eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Transcriptional correlates of malaria in RTS,S/AS01-vaccinated African children: a matched case–control study

   This article has 27 authors:

   1. Gemma Moncunill
   2. Jason Carnes
   3. William Chad Young
   4. Lindsay Carpp
   5. Stephen De Rosa
   6. Joseph J Campo
   7. Augusto Nhabomba
   8. Maxmillian Mpina
   9. Chenjerai Jairoce
   10. Greg Finak
   11. Paige Haas
   12. Carl Muriel
   13. Phu Van
   14. Héctor Sanz
   15. Sheetij Dutta
   16. Benjamin Mordmüller
   17. Selidji T Agnandji
   18. Núria Díez-Padrisa
   19. Nana Aba Williams
   20. John J Aponte
   21. Clarissa Valim
   22. Daniel E Neafsey
   23. Claudia Daubenberger
   24. M Juliana McElrath
   25. Carlota Dobaño
   26. Ken Stuart
   27. Raphael Gottardo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper assesses whether transcriptional signatures in antigen-stimulated peripheral blood mononuclear cells can predict protection from clinical malaria after vaccination with RTS,S AS01 in African children. It adds to the large body of literature looking for immune correlates of protection following RTS,S vaccination and will be of interest to the malaria vaccine community and to those studying in systems vaccinology. An association of malaria risk with monocytes before vaccination may have been uncovered, which will require thorough testing in future functional and mechanistic studies.

     (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. Renal interstitial cells promote nephron regeneration by secreting prostaglandin E2

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Xiaoliang Liu
   2. Ting Yu
   3. Xiaoqin Tan
   4. Daqing Jin
   5. Wenmin Yang
   6. Jiangping Zhang
   7. Lu Dai
   8. Zhongwei He
   9. Dongliang Li
   10. Yunfeng Zhang
   11. Shuyi Liao
   12. Jinghong Zhao
   13. Tao P Zhong
   14. Chi Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental work substantially advances our understanding of the kidney interstitium and how it influences kidney development focusing on zebrafish as a model organism. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, using single-cell analysis combined with in vivo zebrafish studies to mechanistically explore the functional importance of the discovery. The work will be of broad interest to cell and developmental biologists as well as the kidney community.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Transmission networks of SARS-CoV-2 in Coastal Kenya during the first two waves: A retrospective genomic study

   This article has 36 authors:

   1. Charles N Agoti
   2. Lynette Isabella Ochola-Oyier
   3. Simon Dellicour
   4. Khadija Said Mohammed
   5. Arnold W Lambisia
   6. Zaydah R de Laurent
   7. John M Morobe
   8. Maureen W Mburu
   9. Donwilliams O Omuoyo
   10. Edidah M Ongera
   11. Leonard Ndwiga
   12. Eric Maitha
   13. Benson Kitole
   14. Thani Suleiman
   15. Mohamed Mwakinangu
   16. John K Nyambu
   17. John Otieno
   18. Barke Salim
   19. Jennifer Musyoki
   20. Nickson Murunga
   21. Edward Otieno
   22. John N Kiiru
   23. Kadondi Kasera
   24. Patrick Amoth
   25. Mercy Mwangangi
   26. Rashid Aman
   27. Samson Kinyanjui
   28. George Warimwe
   29. My Phan
   30. Ambrose Agweyu
   31. Matthew Cotten
   32. Edwine Barasa
   33. Benjamin Tsofa
   34. D James Nokes
   35. Philip Bejon
   36. George Githinji

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The data and analyses presented in this paper are important for understanding the sources and spread of SARS-CoV-2 across Kenya during the first two waves and are a timely contribution to our understanding of the pandemic in East Africa as a whole. The manuscript provides a clear picture of the viral lineages spreading in coastal Kenya, but sampling biases in the Kenyan and global datasets used make it difficult to evaluate conclusions concerning imports and exports of SARS-CoV-2 into and out of Kenya.

     (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, ScreenIT

4. Structure-guided glyco-engineering of ACE2 for improved potency as soluble SARS-CoV-2 decoy receptor

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Tümay Capraz
   2. Nikolaus F Kienzl
   3. Elisabeth Laurent
   4. Jan W Perthold
   5. Esther Föderl-Höbenreich
   6. Clemens Grünwald-Gruber
   7. Daniel Maresch
   8. Vanessa Monteil
   9. Janine Niederhöfer
   10. Gerald Wirnsberger
   11. Ali Mirazimi
   12. Kurt Zatloukal
   13. Lukas Mach
   14. Josef M Penninger
   15. Chris Oostenbrink
   16. Johannes Stadlmann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript is of broad interest in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. Characterization of how glycosylation affects interactions between the viral Spike protein and ACE2 receptor can inform efforts to inhibit the SARS-CoV-2. The molecular modeling and functional analysis need to be improved.

