eLife assessment

This is an important study of the mechanism of how binding of the fatty acid myristic acid (MYR) inhibits the activity of the kinase c-Abl, a critical regulator of many cellular processes. While the general aspects of this regulation are known from structure determination and biochemical studies, the exact molecular mechanism and the nature of the allosteric inhibition were not known. The authors use MD simulation to close this gap and provide a detailed mechanistic description of the inhibitory mechanism, although some of the evidence remains incomplete.

eLife assessment

This valuable multicenter study provides solid evidence that the auditory noise emitted during online transcranial ultrasound stimulation (TUS) protocols can pose a considerable confound and is able to explain corticospinal excitability changes as measured with Motor Evoked Potentials (MEP). The findings may lay the ground for future studies optimizing protocols and control conditions to leverage transcranial ultrasound stimulation as a meaningful experimental and clinical tool. A clear strength of the study is the multitude of control conditions (i.e., control sites, acoustic masking, acoustic stimulation).

eLife assessment

This study combines CLIP, RNA-seq, and splicing assays with manipulation of RBMX and its homologs RBMY and RBMXL2 to show that the RBMX family suppresses the recognition of cryptic splicing within long exons. The study is important in that it puts forward the intriguing claim that the RBMX family is responsible for the cryptic splice site repression in ultra-long exons. The methods, data, and analyses supporting the claims are solid, broadly supporting the claims, with some weaknesses. The generalization of the findings is somewhat overstated but could be strengthened by deeper statistical integration of the RNA-seq and CLIP datasets.

eLife assessment

This manuscript describes a deep mutational scanning study of the kinase domain of the MET receptor tyrosine kinase. The study yields a valuable catalog of essentially all possible deleterious mutations in this portion of the receptor., with convincing evidence. The manuscript will be of interest to researchers working in the field of receptor tyrosine kinases.

eLife assessment

This study presents potentially useful findings describing how activity in the corticotropin-releasing hormone neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus modulates sevoflurane anesthesia, as well as a phenomenon the authors term a "general anesthetic stress response". The technical approaches are solid and the data presented are largely clear. However, the primary conclusion, that the PVHCRH neurons are a mechanism of sevoflurane anesthesia, is inadequately supported.

eLife assessment

This important study provides convincing evidence of the criticality of estradiol - estrogen receptor-mediated upregulation of kisspeptin within neurons of the preoptic area to generate an ovulation-inducing luteinizing hormone surge. The use of in vivo CRIPSR-Cas9 is novel in this system and provides a road map for future studies in reproductive neuroendocrinology. This paper will be of interest to reproductive neuroscientists and endocrinologists.

eLife assessment

This important manuscript focuses on the mechanisms by which food signals and food ingestion modulate animal foraging. The authors provide solid support for the interesting idea that chemosensory and interoceptive signals converge on transcriptional regulation of the TGF-beta ligand DAF-7 in a single pair of C. elegans chemosensory neurons to regulate behavior. Their studies implicate a conserved signaling molecule, ALK, in this regulation, suggesting a conserved link between food cues and the neuroendocrine control of foraging behavior.

eLife assessment

This paper explores how Notch activity acts together with homeodomain transcription Bsh factors to establish distinct cell fates (L4 vs L5) in the visual system of Drosophila. The findings are important and have theoretical or practical implications beyond a single subfield. The methods, data and analyses are solid, and broadly support the claims with only minor weaknesses.

eLife assessment

The presented study introduces a valuable non-AI computational method for segmenting noisy grayscale images, particularly highlighting its applicability in identifying immunostained potassium ion channel clusters. While the method's avoidance of AI training appeals to those lacking computational know-how and shows improved accuracy over basic threshold-based techniques, there are valid concerns regarding its performance in comparison to advanced methodologies. The evidence supporting the method's efficacy is solid but incomplete, necessitating comparisons to more advanced techniques and the provision of user-friendly computational tools for a comprehensive evaluation.

eLife assessment

This fundamental study identifies the homeodomain transcription factor and suspected autism-candidate gene Meis2 as transcriptional regulators of maturation and end-organ innervation of low-threshold mechanoreceptors (LTMRs) in the dorsal root ganglia (DRG) of mice. For a few years, the view on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) has shifted from a disorder that exclusively affects the brain to a condition that also includes the peripheral somatosensory system, even though our knowledge about the genes involved is incomplete. The study by Desiderio and colleagues is therefore not only scientifically interesting but may also have clinical relevance. The work is convincing, with appropriate and validated methodology in line with current state-of-the-art and the findings contribute both to understanding and potential application.