eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Molecular and mechanical signatures contributing to mouse epidermal differentiation and barrier formation

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Alexandra Prado-Mantilla
   2. Wenxiu Ning
   3. Terry Lechler

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors address a fundamental question for cell and tissue biology. They use the skin epidermis as a paradigm and ask how stratifying self-renewing epithelia induce differentiation and upward migration in basal dividing progenitor cells to generate suprabasal barrier-forming cells that are essential for a functional barrier formed by such an epithelium. The authors provide compelling evidence time that an increase in intracellular actomyosin contractility, a hallmark of barrier-forming keratinocytes, is sufficient to trigger terminal differentiation, providing in vivo evidence of the interdependency of cell mechanics and differentiation. To illustrate their points, the authors use a combination of genetic mouse models, RNA sequencing, and immunofluorescence analysis. Precisely how the changes in gene expression, cell morphology, mechanics, and cell position are instructive and whether consecutive changes in differentiation are required still remain unclear, but the paper takes a nice step in advancing our knowledge of the process.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2312.17293v4

3. The dominance of large-scale phase dynamics in human cortex, from delta to gamma

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. David M Alexander
   2. Laura Dugué

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study introduces a novel method for estimating spatial spectra from irregularly sampled intracranial EEG data, revealing cortical activity across all spatial frequencies, which supports the global and integrated nature of cortical dynamics. It showcases important technical innovations and rigorous analyses, including tests to rule out potential confounds. However, further direct evaluation of the model, for example by using simulated cortical activity with a known spatial spectrum (e.g., an iEEG volume-conductor model that describes the mapping from cortical current source density to iEEG signals, and that incorporates the reference electrodes and the particular montage used), would even further strengthen the solid evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Striatal cholinergic interneuron pause response requires Kv1 channels, is absent in dyskinetic mice, and is restored by dopamine D5 receptor inverse agonism

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Cecilia Tubert
   2. Rodrigo Manuel Paz
   3. Agostina Mónica Stahl
   4. Kianny Miroslava Sanchez Armijos
   5. Lorena Rela
   6. Mario Gustavo Murer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors investigated the mechanisms underlying the pause in striatal cholinergic interneurons (SCINs) induced by thalamic input, identifying that Kv1 channels play a key role in this burst-dependent pause. The experimental evidence is convincing.
     The study provides important mechanistic insights into how burst activity in SCINs leads to a subsequent pause, highlighting the involvement of D1/D5 receptors.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Responses to membrane potential-modulating ionic solutions measured by magnetic resonance imaging of cultured cells and in vivo rat cortex

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Kyeongseon Min
   2. Sungkwon Chung
   3. Seung-Kyun Lee
   4. Jongho Lee
   5. Phan Tan Toi
   6. Daehong Kim
   7. Jung Seung Lee
   8. Jang-Yeon Park

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors show MRI relaxation time changes that are claimed to originate from cell membrane potential changes. This would be a substantial contribution if true because it may provide a mechanism whereby membrane potential changes could be inferred noninvasively. However, the membrane potential manipulations applied here are performed on a slow time scale and are known to induce cell swelling. Cell swelling has been previously shown to affect relaxation time. Experiments could be performed to rule out this hypothesis, but the authors have chosen not to perform these experiments. The study is therefore useful, but the evidence is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Policy shaping based on the learned preferences of others accounts for risky decision-making under social observation

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. HeeYoung Seon
   2. Dongil Chung

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Seon and Chung investigate changes in own risk-taking behavior, when they are being observed by a "risky" or "safe" player. Using computational modeling and model-informed fMRI, the authors present convincing evidence that participants adjust their choice congruent with the other player's type (either risky or safe). The conclusions of the paper are an important contribution to the field of social decision-making as they show a differentiated adjustment of choices and not just a universally riskier choice behavior when being observed as has been claimed in previous studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Stochastic cell-intrinsic stem cell decisions control colony growth in planarians

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Tamar Frankovits
   2. Prakash Varkey Cherian
   3. Yarden Yesharim
   4. Simon Dobler
   5. Omri Wurtzel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript establishes a mathematical model to estimate the key parameters that control the repopulation of planarian stem cells after sublethal irradiation as they undergo fate-switching as part of their differentiation and self-renewal process. The findings are important for future investigation of stem cell division in planarians and have implications for analyzing stem cell biology in other systems. The methods are convincing, integrating modeling with perturbations of key transcription factors known to be critical for cell fate decisions, but the authors have only shown that this is the case for a small number of stem cell types.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Dual role of FOXG1 in regulating gliogenesis in the developing neocortex via the FGF signalling pathway

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Mahima Bose
   2. Ishita Talwar
   3. Varun Suresh
   4. Urvi Mishra
   5. Shiona Biswas
   6. Anuradha Yadav
   7. Shital T Suryavanshi
   8. Simon Hippenmeyer
   9. Shubha Tole

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides convincing evidence that developing neurons in the neocortex regulate glial cell development. The data demonstrates that the transcription factor FOXG1 negatively regulates gliogenesis by controlling the expression of a member of the FGF ligand family and by suppressing the receptor for this ligand in developing neurons. This study leads to a new understanding of the cascade of events regulating the timing of glial development in the neocortex.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Mitochondrial calcium modulates odor-mediated behavioral plasticity in C. elegans

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Hee Kyung Lee
   2. Dong-Kyu Joo
   3. Kyu-Sang Park
   4. Kyoung-hye Yoon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents important findings that will allow for a better understanding of the role of mitochondria in behaviours of C. elegans. There is convincing evidence that mutants in a subunit of the mitochondrial calcium uniporter (MCU-1) show defects in olfactory adaptation and this gene regulates neuropeptide secretion and allows for behavioural modulation in C. elegans. However, the evidence that mitochondrial calcium modulates odour-based behaviour in C. elegans is incomplete. This claim would require support from calcium imaging in conditioned WT and mcu-1 animals. This work would be of interest to labs working on behaviours across phyla.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A neurotrophin functioning with a Toll regulates structural plasticity in a dopaminergic circuit

    This article has 13 authors:

    1. Jun Sun
    2. Francisca Rojo-Cortes
    3. Suzana Ulian-Benitez
    4. Manuel G Forero
    5. Guiyi Li
    6. Deepanshu ND Singh
    7. Xiaocui Wang
    8. Sebastian Cachero
    9. Marta Moreira
    10. Dean Kavanagh
    11. Gregory SXE Jefferis
    12. Vincent Croset
    13. Alicia Hidalgo

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study identifies neurotrophin signaling as a molecular mechanism underlying previous findings of structural plasticity in central dopaminergic neurons of the adult fly brain. The authors present solid evidence for neurotrophin signaling in shaping the structure and synapses of certain dopaminergic circuits. The work suggests an intriguing potential link between neurotrophin signaling and experience-induced structural plasticity but further research will be necessary to establish this connection definitively.

    Reviewed by eLife