eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Accept–reject decision-making revealed via a quantitative and ethological study of C. elegans foraging

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Jessica A Haley
   2. Tianyi Chen
   3. Mikio Aoi
   4. Sreekanth H Chalasani

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Understanding how neural circuits mediate decision-making is a core problem in neuroscience. In this interesting and important work, the authors use detailed behavioral analysis and rigorous quantitative modeling to convincingly support the idea that the nematode C. elegans uses an "accept-reject" behavioral strategy, based on learned features of its environment, to make decisions upon encountering food patches. The work expands our understanding of the behavioral repertoire of this species, providing a foundation for future mechanistic studies in this powerful model system.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Calcium transfer from the ER to other organelles for optimal signaling in Toxoplasma gondii

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Zhu-Hong Li
   2. Beejan Asady
   3. Le Chang
   4. Myriam Andrea Hortua Triana
   5. Catherine Li
   6. Isabelle Coppens
   7. Silvia NJ Moreno

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study shows that calcium stores in the endoplasmic reticulum of the parasitic protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii play a major role in buffering calcium levels in the cytosol as well as other organelles such as the mitochondrion. Advanced imaging techniques, including use of genetically encoded calcium indicators provide compelling evidence for the role of the SERCA-Ca2+ ATPase pump in regulating organellar calcium levels. However, it remains unclear whether intra-organellar calcium transport occurs via ER-mitochondria membrane contact sites or other mechanisms. This work will be of interest to cell and molecular biologists interested in calcium signalling in divergent eukaryotes.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Defensive symbionts provide high protection against natural enemies at low cost to hosts: a meta-analysis

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Cássia Siqueira Cesar
   2. Eduardo SA Santos
   3. Rodrigo Cogni

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study makes a valuable advance in our understanding of defensive symbionts in insects. It uses a meta-analysis to quantify the magnitude of change in host fitness components when symbionts are present in hosts exposed to natural enemies. The evidence supporting the study conclusions is solid, with analyses confirming common assumptions that symbionts generally provide defence at low cost to hosts.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2404.17495v1

5. Rejuvenating aged osteoprogenitors for bone repair

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Joshua Reeves
   2. Pierre Tournier
   3. Pierre Becquart
   4. Robert Carton
   5. Yin Tang
   6. Alessandra Vigilante
   7. Dong Fang
   8. Shukry J Habib

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Aging reduces tissue regeneration capacity, posing challenges for an aging population. In this fundamental study, Reeves et al. show that by combining Wnt-mediated osteoprogenitor expansion (using a special bandage) with intermittent fasting, calvarial bone healing can be restored in aged animals. Intermitted fasting improves osteoprogenitor function by rescuing aging-related mitochondrial dysfunction, which can also be achieved by nicotinamide mononucleotide (NMN) supplementation or by modulating the gut microbiome. By employing rigorous histological, transcriptomic, and imaging analyses in a clinically relevant model, the authors provide compelling evidence supporting the conclusions. The therapeutic approach presented in this study shows promise for rejuvenating tissue repair, not only in bones but potentially across other tissues.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Flower/FLWR-1 regulates neuronal activity via the plasma membrane Ca2+ ATPase to promote recycling of synaptic vesicles

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Marius Seidenthal
   2. Jasmina Redzovic
   3. Jana F Liewald
   4. Dennis Rentsch
   5. Stepan Shapiguzov
   6. Noah Schuh
   7. Nils Rosenkranz
   8. Stefan Eimer
   9. Alexander Gottschalk

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses C. elegans to provide new insights into the role of the conserved protein FLWR-1/Flower in synaptic transmission. Employing a variety of techniques, including calcium imaging, ultrastructural analysis, and electrophysiology, the paper provides convincing evidence that challenges some previous thinking about FLWR-1 function. This work will be of particular interest to neuroscientists studying synaptic physiology and plasticity.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. GPR30 in spinal cholecystokinin-positive neurons modulates neuropathic pain

   This article has 19 authors:

   1. Qing Chen
   2. Hui Wu
   3. Shulan Xie
   4. Fangfang Zhu
   5. Fang Xu
   6. Qi Xu
   7. Lihong Sun
   8. Yue Yang
   9. Linghua Xie
   10. Jiaqian Xie
   11. Hua Li
   12. Ange Dai
   13. Wenxin Zhang
   14. Luyang Wang
   15. Cuicui Jiao
   16. HongHai Zhang
   17. Xuelong Zhou
   18. Zhen-Zhong Xu
   19. Xinzhong Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates nerve-injury-induced allodynia by studying the role of a subpopulation of excitatory dorsal horn CCK+ neurons that express the estrogen receptor GPR30 and potentially modulate nociceptive sensitivity via direct inputs from primary somatosensory cortex. In this revised version, the authors addressed many of the critiques raised through added analyses that convincingly support the notion that spinal GPR30 neurons are indeed an excitatory subpopulation of CCK+ neurons that contribute to neuropathic pain. While evidence of a direct functional corticospinal projection to CCK+/GPR30+neurons is not fully demonstrated, this work will be of broad interest to researchers interested in the neural circuitry of pain.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A toolbox for ablating excitatory and inhibitory synapses

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Aida Bareghamyan
   2. Changfeng Deng
   3. Sarah Daoudi
   4. Shubhash C Yadav
   5. Xiaocen Lu
   6. Wei Zhang
   7. Robert E Campbell
   8. Richard H Kramer
   9. David M Chenoweth
   10. Don B Arnold

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This compelling study introduces a set of novel genetically encoded tools for the selective and reversible ablation of excitatory and inhibitory synapses. These new tools enable selective and efficient ablation of excitatory synapses, and photoactivatable and chemically inducible methods for inhibitory synapse ablation in specific cell types, providing valuable methods for disrupting neural circuits. This approach holds broad potential for investigating the roles of specific synaptic input onto genetically determined cells.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Peripheral opioid receptor antagonism alleviates fentanyl-induced cardiorespiratory depression and is devoid of aversive behavior

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Brian C Ruyle
   2. Sarah Masud
   3. Rohith Kesaraju
   4. Mubariz Tahirkheli
   5. Juhi Modh
   6. Caroline G Roth
   7. Sofia Angulo-Lopera
   8. Tania Lintz
   9. Jessica A Higginbotham
   10. Nicolas Massaly
   11. Jose A Morón

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript represents a fundamental contribution demonstrating that fentanyl-induced respiratory depression can be reversed with a peripherally-restricted mu opioid receptor antagonist. The paper reports compelling and rigorous physiological, pharmacokinetic, and behavioral evidence supporting this major claim, and furthers mechanistic understanding of how peripheral opioid receptors contribute to respiratory depression. These findings reshape our understanding of opioid-related effects on respiration and have significant therapeutic implications given that medications currently used to reverse opioid overdose (such as naloxone) produce severe aversive and withdrawal effects via actions within the central nervous system.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Neural dynamics of reversal learning in the prefrontal cortex and recurrent neural networks

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Christopher M Kim
    2. Carson C Chow
    3. Bruno B Averbeck

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The findings of this study are valuable, offering insights into the neural representation of reversal probability in decision-making tasks, with potential implications for understanding flexible behavior in changing environments. The study contains interesting comparisons between neural data and models, including evidence for partial consistency with line attractor models in this probabilistic reversal learning task. However, it remains incomplete due to issues related to how the RNN training and the analysis of its dynamics, which renders the evidence as not complete.

    Reviewed by eLife