eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Role of ADMA-histones in dual-strand piRNA source loci recognition by Rhino

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Raku Saito
   2. Hirotsugu Ishizu
   3. Ritsuko Harigai
   4. Kensaku Murano
   5. Yurika Namba
   6. Mikiko C Siomi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study identifies asymmetric dimethylarginine (ADMA) modification of histones as a potential key determinant of the initial genomic binding of Rhino, a Drosophila-specific chromatin protein essential for piRNA cluster specification. The authors provide correlative genomic and imaging data to support their model, although functional validation of the proposed mechanism remains incomplete. Testing the redundancy between dART4 and dART1, which together could affect the prominent piRNA loci, in addition to the minor ones investigated in the manuscript, may change our assessment.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Risk-taking incentives predict aggression heuristics in female gorillas

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Nikolaos Smit
   2. Martha M Robbins

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses long-term behavioural observations to understand the factors that influence female-on-female aggression in gorilla social groups. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing, as it includes novel methods of assessing aggression and considers other potential factors. The work will be of interest to broad biologists working on the social interactions of animals.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The cytoplasm of living cells can sustain transient and steady intracellular pressure gradients

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Majid Malboubi
   2. Mohammad Hadi Esteki
   3. Malti B Vaghela
   4. Lulu IT Korsak
   5. Ryan J Petrie
   6. Emad Moeendarbary
   7. Guillaume Charras

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study combines imaginative and innovative experiments with a finite element modelling to demonstrate the relevance of poroelasticity in the mechanical properties of cells across physiologically relevant time and length scales. The authors present convincing evidence that cytosolic flows and pressure gradients can persist in cells with permeable membranes, generating spatially segregated influx and outflux zones. These findings are of interest to the cell biology and biophysics communities.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Using step selection functions to analyse human mobility using telemetry data in infectious disease epidemiology: a case study of leptospirosis

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Pablo Ruiz Cuenca
   2. Fábio N Souza
   3. Roberta Coutinho do Nascimento
   4. Ariane Goncalves da Silva
   5. Max T Eyre
   6. Juliet O Santana
   7. Daiana de Oliveira
   8. Emile V Ribeiro de Souza
   9. Fabiana G Palma
   10. Diogo C de Carvalho Santiago
   11. Priscyla dos Santos Ribeiro
   12. Priscilla Elizabeth Ferreira dos Santos
   13. Hussein Khalil
   14. Jonathan M Read
   15. Cleber Cremonese
   16. Federico Costa
   17. Emanuele Giorgi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study makes a novel and valuable contribution by adapting step selection functions, traditionally used in animal ecology, to explore human movement and environmental risk exposure in urban slums, offering a promising framework for spatial epidemiology, particularly regarding leptospirosis. The integration of GPS telemetry with environmental data and the stratification by gender and serostatus are notable strengths that enhance the study's relevance for public health applications. The strength of evidence is compelling.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Minus the Error: Testing for Positive Selection in the Presence of Residual Alignment Errors

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Avery Selberg
   2. Nathan L Clark
   3. Timothy B Sackton
   4. Spencer V Muse
   5. Alexander G Lucaci
   6. Steven Weaver
   7. Anton Nekrutenko
   8. Maria Chikina
   9. Sergei L Kosakovsky Pond

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Alignment and sequencing errors are a major concern in molecular evolution, and this valuable study represents a welcome improvement for genome-wide scans of positive selection. This new method seems to perform well and is generally convincing, although the evidence could be made more direct and more complete through additional simulations to determine the extent to which alignment errors are being properly captured.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Design of combination therapeutics from protein response to drugs in ovarian cancer cells

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Alexandra Franz
   2. Ciyue Shen
   3. Fabian Coscia
   4. Kenneth Munroe
   5. Lea Charaoui
   6. Anil Korkut
   7. Matthias Mann
   8. Augustin Luna
   9. Chris Sander

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this important study, the authors provide a simple yet elegant approach to identifying therapeutic targets that synergize to prevent therapeutic resistance in ovarian cancer using cell lines, data-independent acquisition proteomics, and bioinformatic analysis. The authors convincingly identify several combinations of pharmaceuticals that were able to overcome or prevent therapeutic resistance in culture models of ovarian cancer, a disease with an unmet diagnostic and therapeutic need. This work will be of interest to researchers focused on ovarian cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. WRN and WRNIP1 ATPases impose high fidelity on translesion synthesis by Y-family DNA polymerases

