eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Pharyngeal neuronal mechanisms governing sour taste perception in Drosophila melanogaster

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Bhanu Shrestha
   2. Jiun Sang
   3. Suman Rimal
   4. Youngseok Lee

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a useful contribution to our understanding of taste perception. The idea that specific receptors function in the pharynx to mediate responses to carboxylic acids is interesting, although the expression analysis is incomplete. Reviewers also have a number of other suggestions for improvement, including the request that authors provide more details about the methodology used. In general, the claims are supported by solid evidence and add to a growing body of literature on this topic.

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

2. Structure of human PIEZO1 and its slow-inactivating channelopathy mutants

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Yuanyue Shan
   2. Xinyi Guo
   3. Mengmeng Zhang
   4. Meiyu Chen
   5. Ying Li
   6. Mingfeng Zhang
   7. Duanqing Pei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a useful revised manuscript that shows a set of data including the first cryo-EM structures of human PIEZO1 as well as structures of disease-related mutants in complex with the regulatory subunit MDFIC, which generate different inactivation phenotypes. The molecular basis of PIEZO channel inactivation is of great interest due to its association with several pathologies. This manuscript provides some structural insights that may help to ultimately build a molecular picture of PIEZO channel inactivation. While the structures are of use and clear conformational differences can be seen in the presence of the auxiliary subunit MDFIC, the strength of the evidence supporting the conclusions of the paper, especially the proposed role for pore lipids in inactivation, is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Methamphetamine-induced adaptation of learning rate dynamics depend on baseline performance

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Hans Kirschner
   2. Hanna M Molla
   3. Matthew R Nassar
   4. Harriet de Wit
   5. Markus Ullsperger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports effects of a single dose of methamphetamine vs placebo on a probabilistic reversal learning task with different levels of noise, in a large group of young healthy volunteers. The paper is well written and the methods are rigorous. The findings are important and have theoretical or practical implications beyond a single a subfield. The strength of the evidence is convincing, with the methods, data, and analyses broadly supporting the claims in the paper, which are sufficiently qualified given the lack of a significant effect of the binary baseline performance variable, and the nonlinear effect of individual differences in baseline performance.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Brain-derived exosomal hemoglobin transfer contributes to neuronal mitochondrial homeostasis under hypoxia

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Zhengming Tian
   2. Yuning Li
   3. Feiyang Jin
   4. Zirui Xu
   5. Yakun Gu
   6. Mengyuan Guo
   7. Qianqian Shao
   8. Yingxia Liu
   9. Hanjiang Luo
   10. Yue Wang
   11. Suyu Zhang
   12. Chenlu Yang
   13. Xin Liu
   14. Xunming Ji
   15. Jia Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable paper analyses the role of endogenous CNS hemoglobin in protecting mitochondrial homeostasis in hypoxic conditions. The work is solid and opens the doors to future work in this field. However, it leaves many questions open regarding CNS-specific ischemia/hypoxia that should be considered in future work. In particular, a whole-body hypoxia model may liberate exosomes from other hypoxic organs, which may contribute to the protective effect. Overall, this work has the potential to be of broad interest to the neuroscience and hypoxia communities.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Shared functional organization between pulvinar-cortical and cortico-cortical connectivity and its structural and molecular imaging correlates

   This article has 17 authors:

   1. Gianpaolo Antonio Basile
   2. Augusto Ielo
   3. Lilla Bonanno
   4. Antonio Cerasa
   5. Giuseppe Santoro
   6. Demetrio Milardi
   7. Giuseppe Pio Anastasi
   8. Ambra Torre
   9. Sergio Baldari
   10. Riccardo Laudicella
   11. Michele Gaeta
   12. Marina Quartu
   13. Maria Pina Serra
   14. Marcello Trucas
   15. Angelo Quartarone
   16. Manojkumar Saranathan
   17. Alberto Cacciola

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a useful characterisation of the topographical organisation of the human pulvinar, an associative thalamic subregion crucial for visual perception and attention. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid given the multimodal validation and replication across datasets, although even higher-resolution imaging data would have strengthened the study. In their revised manuscript, the authors elaborated further on the motivation for their study and conducted several robustness checks. Nevertheless, there remains an opportunity for a more fully integrated interpretation of the findings. The work would be of interest to neuroscientists, neurologists, and neuropsychiatrists working on pulvinar functioning in health and disease.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Minimal twister sister-like self-cleaving ribozymes in the human genome revealed by deep mutational scanning

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Zhe Zhang
   2. Xu Hong
   3. Peng Xiong
   4. Junfeng Wang
   5. Yaoqi Zhou
   6. Jian Zhan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uncovers a surprising link between two self-cleaving RNAs that belong to the same structural family. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is convincing and based on extensive biochemical and bioinformatic analysis. This research will be of broad interest to RNA molecular biologists and biochemists.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. FABP4-mediated lipid accumulation and lipolysis in tumor-associated macrophages promote breast cancer metastasis

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Matthew Yorek
   2. Xingshan Jiang
   3. Shanshan Liu
   4. Jiaqing Hao
   5. Jianyu Yu
   6. Anthony Avellino
   7. Zhanxu Liu
   8. Melissa Curry
   9. Henry Keen
   10. Jianqiang Shao
   11. Anand Kanagasabapathy
   12. Maying Kong
   13. Yiqin Xiong
   14. Edward R Sauter
   15. Sonia L Sugg
   16. Bing Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important paper uses elegant models, including genetic knock outs, to demonstrate that FABP4 contributes to lipid accumulation in tumor-associated macrophages, which seems to increase breast cancer migration. While the work is of high interest, the strength of the evidence relating to some of the conclusions is incomplete and the paper would benefit from some refinement. The work will be of interest to those researchers trying to link metabolism, the immune system, and cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. The membrane domains of mammalian adenylyl cyclases are lipid receptors

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Marius Landau
   2. Sherif Elsabbagh
   3. Harald Gross
   4. Adrian CD Fuchs
   5. Anita CF Schultz
   6. Joachim E Schultz

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes an important study of a new lipid-mediated regulation mechanism of adenylyl cyclases. The biochemical evidence provided is convincing and will trigger more research in this mechanism. This manuscript will be of interest to all scientists working on lipid regulation and adenylyl cyclases.

   Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

9. Multi-omics analyses and machine learning prediction of oviductal responses in the presence of gametes and embryos

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ryan M Finnerty
   2. Daniel J Carulli
   3. Akshata Hedge
   4. Yanli Wang
   5. Frimpong Boadu
   6. Sarayut Winuthayanon
   7. Jianlin Jack Cheng
   8. Wipawee Winuthayanon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports the transcriptomic and proteomic landscapes of the oviducts at four different preimplantation stages during natural fertilization, pseudopregnancy, and superovulation. The supporting data are convincing. This work will be of interest to reproductive biologists and clinicians practicing reproductive medicine.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Genetic inactivation of the β1 adrenergic receptor prevents cerebral cavernous malformations in zebrafish

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Wenqing Li
    2. Sara McCurdy
    3. Miguel A Lopez-Ramirez
    4. Ho-Sup Lee
    5. Mark H Ginsberg

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      In this important study, the authors test the model that a type of vascular lesion caused by the inactivation of one gene in the cells that line blood vessels requires the activity of a second gene for the lesions to form. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid.

    Reviewed by eLife