eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A covariation analysis reveals elements of selectivity in quorum sensing systems

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Samantha Wellington Miranda
   2. Qian Cong
   3. Amy L Schaefer
   4. Emily Kenna MacLeod
   5. Angelina Zimenko
   6. David Baker
   7. E Peter Greenberg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Acyl-homoserine lactone (AHL) based quorum sensing systems are an important form of intercellular communication in bacteria. These systems, minimally comprised of a synthase and a receptor, often involve different types of AHLs. This paper demonstrates that amino acids in the active site of the synthase and the binding site of the receptor have co-evolved to provide specificity for different signaling molecules, even though the synthase and receptor do not directly interact. This type of information could potentially be used to rationally engineer synthases and receptors with different specificities, as well as predict the specificities of uncharacterized synthases and 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. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Increasing stimulus similarity drives nonmonotonic representational change in hippocampus

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Jeffrey Wammes
   2. Kenneth A Norman
   3. Nicholas Turk-Browne

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper reports a timely, computationally-inspired fMRI analysis of how hippocampus-dependent memory handles overlap in the timing and visual characteristics of objects we encounter. The findings speak to discrepancies in the field over how the hippocampus responds to similarity in memories and will be of broad interest to memory researchers and computational neuroscientists. The elegant experimental approach directly tests the predictions of a theoretical framework by parametrically manipulating visual overlap between associated stimuli. The analyses are clearly reported and directly address the hypothesis. The conclusions are sound. However, these findings may not yet generalize beyond visual similarity in the context of temporal co-occurrence or statistical learning, and some concern is raised over the theoretical groundwork for hippocampal subregion predictions and how context and overlap are considered in their memory network model.

     (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. The anti-immune dengue subgenomic flaviviral RNA is found in vesicles in mosquito saliva and associated with increased infectivity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Shih-Chia Yeh
   2. Wei-Lian Tan
   3. Avisha Chowdhury
   4. Vanessa Chuo
   5. R. Manjunatha Kini
   6. Julien Pompon
   7. Mariano A. Garcia-Blanco

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Mosquito saliva can enhance transmission of arboviruses. Here, authors demonstrated that the anti-immune non-coding RNA from Dengue virus, known as the subgenomic flavivirus RNA (sfRNA), is secreted into mosquito saliva within the extracellular vesicles and can facilitate infection of the acceptor human cells when delivered together with infectious virus in mosquito saliva. The study potentially expands our understanding of flavivirus transmission.

     (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. Corticohippocampal circuit dysfunction in a mouse model of Dravet syndrome

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Joanna Mattis
   2. Ala Somarowthu
   3. Kevin M Goff
   4. Evan Jiang
   5. Jina Yom
   6. Nathaniel Sotuyo
   7. Laura M Mcgarry
   8. Huijie Feng
   9. Keisuke Kaneko
   10. Ethan M Goldberg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Dravet syndrome, a severe seizure disorder resulting from a sodium channel mutation, is widely thought to result from impaired synaptic inhibition. Here the authors present multi-level evidence that excess synaptic excitation in the dentate gyrus is a locus of pathology. These results provide new insight into pathological mechanisms in Dravet syndrome that will be of interest to a broad range of neuroscientists studying epilepsy, as well as the role of the hippocampus and synaptic alterations in neurological 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. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The Shu complex prevents mutagenesis and cytotoxicity of single-strand specific alkylation lesions

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Braulio Bonilla
   2. Alexander J Brown
   3. Sarah R Hengel
   4. Kyle S Rapchak
   5. Debra Mitchell
   6. Catherine A Pressimone
   7. Adeola A Fagunloye
   8. Thong T Luong
   9. Reagan A Russell
   10. Rudri K Vyas
   11. Tony M Mertz
   12. Hani S Zaher
   13. Nima Mosammaparast
   14. Ewa P Malc
   15. Piotr A Mieczkowski
   16. Steven A Roberts
   17. Kara A Bernstein

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of potential interest to an audience of DNA repair and cancer biologists because it seeks to refine the mechanism by which cells respond to DNA damage. By combining a number of genetic experiments based on cell survival of different mutant combinations and mutation analysis, their results support the view that Shu is critical for 3meC damage tolerance in yeast. Notably, expression of human ALKBH2, responsible for the repair of 3meC rescues the MMS-sensitivity of Shu mutants but not that of homologous recombination mutants. The study supports the existence of a new pathway for the removal of an important DNA lesion that seems essential in yeast, but likely contributes in other organisms, and helps clarify the distinctive role of homologous recombination in DSB repair and post-replicative repair. A few additional experiments are suggested to strengthen the mechanistic conclusions and better support the central model.

     (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. Structural intermediates observed only in intact Escherichia coli indicate a mechanism for TonB-dependent transport

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Thushani D Nilaweera
   2. David A Nyenhuis
   3. David S Cafiso

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The manuscript endeavors to explain the mechanism of action of the gram-negative bacterial outer membrane TonB-dependent transporter BtuB, which acquires vitamin B12 from the external environment. The authors use electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy to monitor the proximity of different parts of this protein to one another during the binding of B12 directly in the E. coli outer membrane. This manuscript will be of interest to those who study the biophysics of membrane transporters and stresses the importance of studying membrane proteins in their native environment.

     (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

7. Full assembly of HIV-1 particles requires assistance of the membrane curvature factor IRSp53

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Kaushik Inamdar
   2. Feng-Ching Tsai
   3. Rayane Dibsy
   4. Aurore de Poret
   5. John Manzi
   6. Peggy Merida
   7. Remi Muller
   8. Pekka Lappalainen
   9. Philippe Roingeard
   10. Johnson Mak
   11. Patricia Bassereau
   12. Cyril Favard
   13. Delphine Muriaux

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript combines cell biology, biochemistry, and quantitative biophysics to understand a new host cell factor, the human I-BAR domain protein IRSp53, promotes HIV type 1 (HIV-1) assembly and release. Since this new factor is a protein involved in the generation and sensing of negative membrane curvature, this manuscript will be of interest not only for retrovirologists and virologists in general but also for membrane biologists and biophysicists.

     (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 novel mechanosensitive channel controls osmoregulation, differentiation and infectivity in Trypanosoma cruzi

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. N Dave
   2. U Cetiner
   3. D Arroyo
   4. J Fonbuena
   5. M Tiwari
   6. P Barrera
   7. N Lander
   8. A Anishkin
   9. S Sukharev
   10. V Jimenez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors found a mechanosensitive channel gene in T. cruzi, and aimed to characterize its functions. The authors provide conclusive evidence that TcMscS is a mechanosensitive channel. They also show that TcMscS has additional roles outside of mechanosensation, likely playing a role in the infectivity of T. cruzi.

     (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

9. Duox-generated reactive oxygen species activate ATR/Chk1 to induce G2 arrest in Drosophila tracheoblasts

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Amrutha Kizhedathu
   2. Piyush Chhajed
   3. Lahari Yeramala
   4. Deblina Sain Basu
   5. Tina Mukherjee
   6. Kutti R Vinothkumar
   7. Arjun Guha

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This interesting genetics study shows that two well known tumor suppressor genes, ATR and Chk1, have a new function in sensing oxidative stress agents. The study is good quality and the results generally support the rather novel conclusions. It should be of interest in the fields of cancer genetics and cell biology.

     (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

10. The EMT transcription factor Snai1 maintains myocardial wall integrity by repressing intermediate filament gene expression

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Alessandra Gentile
    2. Anabela Bensimon-Brito
    3. Rashmi Priya
    4. Hans-Martin Maischein
    5. Janett Piesker
    6. Stefan Guenther
    7. Felix Gunawan
    8. Didier YR Stainier

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      The authors have highlighted an important aspect of epithelial maintenance in an environment that experiences significant biomechanical stress due to cardiac function. Using novel genetic models, detailed imaging and a thorough transcriptomic assessment, this story has the potential to enlighten both cell biologists and cardiovascular biologists on the underpinnings of myocardial integrity.

      (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 name with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife