Latest preprint reviews

1. Subtypes and proliferation patterns of small intestine neuroendocrine tumors revealed by single cell RNA sequencing

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Einav Someach
   2. Debdatta Halder
   3. Avishay Spitzer
   4. Chaya Barbolin
   5. Michael Tyler
   6. Reut Halperin
   7. Moshe Biton
   8. Amit Tirosh
   9. Itay Tirosh

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study analyzes a cohort of small intestine neuroendocrine tumors, and the description of tumor-intrinsic programs that govern such rare cancers is felt to be valuable. The methods are for the most part felt to be solid, however, some broad concerns were raised that the possible separation of samples by a program may be impacted by fresh versus frozen sequencing. Similarly, the heterogeneity of the SiNET tumor microenvironment is unclear given a mixing of subtypes and the proliferation of NE and immune cells in SiNET could be influenced by technical factors. Recommendations were made to extend these data with other published datasets of SiNET tumors, expanding technical clarity and details, and validating findings using cell lines/PDX if available.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Nociceptor Neurons Control Pollution-Mediated Neutrophilic Asthma

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jo-Chiao Wang
   2. Theo Crosson
   3. Amin Reza Nikpoor
   4. Surbhi Gupta
   5. Moutih Rafei
   6. Sebastien Talbot

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study is a valuable addition to the field, showing how particulate matter may be acting via nociceptor neurons towards neutrophilic asthma exacerbations. The solid evidence for the role of a nociceptive pathway in model systems is relevant to human asthma in its current form but would be further strengthened by mechanistic insights. This would be particularly relevant to further translational research towards blocking the exacerbating effect of air pollution on asthma.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Nuclear Argonaute protein NRDE-3 switches small RNA binding partners during embryogenesis coincident with the formation of SIMR granules

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Shihui Chen
   2. Carolyn M Phillips

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study by Chen and Phillips provides evidence for a dynamic switch in the small RNA repertoire of the Argonaute protein NRDE-3 during embryogenesis in C. elegans. The work is supported by solid experimental data, although some conclusions regarding the functional role of specific RNA granules remain uncertain. Nevertheless, this study offers valuable insights into RNA regulation and developmental biology, with broader implications for understanding small RNA pathways in other systems.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Identification of the trail-following pheromone receptor in termites

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Souleymane Diallo
   2. Kateřina Kašparová
   3. Josef Šulc
   4. Jibin Johny
   5. Jan Křivánek
   6. Jana Nebesářová
   7. David Sillam-Dussès
   8. Pavlína Kyjaková
   9. Jiří Vondrášek
   10. Aleš Machara
   11. Ondřej Lukšan
   12. Ewald Grosse-Wilde
   13. Robert Hanus

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study presents the first identification of the odorant receptor for the trail pheromone in termites. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with state-of-the-art neurophysiological and genetic methods. The work will be of broad interest in multiple disciplines, such as entomology, chemical ecology, and sensory physiology.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Aberration correction in long GRIN lens-based microendoscopes for extended field-of-view two-photon imaging in deep brain regions

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Andrea Sattin
   2. Chiara Nardin
   3. Simon Daste
   4. Monica Moroni
   5. Innem Reddy
   6. Carlo Liberale
   7. Stefano Panzeri
   8. Alexander Fleischmann
   9. Tommaso Fellin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study builds on previous work by the authors by presenting a potentially key method for correcting optical aberrations in GRIN lens-based micro endoscopes used for imaging deep brain regions. By combining simulations and experiments, the authors show that the obtained field of view is significantly increased with corrected, versus uncorrected microendoscopes. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, although some aspects of the manuscript should be clarified and missing information provided. Because the approach described in this paper does not require any microscope or software modifications, it can be readily adopted by neuroscientists who wish to image neuronal activity deep in the brain.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Distinct gradients of cortical architecture capture visual representations and behavior across the lifespan

