eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The landscape of antibody binding affinity in SARS-CoV-2 Omicron BA.1 evolution

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Alief Moulana
   2. Thomas Dupic
   3. Angela M Phillips
   4. Jeffrey Chang
   5. Anne A Roffler
   6. Allison J Greaney
   7. Tyler N Starr
   8. Jesse D Bloom
   9. Michael M Desai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work provides important new insights into the mutational pathways of SARS-CoV-2 to achieve antibody escape, as well as how these pathways are shaped by epistasis. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling based on rigorous analyses of data from a high-throughput binding assay. The study is important for evolutionary medicine and biology and relevant for human health.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. NSC-derived exosomes enhance therapeutic effects of NSC transplantation on cerebral ischemia in mice

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Ruolin Zhang
   2. Weibing Mao
   3. Lumeng Niu
   4. Wendai Bao
   5. Yiqi Wang
   6. Ying Wang
   7. Yasha Zhu
   8. Zhihao Yang
   9. Jincao Chen
   10. Jiawen Dong
   11. Meng Cai
   12. Zilong Yuan
   13. Haikun Song
   14. Guangqiang Li
   15. Min Zhang
   16. Nanxiang Xiong
   17. Jun Wei
   18. Zhiqiang Dong

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The current study employed NSCs derived from human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) together with NSC-derived exosomes extracted from NSCs to treat cerebral ischemia, and they made an important observation. Remarkably, NSC-derived exosomes could promote NSCs differentiation, reduce the oxidative stress and inflammation, and alleviate the formation of glial scars after ischemia and reperfusion, and as a result, could enhance the therapeutic effects of NSC transplantation, which is compelling. The solid experimental evidence strongly supports their major claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Ribozyme activity modulates the physical properties of RNA–peptide coacervates

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Kristian Kyle Le Vay
   2. Elia Salibi
   3. Basusree Ghosh
   4. TY Dora Tang
   5. Hannes Mutschler

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Experimental models of simple cell-like compartments can help us to understand how biology operated early in its history. The authors convincingly show how the properties of coacervate droplets can be influenced by the activity of ribozymes inside them. This important result potentially provides a new route for biologists or chemists to establish cell mimics that support the evolution of biomolecules within.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Exploring the role of the outer subventricular zone during cortical folding through a physics-based model

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Mohammad Saeed Zarzor
   2. Ingmar Blumcke
   3. Silvia Budday

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Through theoretical analysis, the authors argue that the proliferation of neurons in the outer subventricular zone, which is specific to humans, decreases the distance between neighboring sulci in the cerebral cortex and increases cell density in the ventricular zone. Though the exact mechanisms remain to be further elucidated, the compelling data and approach represent a valuable foundation for the study of cortical folding from the underpinning cellular level as well as the coupling role of mechanics and cellular biology. This study will be of particular interest to the large community of scientists studying the mechanisms of brain development and disorder and even possibly beyond.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Universal gut microbial relationships in the gut microbiome of wild baboons

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Kimberly E Roche
   2. Johannes R Bjork
   3. Mauna R Dasari
   4. Laura Grieneisen
   5. David Jansen
   6. Trevor J Gould
   7. Laurence R Gesquiere
   8. Luis B Barreiro
   9. Susan C Alberts
   10. Ran Blekhman
   11. Jack A Gilbert
   12. Jenny Tung
   13. Sayan Mukherjee
   14. Elizabeth A Archie

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental work reports an analysis of microbial abundance similarities among individuals over time in a longitudinal wild baboon cohort from Amboseli, Kenya. The authors provide compelling evidence that there are remarkably consistent dynamic associations over time in microbial abundances between baboons, despite individual baboons having individualized microbial signatures. The authors further identify universal microbial associations that appear to go beyond the studied baboon cohort, extending to human microbiomes. This study adopts a novel powerful statistical approach to analyzing longitudinal microbial dynamics at the individual level, which will likely make this work become a key reference study in the field of microbial ecology.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Sexual dimorphic regulation of recombination by the synaptonemal complex in C. elegans

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Cori K Cahoon
   2. Colette M Richter
   3. Amelia E Dayton
   4. Diana E Libuda

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study shows the sexually dimorphic dynamics of the components of meiosis-specific chromosome structure and the gene-dosage effect of the components on meiotic recombination. The experimental evidence in the paper is solid with cytological analysis with Fluorescence Recovery After Photobleaching (FRAP). The work will be of interest to researchers working on meiosis and chromosome dynamics.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Pleiotropic effects of BAFF on the senescence-associated secretome and growth arrest

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Martina Rossi
   2. Carlos Anerillas
   3. Maria Laura Idda
   4. Rachel Munk
   5. Chang Hoon Shin
   6. Stefano Donega
   7. Dimitrios Tsitsipatis
   8. Allison B Herman
   9. Jennifer L Martindale
   10. Xiaoling Yang
   11. Yulan Piao
   12. Krystyna Mazan-Mamczarz
   13. Jinshui Fan
   14. Luigi Ferrucci
   15. Peter F Johnson
   16. Supriyo De
   17. Kotb Abdelmohsen
   18. Myriam Gorospe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Rossi et al. carry out a valuable characterization of the molecular circuitry connecting the immunomodulatory cytokine BAFF (B-cell activating factor) in the context of cellular senescence. They present solid evidence that BAFF is upregulated in response to senescence, and that this upregulation is partially driven by the immune response-regulating transcription factor (TF) IRF1, with potential cell type-specific effects during senescence. Ultimately, these results strongly suggest that BAFF plays a senomorphic role in senescence, modulating downstream senescence-associated phenotypes, and may be an interesting candidate for senomorphic therapy.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Resting mitochondrial complex I from Drosophila melanogaster adopts a helix-locked state

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Abhilash Padavannil
   2. Anjaneyulu Murari
   3. Shauna-Kay Rhooms
   4. Edward Owusu-Ansah
   5. James A Letts

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work provides new insights into the structure and function of respiratory complex I. The cryoEM data are convincing but the assignment of different conformations of the enzyme complex to specific functional states has not yet been conclusively determined. This work will be of interest to researchers studying the molecular basis of energy metabolism, the evolution of respiratory enzyme complexes, and mitochondrial diseases.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Targeted multi-omic analysis of human skin tissue identifies alterations of conventional and unconventional T cells associated with burn injury

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Daniel R Labuz
   2. Giavonni Lewis
   3. Irma D Fleming
   4. Callie M Thompson
   5. Yan Zhai
   6. Matthew A Firpo
   7. Daniel T Leung

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript provides an important advance in our understanding of burn-associated T-cell responses. The evidence is convincing and the techniques are using the latest single-cell RNA-seq approaches in a rigorous manner. The studies are done directly on human skin so are highly clinically relevant.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Larger but younger fish when growth outpaces mortality in heated ecosystem

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Max Lindmark
    2. Malin Karlsson
    3. Anna Gårdmark

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      The work by Lindmark et al. provides us with an important natural experiment on fish that challenges current literature on relationships between temperature, growth rate, and size. The strength of their results is compelling, as Lindmark et al. mixed a unique warming setup with a large battery of models and statistics. The work will be of interest to ecologists and physiologists interested in the impacts of global warming on natural communities.

    Reviewed by eLife