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Jung Hoon Yoon
   2. Karthi Sellamuthu
   3. Louise Prakash
   4. Satya Prakash

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports an important finding for understanding the molecular mechanisms of mutagenesis, carcinogenesis, and senescence. It follows a previous report showing that the Werner syndrome protein WRN and its interacting protein WRNIP1 are indispensable for translesion DNA synthesis (TLS) by Y-family DNA polymerases (Pols). The manuscript provides convincing evidence that WRN and WRNIP1 ATPases, in addition to the previously reported role of the WRN 3'>5' exonuclease activity, are essential for promoting the fidelity of replication through DNA lesions by Y-family Pols in human cells.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Serum, Cell-Free, HPV-Human DNA Junction Detection and HPV Typing for Predicting and Monitoring Cervical Cancer Recurrence

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Anne Van Arsdale
   2. Olga Mescheryakova
   3. Sonia Gallego
   4. Elaine C Maggi
   5. Bryan Harmon
   6. Dennis YS Kuo
   7. Koenraad Van Doorslaer
   8. Mark H Einstein
   9. Brian J Haas
   10. Cristina Montagna
   11. Jack Lenz

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a valuable study that suggests that HPV-human DNA junctions can be identified from cfDNA in women with cervical cancer and that detection of these junctions is indicative of recurrence. The evidence supporting the conclusions is incomplete, in part because the numbers of reads identifying breakpoints in tumor samples or in circulating cell-free serum samples are not provided. More quantitative analysis will be required to confirm that the breakpoints represented in cell-free DNA can be used as a surrogate to monitor the recurrence of cervical cancer cells, and additional patient studies would also be needed to strengthen the study. This work will be of interest to those who study and treat cervical cancer as well as other HPV-related malignancies.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. SMC5/6-mediated plasmid silencing is directed by SIMC1–SLF2 and antagonized by the SV40 large T antigen

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Martina Oravcová
   2. Minghua Nie
   3. Takanori Otomo
   4. Michael N Boddy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This Research Advance manuscript further elucidates the roles of SMC5/6 loader proteins and associated factors in the silencing of extrachromosomal circular DNA by the SMC5/6 complex. While the findings are largely in line with expectations, they are valuable, representing a meaningful advance beyond the recent study from the same laboratories (PMC9708086), validating the previous model that distinct SMC5/6 subcomplexes, SIMC1-SLF2 and SLF1/2, separately control its transcriptional repression and DNA repair activities on extrachromosomal DNA. Solid evidence is presented for a role for SIMC1/SLF2 in localization of the SMC5/6 complex to plasmid DNA, and the distinct requirements as compared to recruitment of SMC5/6 to chromosomal DNA lesions.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. HIV-specific CD8+ T-cell proliferative response 24 weeks after early antiretroviral therapy initiation is associated with the subsequent reduction in the viral reservoir

    This article has 20 authors:

    1. Pien Margien van Paassen
    2. Alexander O Pasternak
    3. Dita C Bolluyt
    4. Karel A van Dort
    5. Ad C van Nuenen
    6. Irma Maurer
    7. Brigitte Boeser-Nunnink
    8. Ninée VEJ Buchholtz
    9. Tokameh Mahmoudi
    10. Cynthia Lungu
    11. Reinout van Crevel
    12. Casper Rokx
    13. Jori Symons
    14. Monique Nijhuis
    15. Annelou LIP van der Veen
    16. Liffert Vogt
    17. Michelle J Klouwens
    18. Jan M Prins
    19. Neeltje A Kootstra
    20. Godelieve J de Bree

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The findings of this study are valuable as it demonstrates that when treatment is initiated during acute infection, HIV specific CD8 T cell responses are maintained long term and continued proliferative capacity of these cells may play a role in reducing HIV DNA levels. The evidence supporting the conclusions are solid with rigorous and advanced methodology used with the major limitations being that the findings are association level and do not meet strict criteria for causality. The work is of interest to the HIV cure field and suggests that enhancing early HIV specific CD8 T cell responses should be considered in the design of interventional cure strategies.

    Reviewed by eLife