eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Discovery and functional assessment of a novel adipocyte population driven by intracellular Wnt/β-catenin signaling in mammals

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Zhi Liu
   2. Tian Chen
   3. Sicheng Zhang
   4. Tianfang Yang
   5. Yun Gong
   6. Hong-Wen Deng
   7. Ding Bai
   8. Weidong Tian
   9. YiPing Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     It is becoming increasingly clear that adipocytes are not homogenous, but rather comprise several distinct subtypes with specific physiological functions. This work presents evidence for the surprising finding of a subpopulation of adipocytes displaying non-canonical Wnt signaling. The possible role of these adipocytes in thermogenesis is more ambiguous, and their physiological function remains unclear.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Inference of the SARS-CoV-2 generation time using UK household data

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. William S Hart
   2. Sam Abbott
   3. Akira Endo
   4. Joel Hellewell
   5. Elizabeth Miller
   6. Nick Andrews
   7. Philip K Maini
   8. Sebastian Funk
   9. Robin N Thompson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper extends a previous analytical method that the authors developed to evaluate the time to infectiousness of COVID-19, in order to evaluate differences in the generation interval across different time periods during the course of the pandemic in England in 2020. This study will be of interest to policymakers and modellers. While the results appear technically robust for the data analysed, its usefulness is limited by difficulty in extending the results to other contexts.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife, ScreenIT

3. Drug targeting Nsp1-ribosomal complex shows antiviral activity against SARS-CoV-2

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Mohammad Afsar
   2. Rohan Narayan
   3. Md Noor Akhtar
   4. Deepakash Das
   5. Huma Rahil
   6. Santhosh Kambaiah Nagaraj
   7. Sandeep M Eswarappa
   8. Shashank Tripathi
   9. Tanweer Hussain

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This work reports on a drug repurposing effort to target the non-structural protein 1 (Nsp1) of SARS-Cov-2, involved in suppressing host immune function. The authors use a combination of computational, in vitro and cellular assays to this end. They start by virtual screening of an FDA approved drug library, followed by biophysical assays to measure the binding affinity of the top hits as well as molecular dynamics simulations and free energy calculations to confirm binding poses. Finally, in vitro and cellular assays were used to quantify translation inhibition and rescue as well as the production of infectious virus particles. One of the FDA approved drugs, Montelukast, emerges as a promising antiviral drug candidate.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife, ScreenIT

4. Inositol polyphosphate multikinase physically binds to the SWI/SNF complex and modulates BRG1 occupancy in mouse embryonic stem cells

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Jiyoon Beon
   2. Sungwook Han
   3. Hyeokjun Yang
   4. Seung Eun Park
   5. Kwangbeom Hyun
   6. Song-Yi Lee
   7. Hyun-Woo Rhee
   8. Jeong Kon Seo
   9. Jaehoon Kim
   10. Seyun Kim
   11. Daeyoup Lee

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study describes a physical interaction between the Inositol polyphosphate multikinase enzyme (IPMK) and the SWI/SNF chromatin-remodeling complex. IMPK modulates SWI/SNF chromatin binding in particular at the transcription start sites of promoters with bivalent chromatin modifications in embryonic stem cells to regulate gene expression. This study will be of general interest to the epigenetics and gene expression communities.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Predictions and experimental tests of a new biophysical model of the mammalian respiratory oscillator

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Ryan S Phillips
   2. Hidehiko Koizumi
   3. Yaroslav I Molkov
   4. Jonathan E Rubin
   5. Jeffrey C Smith

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this paper the authors test three hypotheses: 1) INap and ICAN blockade alter network excitability in the preBötC, the region of the brainstem that generates inspiratory breathing rhythm; 2) that INaP is essential for preBötC rhythmogenesis; 3) ICAN is essential for generating the amplitude of rhythmic output but not rhythm generation. They test these hypotheses using optogenetic manipulation of local preBötC excitability and the use of pharmacologic blockade of INaP and ICAN. This manuscript provides substantive evidence for the role of INaP in modulating breathing frequency and ICAN in altering amplitude with some interesting boundary conditions when ICAN and INaP are selectively blocked and tests predictions about these currents using computational simulation.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Conservation and divergence of myelin proteome and oligodendrocyte transcriptome profiles between humans and mice

