eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. RUNX2 isoform II protects cancer cells from ferroptosis and apoptosis by promoting PRDX2 expression in oral squamous cell carcinoma

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Junjun Huang
   2. Rong Jia
   3. Jihua Guo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper investigates how isoform II of transcription factor RUNX2 promotes cell survival and proliferation in oral squamous cell carcinoma cell lines. The authors used gain and loss of function techniques to provide convincing evidence showing that RUNX2 isoform silencing led to cell death via several mechanisms including apoptosis and ferroptosis that was partially suppressed through RUNX2 regulation of PRDX2 expression. The study provides valuable insight into the underlying mechanism by which RUNX2 acts in oral squamous cell carcinoma.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Prophage-encoded Hm-oscar gene recapitulates Wolbachia-induced male-killing in the tea tortrix moth Homona magnanima

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Hiroshi Arai
   2. Susumu Katsuma
   3. Noriko Matsuda-Imai
   4. Shiou-Ruei Lin
   5. Maki N Inoue
   6. Daisuke Kageyama

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Hardly anything is known about the genetic basis and mechanism of male-killing. Recently, a gene called oscar, in the bacterium Wolbachia, was implicated in killing male corn borer moths by interfering with moth genes that control sex determination and proper dosage of sex-specific genes. In this paper, the authors show that a distantly related oscar gene in another strain of Wolbachia kills male tea tortrix moths in a similar mechanism. This valuable study cements our understanding of the sophisticated way that Wolbachia kills male moths and butterflies (Lepidoptera) so early in their development. The conclusions are supported by solid evidence.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Hypersensitivity of the vimentin cytoskeleton to net-charge states and Coulomb repulsion

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Bret A Unger
   2. Chun Ying Wu
   3. Alexander A Choi
   4. Changdong He
   5. Ke Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study provides new insight into the disassembly of vimentin filaments and the dependence of this mechanism on net charge, albeit with incomplete evidence. In particular, the experimental replicates are limited (in most cases n=1), there is a lack of quantitative analysis to substantiate claims, inconsistency of the proposed mechanisms with previously published work, and lack of biochemical evidence supporting the observations in cells. Addressing these concerns would strengthen the manuscript and help support the proposed hypothesis on vimentin disassembly.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Pronounced expression of extracellular matrix proteoglycans regulated by Wnt pathway underlies the parallel evolution of lip hypertrophy in East African cichlids

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Nagatoshi Machii
   2. Ryo Hatashima
   3. Tatsuya Niwa
   4. Hideki Taguchi
   5. Ismael A Kimirei
   6. Hillary DJ Mrosso
   7. Mitsuto Aibara
   8. Tatsuki Nagasawa
   9. Masato Nikaido

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Cichlid fishes have attracted attention from a wide range of biologists because of their
     extensive species diversification at the ecological and phenotypic levels. In this important study, the authors have partially revealed the mechanism behind lip thickening in cichlid fishes, which has evolved independently across three lakes in Africa. To explore this phenomenon, the authors used histological comparison, proteomics, and transcriptomics, all of which are well suited for their objectives. With compelling evidence, this contribution provides insights into parallel evolution in polygenic traits and holds significant value for the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Flexible neural representations of abstract structural knowledge in the human entorhinal cortex

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Shirley Mark
   2. Philipp Schwartenbeck
   3. Avital Hahamy
   4. Veronika Samborska
   5. Alon Boaz Baram
   6. Timothy E Behrens

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Mark and colleagues developed and validated a valuable method for examining subspace generalization in fMRI data and applied it to understand whether the entorhinal cortex uses abstract representations that generalize across different environments with the same structure. The manuscript presents convincing evidence for the conclusion that abstract entorhinal representations of hexagonal associative structures generalize across different stimulus sets.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. PRMT1-SFPQ regulates intron retention to control matrix gene expression during craniofacial development

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Julia Raulino Lima
   2. Nicha Ungvijanpunya
   3. Qing Chen
   4. Hoang Quoc Hai Pham
   5. Tal Rosen
   6. Greg Park
   7. Mohammadreza Vatankhah
   8. Steven Yen
   9. Yang Chai
   10. Amy E Merrill
   11. Zhaoyang Liu
   12. Jian-Fu Chen
   13. Yanzhong Yang
   14. Weiqun Peng
   15. Jian Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work establishes a connection between PRMT1 and SFPQ by identifying common phenotypes downstream of their inactivation. In the resubmission, authors now include NMD as a contributor to aberrant gene expression underpinning craniofacial development. The complementary experiments help strengthen some solid conclusions. This paper describes an interesting mechanism for the regulation of RNA levels, which is of interest to the readers of eLife.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Multi-dimensional oscillatory activity of mouse GnRH neurons in vivo

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Su Young Han
   2. Shel-Hwa Yeo
   3. Jae-Chang Kim
   4. Ziyue Zhou
   5. Allan E Herbison

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study investigates the oscillatory activity of gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) neurones in mice using GCaMP fiber photometry. It demonstrates three distinct patterns of oscillatory activity that occur in GnRH neurons comprising low-level rapid baseline activity, abrupt short-duration oscillations that drive pulsatile gonadotropin secretion, and, in females, a gradual and prolonged oscillating increase in activity responsible for the relatively short-lived preovulatory LH surge. The evidence presented in the study is solid, offering theoretical implications for understanding the behaviour of GnRH neurones in the context of reproductive physiology, and will be of interest to researchers in neuroendocrinology and reproductive biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Ocular biomarker profiling after complement factor I gene therapy in geographic atrophy secondary to age-related macular degeneration

   This article has 24 authors:

   1. Thomas M Hallam
   2. Emanuela Gardenal
   3. Fraser McBlane
   4. GaEun Cho
   5. Lucy Lee Ferraro
   6. Eva Pekle
   7. Darlene Lu
   8. Kate Carney
   9. Claire Wenden
   10. Hannah Beadsmoore
   11. Sergio Kaiser
   12. Lauren Drage
   13. Thomas Haye
   14. Iris Kassem
   15. Nalini Rangaswamy
   16. Ma’en Obeidat
   17. Cyndy Grosskreutz
   18. Magali Saint-Geniez
   19. David H Steel
   20. Robert E MacLaren
   21. Scott Ellis
   22. Claire L Harris
   23. Stephen Poor
   24. Amy V Jones

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work advances our understanding of factors influencing efficacy assessments and biomarker viability for complement-directed gene therapy against age-related macular degeneration. The data presented is convincing and offers insights and teachings for the design of gene therapy and complement-targeted therapeutics in the eye and more broadly for future ocular biomarker studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Reevaluating the neural noise in dyslexia using biomarkers from electroencephalography and high-resolution magnetic resonance spectroscopy

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Agnieszka Glica
   2. Katarzyna Wasilewska
   3. Julia Jurkowska
   4. Jarosław Żygierewicz
   5. Bartosz Kossowski
   6. Katarzyna Jednoróg

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study empirically investigates the neural noise hypothesis of developmental dyslexia using electroencephalography (EEG) during a spoken language task and 7T magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MRS). The convincing findings indicate no evidence of an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory (E/I) brain activity in adolescents and young adults with dyslexia compared to controls, thereby challenging the neural noise hypothesis. This research is valuable for advancing our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying dyslexia and offers broader insights into the neural processes involved in reading development.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Mixed representations of choice direction and outcome by GABA/glutamate cotransmitting neurons in the entopeduncular nucleus

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Julianna Locantore
    2. Yijun Liu
    3. Jesse White
    4. Janet Berrios Wallace
    5. Celia Beron
    6. Emily Kraft
    7. Bernardo Sabatini
    8. Michael Wallace

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      Somatostatin-expressing neurons of the entopeduncular nucleus (EPNSst+) provide a limbic output of the basal ganglia and co-release GABA and Glutamate in their projection to the lateral habenula, a structure that is key for reward-based learning. Combining fiber photometry and computational modeling, the authors provide compelling evidence that EPNSst+ neural activity represents movement, choice direction and reward outcomes in a probabilistic switching task but, surprisingly, neither chronic genetic silencing of these neurons nor selectively elimination glutamate release affected behavioral performance in well-trained animals. This valuable study shows that despite its representation of key task variables, EPNSst+ neurons are dispensable for ongoing performance in a task requiring outcome monitoring to optimize reward. This work will be of interest to those interested in neural circuits, learning, and/or decision making.

    Reviewed by eLife