission dynamics of this pathogen in this setting. Understanding these dynamics, including how it changes over time, may help uncover potential changes in the transmissibility of the virus. While the topic is relevant, interpretation of the results challenging largely due to the great uncertainty around how to interpret the serological (serostatus) data, and the impact this has on the inferences made. We ask the authors to perform some additional analyses and to provide more intuition to understand some of the key findings of this analysis.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Local generation and efficient evaluation of numerous drug combinations in a single sample

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Vlad Elgart
   2. Joseph Loscalzo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this manuscript, a method to test a large number of drug combinations in a single cell culture sample is presented. The strength of the evidence lies in their multiple experiments with different combinations of agents. The paper suggests that results from this application are feasible and the methodology could be applied in other laboratories to use drug combinations for defined outcomes.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Stimulation of the catalytic activity of the tyrosine kinase Btk by the adaptor protein Grb2

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Laura M Nocka
   2. Timothy J Eisen
   3. Anthony T Iavarone
   4. Jay T Groves
   5. John Kuriyan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors' finding that Btk kinase activation relies on specific interactions with the Grb2 scaffold protein, including for recruitment into signaling clusters on membranes, is an unexpected finding that will potentially be of broad interest. The authors make a case for reinterpretation of the "Saraste dimer" of Btk as a signaling entity and assign roles to the component domains in the Src module in Btk activation, but the data provided are not yet fully convincing for this scenario.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. A descending inhibitory mechanism of nociception mediated by an evolutionarily conserved neuropeptide system in Drosophila

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Izumi Oikawa
   2. Shu Kondo
   3. Kao Hashimoto
   4. Akiho Yoshida
   5. Megumi Hamajima
   6. Hiromu Tanimoto
   7. Katsuo Furukubo-Tokunaga
   8. Ken Honjo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a very interesting and important study that convincingly demonstrates a descending pathway for the control of nociception in non-mammalian organisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A generic binding pocket for small molecule IKs activators at the extracellular inter-subunit interface of KCNQ1 and KCNE1 channel complexes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Magnus Chan
   2. Harutyun Sahakyan
   3. Jodene Eldstrom
   4. Daniel Sastre
   5. Yundi Wang
   6. Ying Dou
   7. Marc Pourrier
   8. Vitya Vardanyan
   9. David Fedida

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     By combining electrophysiological analysis of mutant channels and molecular dynamics simulations, this important study identifies a common binding site for two structurally distinct activators of KCNQ1-KCNE1 channels. The findings represent an important advance for the field, with convincing functional and computational data to support the claims. The work will be of interest to those studying the binding of small molecule drugs to membrane protein complexes.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The myocardium utilizes a platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha (Pdgfra)–phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling cascade to steer toward the midline during zebrafish heart tube formation

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Rabina Shrestha
   2. Tess McCann
   3. Harini Saravanan
   4. Jaret Lieberth
   5. Prashanna Koirala
   6. Joshua Bloomekatz

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a valuable study that shows the involvement of phosphoinositide 3-kinase (PI3K) signaling downstream of platelet-derived growth factor receptor alpha in latero-medial migration of cardiomyocytes during the formation of the early heart tube during zebrafish development. The authors provide convincing evidence using multiple drugs and expression of a dominant negative PI3K subunit, to inhibit the pathway, approaches that show the strong alignment of phenotypes, and which are quantified using live imaging. The demonstration of cardiomyocyte protrusions biased in the direction of migration, and randomised after PI3K inhibition, is a promising area for future exploration.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Functional and pharmacological analyses of visual habituation learning in larval zebrafish

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Laurie Anne Lamiré
   2. Martin Haesemeyer
   3. Florian Engert
   4. Michael Granato
   5. Owen Randlett

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable manuscript attempts to identify the brain regions and cell types involved in habituation to dark flash stimuli in larval zebrafish. Habituation being a form of learning widespread in the animal kingdom, the investigation of neural mechanisms underlying it is a worthwhile endeavor. The authors use a combination of behavioral analysis, neural activity imaging, and pharmacological manipulation to investigate brain-wide mechanisms of habituation. While the data presented are solid, the authors conclude that there is no simple relationship between pharmacological intervention, neural activity patterns, and behavioral outcomes, and a robust causative link can therefore not be established.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. The evolutionary mechanism of non-carbapenemase carbapenem-resistant phenotypes in Klebsiella spp

   This article has 19 authors:

   1. Natalia C Rosas
   2. Jonathan Wilksch
   3. Jake Barber
   4. Jiahui Li
   5. Yanan Wang
   6. Zhewei Sun
   7. Andrea Rocker
   8. Chaille T Webb
   9. Laura Perlaza-Jiménez
   10. Christopher J Stubenrauch
   11. Vijaykrishna Dhanasekaran
   12. Jiangning Song
   13. George Taiaroa
   14. Mark Davies
   15. Richard A Strugnell
   16. Qiyu Bao
   17. Tieli Zhou
   18. Michael J McDonald
   19. Trevor Lithgow

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study integrates experiments and data of various kinds to address the important biomedical problem of carbapenems resistance in Klebsiella. The authors present compelling evidence for loci that are sufficient for carbapenem resistance in this strain, with further evidence of their fitness cost. This study will be of interest to those across multiple audiences, including the microbial evolution community, and those interested in the biomedical problem of antibiotic resistance.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Structural and regulatory insights into the glideosome-associated connector from Toxoplasma gondii

    This article has 15 authors:

    1. Amit Kumar
    2. Oscar Vadas
    3. Nicolas Dos Santos Pacheco
    4. Xu Zhang
    5. Kin Chao
    6. Nicolas Darvill
    7. Helena Ø Rasmussen
    8. Yingqi Xu
    9. Gloria Meng-Hsuan Lin
    10. Fisentzos A Stylianou
    11. Jan Skov Pedersen
    12. Sarah L Rouse
    13. Marc L Morgan
    14. Dominique Soldati-Favre
    15. Stephen Matthews

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      The authors describe the first full-length crystal structure and solution conformation of the GAC protein from Toxoplasma gondii. The data are convincing and support a model in which GAC uses multiple conformations and lipid-binding surfaces. This paper presents an important contribution to our understanding of the molecular machinery involved in host cell invasion, but questions remain about how this protein links to the cytoskeleton and functions during the invasion process.

    Reviewed by eLife