eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Single-cell RNA sequencing of the holothurian regenerating intestine reveals the pluripotency of the coelomic epithelium

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Joshua G Medina-Feliciano
   2. Griselle Valentín-Tirado
   3. Kiara Luna-Martínez
   4. Alejandra Beltran-Rivera
   5. Yamil Miranda-Negrón
   6. José E Garcia-Arraras

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript describes a resource detailing the econstitution of Holothuria glaberrima gut following self-evisceration in response to a potassium chloride injection, using scRNAseq and fluorescent RNA localization in situ. It provides some new findings about organ regeneration, as well as the origins of pluripotent cells, and places these findings in the context of regeneration across species. The paper's schematic model and HCR images are a valuable foundation for future work. The authors provide convincing RNA localization images to validate their data and to provide spatial context. These validation experiments are of good quality but remain challenging to connect to the complex spatial organization of complex tissues. This resource will be of interest to the field of regeneration, particularly in invertebrates, but also in comparative studies in other species, including evolutionary studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Activity-dependent lateral inhibition enables the synchronization of olfactory bulb projection neurons

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Tal Dalal
   2. Rafi Haddad

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study uses optogenetics in combination with single cell recordings to selectively activate sensory input channels within the olfactory bulb, providing direct evidence for activity-dependent and distance-independent enhancement of stimulus-evoked gamma oscillations via lateral interactions between input channels, most likely via granule cells. The article presents solid evidence to support the main conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Recurrent disruption of tumour suppressor genes in cancer by somatic mutations in cleavage and polyadenylation signals

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Yaroslav Kainov
   2. Fursham Hamid
   3. Eugene V Makeyev

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study substantially advances our understanding of noncoding somatic mutations by identifying a novel class of mutations that affect 3'UTR polyadenylation signals enriched in tumor suppressor genes in cancer. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing, with rigorous statistical analyses. The work will be of broad interest to cancer researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Telomerase RNA component knockout exacerbates Staphylococcus aureus pneumonia by extensive inflammation and dysfunction of T cells

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Yasmina Reisser
   2. Franziska Hornung
   3. Antje Häder
   4. Thurid Lauf
   5. Sandor Nietzsche
   6. Bettina Löffler
   7. Stefanie Deinhardt-Emmer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this manuscript, the authors sought to elucidate mechanistic intricacies of inflammatory responses, with emphasis on T cell dysfunction, to S. aureus-induced pneumonia in the context of aging process using Terc deficient mice. Conceptually, the study is very interesting with a set of useful findings. Although some experimental approaches are appropriate, the work as shown in the revised manuscript remains significantly underpowered and the absence of rigorous controls make this study incomplete in support of its claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Endothelin B receptor inhibition rescues aging-dependent neuronal regenerative decline

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Rui Feng
   2. Sarah F Rosen
   3. Irshad Ansari
   4. Sebastian John
   5. Michael B Thomsen
   6. Oshri Avraham
   7. Cedric G Geoffroy
   8. Valeria Cavalli

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines the role of endothelin signaling in nerve regeneration, providing convincing evidence that it functions as a default brake on axon regrowth. Inhibiting endothelin signaling with Bosentan promotes regeneration and counteracts the decline in regenerative potential caused by aging. Since Bosentan is an FDA-approved drug, these findings could have therapeutic value in clinical settings where peripheral nerve regeneration is not adequate or seriously impaired, as is often the case in older individuals.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Systematic genetic characterization of the human PKR kinase domain highlights its functional malleability to escape a poxvirus substrate mimic

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Michael James Chambers
   2. Sophia B Scobell
   3. Meru J Sadhu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important revised report describes the control of the activity of the RNA-activated protein kinase, PKR, by the Vaccinia virus K3 protein. A strength of the manuscript is the powerful combination of a classic yeast-based assay with high-throughput sequencing and its convincing experimental use to characterize large numbers of PKR variants, now with improved controls for potential biases. A minor current limitation that the authors may address in the future is the scope of the screen in terms of the segments of PKR included.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. A deep learning approach for the analysis of birdsong

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Therese MI Koch
   2. Ethan S Marks
   3. Todd F Roberts

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work introduces a new Python package, Avian Vocalization Analysis (AVN) that provides several key analysis pipelines for birdsong research. This tool is likely to prove useful to researchers in neuroscience and beyond, as demonstrated by convincing experiments using a wide range of publicly available birdsong data.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Impaired yolk sac NAD metabolism disrupts murine embryogenesis with relevance to human birth defects

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Kayleigh Bozon
   2. Hartmut Cuny
   3. Delicia Z Sheng
   4. Ella MMA Martin
   5. Alena Sipka
   6. Paul Young
   7. David T Humphreys
   8. Sally L Dunwoodie

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     NAD deficiency perturbs embryonic development resulting in multiple congenital malformations, collectively termed Congenital NAD Deficiency Disorder (CNDD). The authors report fundamental findings demonstrating that extra-embryonic visceral yolk sac endoderm is critical for NAD de novo synthesis during early organogenesis and perturbations of this pathway may underlie CNDD. The authors combine gene expression with metabolic assays to provide solid evidence of an essential role of the extra-embryonic visceral yolk sac in both mouse and human embryos.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. The effect of transcutaneous auricular vagus nerve stimulation on cardiovascular function in subarachnoid hemorrhage patients: A randomized trial

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Gansheng Tan
   2. Anna L Huguenard
   3. Kara M Donovan
   4. Phillip Demarest
   5. Xiaoxuan Liu
   6. Ziwei Li
   7. Markus Adamek
   8. Kory Lavine
   9. Ananthv K Vellimana
   10. Terrance T Kummer
   11. Joshua W Osbun
   12. Gregory J Zipfel
   13. Peter Brunner
   14. Eric C Leuthardt

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors provide a solid set of data supporting the safety of transcutaneous auricular vagal nerve stimulation on cardiovascular parameters in the acute setting of critically ill patients presenting with subarachnoid hemorrhage. This important study also suggests a promising effect on autonomic balance.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Zebrafish live imaging reveals a surprisingly small percentage of spinal cord motor neurons die during early development

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Hao Jia
    2. Hongmei Yang
    3. Kathy Qian Luo

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The authors have developed a biosensor for programmed cell death. They use this biosensor to provide cell death measurements in a specific early development time. The findings useful in a specific context; however, the application of this biosensor is incomplete as it does not take into account existing literature and is missing controls.

    Reviewed by eLife