eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Italian population-based cancer screening activities and test coverage: Results from national cross-sectional repeated surveys in 2020

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Paolo Giorgi Rossi
   2. Giuliano Carrozzi
   3. Patrizia Falini
   4. Letizia Sampaolo
   5. Giuseppe Gorini
   6. Manuel Zorzi
   7. Paola Armaroli
   8. Carlo Senore
   9. Priscilla Sassoli de Bianchi
   10. Maria Masocco
   11. Marco Zappa
   12. Francesca Battisti
   13. Paola Mantellini

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper provides important evidence for the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on cancer screening for breast, cervix, and colorectal cancer in Italy. The authors compared Invitation and examination coverage, as well as conducted telephone interviews, investigated the population screening test coverage, before and during the pandemic, according to educational attainment, perceived economic difficulties and citizenship. Their findings convincingly show that the lockdown and pandemic restrictions caused delays in screening activities but particularly increased the pre-existing individual and geographical inequalities in access.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Applying causal discovery to single-cell analyses using CausalCell

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Yujian Wen
   2. Jielong Huang
   3. Shuhui Guo
   4. Yehezqel Elyahu
   5. Alon Monsonego
   6. Hai Zhang
   7. Yanqing Ding
   8. Hao Zhu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The paper describes an online tool, CausalCell, intended for the analysis of causal links in single-cell datasets. Regarding its significance, this work is timely and important, with potentially broad applications as a generally useful tool. However, there are major concerns about the suitability of the tool for its intended purpose, and the extent of validation in the current manuscript is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Weakening of the cognition and height association from 1957 to 2018: Findings from four British birth cohort studies

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. David Bann
   2. Liam Wright
   3. Neil M Davies
   4. Vanessa Moulton

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper provides valuable evidence for a weakening of the association between cognitive ability and height from 1957 to 2018 in the UK. The authors find the strength of the association declined over this time frame. These associations were further attenuated after accounting for proxy measures of social class. This paper is a solid contribution to debates about how genetic, environmental, and social factors have affected the joint distribution of height and cognitive ability over the last 60 years.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Identify Non-mutational p53 Functional Deficiency in Human Cancers

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Qianpeng Li
   2. Yang Zhang
   3. Sicheng Luo
   4. Zhang Zhang
   5. Ann L Oberg
   6. David E Kozono
   7. Hua Lu
   8. Jann N Sarkaria
   9. Lina Ma
   10. Liguo Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment:

     This study by Li et al describes an interesting attempt to predict the functional status of the p53 tumor suppressor in tumors where no DNA mutations in p53 could be identified. To this end, the authors employed SVM models to train the algorithm for the detection of 'p53 inactivation' features contrasting normal and tumor tissues. The approach could be a valuable tool for attributing tumors with unknown p53 status. The authors provide solid evidence supporting their findings and the concept of the study is solid, but in its current formulation, some of the bioinformatic analyses are incomplete, particularly related to the selection of associated genes and the potential mechanism(s).

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Structure of human phagocyte NADPH oxidase in the resting state

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Rui Liu
   2. Kangcheng Song
   3. Jing-Xiang Wu
   4. Xiao-Peng Geng
   5. Liming Zheng
   6. Xiaoyin Gao
   7. Hailin Peng
   8. Lei Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     NOX2 is the most well-studied member of the NADPH oxidase family, membrane enzymes that produce reactive oxygen species (ROS), and the proper function of NOX2 is critical for innate immunity against pathogens in mammals. This study reports a high-resolution structure of the NOX2-p22 complex, providing valuable information for a mechanistic understanding of NOX2 activation at the molecular level.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. EZH2/hSULF1 axis mediates receptor tyrosine kinase signaling to shape cartilage tumor progression

