Latest preprint reviews

1. Reprograming gene expression in hibernating C. elegans involves the IRE-1/XBP-1 pathway

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Melanie L Engelfriet
   2. Yanwu Guo
   3. Andreas Arnold
   4. Eivind Valen
   5. Rafal Ciosk

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study uses C. elegans, a poikilothermic ("cold-blooded") animal, to investigate the interesting question of how cells and organisms adapt to prolonged exposure to cold temperature. The study employed ribosome profiling and RNAseq analyses and provides a useful inventory of genes changed in cold adapted nematodes. However, the overall conclusions that 1) translation is ongoing at a low rate and 2) IRE mediated transcriptional changes play a significant role in cold adaptation are incompletely supported by the evidence provided. The authors are encouraged to conduct additional bioinformatic analyses and rewrite the manuscript to more accurately reflect the evidence provided.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Reconstructing the evolutionary history of freshwater fishes (Nemacheilidae) across Eurasia since early Eocene

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Vendula Šlechtová
   2. Tomáš Dvořák
   3. Jörg Freyhof
   4. Maurice Kottelat
   5. Boris Levin
   6. Alexander Golubtsov
   7. Vlastimil Šlechta
   8. Jörg Bohlen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, the authors attempt to reconstruct the evolutionary history of a large and widespread group of freshwater fishes (Nemacheilidae) across Eurasia since the early Eocene, based on molecular phylogenetic analysis with very comprehensive samplings including 471 specimens belonging to 250 living species. The authors infer that range expansions of the family were facilitated by tectonic connections, favourable climatic conditions, and orogenic processes, adding to our understanding of the effects of climatic change on biodiversity during the Cenozoic. The molecular evidence is overall solid, but the calibration points from the fossil records used in the analysis have not been clearly demonstrated or cited; the different dates for the calibration points might impact the discussion on the evolutionary history relating to past climatic changes.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. A host enzyme reduces non-alcoholic fatty liver disease by inactivating intestinal lipopolysaccharide

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Zhiyan Wang
   2. Nore Ojogun
   3. Yiling Liu
   4. Lu Gan
   5. Zeling Xiao
   6. Jintao Feng
   7. Wei Jiang
   8. Yeying Chen
   9. Benkun Zou
   10. Cheng-Yun Yu
   11. Changshun Li
   12. Asha Ashuo
   13. Xiaobo Li
   14. Mingsheng Fu
   15. Jian Wu
   16. Yiwei Chu
   17. Robert Munford
   18. Mingfang Lu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study highlights the key role of the gut-liver axis mediated by LPS in causing hepatic steatosis. The authors provide solid evidence, in vivo, in vitro, and in silico, for the role of acyloxyacyl hydrolase in mediating this effect using KO mice subjected to MASD-inducing diets. The findings are significant for the liver research community and others interested in the gut-liver axis.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The ciliary kinesin KIF7 controls the development of the cerebral cortex by acting differentially on SHH-signaling in dorsal and ventral forebrain

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. María Pedraza
   2. Valentina Grampa
   3. Sophie Scotto-Lomassese
   4. Julien Puech
   5. Aude Muzerelle
   6. Azka Mohammad
   7. Nicolas Renier
   8. Christine Métin
   9. Justine Masson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides convincing evidence that the Kinesin protein family member KIF7 regulates the development of the cerebral cortex and its connectivity and the specificity of Sonic Hedgehog signaling by controlling the details of Gli repressor vs activator functions. This study provides important new insights into general aspects of cortical development.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Mast cells promote pathology and susceptibility in tuberculosis

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Ananya Gupta
   2. Vibha Taneja
   3. Javier Rangel Moreno
   4. Abhimanyu
   5. Mushtaq Ahmed
   6. Nilofer Naqvi
   7. Kuldeep S Chauhan
   8. Daniela Trejo-Ponce de León
   9. Gustavo Ramírez-Martínez
   10. Luis Jiménez-Alvarez
   11. Cesar Luna-Rivero
   12. Joaquin Zuniga
   13. Deepak Kaushal
   14. Shabaana A Khader

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this useful study, the authors use published scRNA-seq data to highlight the importance of mast cells (MCs) in TB granulomas, reporting a comparative assessment of chymase- and tryptase-expressing MCs in the lungs of tuberculosis-infected individuals and non-human primates, with MC-deficient mice showing reduced lung bacterial burden and pathology during infection. Whilst the findings are helpful, the evidence to support conclusions is inconsistent across models and thus incomplete. Specifically, the data supporting a role for MCs in coordinating cytokine responses to modulate pathology, susceptibility to tuberculosis, and dissemination during infection are weak.

   Reviewed by Arcadia Science, eLife

6. C-C chemokine receptor 4 deficiency exacerbates early atherosclerosis in mice

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Toru Tanaka
   2. Naoto Sasaki
   3. Aga Krisnanda
   4. Hilman Zulkifli Amin
   5. Ken Ito
   6. Sayo Horibe
   7. Kazuhiko Matsuo
   8. Ken-ichi Hirata
   9. Takashi Nakayama
   10. Yoshiyuki Rikitake

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides solid in-vivo evidence that CCR4 regulates the early inflammatory response during atherosclerotic plaque formation. The authors propose that altered T-cell response plays a role in this process, shedding light on mechanisms that may be of interest to medical biologists, biochemists, cell biologists, and immunologists. Further in vivo validation, mechanistic studies, and discussion of results in vitro suggested would be helpful to cement the significance and implications of these findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. A novel method (RIM-Deep) enhances imaging depth and resolution stability of deep-cleared brain tissue in inverted confocal microscopy

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Yisi Liu
   2. Pu Wang
   3. Junjie Zou
   4. Hongwei Zhou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study describes a useful technique to improve imaging depth using confocal microscopy for imaging large, cleared samples. It is as yet unclear if their proposed technique presents a significant advance to the field since their comparisons to existing techniques remain incomplete. However, the work will be of broad interest to many researchers in different fields.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Group identification drives brain integration for collective performance

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Enhui Xie
   2. Shuyi Zha
   3. Yiyang Xu
   4. Xianchun Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This timely and important study used functional near-infrared spectroscopy hyperscanning to examine the neural correlates of how group identification influences collective behavior. The work provides incomplete evidence to indicate that the synchronization of brain activity between different people underlies collective performance and that changes in brain activity patterns within individuals may, in turn, underlie this between-person synchrony. This study will be of interest to researchers investigating the neuroscience of social behaviour.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Self-association enhances early attentional selection through automatic prioritization of socially salient signals

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Meike Scheller
   2. Jan Tünnermann
   3. Katja Fredriksson
   4. Huilin Fang
   5. Jie Sui

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     By combining psychophysics and computational modelling based on the Theory of Visual Attention, this study examines the mechanisms underlying self-prioritization by revealing the influence of self-associations on early attentional selection. While the findings are important, the experimental evidence is incomplete. The relationship between consciousness (awareness) and attention, the potential contamination by arousal, the inconsistent and unexpected results, and the distinguishing between social and perceptual tasks need to be addressed or improved. The work will be of interest to researchers in psychology, cognitive science, and neuroscience.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Different Roles of D1/D2 Medium Spiny Neurons in the Nucleus Accumbens in Pair Bond Formation of Male Mandarin Voles

    This article has 17 authors:

    1. Lizi Zhang
    2. Yishan Qu
    3. Larry J Young
    4. Wenjuan Hou
    5. Limin Liu
    6. Jing Liu
    7. Yuqian Wang
    8. Lu Li
    9. Xing Guo
    10. Yin Li
    11. Caihong Huang
    12. Zijian Lv
    13. Yitong Li
    14. Rui Jia
    15. Ting Lian
    16. Zhixiong He
    17. Fadao Tai

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study advances our understanding of the role of dopamine in modulating pair bonding in mandarin voles by examining dopamine signaling within the nucleus accumbens across various social stimuli using state-of-the-art causal perturbations. The evidence supporting the findings is compelling, particularly cutting-edge approaches for measuring dopamine release as well as the activity of dopamine receptor populations during social bonding. However, statistical analyses were found to lack rigor and clarity, and the lack of complementary experiments in females was noted as a weakness. Additionally, the manuscript would be strengthened by placing findings within a broader framework, such as by highlighting similarities and/or differences between mandarin and prairie voles.

    Reviewed by eLife