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Xiayu Chen
   2. Xingyu Liu
   3. Patricia Maria Hoyos
   4. Edan Daniel Hertz
   5. Jewelia K Yao
   6. Zonglei Zhen
   7. Jesse Gomez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides a valuable perspective on visual cortex architecture by identifying two cortical gradients that change across the lifespan and have distinct functional and structural features. The first gradient captures well-mapped variations in cortical thickness and myelination markers from early sensory to higher-order cortex, while the second gradient shows divergence in these measures with a more localized structure, notably predicting a previously unknown cluster of visual field maps in the anterior temporal lobe. The large-scale lifespan data are compelling, but the evidence overall is incomplete with key questions around methodical checks and implementation, the standard of evidence for the new visual maps, and how the gradient model relates to sharp tissue boundaries parcellating the cortex.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Prolonged Pain Reliably Slows Peak Alpha Frequency by Reducing Fast Alpha Power

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Andrew J Furman
   2. Mariya Prokhorenko
   3. Michael L Keaser
   4. Jing Zhang
   5. Shuo Chen
   6. Ali Mazaheri
   7. David A Seminowicz

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents valuable findings on changes in neuronal alpha activity elicited by prolonged pain in healthy human participants. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors, however, is incomplete and would benefit from clarifications of analytical strategies, additional statistical analyses, and shaping of the interpretations. With the methodological and interpretative parts strengthened, the work will be of interest to neuroscientists investigating the brain mechanisms of pain to identify new approaches to pain treatment

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Membrane potential modulates ERK activity and cell proliferation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Mari Sasaki
   2. Masanobu Nakahara
   3. Takuya Hashiguchi
   4. Fumihito Ono

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important paper employs multiple experimental approaches and presents evidence that changes in membrane voltage directly affect ERK signaling to regulate cell division. This result is relevant because it supports an ion channel-independent pathway by which changes in membrane voltage can affect cell growth. The reviewers point out that some experimental results and interpretations are compelling, but the strength of evidence is incomplete and additional experiments are needed to rule out other possible interpretations of the data.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. 3D Reconstruction of Neuronal Allometry and Neuromuscular Projections in Asexual Planarians Using Expansion Tiling Light Sheet Microscopy

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jing Lu
   2. Hao Xu
   3. Dongyue Wang
   4. Yanlu Chen
   5. Takeshi Inuoe
   6. Liang Gao
   7. Kai Lei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study presents a novel microscopy technique called "Expansion Tiling Light Sheet Microscopy" and an accompanying computational pipeline for the faster collection and analysis of 3D volumetric images in animals like planarians. This approach produces beautiful 3D microscropy images and is solid on a technical level. However, due to the use of antibody reagents that visualize many – but not all – neurons and muscle subtypes, the evidence for the biological conclusions in this study remains incomplete. With the claims appropriately contextualized, this paper will be of interest to cell biologists working on imaging and analyzing whole animals.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. AIVE: accurate predictions of SARS-CoV-2 infectivity from comprehensive analysis

    This article has 17 authors:

    1. Jongkeun Park
    2. Won Jong Choi
    3. Do Young Seong
    4. Seung Pil Jeong
    5. Ju Young Lee
    6. Hyo Jeong Park
    7. Dae Sun Chung
    8. Ki Jong Yi
    9. Uijin Kim
    10. Ga-Yeon Yoon
    11. Hyeran Kim
    12. Taehoon Kim
    13. Sooyeon Go
    14. Eun Jeong Min
    15. Hyun-Soo Cho
    16. Nam-Hyuk Cho
    17. Dongwan Hong

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The study provides valuable insight into the biological significance of SARS-CoV-2 by using a series of computational analyses of viral proteins. While evidence is solid, it is obscured by a lack of clarity about the objectives of the analyses and in the overall writing of the article. The study will be impactful to the researchers in the field but will benefit from improved presentation.

    Reviewed by eLife