eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A distributed residue network permits conformational binding specificity in a conserved family of actin remodelers

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Theresa Hwang
   2. Sara S Parker
   3. Samantha M Hill
   4. Meucci W Ilunga
   5. Robert A Grant
   6. Ghassan Mouneimne
   7. Amy E Keating

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript describes follow-up studies on a hit from a proteome-wide screen for peptides that can bind to the EVH1 domain of the ENAH protein, one of three highly similar Ena/VASP actin regulators. The hit investigated is from a protein called PCARE, which selectively binds to ENAH but not the other two members of the Ena/VASP family, EVL and VASP. The authors provide a good explanation for how this selectivity is achieved and develop a peptide, PCARE-Dual, that specifically binds ENAH more tightly, setting out the stage for developing potent and selective inhibitors of ENAH activity.

     (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. HIV status alters disease severity and immune cell responses in Beta variant SARS-CoV-2 infection wave

   This article has 45 authors:

   1. Farina Karim
   2. Inbal Gazy
   3. Sandile Cele
   4. Yenzekile Zungu
   5. Robert Krause
   6. Mallory Bernstein
   7. Khadija Khan
   8. Yashica Ganga
   9. Hylton Rodel
   10. Ntombifuthi Mthabela
   11. Matilda Mazibuko
   12. Daniel Muema
   13. Dirhona Ramjit
   14. Thumbi Ndung'u
   15. Willem Hanekom
   16. Bernadett Gosnell
   17. COMMIT-KZN Team
   18. Moherndran Archary
   19. Kaylesh J Dullabh
   20. Jennifer Giandhari
   21. Philip Goulder
   22. Guy Harling
   23. Rohen Harrichandparsad
   24. Kobus Herbst
   25. Prakash Jeena
   26. Thandeka Khoza
   27. Nigel Klein
   28. Rajhmun Madansein
   29. Mohlopheni Marakalala
   30. Mosa Moshabela
   31. Kogie Naidoo
   32. Zaza Ndhlovu
   33. Kennedy Nyamande
   34. Nesri Padayatchi
   35. Vinod Patel
   36. Theresa Smit
   37. Adrie Steyn
   38. Richard J Lessells
   39. Emily B Wong
   40. Tulio de Oliveira
   41. Mahomed-Yunus S Moosa
   42. Gil Lustig
   43. Alasdair Leslie
   44. Henrik Kløverpris
   45. Alex Sigal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript is of primary interest to readers in the field of infectious diseases especially the ones involved in COVID-19 research. The identification of immunological signatures caused by SARS-CoV-2 in HIV-infected individuals is important not only to better predict disease outcomes but also to predict vaccine efficacy and to potentially identify sources of viral variants. In here, the authors leverage a combination of clinical parameters, limited virologic information and extensive flow cytometry data to reach descriptive conclusions.

     (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

3. Sticks and Stones, a conserved cell surface ligand for the Type IIa RPTP Lar, regulates neural circuit wiring in Drosophila

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Namrata Bali
   2. Hyung-Kook (Peter) Lee
   3. Kai Zinn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper claims to identify a long-sought ligand for the receptor protein tyrosine phosphatase Lar that mediates its functions in neuromuscular junction development, mushroom body development, and photoreceptor axon targeting. If correct, this would be of interest to many developmental neurobiologists, However, further evidence is needed to strongly support this claim.

     (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. Genetically engineered mice for combinatorial cardiovascular optobiology

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Frank K Lee
   2. Jane C Lee
   3. Bo Shui
   4. Shaun Reining
   5. Megan Jibilian
   6. David M Small
   7. Jason S Jones
   8. Nathaniel H Allan-Rahill
   9. Michael RE Lamont
   10. Megan A Rizzo
   11. Sendoa Tajada
   12. Manuel F Navedo
   13. Luis Fernando Santana
   14. Nozomi Nishimura
   15. Michael I Kotlikoff

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The manuscript by Lee and co-workers describes the development of 21 unique transgenic mouse lines that express optogenetic sensors and effectors in a cell lineage-specific fashion. The knock-in approach allows the sensors and effectors to be rapidly combined or moved to different backgrounds, such as genetic disease models. Such manipulations are often impractical when using a Cre-based system. This constitutes a vital advantage for many studies. The new mice described here will be very powerful tools to study physiology and alteration in disease models.

     (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. Megalencephalic leukoencephalopathy with subcortical cysts is a developmental disorder of the gliovascular unit

   This article has 22 authors:

   1. Alice Gilbert
   2. Xabier Elorza-Vidal
   3. Armelle Rancillac
   4. Audrey Chagnot
   5. Mervé Yetim
   6. Vincent Hingot
   7. Thomas Deffieux
   8. Anne-Cécile Boulay
   9. Rodrigo Alvear-Perez
   10. Salvatore Cisternino
   11. Sabrina Martin
   12. Sonia Taïb
   13. Aontoinette Gelot
   14. Virginie Mignon
   15. Maryline Favier
   16. Isabelle Brunet
   17. Xavier Declèves
   18. Mickael Tanter
   19. Raul Estevez
   20. Denis Vivien
   21. Bruno Saubaméa
   22. Martine Cohen-Salmon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study shows how astrocytic MCL1 can contribute to postnatal maturation of the brain vascular system. Since the development and physiological roles of perivascular astrocyte coverage are not well understood, this manuscript provides potentially important frame works and should be of interest to the broad fields of neuroscientists.

     (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

6. A novel immunopeptidomic-based pipeline for the generation of personalized oncolytic cancer vaccines

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Sara Feola
   2. Jacopo Chiaro
   3. Beatriz Martins
   4. Salvatore Russo
   5. Manlio Fusciello
   6. Erkko Ylösmäki
   7. Chiara Bonini
   8. Eliana Ruggiero
   9. Firas Hamdan
   10. Michaela Feodoroff
   11. Gabriella Antignani
   12. Tapani Viitala
   13. Sari Pesonen
   14. Mikaela Grönholm
   15. Rui MM Branca
   16. Janne Lehtiö
   17. Vincenzo Cerullo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study describes an immunopeptidomic-based pipeline to discover new tumor antigens for the development of cancer vaccines. The pipeline is relatively straightforward and exploits molecular mimicry and tumor pathogen cross-reactive T-cells and would be interesting for cancer immunologists. If the utility of the pipeline were demonstrated in more diverse systems, including carcinogen-induced tumors and human settings, this work would provide an immediate impact to the immuno-oncology field and personalized cancer vaccine development.

     (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

7. Conformational changes in twitchin kinase in vivo revealed by FRET imaging of freely moving C. elegans

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Daniel Porto
   2. Yohei Matsunaga
   3. Barbara Franke
   4. Rhys M Williams
   5. Hiroshi Qadota
   6. Olga Mayans
   7. Guy M Benian
   8. Hang Lu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of interest to mechanobiologists and muscle scientists interested in how contraction of muscle may be linked to mechanical activation of a kinase domain in a large structural protein in a living animal. The study combines imaging of the moving live animal with FRET measurements to detect the structural (and presumably the activation) state of twitchin in C. elegans. The data convincingly shows that this activation is coupled to muscle contraction.

     (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 unified platform to manage, share, and archive morphological and functional data in insect neuroscience

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Stanley Heinze
   2. Basil el Jundi
   3. Bente G Berg
   4. Uwe Homberg
   5. Randolf Menzel
   6. Keram Pfeiffer
   7. Ronja Hensgen
   8. Frederick Zittrell
   9. Marie Dacke
   10. Eric Warrant
   11. Gerit Pfuhl
   12. Jürgen Rybak
   13. Kevin Tedore

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript will be of interest to insect neuroscientists and broadly to the neuroanatomy community. It presents a new web resource that collects and displays neuron, brain region and species data in user-friendly ways. If taken up by the community, it has the potential to become an important data hub.

     (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, preLights

9. Characterization of the ABC methionine transporter from Neisseria meningitidis reveals that lipidated MetQ is required for interaction

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Naima G Sharaf
   2. Mona Shahgholi
   3. Esther Kim
   4. Jeffrey Y Lai
   5. David G VanderVelde
   6. Allen T Lee
   7. Douglas C Rees

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Sharaf and colleagues present an elegant structural and functional analysis of the Neisseria meningitidis ABC transporters MetQ/MetNI illustrating that the substrate binding protein MetQ requires N-terminal lipidation and a substrate (e.g. L-Met and other Met analogs) to stimulate the ATPase, presumably in order to transport the substrate across the inner membrane. This paper will be of broad interest to microbiologists and membrane physiologists who study periplasmic substrate binding proteins and transporter interactions in bacteria.

     (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

10. Rad53 checkpoint kinase regulation of DNA replication fork rate via Mrc1 phosphorylation

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Allison W McClure
    2. John FX Diffley

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This manuscript will be of interest to those interested in the regulation of DNA replication and those interested in how DNA damage impacts DNA replication. DNA replication must occur accurately to maintain genome integrity and also must be able to deal with DNA damage or metabolic conditions that induce replication fork stalling. Two key proteins involved in signaling such replication stress are Mrc1 and Rad53 kinase, and the authors use a powerful in vitro reconstitution system to make findings pertaining to these two proteins that are then supported by genetics.

      (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