eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Disruption of the CRF1 receptor eliminates morphine-induced sociability deficits and firing of oxytocinergic neurons in male mice

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Alessandro Piccin
   2. Anne-Emilie Allain
   3. Jérôme M Baufreton
   4. Sandrine S Bertrand
   5. Angelo Contarino

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The revised report provides valuable findings for the field, suggesting a relationship between CRF1 receptors, sociability deficits in morphine-treated male mice yet not females, and a potential mechanism involving oxytocin neurons in the paraventricular nucleus of the hypothalamus. Generally, the strength of evidence is solid in terms of the methods, data, and analyses. This work will be of interest to those interested in social behavior and addiction.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Functional characterization of neuropeptides that act as ligands for both calcitonin-type and pigment-dispersing factor-type receptors in a deuterostome

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Xiao Cong
   2. Huachen Liu
   3. Lihua Liu
   4. Nayeli Escudero Castelán
   5. Kite GE Jones
   6. Michaela Egertová
   7. Maurice R Elphick
   8. Muyan Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study characterises receptors for calcitonin-related peptides from a deuterostomian animal, the echinoderm Apostichopus japonicus, by a combination of heterologous expression, pharmacological experiments, and the quantification of gene-expression levels. The authors provide convincing evidence for a functional calcitonin-related peptide system in the sea cucumber, but further work will be needed to confirm the proposed physiological functions of PDF receptor system in this species. This work should be of interest to scientists studying the signaling pathways, functions, and evolution of neuropeptides, and could be of relevance to improving the culture conditions of this economically key species.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Chromatin endogenous cleavage provides a global view of yeast RNA polymerase II transcription kinetics

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jake VanBelzen
   2. Bennet Sakelaris
   3. Donna G Brickner
   4. Nikita Marcou
   5. Hermann Riecke
   6. Niall M Mangan
   7. Jason H Brickner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study compares ChIP-seq and ChEC-seq2 techniques to investigate RNA polymerase II (RNAPII) binding patterns in yeast, revealing that ChEC-seq2 captures distinct regulatory events associated with active transcription missed by ChIP-seq. The authors use ChEC-seq2 data to build a stochastic model of RNAPII kinetics, providing convincing new insights into transcription regulation and the role of the nuclear pore complex. The paper highlights the importance of careful methodological comparisons in understanding RNAPII dynamics.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Stabilization of GTSE1 by cyclin D1–CDK4/6-mediated phosphorylation promotes cell proliferation with implications for cancer prognosis

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Nelson García-Vázquez
   2. Tania J González-Robles
   3. Ethan Lane
   4. Daria Spasskaya
   5. Qingyue Zhang
   6. Marc A Kerzhnerman
   7. YeonTae Jeong
   8. Marta Collu
   9. Daniele Simoneschi
   10. Kelly V Ruggles
   11. Gergely Róna
   12. Sharon Kaisari
   13. Michele Pagano

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this article, García-Vázquez et al. report valuable findings demonstrating that G2 and S phases expressed protein 1 (GTSE1), is a previously unappreciated non-pocket substrate of the cyclin D/cyclin-dependent kinase (CDK) 4/6 axis. The authors provide convincing evidence showing that this mechanism is triggered in pathological states in which cyclin D levels are elevated (e.g., cancer). Overall, this study holds a promise to improve understanding of the mechanisms underpinning cell cycle progression including its dysregulation in neoplasia and may thus be of broad interest to researchers belonging to diverse biomedical disciplines ranging from cancer research to cell biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Changes in neural progenitor lineage composition during astrocytic differentiation of human iPSCs

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Zongze Li
   2. Lucia Fernandez Cardo
   3. Michal Rokicki
   4. Jimena Monzón-Sandoval
   5. Viola Volpato
   6. Frank Wessely
   7. Caleb Webber
   8. Meng Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The manuscript by Li and coworkers analyzed astrocytic differentiation of midbrain floor plate-patterned neural cells originating from human iPS cells, with a LMX1A reporter. This valuable work identifies transcriptomic differences at the single-cell level, between astrocytes generated from LMX1A reporter positive or negative cells, as well as non-patterned astrocytes and neurons. The evidence is solid, but the paper can be strengthened by further analyses of the transcriptomic data, and astrocytic morphology; also, searching for some of the differentially expressed genes by immunohistochemistry in different regions of the mammalian brain, or in human specimens, would be very informative.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. 3D directional tuning in the orofacial sensorimotor cortex during natural feeding and drinking

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Victoria B Hosack
   2. Fritzie Arce-McShane

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study characterises motor and somatosensory cortex neural activity during naturalistic eating and drinking tongue movement in nonhuman primates. The data, which include electrophysiology, three-dimensional tracking of tongue movements, and nerve block manipulations, are valuable to neuroscientists and neural engineers interested in tongue use. Although the current analyses provide a solid description of single neuron activity in these areas, both the population level analyses and the characterisation of activity changes following nerve block could be improved.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Genetic diversity affects ecosystem functions across trophic levels as much as species diversity, but in an opposite direction

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Laura Fargeot
   2. Camille Poesy
   3. Maxim Lefort
   4. Jerome G Prunier
   5. Madoka Krick
   6. Rik Verdonck
   7. Charlotte Veyssiere
   8. Murielle Richard
   9. Delphine Legrand
   10. Geraldine Loot
   11. Blanchet Simon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses a comprehensive observational dataset to provide solid evidence on how genetic diversity and species diversity differentially affect multiple ecosystem functions within and across multi-trophic levels in an aquatic ecosystem. The work will be of interest to ecologists working on multi-trophic relationships and biodiversity.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Linalool combats Saprolegnia parasitica infections through direct killing of microbes and modulation of host immune system

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Tao Tang
   2. Weiming Zhong
   3. Puyu Tang
   4. Rongsi Dai
   5. Jiajing Guo
   6. Zhipeng Gao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study presents findings on the efficacy and mechanisms of linalool protection against Saprolegnia parasitica oomycetes in the grass carp model. The evidence presented is solid since the methods, data and analyses broadly support the claims with only minor weaknesses. This work will be of great interest to scientists within the fields of aquaculture, ichthyology, microbiology, and drug discovery.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Decreased Astrocytic CCL5 by MiR-324-5p Ameliorates Ischemic Stroke Injury via CCR5/ERK/CREB Pathway

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jingxiu Li
   2. Keyuan Gao
   3. Lili Wang
   4. Xinrui Wang
   5. Yubing Wang
   6. Chao Li
   7. Zhiqin Gao
   8. Chenxi Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a useful finding on the interplay of CCL5 and miR-324-5p during ischemic stroke injury. Despite its importance, the evidence supporting the claims of the authors is incomplete. In particular, the lack of methodological information, inappropriate statistical testing, a flawed culture system, and the temporal mismatch in the expression of CCL5 and miR-324-5p following stroke have hindered further evaluation of the claims. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists working on brain injury such as stroke.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Ultrastructural sublaminar-specific diversity of excitatory synaptic boutons in layer 1 of the adult human temporal lobe neocortex

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Astrid Rollenhagen
    2. Akram Sadeghi
    3. Bernd Walkenfort
    4. Claus C Hilgetag
    5. Kurt Sätzler
    6. Joachim HR Lübke

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study provides important information on the ultrastructural organization of layer 1 of the human neocortex. The quantitative assessment of various synaptic parameters, astrocytic coverage and mitochondrial morphology is based on convincing experimental approaches. These data provide new information on the detailed morphology of human neocortical tissue that will be of interest to neuroscientists working on different network functions.

    Reviewed by eLife