eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Phagocytic ‘teeth’ and myosin-II ‘jaw’ power target constriction during phagocytosis

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Daan Vorselen
   2. Sarah R Barger
   3. Yifan Wang
   4. Wei Cai
   5. Julie A Theriot
   6. Nils C Gauthier
   7. Mira Krendel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study is of great interest to cell biologists studying phagocytosis. The work describes a new method for studying phagocytosis; the engulfment of large cargos such as pathogens by the immune system. With this new method, they describe a mechanical force at the rim of the phagocytic cup that function like teeth. This work will advance the field in a new direction.

     (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

2. Unconventional conservation reveals structure-function relationships in the synaptonemal complex

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Lisa E Kursel
   2. Henry D Cope
   3. Ofer Rog

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Although the synaptonemal complex (SC) is an essential, deeply conserved structure that holds meiotic chromosomes together, the constituent proteins evolve exceptionally rapidly. This rapid evolution in turn has hindered the identification of SC proteins based solely on sequence homology. This manuscript overcomes this challenge by developing and validating a clever protein structure-based approach that leverages sequence divergence - rather than sequence conservation - to identify novel SC components.

     (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

3. The Lyme disease agent co-opts adiponectin receptor-mediated signaling in its arthropod vector

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Xiaotian Tang
   2. Yongguo Cao
   3. Gunjan Arora
   4. Jesse Hwang
   5. Andaleeb Sajid
   6. Courtney L Brown
   7. Sameet Mehta
   8. Alejandro Marín-López
   9. Yu-Min Chuang
   10. Ming-Jie Wu
   11. Hongwei Ma
   12. Utpal Pal
   13. Sukanya Narasimhan
   14. Erol Fikrig

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This article identifies a new metabolic pathway in ticks that Borrelia burgdorferi, the agent of Lyme disease, requires for survival. The authors show that the adiponectin receptor (ISARL) is upregulated after a blood meal and find that the tick complement C1q-like protein (C1QL3) is an ISARL ligand whose knockdown impairs spirochete colonization.

     (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

4. Humans optimally anticipate and compensate for an uneven step during walking

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Osman Darici
   2. Arthur D Kuo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study provides experimental evidence supporting an energy optimality principle for walking over uneven terrain. Using a simple rimless wheel model of human walking, the authors previously predicted speed fluctuations to emerge when a step up or down when energy is minimized over the entire walking path. New experimental evidence provides evidence that both anticipatory and reactive adjustments used by the nervous system follow the predictions of an energy minimization principle. The predictive power of an energy-minimization principle during transient, non-steady state behavior is notable. Certain issues regarding the generalizability of the results to variable step lengths and timing, alternative optimality criteria, and limitations of the modeling assumptions should be clarified.

     (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, preLights

5. Fluidics system for resolving concentration-dependent effects of dissolved gases on tissue metabolism

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Varun Kamat
   2. Brian M Robbings
   3. Seung-Ryoung Jung
   4. John Kelly
   5. James B Hurley
   6. Kenneth P Bube
   7. Ian R Sweet

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper presents a flow method for measuring the effects of dissolved gases on tissues while having control over tissue concentration. Working with gases can be challenging. The improvements reported here incorporate technology that allows for metabolic characterization of mammalian tissues while precisely controlling the concentration of abundant gases (e.g., oxygen), as well as trace gases (e.g., hydrogen sulfide). The authors utilize their technology to investigate the metabolic impacts of dissolved hydrogen sulfide, at physiological concentrations. This method should be a powerful tool for the field and enable further experimentation.

     (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

6. A unified framework for measuring selection on cellular lineages and traits

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Shunpei Yamauchi
   2. Takashi Nozoe
   3. Reiko Okura
   4. Edo Kussell
   5. Yuichi Wakamoto

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The manuscript by Wakamoto and colleagues presents a general statistical framework to infer selection on a quantitative trait based on measurements of the values of this trait along related cell lineages. The manuscript provides both a detailed explanation of the mathematical underpinnings of the method and an illustration of its application to existing and new cell lineage datasets. The framework is widely applicable to general exponentially growing populations and is not tailored to particular growth models or environmental conditions.

     (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

7. Arginine-vasopressin mediates counter-regulatory glucagon release and is diminished in type 1 diabetes

   This article has 24 authors:

   1. Angela Kim
   2. Jakob G Knudsen
   3. Joseph C Madara
   4. Anna Benrick
   5. Thomas G Hill
   6. Lina Abdul Kadir
   7. Joely A Kellard
   8. Lisa Mellander
   9. Caroline Miranda
   10. Haopeng Lin
   11. Timothy James
   12. Kinga Suba
   13. Aliya F Spigelman
   14. Yanling Wu
   15. Patrick E MacDonald
   16. Ingrid Wernstedt Asterholm
   17. Tore Magnussen
   18. Mikkel Christensen
   19. Tina Vilsbøll
   20. Victoria Salem
   21. Filip K Knop
   22. Patrik Rorsman
   23. Bradford B Lowell
   24. Linford JB Briant

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Although the cellular and molecular mechanisms for insulin secretion regulation are relatively well defined, the precise control of glucagon secretion remains poorly understood. This paper is an elegant and thorough investigation into the role of Arginine-vasopressin (AVP) in glucagon secretion. It is known that AVP is a robust activator of calcium response in pancreatic alpha cells leading to glucagon release. The physiological relevance and regulation of this AVP-induced glucagon secretion is unclear. This manuscript goes a long way in closing this gap.

     (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. A B-cell actomyosin arc network couples integrin co-stimulation to mechanical force-dependent immune synapse formation

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jia C Wang
   2. Yang-In Yim
   3. Xufeng Wu
   4. Valentin Jaumouille
   5. Andrew Cameron
   6. Clare M Waterman
   7. John H Kehrl
   8. John A Hammer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of interest to immunologists studying mechanisms of lymphocyte activation and scientists in the broader field of cell mechanics. The work provides new insight into the cooperation among receptors, the actin cytoskeleton, and myosin motors that is required for the formation of a B cell immune synapse. The data support the key claims of the 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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Phylogenomic analyses of echinoid diversification prompt a re-evaluation of their fossil record

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Nicolás Mongiardino Koch
   2. Jeffrey R Thompson
   3. Avery S Hiley
   4. Marina F McCowin
   5. A Frances Armstrong
   6. Simon E Coppard
   7. Felipe Aguilera
   8. Omri Bronstein
   9. Andreas Kroh
   10. Rich Mooi
   11. Greg W Rouse

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The study by Koch et al presents new phylogenomic and molecular clock analyses of echinoids. The study uses state of the art phylogenetic approaches and includes 17 newly sequenced genomes and transcriptomes, which are used to estimate the tree topology and divergence times of major groups of echinoids. The molecular clock-estimated times of origin of particular echinoid lineages predate the lineages' appearance on the fossil record by tens of millions of years, prompting re-evaluation of the early evolution of echinoid diversity.

     (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 survey of optimal strategy for signature-based drug repositioning and an application to liver cancer

    This article has 13 authors:

    1. Chen Yang
    2. Hailin Zhang
    3. Mengnuo Chen
    4. Siying Wang
    5. Ruolan Qian
    6. Linmeng Zhang
    7. Xiaowen Huang
    8. Jun Wang
    9. Zhicheng Liu
    10. Wenxin Qin
    11. Cun Wang
    12. Hualian Hang
    13. Hui Wang

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This paper will be of interest to scientists across translational medicine and cancer treatment. It describes a standardized method to identify drugs that could be potentially repositioned for tumor treatment. In addition, using this new method and experimental manipulations the authors identify homoharringtonine as a new potential therapy for liver cancer and the underlying liver disease. However, while bioinformatic analysis was really comprehensive, the results and conclusions obtained are based on public datasets and therefore limited by the data available. In addition, the experimental approach to test the potential new treatments are currently based on in vitro assays and would be strengthened by in vivo validations.

      (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