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Zong-Shin Lin
   2. Chiao-Chen Chung
   3. Yu-Chia Liu
   4. Chu-Han Chang
   5. Hui-Chia Liu
   6. Yung-Yi Liang
   7. Teng-Le Huang
   8. Tsung-Ming Chen
   9. Che-Hsin Lee
   10. Chih-Hsin Tang
   11. Mien-Chie Hung
   12. Ya-Huey Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this study, Hung et al. address the biology and therapy of chondrosarcoma. The authors provided high-quality data that uncovered a new signaling axis, EZH2/hSULF1/c-Met, that promotes chondrosarcoma growth and progress. The authors also reported evidence showing that c-Met inhibition may be a plausible treatment option for chondrosarcoma. The findings are novel and translational and are of interest to cancer biologists and oncologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Disease-modifying effects of sodium selenate in a model of drug-resistant, temporal lobe epilepsy

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Pablo M Casillas-Espinosa
   2. Alison Anderson
   3. Anna Harutyunyan
   4. Crystal Li
   5. Jiyoon Lee
   6. Emma L Braine
   7. Rhys D Brady
   8. Mujun Sun
   9. Cheng Huang
   10. Christopher K Barlow
   11. Anup D Shah
   12. Ralf B Schittenhelm
   13. Richelle Mychasiuk
   14. Nigel C Jones
   15. Sandy R Shultz
   16. Terence J O'Brien

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Sodium selenate reduced seizures when administered after initiation of epilepsy, complementing earlier work showing efficacy if administered before initiation. The novelty of the results is not much more than the earlier study. Sodium selenate reduced phospho-tau and increased PP2A protein expression, and reversed TLE-associated telomere-shortening. However, whether these effects were critical to the reduced seizures is not clear. Finally, proteome and metabolome data from the animal model of epilepsy is discussed and provide initial insights into the effects of sodium selenate treatment on molecular pathology, however, the data are not well developed so revisions along these lines will be important so conclusions can be made.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Rapid protein stability prediction using deep learning representations

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Lasse M Blaabjerg
   2. Maher M Kassem
   3. Lydia L Good
   4. Nicolas Jonsson
   5. Matteo Cagiada
   6. Kristoffer E Johansson
   7. Wouter Boomsma
   8. Amelie Stein
   9. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment:

     Predicting the effect of mutations on protein stability is important both for protein engineering and for helping to decipher the effects of genetic and clinical mutations. The machine learning methodology introduce here is timely in view of the millions of AlphaFold model structures that are now becoming available, which could hypothetically be examined through approaches such as this one. The methodology presented is valuable, but the manuscript would benefit from a substantial amount of comparative data to provide more compelling evidence for the validity of the methods.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Single amino acid residue mediates reciprocal specificity in two mosquito odorant receptors

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Flavia P Franco
   2. Pingxi Xu
   3. Brandon J Harris
   4. Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy
   5. Walter S Leal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript addresses the mechanism of ligand specificity of odorant receptors (OR) through mutational analyses and structure prediction. The authors identify a single amino acid substitution that switches ligand specificity between two olfactory receptors. Obtaining structures of OR complexes has been challenging, so such an approach is valuable and will be of interest to scientists within the fields of chemical ecology and sensory neuroscience.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Host-microbiome metabolism of a plant toxin in bees

    This article has 7 authors:

    1. Erick VS Motta
    2. Alejandra Gage
    3. Thomas E Smith
    4. Kristin J Blake
    5. Waldan K Kwong
    6. Ian M Riddington
    7. Nancy Moran

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      The manuscript makes an important contribution to understanding the roles of the bee host and microbiome in degrading amygdalin, a dietary secondary metabolite. Several bacterial strains and their enzymes responsible for the deglycosylation of amygdalin are identified. Conclusions are reached convincingly through a comprehensive combination of in vitro and in vivo experiments including gene-expression analysis, proteomics, HPLC-MS, and the use of recombinant E. coli to test enzyme function. As the consequences of microbial-derived amygdalin metabolisation on host health remain uncertain from the experiments conducted, the manuscript could be improved through a clearer discussion of future work needed and in parts more careful wording to not prematurely suggest benefits to the host.

    Reviewed by eLife