Neuroscience

Unraveling Axonal Transcriptional Landscapes: Insights from iPSC-Derived Cortical Neurons and Implications for Motor Neuron Degeneration

1. Jishu Xu
2. Michaela Hörner
3. Maike Nagel
4. Perwin Perhat
5. Milena Korneck
6. Marvin Noß
7. Stefan Hauser
8. Ludger Schöls
9. Jakob Admard
10. Nicolas Casadei
11. Rebecca Schüle

Reviewed by Review Commons

History-dependent spiking facilitates efficient encoding of polarization angles in neurons of the central complex

1. Lisa Rother
2. Anna Stöckl
3. Keram Pfeiffer

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This valuable study combines electrophysiology experiments and modeling to investigate the encoding of dynamic patterns of polarized light by identified neurons of the bumblebee central complex. The scientific question and methodology are compelling. However, the evidence supporting the authors' conclusions is incomplete without more comprehensive statistical analyses.

Reviewed by eLife

Ih block reveals separation of timescales in pyloric rhythm response to temperature changes in Cancer borealis

1. Kyra Schapiro
2. JD Rittenberg
3. Max Kenngott
4. Eve Marder

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study investigates neurobiological mechanisms underlying the maintenance of stable, functionally appropriate rhythmic motor patterns during changing environmental conditions - temperature in this study in the crab Cancer borealis stomatogastric central neural pattern generating circuits producing the rhythmic pyloric motor pattern, which is naturally subjected to temperature perturbations over a substantial range. The authors present compelling evidence that the neuronal hyperpolarization-activated inward current (Ih), known to contribute to rhythm control, plays a vital role in the ability of these circuits to appropriately adjust the frequency of rhythmic neural activity in a smooth monotonic fashion while maintaining the relative timing of different phases of the activity pattern that determines proper functional motor coordination transiently and persistently to temperature perturbations. This study will be of interest to neurobiologists studying rhythmic motor circuits and systems and their physiological adaptations.

Reviewed by eLife

Dual-modal metabolic analysis reveals hypothermia-reversible uncoupling of oxidative phosphorylation in neonatal brain hypoxia-ischemia

1. Naidi Sun
2. Yu-Yo Sun
3. Rui Cao
4. Hong-Ru Chen
5. Yiming Wang
6. Elizabeth Fugate
7. Marchelle R Smucker
8. Yi-Min Kuo
9. P Ellen Grant
10. Diana M Lindquist
11. Chia-Yi Kuan
12. Song Hu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study reveals a novel mechanism by which hypoxia-ischemia damages the neonatal brain and how hypothermia protects from brain injury. The paper presents an interesting combination of state-of-the-art optical measurements, mitochondrial assays, and the use of various control experiments providing solid evidence for the derived conclusions. Reviewers caution that possible adverse effects of prolonged anesthesia, as well as pain and stress after a major surgical procedure might influence the outcomes and should be carefully considered. This work will be of interest to the fields of hypoxia and brain metabolism research.

Reviewed by eLife

Cell class-specific long-range axonal projections of neurons in mouse whisker-related somatosensory cortices

1. Yanqi Liu
2. Pol Bech
3. Keita Tamura
4. Lucas T Délez
5. Sylvain Crochet
6. Carl CH Petersen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study offers a valuable description of the layer-and sublayer specific outputs of the somatosensory cortex based on compelling evidence obtained with modern tools for the analysis of brain connectivity, together with functional validation of the connectivity using optogenetic approaches in vivo. Beyond bridging together, in one dataset, the results of disparate studies, this effort brings new insights on layer specific outputs, and on differences between primary and secondary somatosensory areas. This study will be of interest to neuroanatomists and neurophysiologists.

Reviewed by eLife

I-Spin live, an open-source software based on blind-source separation for real-time decoding of motor unit activity in humans

1. Julien Rossato
2. François Hug
3. Kylie Tucker
4. Ciara Gibbs
5. Lilian Lacourpaille
6. Dario Farina
7. Simon Avrillon

Reviewed by eLife

Rab11 suppresses neuronal stress signaling by localizing dual leucine zipper kinase to axon terminals for protein turnover

1. Seung Mi Kim
2. Yaw Quagraine
3. Monika Singh
4. Jung Hwan Kim

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important manuscript shows that axonal transport of Wnd is required for its normal degradation by the Hiw ubiquitin ligase pathway. In Hiw mutants, the Wnd protein accumulates in nerve terminals. In the absence of axonal transport, Wnd levels also rise and lead to excessive JNK signaling, disrupting neuronal function. These are interesting findings supported by convincing data. However, how Rab11 is involved in Golgi processing or axonal transport of Wnd is not resolved as it is clear that Rab11 is not travelling with Wnd to the axon.

Reviewed by eLife

The potassium channel subunit KV1.8 (Kcna10) is essential for the distinctive outwardly rectifying conductances of type I and II vestibular hair cells

1. Hannah R Martin
2. Anna Lysakowski
3. Ruth Anne Eatock

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study provides direct evidence showing that Kv1.8 channels provide the basis for several potassium currents in the two types of sensory hair cells found in the mouse vestibular system. This is an important finding because the nature of the channels underpinning the unusual potassium conductance gK,L in type I hair cells has been under scrutiny for many years. The experimental evidence is compelling and the analysis is rigorous. The study will be of interest to cell and molecular biologists as well as vestibular and auditory neuroscientists.

Reviewed by eLife

A microglia clonal inflammatory disorder in Alzheimer’s disease

1. Rocio Vicario
2. Stamatina Fragkogianni
3. Leslie Weber
4. Tomi Lazarov
5. Yang Hu
6. Samantha Y Hayashi
7. Barbara Craddock
8. Nicholas D Socci
9. Araitz Alberdi
10. Ann Baako
11. Oyku Ay
12. Masato Ogishi
13. Estibaliz Lopez-Rodrigo
14. Rajya Kappagantula
15. Agnes Viale
16. Christine A Iacobuzio-Donahue
17. Ting Zhou
18. Richard M Ransohoff
19. Richard Chesworth
20. Netherlands Brain Bank
21. Omar Abdel-Wahab
22. Bertrand Boisson
23. Olivier Elemento
24. Jean-Laurent Casanova
25. W Todd Miller
26. Frédéric Geissmann

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study enhances our understanding of how somatic variants in microglia might influence the onset and progression of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with the authors employing a multi-faceted approach to identify an enrichment of potentially pathogenic somatic mutations in Alzheimer's disease microglia. This research will be of significant interest to those investigating somatic mutations, Alzheimer's disease, microglial biology and cell signalling pathways.

Reviewed by eLife

Analysis of foothold selection during locomotion using terrain reconstruction

1. Karl S Muller
2. Kathryn Bonnen
3. Stephanie M Shields
4. Daniel P Panfili
5. Jonathan Matthis
6. Mary M Hayhoe

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study has the potential to substantially advance our understanding of human locomotion in complex real-world settings and opens up new approaches to studying (visually guided) behavior in natural settings outside the lab. The evidence supporting the conclusions is overall compelling. Whereas detailed analyses represent multiple ways to visualize and quantify the rich and complex natural behavior, some of the specific conclusions remain more suggestive at this point. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists, kinesiologists, computer scientists, and engineers working on human locomotion.

Reviewed by eLife