Neuroscience

Characterization of direct Purkinje cell outputs to the brainstem

1. Christopher H Chen
2. Zhiyi Yao
3. Shuting Wu
4. Wade G Regehr

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important paper provides an unbiased landscape for the cerebellar cortical outputs to the brainstem nuclei. By conducting anatomical and physiological analyses of the axonal terminals of Purkinje cells, the data provides convincing evidence that Purkinje cells innervate brainstem nuclei directly. The results show that in addition to previously known inputs to vestibular and parabrachial nuclei, Purkinje cells synapse onto the pontine central grey nucleus but have little effect on the locus coeruleus and mesencephalic trigeminal neurons.

Reviewed by eLife

Aminergic and peptidergic modulation of insulin-producing cells in Drosophila

1. Martina Held
2. Rituja S Bisen
3. Meet Zandawala
4. Alexander S Chockley
5. Isabella S Balles
6. Selina Hilpert
7. Sander Liessem
8. Federico Cascino-Milani
9. Jan M Ache

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study comprehensively characterizes insulin producing cells (IPCs) resident in the Drosophila melanogaster brain. A compelling experimental tour de force, the combination of connectomics, mapping of receptors for neuromodulators, electrophysiological recordings, Calcium imaging and optogenetics demonstrates that IPCs operate as a functionally heterogeneous population, as necessary to address continuously changing metabolic demands. These findings will be of interest to both neuroscientists and physiologists seeking to study context-dependent neuroendocrine regulation.

Reviewed by eLife

Elevated DNA damage without signs of aging in the short-sleeping Mexican cavefish

1. Evan Lloyd
2. Fanning Xia
3. Kinsley Moore
4. Carolina Zertuche Mery
5. Aakriti Rastogi
6. Robert A Kozol
7. Olga Kenzor
8. Wesley Warren
9. Lior Appelbaum
10. Rachel L Moran
11. Chongbei Zhao
12. Erik R Duboue
13. Nicolas Rohner
14. Alex C Keene

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Lloyd et al. used an evolutionary comparative approach to study DNA damage repair associated with low sleep duration in Astyanax mexicanus, highlighting how the cavefish population has evolved a reduced DNA damage response. The results presented here have important implications. Their results are generally solid however, the evidence suggesting that sleep differences are linked to DNA damage response is missing and this hypothesis remains to be fully tested.

Reviewed by eLife

A machine learning tool with light-based image analysis for automatic classification of 3D pain behaviors

1. Omer Barkai
2. Biyao Zhang
3. Bruna Lenfers Turnes
4. Maryam Arab
5. David A. Yarmolinsky
6. Zihe Zhang
7. Lee B. Barrett
8. Clifford J. Woolf

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

The reuniens nucleus of the thalamus facilitates hippocampo-cortical dialogue during sleep

1. Diellor Basha
2. Amirmohammad Azarmehri
3. Elian Proulx
4. Sylvain Chauvette
5. Maryam Ghorbani
6. Igor Timofeev

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The important manuscript presents convincing evidence of temporal correlations during specific oscillatory activity between the prefrontal cortex, thalamic nucleus reuniens, and the hippocampus, in naturally sleeping animals. Such correlations represent solid evidence to support the notion that the thalamic nucleus reuniens participates in the hippocampal and prefrontal cortex dialogue subserving memory processes.

Reviewed by eLife

Highly sensitive in vivo detection of dynamic changes in enkephalins following acute stress in mice

1. Marwa O Mikati
2. Petra Erdmann-Gilmore
3. Rose Connors
4. Sineadh M Conway
5. Jim Malone
6. Justin Woods
7. Robert W Sprung
8. Reid R Townsend
9. Ream Al-Hasani

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors adapt a previously-established method that permits detection of in vivo extracellular levels of two distinct enkephalin opioid peptides in response to stressful experiences in mice. The present study highlights the potential of measuring actual peptides by microdialysis-LC-MS. They use this approach in conjunction with fiber photometric calcium imaging to correlate enkephalin neuron activity and enkephalin release in response to repeated stress, providing convincing evidence that this improved approach can provide new insights into opioid signaling in-vivo. This important study provides a means to understand various behavioral states controlled by endogenous opioids and the nucleus accumbens, including hedonic and stress responses, in health and disease. This work will be of broad interest to the neuroscientific community.

Reviewed by eLife

Parkinson’s disease-associated Pink1 loss disrupts vesicle trafficking in Ensheathing glia causing dopaminergic neuron synapse loss

1. Lorenzo Ghezzi
2. Ulrike Pech
3. Nils Schoovaerts
4. Suresh Poovathingal
5. Kristofer Davie
6. Jochen Lamote
7. Roman Praschberger
8. Patrik Verstreken

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The preliminary data presented in this manuscript seem valuable. The data are currently incomplete and there are numerous technical concerns, some of which may arise from insufficient description of methodologies used.

Reviewed by eLife

Mesoscale functional architecture in medial posterior parietal cortex

1. Riichiro Hira
2. Leah B Townsend
3. Ikuko T Smith
4. Che-Hang Yu
5. Jeffrey N Stirman
6. Yiyi Yu
7. Spencer LaVere Smith

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study measures the functional specialization of distinct subregions within the mouse posterior parietal cortex (PPC) using mesoscopic two-photon calcium imaging during visual discrimination and choice history-dependent tasks. It presents compelling evidence supporting the existence of functional specialized subregions within the PPC. The work will be of interest to system and computational neuroscientists interested in decision-making, working memory, and multisensory integration.

Reviewed by eLife

Translatome analysis reveals cellular network in DLK-dependent hippocampal glutamatergic neuron degeneration

1. Erin M Ritchie
2. Dilan Acar
3. Siming Zhong
4. Qianyi Pu
5. Yunbo Li
6. Binhai Zheng
7. Yishi Jin

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes the impact of modulating signaling by a key regulatory enzyme, Dual Leucine Zipper Kinase (DLK), on hippocampal neurons. The results are interesting and will be important for scientists interested in synapse formation, axon specification, and cell death. The authors have carefully addressed the comments made by the reviewers and the findings are convincing in large part due to the use of extensive mouse genetics, detailed gene expression of enriched genes, and recognition of neuron vulnerability.

Reviewed by eLife

Enteric glia regulate Paneth cell secretion and intestinal microbial ecology

1. Aleksandra Prochera
2. Anoohya N Muppirala
3. Gavin A Kuziel
4. Salima Soualhi
5. Amy Shepherd
6. Liang Sun
7. Biju Issac
8. Harry J Rosenberg
9. Farah Karim
10. Kristina Perez
11. Kyle H Smith
12. Tonora H Archibald
13. Seth Rakoff-Nahoum
14. Susan J Hagen
15. Meenakshi Rao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents important findings on the function of enteric glia expressing proteolipid protein 1 (PLP1+ glia). The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although the inclusion of additional data showing the mechanisms by which PLP1+ enteric glia acts on Paneth cells would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to colleagues studying intestinal biology.

Reviewed by eLife