Early April.
The editorial office of Nature.
George, an academic editor for the journal, is an MIT graduate.
His daily work involves sifting through a multitude of research papers submitted from across the globe, selecting those of exceptional quality to be reviewed by the editor-in-chief.
To be honest.
George has been feeling rather down lately.
His inbox is overflowing with papers, but very few are of high quality.
If he doesn't come across any more high-quality research.
He, this academic editor, will definitely be chewed out by the editor-in-chief.
George browses through the papers in his inbox, muttering to himself, “This one's no good, this one's no good either…”
While flipping through the papers.
He’s suddenly caught by a paper titled "Biomimetic Nanoparticle of Pulmonary Surfactant (PS-GAMP) Enhances Resistance to Heterotypic Influenza Virus Infection."
He clicks on the paper.
George's eyes light up.
This research paper is of high quality!
The authors of the paper reveal the role and mechanism of biomimetic nanoparticles as a universal influenza vaccine mucosal adjuvant.
Since the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA) genes of influenza viruses frequently mutate.
The mismatch between the annually predicted and circulating strains significantly limits vaccine efficacy and application.
Therefore, the medical community urgently needs safe and efficient mucosal adjuvants to promote the generation of protective immunity to address the threat of different influenza virus infections.
Based on cGAMP design, the authors have prepared a biomimetic nanoparticle (PS-GAMP) to mimic influenza infection.
The study found that it can activate AMs and AECs without damaging pulmonary surfactant (PS) and alveolar epithelial barrier (AEC) to promote the production of efficient humoral and CD8+T cell protective immune responses to resist attacks from various heterotypic influenza viruses.
The results showed that AECs play a crucial role in generating broad cross-protection against various influenza viruses, suggesting that PS-GAMP may be a potential mucosal adjuvant for a “universal” influenza vaccine.
After patiently reading the entire paper.
George can't help but praise it.
As we all know, influenza can infect 3 million to 5 million people each year, resulting in hundreds of thousands of deaths, posing a significant threat to people's health and life.
If the authors’ findings are applied.
Then from now on, biomimetic nanoparticles of pulmonary surfactant will significantly enhance resistance to heterotypic influenza, benefiting countless influenza patients!
George glances at the author's name: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
He hesitates.
Yu-Chen?
Soochow University?
Why haven't I ever heard of this university before?
George opens a search engine and searches for the school's name. He then realizes.
It turns out that Soochow University is a university in Xia, located in Suzhou.
He's not familiar with this university.
But there's no denying that this paper is of high quality. Its conclusions represent a substantial advancement in understanding a significant issue and have direct and far-reaching implications.
It fully meets the publication standards of the main journal of Nature.
After checking for plagiarism in the paper.
George then carefully examines the format and layout of the manuscript.
Nature has extremely high requirements for paper submissions.
If the format is wrong, the paper will be immediately rejected and the authors will be asked to revise it.
For example, original research papers should use the Articles format and should not exceed 50 references.
For example, Articles should provide an abstract of no more than 150 words, which is separate from the main text.
For example, the main text can include subheadings, with a total of no more than six, each less than 40 characters, meaning that the text length of each subheading is less than one line.
For example, Articles typically have 5-6 display items, i.e., figures or tables.
For example, manuscripts should be double-spaced and written in English.
There are hundreds of such formatting requirements.
George has finally found a high-quality paper.
He naturally hopes that the paper's format doesn't have any major issues.
Fortunately, the author is very proficient in paper submissions and there are no flaws in the format whatsoever.
George checks the paper several times.
He quickly passes the paper through the initial review process and sends it to four reviewers at Nature for further evaluation.
This paper belongs to the field of medicine.
It needs to be cross-reviewed by big names in the medical field!
…
After passing a medical paper through the initial review, George feels much better.
With this paper as a foundation.
He shouldn't be scolded by the editor-in-chief!
Next.
George continues to browse through the papers.
The next paper is titled "Major Breakthrough! Discovery of a Novel Protein Degradation Mechanism in Cells!"
The authors of the paper have discovered a protein called midnolin that plays a crucial role in degrading many short-lived nuclear proteins.
In the field of genetics, short-lived proteins control gene expression in cells and perform many important tasks.
This helps the brain form connections to help the body fight infection.
These proteins are produced in the cell nucleus and are quickly broken down once they have completed their tasks.
Although these proteins are very important.
For decades, scientists have been unaware of the process by which they are degraded and removed from the cell when they are no longer needed.
The study shows.
Midnolin has a “catch-domain” that captures other proteins and directly delivers them to the proteasome for subsequent degradation.
This “catch-domain” is composed of two separate regions linked by amino acids that can bind to a relatively unstructured region in the protein, allowing midnolin to capture a variety of different types of proteins.
Midnolin directly grabs these proteins and pulls them into the cell's waste disposal system, the proteasome, where they are destroyed.
At the same time, midnolin is also involved in the degradation of hundreds of other transcription factors in the cell nucleus.
Upon reading this.
George nods approvingly.
This paper is also of very high quality!
He glances at the author's name: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
Hmm?
The author is Yu-Chen again, from Soochow University in Xia?
One person actually submitted two papers at the same time, that's impressive!
After checking the format of the manuscript, George also passes this paper through the initial review process.
…
Next.
George continues his review.
“Cancer Cell Metabolism and Antitumor Immunity Overview!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
"Revealing a Unique Coordinated Mechanism of Gene Expression in Tumors!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
"Using Genetically Modified Porphyromonas gingivalis to Detect Tumor DNA in Vivo!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
…
"Dau-d4, a Compound Derived from Traditional Chinese Medicine, Can Improve the Efficacy of Existing Diabetes Medications!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
"Developing a Novel KRAS Resolution Strategy That May Overcome the "Undruggable" Barrier!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
"The Gut Hormone PYY, Which Controls Appetite, Also Plays a Crucial Role in Regulating the Fungal Microbiome!" — Author: Yu-Chen (SoochowUniversity).
…
After reading through this series of papers.
George is completely dumbfounded.
WTF!!!
What's going on?
Yu-Chen from Soochow University in Xia has actually submitted 10 high-quality papers at once?
How is this even possible!
From his years of experience as an academic editor.
At least 7 of these 10 papers are good enough to be published in the main journal of Nature.
With some luck.
All 10 papers could even be published in the main journal!
Who exactly is this medical bigwig named Yu-Chen?