eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The multi-tissue landscape of somatic mtDNA mutations indicates tissue-specific accumulation and removal in aging

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Monica Sanchez-Contreras
   2. Mariya T Sweetwyne
   3. Kristine A Tsantilas
   4. Jeremy A Whitson
   5. Matthew D Campbell
   6. Brenden F Kohrn
   7. Hyeon Jeong Kim
   8. Michael J Hipp
   9. Jeanne Fredrickson
   10. Megan M Nguyen
   11. James B Hurley
   12. David J Marcinek
   13. Peter S Rabinovitch
   14. Scott R Kennedy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The analysis of 89,000 independent somatic mtDNA mutations provides compelling evidence that allows the authors to refute the idea that reactive oxygen species (ROS) are a main driver of mtDNA mutagenesis, although ROS effects may still be tissue-dependent. These are fundamental results with convincing evidence, and they should appeal to a broad audience. The discovery of transversion mutations (C>A/G>T and C>G/G>C), which previously were assumed to be almost nonexistent, will nevertheless require additional validation.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Affected cell types for hundreds of Mendelian diseases revealed by analysis of human and mouse single-cell data

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Idan Hekselman
   2. Assaf Vital
   3. Maya Ziv-Agam
   4. Lior Kerber
   5. Ido Yairi
   6. Esti Yeger-Lotem

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presents analyses linking cell-types to monogenic disorders using over-expression of known disease-associated genes in single-cell data to identify 110 disease-affected cell types for 714 Mendelian diseases. Overall this important study combines multiple data analyses to quantify the connection between cell types and human disorders. While some of the analyses are compelling, updates to the method are needed to ensure that statistical inference is appropriately stringent and rigorous.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. FUS regulates RAN translation through modulating the G-quadruplex structure of GGGGCC repeat RNA in C9orf72-linked ALS/FTD

   This article has 29 authors:

   1. Yuzo Fujino
   2. Morio Ueyama
   3. Taro Ishiguro
   4. Daisaku Ozawa
   5. Hayato Ito
   6. Toshihiko Sugiki
   7. Asako Murata
   8. Akira Ishiguro
   9. Tania Gendron
   10. Kohji Mori
   11. Eiichi Tokuda
   12. Tomoya Taminato
   13. Takuya Konno
   14. Akihide Koyama
   15. Yuya Kawabe
   16. Toshihide Takeuchi
   17. Yoshiaki Furukawa
   18. Toshimichi Fujiwara
   19. Manabu Ikeda
   20. Toshiki Mizuno
   21. Hideki Mochizuki
   22. Hidehiro Mizusawa
   23. Keiji Wada
   24. Kinya Ishikawa
   25. Osamu Onodera
   26. Kazuhiko Nakatani
   27. Leonard Petrucelli
   28. Hideki Taguchi
   29. Yoshitaka Nagai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study demonstrates that the human FUS protein, which is implicated in ALS and related conditions, interacts with RNAs containing GGGGCC repeats and can regulate their translation by altering three-dimensional structures caused by these repeats. The study is carefully executed and the data provide convincing evidence for its major claims. This work will likely be of interest to researchers studying RNA binding proteins, and to those working on ALS and related diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Opto-RhoGEFs, an optimized optogenetic toolbox to reversibly control Rho GTPase activity on a global to subcellular scale, enabling precise control over vascular endothelial barrier strength

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Eike K Mahlandt
   2. Sebastián Palacios Martínez
   3. Janine JG Arts
   4. Simon Tol
   5. Jaap D van Buul
   6. Joachim Goedhart

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper presents a valuable advance in the ability to manipulate the integrity of the barrier between endothelial cells. A wide range of data are presented, offering convincing support for the effectiveness of the method. This work is likely to attract a diverse audience of both cell biologists and researchers developing tools to manipulate cell and tissue function.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The structural basis of the multi-step allosteric activation of Aurora B kinase

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Dario Segura-Peña
   2. Oda Hovet
   3. Hemanga Gogoi
   4. Jennine Dawicki-McKenna
   5. Stine Malene Hansen Wøien
   6. Manuel Carrer
   7. Ben E Black
   8. Michele Cascella
   9. Nikolina Sekulic

