eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Leveraging the Mendelian disorders of the epigenetic machinery to systematically map functional epigenetic variation

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Teresa Romeo Luperchio
   2. Leandros Boukas
   3. Li Zhang
   4. Genay Pilarowski
   5. Jenny Jiang
   6. Allison Kalinousky
   7. Kasper D Hansen
   8. Hans T Bjornsson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript finds common molecular features in the blood of three "Mendelian Disorder of the Epigenetic Machinery" (MDEM) mouse models. These shared features (chromatin accessibility and gene expression) may underlie some of the clinical similarities of these disorders. This work will be of interest to researchers, and to some clinicians studying MDEM and epigenetic variation in mammals. Additional analyses are needed to strengthen the 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

2. Control of Arabidopsis shoot stem cell homeostasis by two antagonistic CLE peptide signalling pathways

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jenia Schlegel
   2. Gregoire Denay
   3. Rene Wink
   4. Karine Gustavo Pinto
   5. Yvonne Stahl
   6. Julia Schmid
   7. Patrick Blümke
   8. Rüdiger GW Simon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Vertical patterning of the shoot meristem is regulated by a well-characterized feedback loop involving the CLAVATA3 peptide, the CLAVATA1 receptor-like kinase and the WUSCHEL transcription factor. Cell loss from the Peripheral Zone of the meristem, due to production of lateral organs, requires a compensatory size increase of the stem cell domain, i.e. there is a need to understand how stem cell activities in the Central Zone and Organizing Center are coordinated to regulate organ initiation and cell differentiation in the Peripheral Zone. The authors identify a new signaling pathway to control shoot meristem function in Arabidopsis, suggesting that the peptide CLE40 and the receptor kinase-like protein BAM1 act from the Peripheral Zone to stimulate stem cell fate via WUSCHEL expression, and antagonistically to the CLV pathway. The model is novel and exciting and will be of interest to plant scientists as well as those interested in developmental patterning. Some additional evidence is required to fully sufficient to support all claims in 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 #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Molecular determinants of phase separation for Drosophila DNA replication licensing factors

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Matthew W Parker
   2. Jonchee A Kao
   3. Alvin Huang
   4. James M Berger
   5. Michael R Botchan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper studies the role of phase separation in replication initiation, with a focus on Cdt1. Sorting out the relative roles of phase separation and other mechanisms will require a detailed dissection of the amino acids driving phase separation, which can then be used to probe the role of phase separation in cells. Here the authors perform extensive and comprehensive analyses that are well done and that set the scene for a full dissection of the role of condensation in replication initiation inside cells.

     (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. An experimental test of the effects of redacting grant applicant identifiers on peer review outcomes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Richard K Nakamura
   2. Lee S Mann
   3. Mark D Lindner
   4. Jeremy Braithwaite
   5. Mei-Ching Chen
   6. Adrian Vancea
   7. Noni Byrnes
   8. Valerie Durrant
   9. Bruce Reed

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript by Nakamura et al provides additional information on the impact of bias in the scientific review process. The authors find that on average applications from White scientists scored better than those from Black scientists. However, blinding reviewers to race worsened the score of the White scientists with no impact on the score for Black scientists. In view of the recognized value of increased diversity in science, the additional information provided in this manuscript adds new data to this discussion. Potential solutions to this bias though are 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

5. Mitochondrial phenotypes in purified human immune cell subtypes and cell mixtures

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Shannon Rausser
   2. Caroline Trumpff
   3. Marlon A McGill
   4. Alex Junker
   5. Wei Wang
   6. Siu-Hong Ho
   7. Anika Mitchell
   8. Kalpita R Karan
   9. Catherine Monk
   10. Suzanne C Segerstrom
   11. Rebecca G Reed
   12. Martin Picard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of broad interest to those in the field of immunometabolism, a field which has largely used the mouse as an experimental system. The descriptive work is the first of its kind to demonstrate important aspects of biological variability and hidden aspects of mitochondrial function in human immune cells.