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Vasiliki-Ilya Gargareta
   2. Josefine Reuschenbach
   3. Sophie B Siems
   4. Ting Sun
   5. Lars Piepkorn
   6. Carolina Mangana
   7. Erik Späte
   8. Sandra Goebbels
   9. Inge Huitinga
   10. Wiebke Möbius
   11. Klaus-Armin Nave
   12. Olaf Jahn
   13. Hauke B Werner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this impressive manuscript the authors study the similarities and differences between the molecules that comprise the insulation that surrounds human brain nerve fibers (myelin), providing essential insight into how to interpret studies of myelin, from the perspective of different species. In all, this manuscript provides a new resource that will be of interest to the myelin community as well as investigators examining the contributions of oligodendrocytes to human neurodegenerative disease.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Computed tomographic analysis of the dental system of three Jurassic ceratopsians and implications for the evolution of tooth replacement pattern and diet in early-diverging ceratopsians

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jinfeng Hu
   2. Catherine A Forster
   3. Xing Xu
   4. Qi Zhao
   5. Yiming He
   6. Fenglu Han

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Using micro-CT approaches, the authors provide a thorough investigation of dental morphology and development in some of the rarest and earliest representatives of three early ceratopsian dinosaur genera from China. The innovative approaches employed and nuanced inferences, including about the dental anatomy and replacement patterns in these early-diverging ceratopsians, make the manuscript interesting to mainstream researchers as well as the public.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Digital restoration of the pectoral girdles of two Early Cretaceous birds and implications for early-flight evolution

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Shiying Wang
   2. Yubo Ma
   3. Qian Wu
   4. Min Wang
   5. Dongyu Hu
   6. Corwin Sullivan
   7. Xing Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors provide new 3D fossil findings in Sapeornis, an avialan which lived during the early Cretaceous period, a key node in our understanding of the evolution of avian flight. The functional reconstruction of two critical skeletal elements of the avian flight apparatus, the scapula and coracoid, enable the authors to hypothesize how the evolution of the scapula and coracoid enabled the modern avian wing stroke. The new 3D morphological reconstruction enables future integrative studies of Sapeornis flight performance based on biomechanical, muscle physiological and aerodynamic principles and is thus a key building block to inform our general understanding of the evolution of avian flight.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Evolutionary conservation of centriole rotational asymmetry in the human centrosome

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Noémie Gaudin
   2. Paula Martin Gil
   3. Meriem Boumendjel
   4. Dmitry Ershov
   5. Catherine Pioche-Durieu
   6. Manon Bouix
   7. Quentin Delobelle
   8. Lucia Maniscalco
   9. Than Bich Ngan Phan
   10. Vincent Heyer
   11. Bernardo Reina-San-Martin
   12. Juliette Azimzadeh

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper shows that centrioles of the human centrosome are rotationally asymmetric, a feature previously known only from centrioles in flagellated protists and in multi-ciliated cells. The authors, identify LRRCC1, implicated in human ciliopathy, as a component that localizes asymmetrically on one side of the distal lumen, contributing to proper centriole structure, ciliary assembly and ciliary signaling. This work is of interest to cell biologists studying how centriole assembly and function is linked to human disease.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Utility of estimated pulse wave velocity for assessing vascular stiffness: comparison of methods

    This article has 7 authors:

    1. Stefan Möstl
    2. Fabian Hoffmann
    3. Jan-Niklas Hönemann
    4. Jose Ramon Alvero-Cruz
    5. Jörn Rittweger
    6. Jens Tank
    7. Jens Jordan

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      The authors of this paper have attempted to evaluate shortcomings of an algorithm for estimation of aortic pulse wave velocity, which is base on a single-point (brachial artery) measurement. The paper will potentially be of interest to other researchers working in the field of arterial hemodynamics, those interested in examining the health benefits of regular exercise and, possibly, health professionals looking for further tools to improve risk stratification. The authors test the single-point, pulse wave velocity algorithm using a number of approaches, including an interesting study of Masters athletes and sedentary controls, where they identify a strong dependency of the algorithm on age, which has been documented previously. The paper adds to the continuing debate over the ideal methods for non-invasive estimation of aortic stiffness and highlights the need for further studies in this area.

      (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife