eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Cardiac differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells using defined extracellular matrix proteins reveals essential role of fibronectin

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Jianhua Zhang
   2. Zachery R Gregorich
   3. Ran Tao
   4. Gina C Kim
   5. Pratik A Lalit
   6. Juliana L Carvalho
   7. Yogananda Markandeya
   8. Deane F Mosher
   9. Sean P Palecek
   10. Timothy J Kamp

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is an important paper describing the work to develop defined surface coatings for cardiac cell differentiation. The described experiments are convincingly supporting the critical role of fibronectin (FN) in the formation of precardiac mesoderm. The exploration of FN as necessary for pre-cardiac mesoderm formation was explored using various other ECM conditions, endogenous FN knock-out, blocking antibodies against integrin subunits, and inhibition of ILK via small molecule cdp22. In the case of the FN knock-out, experiments included rescue conditions that established a causal link between FN and the formation of precardiac mesoderm. Particularly insightful was the tracking of FN deposition over time with or without exogenously provided FN (i.e., the LN-111 case). This work is of interest to developmental biologists, stem cell biologists, and engineers as they work to optimize defined matrices for differentiation and manufacturing protocols of all cell types including cardiomyocytes.

     (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

2. Diversification dynamics in the Neotropics through time, clades, and biogeographic regions

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Andrea S Meseguer
   2. Alice Michel
   3. Pierre-Henri Fabre
   4. Oscar A Pérez Escobar
   5. Guillaume Chomicki
   6. Ricarda Riina
   7. Alexandre Antonelli
   8. Pierre-Olivier Antoine
   9. Frédéric Delsuc
   10. Fabien L Condamine

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper analyzes data from 150 previously published phylogenies of plants and animals from the Neotropics. A range of diversification models is fit in order to characterize patterns of diversification through time and across space. The authors reveal five biogeographic provinces within which long-term diversification has occurred, but they find that contrasting patterns of diversification for lineages are better explained by their phylogenetic relationship than by biogeographic province, such that the observed modern diversity of seed plants and tetrapods is a consequence of the groups' contrasting diversification dynamics. This paper is of potential interest to a broad audience of biologists who are working on the evolution of large-scale biodiversity, diversity hotspots, lineage diversification, and biogeography.

     (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

3. Seipin transmembrane segments critically function in triglyceride nucleation and lipid droplet budding from the membrane

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Siyoung Kim
   2. Jeeyun Chung
   3. Henning Arlt
   4. Alexander J Pak
   5. Robert V Farese
   6. Tobias C Walther
   7. Gregory A Voth

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Kim et al. investigate interactions between Seipin transmembrane domains and triacylglycerol using molecular dynamics simulations. They identify the leading steps in droplet formation and provide a physical basis for understanding the initial phases of this process, highlighting the importance of transmembrane helices in the function of seipin protein. This paper will be of interest to cell biologists and biophysicists aiming to unveil and understand how lipid droplets are formed inside cells. The topic is important given that lipid droplets are key organelles used for energy storage, and that the failure in their formation can result in various metabolic diseases.

     (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

4. Biphasic regulation of osteoblast development via the ERK MAPK–mTOR pathway

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jung-Min Kim
   2. Yeon-Suk Yang
   3. Jaehyoung Hong
   4. Sachin Chaugule
   5. Hyonho Chun
   6. Marjolein CH van der Meulen
   7. Ren Xu
   8. Matthew B Greenblatt
   9. Jae-hyuck Shim

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This work provides a novel insight into regulation of osteogenesis by ERK-mTOR pathway. The authors proposed that the effect of Erk pathway would be mediated mTOR2-SGK1. The mitochondrial metabolisms appears to be involved in this regulation. This study is well performed, and the manuscript is clearly written.

     (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

5. Brain representations of motion and position in the double-drift illusion

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Noah J Steinberg
   2. Zvi N Roth
   3. J Anthony Movshon
   4. Elisha Merriam

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study is an elegant imaging experiment in humans that shows that visual area hMT+, but not other candidate brain areas, signal the perceived motion path in a visual drift illusion. Using a powerful computational decoding approach, the results show a perceptual representation of the illusory position in space for moving stimuli even when the actual retinal position of the stimulus is kept stable. Such a representation and the underlying neural mechanisms are of broad importance for our understanding of the neural basis of sensory perception.