     (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. Functional architecture of pancreatic islets identifies a population of first responder cells that drive the first-phase calcium response

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Vira Kravets
   2. JaeAnn M. Dwulet
   3. Wolfgang E. Schleicher
   4. David J. Hodson
   5. Anna M. Davis
   6. Laura Pyle
   7. Robert A. Piscopio
   8. Maura Sticco-Ivins
   9. Richard K. P. Benninger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper provides interesting insights in the control of insulin secretion. The authors identify a subset of 'first responder' beta-cells (the cells that secrete insulin) that - possibly -influence the activity of other beta-cells. They characterise some of the properties of these cells and demonstrate the existence of a fascinating possible hierarchy within the islet. With the data consolidated by more rigorous statistical analyses, this paper will make a useful addition to the field.

     (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. Cardiac pathologies in mouse loss of imprinting models are due to misexpression of H19 long noncoding RNA

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Ki-Sun Park
   2. Beenish Rahat
   3. Hyung Chul Lee
   4. Zu-Xi Yu
   5. Jacob Noeker
   6. Apratim Mitra
   7. Connor M Kean
   8. Russell H Knutsen
   9. Danielle Springer
   10. Claudia M Gebert
   11. Beth A Kozel
   12. Karl Pfeifer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript models a particular class of genetic lesions observed in the imprinting disorder and overgrowth syndrome, Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome (BWS), using a highly tractable mouse model. Because more than one gene is abnormally expressed in BWS that is caused by loss of imprinting of H19 and IGF2, the authors vary the expression of both genes to investigate the source of the cardiovascular phenotypes and are able to ascribe independent heart phenotypes resulting from IGF2 overexpression and H19 loss of expression.

     (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

8. Neural dynamics between anterior insular cortex and right supramarginal gyrus dissociate genuine affect sharing from perceptual saliency of pretended pain

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Yili Zhao
   2. Lei Zhang
   3. Markus Rütgen
   4. Ronald Sladky
   5. Claus Lamm

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Lamm and colleagues explore brain dynamics of empathy in response to facial expressions of simulated versus genuine pain in others. Using a novel experimental fMRI task and dynamic causal modelling, the findings suggest that activation of the anterior insula for genuine pain reflects affect sharing rather than automatic responses triggered by the perceptual salience of events. The paper is of broad interest to an audience of social and affective neuroscientists interested in how humans track the emotional responses of others.

     (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. Role of Nrp1 in controlling cortical inter-hemispheric circuits

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Fernando Martín-Fernández
   2. Ana Bermejo-Santos
   3. Lorena Bragg-Gonzalo
   4. Carlos G Briz
   5. Esther Serrano-Saiz
   6. Marta Nieto

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Martín-Fernández et al. show that Nrp1 acts within the primary somatosensory cortex to control the refinement of axons and the topography of contralateral targeting, particularly with regards to homotopic "matching" of gradients. While this action of Nrp1 has already been discovered between cortical areas, this work elucidates its role within a cortical area, with further insight into the developmental dynamics of projection and refinement also reported. This is impactful to the field of cortical axon guidance and corpus callosum development. The data analysis is rigorous and most conclusions are justified by 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

10. An engineered transcriptional reporter of protein localization identifies regulators of mitochondrial and ER membrane protein trafficking in high-throughput CRISPRi screens

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Robert Coukos
    2. David Yao
    3. Mateo I Sanchez
    4. Eric T Strand
    5. Meagan E Olive
    6. Namrata D Udeshi
    7. Jonathan S Weissman
    8. Steven A Carr
    9. Michael C Bassik
    10. Alice Y Ting

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      Here authors present a robust, high-throughput and genome-wide strategy to identify genes that influence protein localization in individual subcellular compartments. The results profile subsets of genes that are involved in localization of tail-anchored proteins to mitochondrial and endoplasmic reticulum membranes and identify several unexpected regulators. This new tool is adaptable to studying various types of protein trafficking processes to shed light on their molecular mechanisms.

      (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, preLights