eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A SHERLOCK toolbox for eco-epidemiological surveillance of African trypanosomes in domestic pigs from Western Africa

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Roger Eloiflin
   2. Elena Pérez-Antón
   3. Aïssata Camara
   4. Annick Dujeancourt-Henry
   5. Salimatou Boiro
   6. Martial N Djetchi
   7. Mélika Barkissa Traoré
   8. Mathurin Koffi
   9. Dramane Kaba
   10. Yann Le Pennec
   11. Bakary Doukouré
   12. Abdoulaye Dansy Camara
   13. Moïse Kagbadouno
   14. Pascal Campagne
   15. Mamadou Camara
   16. Vincent Jamonneau
   17. Sophie Thévenon
   18. Jean-Mathieu Bart
   19. Lucy Glover
   20. Brice Rotureau

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports an advancement in the diagnosis of Animal African Trypanosomosis (AAT), which adapts a CRISPR-based diagnostic tool (SHERLOCK4AAT) to detect different trypanosome species responsible for AAT. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing and in line with the current state-of-the-art diagnostics. This study will be of interest to the fields of Epidemiology, Public Health, and Veterinary Medicine.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Glycogen engineering improves the starvation resistance of mesenchymal stem cells and their therapeutic efficacy in pulmonary fibrosis

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yongyue Xu
   2. Mamatali Rahman
   3. Zhaoyan Wang
   4. Bo Zhang
   5. Hanqi Xie
   6. Lei Wang
   7. Haowei Xu
   8. Xiaodan Sun
   9. Shan Cheng
   10. Qiong Wu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents a novel approach to enhance the therapeutic potential of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) by genetically modifying their glycogen synthesis pathway, resulting in increased glycogen accumulation and improved cell survival under starvation conditions, particularly in the context of experimental pulmonary fibrosis. The methods and findings are generally solid and could be strengthened in the future by investigating the kinetics of persistence, the immunomodulatory effects, and the underlying improved mechanism of action of MSCs in this pulmonary fibrosis model. If confirmed, this approach could suggest potential methods to improve the therapeutic functionality of MSCs in cell therapy strategies.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Low-Frequency Tibial Neuromodulation Increases Voiding Activity - a Human Pilot Study and Computational Model

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Aidan McConnell-Trevillion
   2. Milad Jabbari
   3. Wei Ju
   4. Elliot Lister
   5. Abbas Erfanian
   6. Srinjoy Mitra
   7. Kianoush Nazarpour

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates frequency-dependent effects of transcutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (TTNS) on bladder function in healthy humans and, through a computational model, shows that low-frequency stimulation accelerates, and high-frequency delays, the urge to void. The integration of experimental and modeling approaches provides a solid foundation for clinical trials targeting urinary retention. However, concerns were raised about over-interpretation of modest effects and the limited physiological validity of the computational model, especially its mismatch with typical bladder behaviour and lack of quantitative validation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The increase in cell volume and nuclear number of the koji-fungus Aspergillus oryzae contributes to its high enzyme productivity

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Ayaka Itani
   2. Haruto Motomura
   3. Ken Oda
   4. Hideyuki Yamashita
   5. Kanae Sakai
   6. Ken-ichi Kusumoto
   7. Shinsuke Shigeto
   8. Takehiko Ichikawa
   9. Hosain Mohammad Mubarak
   10. Takeshi Fukuma
   11. Takuya Katayama
   12. Jun-ichi Maruyama
   13. Shunsuke Masuo
   14. Naoki Takaya
   15. Norio Takeshita

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The ratio of nuclei to cell volume is a well-controlled parameter in eukaryotic cells. This study now reports important findings that expand our understanding of the regulatory relationship between cell size and number of nuclei. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing obtained by applying appropriate and validated methodology in line with current state-of-the-art. The paper will be of broad interest for cell biologists and fungal biotechnologists seeking to understand mechanisms determining cell size and number of nuclei and why this knowledge might also be of importance for the production of enzymes and thus production strains not only of Aspergillus oryzae but also other industrially used fungi.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. BICC1 interacts with PKD1 and PKD2 to drive cystogenesis in ADPKD

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Uyen Tran
   2. Andrew J Streets
   3. Devon Smith
   4. Eva Decker
   5. Annemarie Kirschfink
   6. Lahoucine Izem
   7. Jessie M Hassey
   8. Briana Rutland
   9. Manoj K Valluru
   10. Jan Hinrich Bräsen
   11. Elisabeth Ott
   12. Daniel Epting
   13. Tobias Eisenberger
   14. Albert CM Ong
   15. Carsten Bergmann
   16. Oliver Wessely

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presented valuable findings regarding the basic molecular pathways leading to the cystogenesis of Autosomal Dominant Polycystic Kidney Disease, suggesting BICC1 functions as both a minor causative gene for PKD and a modifier of PKD severity. Solid data were supplied to demonstrate the functional and structural interactions between BICC-1, PC1 and PC2, respectively. The characterization of such interactions remains to be developed further, which renders the specific relevance of these findings for the etiology of relevant diseases unclear.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. CCDC32 stabilizes clathrin-coated pits and drives their invagination

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Ziyan Yang
   2. Changsong Yang
   3. Zheng Huang
   4. Peiliu Xu
   5. Yueping Li
   6. Lu Han
   7. Linyuan Peng
   8. Xiangying Wei
   9. John E Pak
   10. Tatyana Svitkina
   11. Sandra L Schmid
   12. Zhiming Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The manuscript presents a valuable finding that CCDC32, beyond its reported role in AP2 assembly, follows AP2 to the plasma membrane and regulates clathrin-coated pit assembly and dynamics. The authors further identify an alpha-helical region within CCDC32 that is essential for its interaction with AP2 and its cellular function. While live-cell and ultrastructural imaging data are solid, future biochemical studies will be needed to confirm the proposed CCDC32-AP2 interaction.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

7. Systematic analysis of transcription factor combinatorial binding uncovers TEAD1 as an antagonist of tissue-specific transcription factors in human organogenesis

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Araceli Garcia-Mora
   2. Joshua Mallen
   3. Peyman Zarrineh
   4. Neil Hanley
   5. Dave Gerrard
   6. Nicoletta Bobola

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents a pipeline for discovering cooperative transcription factor (TF) interactions that regulate development, and applies this pipeline in a systematic investigation of TF co-regulation in 11 human embryonic tissues. The authors provide overall solid bioinformatics and experimental support for their findings: although they make a convincing argument for the role of TEAD factors as co-repressors of regulatory activity with tissue-specific TFs, other aspects of the study would benefit from additional validation. This work would be of interest to cell biologists focused on development or on discovery of TF relationships.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Heterozygosity at a conserved candidate sex determination locus is associated with female development in the clonal raider ant (Ooceraea biroi)

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Kip D Lacy
   2. Jina Lee
   3. Kathryn Rozen-Gagnon
   4. Wei Wang
   5. Thomas S Carroll
   6. Daniel JC Kronauer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into the evolutionary conservation of sex determination mechanisms in ants by identifying a candidate sex-determining region in a parthenogenetic species. It uses solid, well-executed genomic analyses based on differences in heterozygosity between females and diploid males. While the candidate locus awaits functional validation in this species, the study provides convincing support for the ancient origin of a non-coding locus implicated in sex determination.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Material Damage to Multielectrode Arrays after Electrolytic Lesioning is in the Noise

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Alice Tor
   2. Stephen E Clarke
   3. Iliana E Bray
   4. Paul Nuyujukian
   5. Brain Interfacing Laboratory

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful manuscript addresses a stability issue for long-term chronically implanted array recordings and electrolytic lesioning, which is relevant to both basic science and translational research. The authors provide a systematic scanning electron microscopy (SEM) of explanted arrays, evaluating electrode damage and sharing extensive datasets accessible through interactive plots. The strength of the evidence is solid, but it can be improved by performing additional analyses on complementary neurophysiology, functional, or histological data.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Theory of non-dilute binding and surface phase separation applied to membrane-binding proteins

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Xueping Zhao
    2. Daxiao Sun
    3. Giacomo Bartolucci
    4. Anthony A Hyman
    5. Alf Honigmann
    6. Christoph A Weber

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study presents a compelling theoretical framework for understanding condensation or phase separation of membrane-bound proteins, with a focus on the organization of tight junction components. By incorporating non-dilute binding effects into thermodynamic models and validating the model's predictions with in vitro experiments on the tight junction protein ZO-1, the authors provide a quantitative tool that combines theory and experiments and will help researchers in the field quantitatively interpret their findings. Given that phase separation of membrane bound molecules is becoming key in signaling, spanning from immune signaling to cell-cell adhesion, this work will be of broad interest for cell biologists and biophysicists.

    Reviewed by eLife