     (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

6. Tongue immune compartment analysis reveals spatial macrophage heterogeneity

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Ekaterini Maria Lyras
   2. Karin Zimmermann
   3. Lisa Katharina Wagner
   4. Dorothea Dörr
   5. Christoph SN Klose
   6. Cornelius Fischer
   7. Steffen Jung
   8. Simon Yona
   9. Avi-Hai Hovav
   10. Werner Stenzel
   11. Steffen Dommerich
   12. Thomas Conrad
   13. Achim Leutz
   14. Alexander Mildner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this manuscript, the authors map the cellular landscape in the tongue, which is an underrated immunological organ, with a main focus on tissue-resident myeloid cells under homeostatic and inflammatory conditions. They identify two major subsets of macrophages, which occupy distinct anatomical niches and develop from local precursors, while under immune compromised conditions they can also be replenished from circulating hematopoietic precursors. These findings provide an important basis for future investigations of the tongue immune function in the context of infection, inflammation, and neoplastic diseases.

     (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

7. Network design principle for robust oscillatory behaviors with respect to biological noise

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Lingxia Qiao
   2. Zhi-Bo Zhang
   3. Wei Zhao
   4. Ping Wei
   5. Lei Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors study the important problem of how to achieve accurate oscillation robustly in biological networks where noise level may be high. The authors adopted a comprehensive approach and study how different network configurations affect oscillation. This work makes an important contribution to the field, as it offers the first comprehensive survey of networks motifs capable of oscillation, with further characterization of their robustness.

     (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

8. Constitutive loss of DNMT3A causes morbid obesity through misregulation of adipogenesis

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Ayala Tovy
   2. Jaime M Reyes
   3. Linda Zhang
   4. Yung-Hsin Huang
   5. Carina Rosas
   6. Alexes C Daquinag
   7. Anna Guzman
   8. Raghav Ramabadran
   9. Chun-Wei Chen
   10. Tianpeng Gu
   11. Sinjini Gupta
   12. Laura Ortinau
   13. Dongsu Park
   14. Aaron R Cox
   15. Rachel E Rau
   16. Sean M Hartig
   17. Mikhail G Kolonin
   18. Margaret A Goodell

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript employs a diverse array of approaches including single cell RNA sequencing, bioinformatic analyses, and whole genome bisulfite sequencing to propose a mechanism underlying their findings that will interest scientists broadly in fields of metabolism, development, and epigenetics.

     (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

9. The importance of intermediate filaments in the shape maintenance of myoblast model tissues

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Irène Nagle
   2. Florence Delort
   3. Sylvie Hénon
   4. Claire Wilhelm
   5. Sabrina Batonnet-Pichon
   6. Myriam Reffay

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Nagle and colleagues studied the determinants of key physical properties of multicellular assemblies, using magnetic flattening of spheroids. Their key and insightful result is that intermediate filaments could also be implicated in the setting the elastic properties of these assemblies, shedding light on this central cellular component and how their modifications could be important to the understanding of some pathologies. The paper would be strengthened by additional experiments to better support the claims.

     (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

10. Repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor deficiency yields profound hearing loss through Kv7.4 channel upsurge in auditory neurons and hair cells

    This article has 15 authors:

    1. Haiwei Zhang
    2. Hongchen Li
    3. Mingshun Lu
    4. Shengnan Wang
    5. Xueya Ma
    6. Fei Wang
    7. Jiaxi Liu
    8. Xinyu Li
    9. Haichao Yang
    10. Fan Zhang
    11. Haitao Shen
    12. Noel J Buckley
    13. Nikita Gamper
    14. Ebenezer N Yamoah
    15. Ping Lv

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      Genetic forms of deafness are a major health challenge. This study deciphers the cochlear roles of Repressor element 1-silencing transcription factor (REST), a gene involved in the DFNA27 dominant form of deafness, using the mouse as a model system. This study provides evidence for a pathophysiological mechanism of deafness and shows how genes involved in different forms of deafness may interact together. The manuscript will be interesting to readers who work in the field of hearing research, REST regulation, or Kv7.4 regulation.

      (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 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife