eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. How the layer-dependent ratio of excitatory to inhibitory cells shapes cortical coding in balanced networks

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Arezoo Alizadeh
   2. Bernhard Englitz
   3. Fleur Zeldenrust

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presents a useful computational analysis of how the ratio between excitatory and inhibitory neural numbers affects coding capacity. The authors show that increasing the proportion of inhibitory neurons (as observed in upper cortical layers compared to the input recipient layer 4) increases the dimensionality of neural activity and improves the encoding of time-varying stimuli. However, the evidence about the role of the inhibitory population in coding is incomplete because numerical results are neither supported by analytical mathematical results nor include controls for changes in firing thresholds or subtypes of inhibitory neurons.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Single-nucleus transcriptional and chromatin accessibility analyses of maturing mouse Achilles tendon uncover the molecular landscape of tendon stem/progenitor cells

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Hiroki Tsutsumi
   2. Tomoki Chiba
   3. Yuta Fujii
   4. Takahide Matsushima
   5. Tsuyoshi Kimura
   6. Akinori Kanai
   7. Akio Kishida
   8. Yutaka Suzuki
   9. Hiroshi Asahara

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding of novel markers that may potentially identify resident tendon stem/progenitor cells (TSPCs). The study also presents a comprehensive single-cell transcriptional dataset that will be of value to the field. The evidence supporting the identification of novel markers of a TSPC is incomplete, requiring clarification of current analyses and additional validation experiments to demonstrate that these markers are indeed specific and these cells are indeed TSPCs. This work will be of interest to biologists and engineers focused on tendons and ligaments.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Crossover in aromatic amino acid interaction strength between tyrosine and phenylalanine in biomolecular condensates

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. David De Sancho
   2. Xabier Lopez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses advanced computational methods to elucidate how environmental dielectric properties influence the interaction strengths of tyrosine and phenylalanine in biomolecular condensates. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing, as the simulations are performed rigorously providing mechanistic insights into the origin of the differences between the two aromatic amino acids considered. This study will be of broad interest to researchers studying biomolecular phase separation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Mechanisms that regulate the C1-C2B mutual inhibition control functional switch of UNC-13

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Haowen Liu
   2. Lei Li
   3. Jiafan Wang
   4. Jiayi Hu
   5. Jingyao Xia
   6. Xiaochun Yu
   7. Jing Tang
   8. Huisheng Liu
   9. Xiaofei Yang
   10. Cong Ma
   11. Lijun Kang
   12. Zhitao Hu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study by Liu et al. presents a comprehensive structure-function analysis of the presynaptic protein UNC-13, leading to new insights into how its distinct domains control neurotransmitter release. The methods, data, and analyses are convincing, and the genetic and electrophysiological approaches support many of their conclusions. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying synaptic transmission, as it provides a foundation for future mechanistic studies of Munc13/UNC-13 family proteins.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Intrinsic dynamic shapes responses to external stimulation in the human brain

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Maximilian Nentwich
   2. Marcin Leszczynski
   3. Charles E Schroeder
   4. Stephan Bickel
   5. Lucas C Parra

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents an interesting new framework (VARX) for simultaneously quantifying effective connectivity in brain activity during sensory stimulation and how that brain activity is being driven by that sensory stimulation. The reviewers thought the model was original and its conclusion that intrinsic connectivity is reduced (rather than increased) during sensory stimulation is very interesting, but that for ideal performance, one must specify all sensory features in the model, which is not possible. Overall, however, this work is important with convincing evidence for its conclusions - it will be of interest to neuroscientists working on brain connectivity and dynamics.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Clonal stochasticity in early NK cell response to mouse cytomegalovirus is generated by mature subsets of varying proliferative ability

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Darren Wethington
   2. Saeed Ahmad
   3. Marc Potempa
   4. Giuseppe Giuliani
   5. Oscar A Aguilar
   6. Maheshwor Poudel
   7. Simon Grassmann
   8. William Stewart
   9. Nicholas M Adams
   10. Joseph C Sun
   11. Lewis L Lanier
   12. Jayajit Das

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study combines mathematical models and experimental data to analyse the emergence of heterogeneity within clonal NK cell responses during antigen-specific cell expansion. It comprises different experimental data and extensively explores various mathematical models, to study NK cell turnover during acute immune responses and homeostatic turnover within murine cytomegalovirus infection (MCMV). This solid study presents valuable findings and provides relevant insights on heterogeneous NK cell development.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Oxidative stress drives potent bactericidal activity of pyrazinamide against Mycobacterium tuberculosis

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Nicholas A Dillon
   2. Elise A Lamont
   3. Muzafar A Rather
   4. Anthony D Baughn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study reports important advances in understanding how pyrazinamide, a first-line antibiotic for tuberculosis treatment, is effective in vivo. The experimental design and data provide solid evidence that the production of reactive oxygen species by host cells contributes to how pyrazinamide is more potent in the host than in culture conditions; however, additional experiments and controls would strengthen these conclusions. This work is of interest to the antibiotic drug development field.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Clonal analysis of murine HSC self-renewal and differentiation in native hematopoiesis

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Chenyu You
   2. Zhen Zhang
   3. Li Lin
   4. Jianlong Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     You et al. present an important study that applied a high-resolution transposon-based barcoding system to show the clonal contribution of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells during aging, after 5-FU treatment, and upon transplantation. The results are convincing and show that there are different categories of multipotent progenitors that are either active or indolent, and that long-term fates are dominated by clones that either favor differentiation or self-renewal. This study will be of broad interest to stem-cell biologists and could reach an even wider audience with a clearer and more concise presentation and discussion of the results.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Proteome dynamics reveal Leiomodin 1 as a key regulator of myogenic differentiation

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Ellen Späth
   2. Svenja C Schüler
   3. Ivonne Heinze
   4. Therese Dau
   5. Alberto Minetti
   6. Maleen Hofmann
   7. Katja Hönzke
   8. Julia von Maltzahn
   9. Alessandro Ori

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into the regulation of myogenic differentiation by identifying Leiomodin 1 as a modulator of proteome dynamics during myogenic differentiation. The combination of quantitative proteomics with functional perturbation experiments offers solid evidence supporting the idea that SIRT1 influences perturbations of myogenic differentiation upon LMOD1 inactivation. These findings advance our understanding of muscle differentiation and will be of interest to researchers studying muscle development and related pathologies

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Deletion of the moeA gene in Flavobacterium IR1 drives structural color shift from green to blue and alters polysaccharide metabolism

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Álvaro Escobar Doncel
    2. Constantinos Patinios
    3. Alexandre Campos
    4. Maria Beatriz Walter Costa
    5. Maria V Turkina
    6. Maria Murace
    7. Raymond HJ Staals
    8. Silvia Vignolini
    9. Bas E Dutilh
    10. Colin J Ingham

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This manuscript presents important findings on how structural color can be manipulated through a specific single-gene mutation in a motile bacterium. Compelling data provide a promising model to identify genes and molecular mechanisms supporting this widespread optical phenomenon. This work will be of interest to biophysicists and microbiologists working on structural colors and Flavobacterium.

    Reviewed by eLife