eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Conformational decoupling in acid-sensing ion channels uncovers mechanism and stoichiometry of PcTx1-mediated inhibition

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Stephanie A Heusser
   2. Christian B Borg
   3. Janne M Colding
   4. Stephan A Pless

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This work provides direct evidence that PcTx1, a modulator commonly used to study acid-sensing ion channels, induces a conformational change that persists long after an effect on the channel activity has dissipated. The data support this central claim of the paper and invite future investigation of the precise mechanism. The work is of general interest to those studying ion channel biophysics and pharmacology and is a fine example of the power of combined functional and fluorescence measurements.

     (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

2. A novel live-cell imaging assay reveals regulation of endosome maturation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Maria Podinovskaia
   2. Cristina Prescianotto-Baschong
   3. Dominik P Buser
   4. Anne Spang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Endosome maturation in animal cells has been challenging to characterize by microscopy because the fluorescence patterns are complex and dynamic. This study uses acute ionophore treatment to generate enlarged early endosomes, whose behavior and maturation can then be readily tracked. The results offer new insights into several phenomena, including the regulation of endosomal acidification during the maturation process.

     (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

3. Phylogenomic and mitogenomic data can accelerate inventorying of tropical beetles during the current biodiversity crisis

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Michal Motyka
   2. Dominik Kusy
   3. Matej Bocek
   4. Renata Bilkova
   5. Ladislav Bocak

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript provides some clear ideas on the use of next-generation sequencing data to rapidly increase biodiversity inventories and set the basis for future research. The principal objective of this study is to demonstrate how biodiversity information for a hyperdiverse tropical group can be rapidly expanded via targeted field research and large-scale sequencing. The authors use a comprehensive sampling for a tribe of beetles with complicated morphological characters, highlight the existence of multiple undescribed taxa. The database of sequences could set a benchmark for the spatiotemporal evaluation of biodiversity, would support evidence-based conservation planning, and would provide a robust framework for systematic, biogeographic, and evolutionary 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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The DNA sensors AIM2 and IFI16 are SLE autoantigens that bind neutrophil extracellular traps

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Brendan Antiochos
   2. Daniela Trejo-Zambrano
   3. Paride Fenaroli
   4. Avi Rosenberg
   5. Alan Baer
   6. Archit Garg
   7. Jungsan Sohn
   8. Jessica Li
   9. Michelle Petri
   10. Daniel W Goldman
   11. Christopher Mecoli
   12. Livia Casciola-Rosen
   13. Antony Rosen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript identifies the DNA sensor AIM2 as a target of auto-antibodies in the human autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus. Importantly, the authors provide evidence that AIM2 protects extracellular DNA from destruction and propose that this property may enhance the autoimmune response to the DNA and associated proteins. The work may therefore provide an important underlying mechanism for a prevalent and important human autoimmune 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 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Columnar processing of border ownership in primate visual cortex

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Tom P Franken
   2. John H Reynolds

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is a milestone towards understanding the formation and representation of visual object structure in the brain. It shows that in the pivotal area V4, border ownership selectivity emerges in the deep layers earlier than in the granular layers which receive the input from V1/V2, indicating that border ownership is not inherited from the input, but computed by deep-layer neurons using visual context information possibly provided through horizontal connections, cortico-cortical feedback or thalamic input. They further report that the preferred side of border ownership across layers is similar, i.e. it is organized in a columnar fashion. The study is elegantly done, with the outstanding questions clearly laid out and the results presented in a clear and informative fashion.

     (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

6. Initial ciliary assembly in Chlamydomonas requires Arp2/3 complex–dependent endocytosis

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Brae M. Bigge
   2. Nicholas E. Rosenthal
   3. Prachee Avasthi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript addresses the role of the Arp2/3 complex in endocytic retrieval of ciliary precursors from the plasma membrane for use in assembly of Chlamydomonas cilia, a topic of broad interest to cell biologists. The manuscript can serve as basis for future research addressing whether Arp2/3 affects cilium biogenesis solely via endocytic retrieval or through additional mechanisms, and whether these findings apply to species other than Chlamydomonas.

     (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. Protein-lipid interaction at low pH induces oligomerization of the MakA cytotoxin from Vibrio cholerae

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Aftab Nadeem
   2. Alexandra Berg
   3. Hudson Pace
   4. Athar Alam
   5. Eric Toh
   6. Jörgen Ådén
   7. Nikola Zlatkov
   8. Si Lhyam Myint
   9. Karina Persson
   10. Gerhard Gröbner
   11. Anders Sjöstedt
   12. Marta Bally
   13. Jonas Barandun
   14. Bernt Eric Uhlin
   15. Sun Nyunt Wai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Proteins that form pores in biological membranes are found in diverse contexts, including pathogenic toxins that help infect or lyse target cells and organelles. The study by Nadeem et al. reports on the properties of an α-pore-forming toxin, MakA, produced by the human pathogen, V. cholerae. The study is a remarkable example of a pH-induced structural mechanism of membrane remodeling. The insights reported here will be of interest to a wide range of scientists studying host-pathogen interactions, membrane remodeling, and macromolecular structure.

     (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A bacterial derived plant- mimicking cytokinin hormone regulates social behaviour in a rice pathogen

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Sohini Deb
   2. Chandan Kumar
   3. Rahul Kumar
   4. Amandeep Kaur
   5. Palash Ghosh
   6. Gopaljee Jha
   7. Prabhu B. Patil
   8. Subhadeep Chatterjee
   9. Hitendra K. Patel
   10. Ramesh V. Sonti

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The major finding of this manuscript is that cytokinin produced by a bacterial plant pathogen affects bacterial growth and physiology. Production of cytokinin is linked to the well-known type three effector XopQ, which has primarily been studied for its function inside plant cells. The authors provide evidence that XopQ is required for the pathogen Xanthomonas oryzae to produce cytokinin in culture, and that cytokinin production controls whether or not the bacterium engages in planktonic growth or biofilm formation (i.e., biofilms form in the absence of cytokinin). These data indicate that bacterially produced cytokinins affect bacterial physiology, indicating that these hormones control signaling beyond photosynthetic organisms. The findings are of interest both to those studying plant-pathogen interactions and to microbiologists in general.

     (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. Enhanced specificity mutations perturb allosteric signaling in CRISPR-Cas9

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Lukasz Nierzwicki
   2. Kyle W East
   3. Uriel N Morzan
   4. Pablo R Arantes
   5. Victor S Batista
   6. George P Lisi
   7. Giulia Palermo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a comprehensive study combining solution NMR with molecular dynamics simulations to uncover the effects of three key mutations in the Cas9 HNH domain that increase CRISP-Cas9 complex specificity and reduce off-target activity. Through the analysis of these three different mutations, the authors concluded that by tuning the conformational dynamics of the HNH module in the CRISP-Cas9 complex, it is possible to control the function and specificity of the system. Combined these findings could have important implications for the design of new variants for this important gene editing complex.

     (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. Assessing target engagement using proteome-wide solvent shift assays

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Jonathan G Van Vranken
    2. Jiaming Li
    3. Dylan C Mitchell
    4. José Navarrete-Perea
    5. Steven P Gygi

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This manuscript will be of broad interest to readers in the field of proteomics and drug discovery. It describes a potentially robust method for the identification of biological targets of small molecules, a substantial hurdle in drug discovery. The experiments described are rigorous and this manuscript provides a useful template for the broad implementation of this method. One conclusion that needs further support is the one of the complementarity of CPP and TPP (as in "these two approaches share much in common, they remain distinct and likely serve to complement one another").

      (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