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study investigates the dynamic activation mechanism of a key mitotic kinase complex, Aurora B/INCENP. The method of generating specifically phosphorylated forms of the complex is elegant, supporting a compelling biochemical analysis of how these sites synergistically activate Aurora B. However, the limitations of the molecular dynamics approach and how these models compare to previous structural studies are incompletely addressed. This work will be of interest to cell biologists and biochemists studying cell division and kinase regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Selective transduction and photoinhibition of pre-Bötzinger complex neurons that project to the facial nucleus in rats affects nasofacial activity

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Mariana R Melo
   2. Alexander D Wykes
   3. Angela A Connelly
   4. Jaspreet K Bassi
   5. Shane D Cheung
   6. Stuart J McDougall
   7. Clément Menuet
   8. Ross AD Bathgate
   9. Andrew M Allen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of the composition and circuit organization of the preBötzinger complex (preBötC)-the brainstem region that generates the respiratory rhythm and coordinates breathing with different motor and physiological behaviors in mammals. The reviewers agreed that the evidence supporting the conclusion that the preBötC is composed of a segregated subgroup of output neurons that modulates orofacial muscle activity is compelling and based on technically elegant, state-of-the-art combinatorial dual viral transgenic and optogenetic approaches in rats. After the cytoarchitectonic analyses are strengthened, the work will be of interest to neuroscientists and physiologists working on the neural control of breathing and other motor systems.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Tradeoffs explain scaling, sex differences, and seasonal oscillations in the remarkable weapons of snapping shrimp (Alpheus spp.)

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Jason P Dinh
   2. SN Patek

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study on snapping shrimp morphological weaponry presents important findings on trade-offs in investment in costly weaponry traits as related to body size and reproduction. Convincing evidence is based on the collection of an exceptional number of fields samples, the inclusion of three shrimp species, and the measurement of numerous morphological and behavioral traits. The evidence shows that there are size-dependent trade-offs, where males and females differ in weapon investment, as weapons are beneficial to males but expensive for females. The findings will be of broad interest to evolutionary biologists and researchers working in the field of animal behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Axon guidance genes modulate neurotoxicity of ALS-associated UBQLN2

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Sang Hwa Kim
   2. Kye D Nichols
   3. Eric N Anderson
   4. Yining Liu
   5. Nandini Ramesh
   6. Weiyan Jia
   7. Connor J Kuerbis
   8. Mark Scalf
   9. Lloyd M Smith
   10. Udai Bhan Pandey
   11. Randal S Tibbetts

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study carried out a genetic screening of Drosophila lines expressing wild-type or ALS/FTD mutations of ubiquilin 2, and identified several suppressors and enhancers of ubiquilin 2 phenotypes. The study particularly focused on two genes involved in axon guidance pathways, unc5 and beat-1b. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid, although some of the presented data are unrelated to the main findings, which detracts from the focus of the work. This work will be of interest to a broad audience studying ALS/FTD and neurodegenerative diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Cryo-EM reveals an unprecedented binding site for NaV1.7 inhibitors enabling rational design of potent hybrid inhibitors

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Marc Kschonsak
   2. Christine C Jao
   3. Christopher P Arthur
   4. Alexis L Rohou
   5. Philippe Bergeron
   6. Daniel F Ortwine
   7. Steven J McKerrall
   8. David H Hackos
   9. Lunbin Deng
   10. Jun Chen
   11. Tianbo Li
   12. Peter S Dragovich
   13. Matthew Volgraf
   14. Matthew R Wright
   15. Jian Payandeh
   16. Claudio Ciferri
   17. John C Tellis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study describes the structure-based design of novel hybrid inhibitors targeting a human sodium channel which is a pain target. Exceptionally strong evidence for key claims was produced with a structural biological pipeline for iterative structural determination of drugs complexed with an engineered sodium channel. This work is expected to be of interest to biophysicists, drug developers, neurobiologist, and pain researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. An optimal regulation of fluxes dictates microbial growth in and out of steady state

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Griffin Chure
    2. Jonas Cremer

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable study provides a synthesis of sector models for cellular resource partitioning in microbes, and shows how a simple flux balance model can quantitatively explain growth phenomena from numerous published experimental datasets. The study is overall convincing, although there are a few incomplete points regarding parameter values (justification and discussion of robustness). This work should be of interest to the microbial physiology community.

    Reviewed by eLife