     (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, ScreenIT

5. Extracellular electron transfer increases fermentation in lactic acid bacteria via a hybrid metabolism

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Sara Tejedor-Sanz
   2. Eric T Stevens
   3. Siliang Li
   4. Peter Finnegan
   5. James Nelson
   6. Andre Knoesen
   7. Samuel H Light
   8. Caroline M Ajo-Franklin
   9. Maria L Marco

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The metabolic, genetic, genomic, and electrochemical experiments described for lactic acid bacteria expand on the recent discovery of extracellular electron transfer in Gram Positive bacteria. The ability to shift and/or accelerate metabolism of lactic acid bacteria capable of extracellular electron transfer may have interesting biotechnological applications, but to what extent this impacts their native physiology is not yet clear.

     (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

6. Allosteric mechanism of signal transduction in the two-component system histidine kinase PhoQ

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Bruk Mensa
   2. Nicholas F Polizzi
   3. Kathleen S Molnar
   4. Andrew M Natale
   5. Thomas Lemmin
   6. William F DeGrado

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of interest to scientists who think about mechanisms of conformational signaling within transmembrane receptor proteins. It describes a model of signaling by allosteric coupling between individual domains rather than by a concerted conformational change and provides substantial experimental evidence for the model from characterization of over 30 mutational substitutions in the bacterial two-component sensor protein PhoQ. The allosteric coupling model provides a way to understand many diverse observations about signaling by two-component receptors and has the potential to be relevant to conformational signaling by many other transmembrane receptors.

     (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. Mg2+-dependent conformational equilibria in CorA and an integrated view on transport regulation

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Nicolai Tidemand Johansen
   2. Marta Bonaccorsi
   3. Tone Bengtsen
   4. Andreas Haahr Larsen
   5. Frederik Grønbæk Tidemand
   6. Martin Cramer Pedersen
   7. Pie Huda
   8. Jens Berndtsson
   9. Tamim Darwish
   10. Nageshewar Rao Yepuri
   11. Anne Martel
   12. Thomas Günther Pomorski
   13. Andrea Bertarello
   14. Mark Sansom
   15. Mikaela Rapp
   16. Ramon Crehuet
   17. Tobias Schubeis
   18. Kresten Lindorff-Larsen
   19. Guido Pintacuda
   20. Lise Arleth

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Magnesium is an essential metal that is involved in vital biological processes. Using a model system, the authors discovered the presence of a conformational equilibrium between different unligated states that may explain the mechanism of magnesium transport. The combination of several different approach support the hypothesis that molecular motion is involved in the transport mechanism of Mg2+ ions.

     (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. Heavy isotope labeling and mass spectrometry reveal unexpected remodeling of bacterial cell wall expansion in response to drugs

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Heiner Atze
   2. Yucheng Liang
   3. Jean-Emmanuel Hugonnet
   4. Arnaud Gutierrez
   5. Filippo Rusconi
   6. Michel Arthur

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors describe the innovative use of a heavy-isotope labeling strategy combined with mass spectrometry analysis to investigate the role of peptidoglycan biosynthesis by an L,D-transpeptidase and penicillin binding proteins in Escherichia coli. They use isotopic labeling of the peptidoglycan following by a chase experiment with label to study how new peptidoglycan is assembled into pre-existing peptidoglycan. The data suggests that new material is inserted one strand at the time on the lateral wall while it appears to be inserted as multiple strands at the division septum. The data are novel and provide important insights, together with notable methodological advances. The study will be of interest to microbiologists studying bacterial cell wall turnover and for drug discovery efforts.

     (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Development, validation, and application of a machine learning model to estimate salt consumption in 54 countries

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Wilmer Cristobal Guzman-Vilca
   2. Manuel Castillo-Cara
   3. Rodrigo M Carrillo-Larco

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study by Guzman-Vilca et al. developed a machine learning (ML) tool to estimate the sodium/salt intake in a pooled database of a WHO surveys entailing more than 45,000 people in low- and middle-income countries. Their ML model based on age, sex, weight, height, systolic and diastolic blood pressure values provided a reasonably accurate estimate of the salt/sodium intake in the population in such countries. While waiting for further validation using the gold standard of 24-hour urinary sodium excretion, as reference, this tool can be important for estimating sodium consumption in low-mid income countries, which cannot afford measurements of sodium in the urine.

     (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

10. A neural hub that coordinates learned and innate courtship behaviors

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Mor Ben-Tov
    2. Fabiola Duarte
    3. Richard Mooney

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This paper will be interesting for understanding how the innate and learned components are synchronized and temporally coordinated in courtship behavior. This study gives the first insight into the midbrain dopaminergic region and its' role in courtship behavior.

      (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife