eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Rpl24Bst mutation suppresses colorectal cancer by promoting eEF2 phosphorylation via eEF2K

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. John RP Knight
   2. Nikola Vlahov
   3. David M Gay
   4. Rachel A Ridgway
   5. William James Faller
   6. Christopher Proud
   7. Giovanna R Mallucci
   8. Tobias von der Haar
   9. Christopher Mark Smales
   10. Anne E Willis
   11. Owen J Sansom

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this study, Knight and colleagues investigate the role of the ribosome and translational control in colorectal tumours. A mutation of a protein of the large ribosomal subunit, RPL24, is used to suppress tumours driven by two mutations found commonly in cancer, in APC and KRAS. The authors identify a mechanistic output of the RPL24 BST mutation, eEF2 phosphorylation, which they demonstrate is a major effector in inhibiting tumour cell translation and proliferation. By targeting the eEF2 kinase eEF2K, they restore protein synthesis in RPL24 mutant cells. The conclusion is well supported by the experimental data presented, which implies that translation elongation can be a potential therapeutic target of KRAS mutated CRC. Importantly, Rpl24Bst in wildtype intestine does not affect epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, suggesting that translation elongation can be used as tumour-specific target.

     (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. N501Y mutation of spike protein in SARS-CoV-2 strengthens its binding to receptor ACE2

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Fang Tian
   2. Bei Tong
   3. Liang Sun
   4. Shengchao Shi
   5. Bin Zheng
   6. Zibin Wang
   7. Xianchi Dong
   8. Peng Zheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Tian et al. used a battery of biophysical techniques to compare wild-type SARS-CoV-2 with two variants (B.1.1.7 and B.1.351). The authors obtained evidence consistent with the receptor-binding domain (RBD) of the variants exhibiting higher affinity ACE2, providing a possible explanation for their higher transmission. However, the effects are modest, and further work will be needed to confirm that this difference explains the increased transmission of the variants. Despite the need for follow-up studies, the paper is among the first to show definitively that the N501Y mutation confers enhanced binding to ACE2.

     (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. APOE4 is associated with elevated blood lipids and lower levels of innate immune biomarkers in a tropical Amerindian subsistence population

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Angela R Garcia
   2. Caleb Finch
   3. Margaret Gatz
   4. Thomas Kraft
   5. Daniel Eid Rodriguez
   6. Daniel Cummings
   7. Mia Charifson
   8. Kenneth Buetow
   9. Bret A Beheim
   10. Hooman Allayee
   11. Gregory S Thomas
   12. Jonathan Stieglitz
   13. Michael D Gurven
   14. Hillard Kaplan
   15. Benjamin C Trumble

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors ask why the APOE4 allele has persisted, often at high frequencies, in human populations despite its associations to heart disease and Alzheimer's disease. They consider the hypothesis that APOE4 may be advantageous in a high pathogen and high physical environment settings (as opposed to a low pathogen industrial lifestyle) through an in-depth characterization of the Tsimane in Bolivia. The study is of broad interest with an insightful dataset; the conclusions are somewhat limited by the nature and current description and treatment of the data.

     (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. Modulation of fracture healing by the transient accumulation of senescent cells

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Dominik Saul
   2. David G Monroe
   3. Jennifer L Rowsey
   4. Robyn Laura Kosinsky
   5. Stephanie J Vos
   6. Madison L Doolittle
   7. Joshua N Farr
   8. Sundeep Khosla

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a well conducted study that examines the potential role of senescent cells in fracture healing. Furthermore, the authors have used senolytic agents to examine if targeting cellular senescence will have a significant impact on fracture healing phenotype. The manuscript is succinctly written, and the methods and results are well described. These data provide the first demonstration for a potential role for cellular senescence in regulating fracture healing. The authors’ conclusions are largely supported by the experimental data.

     (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. Reviewers #1, #2, and #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Functional interdependence of the actin nucleator Cobl and Cobl-like in dendritic arbor development

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Maryam Izadi
   2. Eric Seemann
   3. Dirk Schlobinski
   4. Lukas Schwintzer
   5. Britta Qualmann
   6. Michael M Kessels

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript is of interest to scientists within the fields of actin cytoskeleton, cellular neurobiology and neurodevelopment. It explores how actin regulators are coordinated to trigger the formation of branches in neuronal dendritic arbor. Experiments are very well performed. Conclusions of the manuscript are convincingly supported by the results, although strict dependence of Cobl and Cobl-like in dendritic branch formation should perhaps be confirmed with additional experiments or tuned down. Results concerning the spatiotemporal relationship between the molecular players involved are more preliminary and few findings already published by the same group in previous articles should be expunged from this manuscript.

     (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

6. Matriptase generates a tissue damage response via promoting Gq signalling, leading to RSK and DUOX activation

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. MA Jiajia
   2. Claire A. Scott
   3. HO Ying Na
   4. Harsha Mahabaleshwar
   5. Katherine S. Marsay
   6. Changqing Zhang
   7. Christopher K. J. Teow
   8. NG Ser Sue
   9. Weibin Zhang
   10. Vinay Tergaonkar
   11. Lynda J. Partridge
   12. Sudipto Roy
   13. Enrique Amaya
   14. Tom J. Carney

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript unravels a detailed bipartite signaling mechanism, activation of which results in epithelial inflammation and cell motility. The paper is potentially of broad interest to cancer biologists and epithelial cell biologists. The data generated using the combination of genetic analyses, chemical inhibitors, and state-of-the-art confocal microscopy is of exceptionally high quality and supports the majority of the claims made in this paper.

     (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

7. Causal neural mechanisms of context-based object recognition

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Miles Wischnewski
   2. Marius V Peelen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study will be of interest to scientists involved in high-level vision. The data provide a compelling demonstration of the causal role of three key visual areas in context-based object recognition. The key claims of the manuscript are supported by the data, and are strengthened by the pre-registration of each of the three experiments.

     (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

8. Age-dependent changes in protein incorporation into collagen-rich tissues of mice by in vivo pulsed SILAC labelling

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Yoanna Ariosa-Morejon
   2. Alberto Santos
   3. Roman Fischer
   4. Simon Davis
   5. Philip Charles
   6. Rajesh Thakker
   7. Angus KT Wann
   8. Tonia L Vincent

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Capturing the rate and degree of protein turnover in tissues rich in collagen, proteoglycans and glycoproteins over the life span provides valuable information about how these tissues age and can increase our understanding of age-related disease. Using a Stable Isotope Labeling (SILAC) method to examine protein retention, new protein incorporation and protein turnover in three high collage content tissues, the authors show that turnover is low in older mice in these tissues, but the depth of the data generated provide a detailed examination of what low turnover means at a level we have not previously had. This paper would be of interest to a broad range of scientists studying connective tissues in the context of development and ageing.

     (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. Distinct synaptic transfer functions in same-type photoreceptors

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Cornelius Schröder
   2. Jonathan Oesterle
   3. Philipp Berens
   4. Takeshi Yoshimatsu
   5. Tom Baden

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper compares the properties of UV cone output synapses in different regions of the zebrafish retina using a combination of electron microscopy, quantitative imaging and computational modeling. They relate these differences to ultrastructural differences in synaptic ribbons and evaluate them using a previously-developed biophysical model for the operation of the synapse. The finding of regional differences in ribbon behavior is novel and suggests an under-appreciated degree of control of release by ribbon structure and behavior. The presentation of some of the results, particularly the model, could be strengthened.

     (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

10. Mapping brain-behavior space relationships along the psychosis spectrum

    This article has 17 authors:

    1. Jie Lisa Ji
    2. Markus Helmer
    3. Clara Fonteneau
    4. Joshua B Burt
    5. Zailyn Tamayo
    6. Jure Demšar
    7. Brendan D Adkinson
    8. Aleksandar Savić
    9. Katrin H Preller
    10. Flora Moujaes
    11. Franz X Vollenweider
    12. William J Martin
    13. Grega Repovš
    14. Youngsun T Cho
    15. Christopher Pittenger
    16. John D Murray
    17. Alan Anticevic

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      The authors assessed multivariate relations between a dimensionality-reduced symptom space and brain imaging features, using a large database of individuals with psychosis-spectrum disorders (PSD). Demonstrating both high stability and reproducibility of their approaches, this work showed a promise that diagnosis or treatment of PSD can benefit from a proposed data-driven brain-symptom mapping framework. It is therefore of broad potential interest across cognitive and translational neuroscience.

      (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