eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Multi-Omics Single-Cell Analysis Reveals Key Regulators of HIV-1 Persistence and Aberrant Host Immune Responses in Early Infection

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Dayeon Lee
   2. Sin Young Choi
   3. So-I Shin
   4. Hyunsu An
   5. Byeong-Sun Choi
   6. Jihwan Park

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides evidence that single-cell multi-omics profiling can reveal key regulators of HIV-1 persistence and early immune dysregulation, particularly implicating KLF2 and Th17 cells as major players in viral reservoir dynamics. The findings are solid, supported by rigorous integration of scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq data, but are limited by sample size and lack of validation with external datasets. Overall, this work makes a valuable contribution to understanding HIV-1 immune evasion and highlights potential therapeutic targets for reservoir eradication.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. A neural network model that generates salt concentration memory-dependent chemotaxis in Caenorhabditis elegans

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Masakatsu Hironaka
   2. Tomonari Sumi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors utilize a valuable computational approach to exploring the mechanisms of memory-dependent klinotaxis, with a hypothesis that is both plausible and testable. Although they provide a solid hypothesis of circuit function based on an established model, the model's lack of integration of newer experimental findings, its reliance on predefined synaptic states, and oversimplified sensory dynamics, make the investigation incomplete for both memory and internal-state modulation of taxis.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. PRDM16 functions as a co-repressor in the BMP pathway to suppress neural stem cell proliferation

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Li He
   2. Jiayu Wen
   3. Qi Dai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable work presents how PRDM16 plays a critical role during colloid plexus development, through regulating BMP signaling. Solid evidence supports the context-dependent gene regulatory mechanisms both in vivo and in vitro. The work will be of broad interest to researchers working on growth factor signaling mechanisms and vertebrate development.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Vascular mural cells protect the adult brain from haemorrhage but do not control the blood-brain barrier in developing zebrafish

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Oguzhan F Baltaci
   2. Andrea Usseglio Gaudi
   3. Stefanie Dudczig
   4. Weili Wang
   5. Maria Cristina Rondon-Galeano
   6. Ye-Wheen Lim
   7. James Rae
   8. Anne Lagendijk
   9. Robert G Parton
   10. Alison Farley
   11. Benjamin M Hogan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines the role of pericytes in patterning the zebrafish blood-brain barrier (BBB) and controlling its permeability. Using pdgfrb mutant zebrafish models lacking brain pericytes, the authors report that pericyte-deficient cerebrovasculatures are ill-patterned, yet display unaltered restrictive BBB permeability properties at larval and juvenile stages. More severe phenotypes are detected in adults, with focal leakage sites associated with hemorrhages and aneurysms. Using solid and beautifully documented imaging, the authors suggest that, contrary to the situation described in rodent models, pdgfrb-dependent pericytes are not required to maintain the BBB in the zebrafish brain; these unexpected and intriguing findings reshape our understanding of BBB permeability regulation in vertebrates.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Biophysical network modeling of temporal and stereotyped sequence propagation of neural activity in the premotor nucleus HVC

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Zeina Bou Diab
   2. Marc Chammas
   3. Arij Daou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Birdsong production depends on precise neural sequences in a vocal motor nucleus HVC. In this useful biophysical model, Daou and colleagues identify specific biophysical parameters that result in sparse neural sequences observed in vivo. While the model is presently incomplete because it is overfit to produce sequences and therefore not robust to real biological variation, the model has the potential to address some outstanding issues in HVC function.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Pupil dilation offers a time-window on prediction error

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Olympia Colizoli
   2. Tessa van Leeuwen
   3. Danaja Rutar
   4. Harold Bekkering

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study seeks to examine the relationship between pupil size and information gain, showing opposite effects dependent upon whether the average uncertainty increases or decreases across trials. Given the broad implications for learning and perception, the findings will be of broad interest to researchers in cognitive neuroscience, decision-making, and computational modelling. Nevertheless, the evidence in support of the particular conclusion is at present incomplete - the conclusions would be strengthened if the authors could both clarify the differences between model-updating and prediction error in their account and clarify the patterns in the data.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. SATAY-based chemogenomic screening uncovers antifungal resistance mechanisms and key determinants of ATI-2307 and chitosan sensitivity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Matthew T Karadzas
   2. Agnès H Michel
   3. Andreas Mosbach
   4. George Giannakopoulos
   5. Ruairi McGettigan
   6. Gabriel Scalliet
   7. Benoît Kornmann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important manuscript proposes a new strategy for the identification of new mechanisms of drug resistance based on SAturated Transposon Analysis in Yeast (SATAY), a powerful transposon sequencing method in Saccharomyces cerevisiae. This method allows us to uncover loss- and gain-of-function mutations conferring resistance to 20 different antifungal compounds. The method is convincing, allowing the authors to identify a novel interaction of chitosan with the cell wall mannosylphosphate, and show that the transporter Hol1 concentrates the novel antifungal ATI-2307 within yeast.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Differential roles of Na _V 1.2 and Na _V 1.6 in neocortical pyramidal cell excitability

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Joshua D. Garcia
   2. Chenyu Wang
   3. Ryan P. D. Alexander
   4. Emmie Banks
   5. Timothy Fenton
   6. Jean-Marc DeKeyser
   7. Tatiana V. Abramova
   8. Alfred L. George
   9. Roy Ben-Shalom
   10. David H. Hackos
   11. Kevin J. Bender

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents a clever and powerful approach to examining differential roles of Nav1.2 and Nav1.6 channels in excitability of neocortical pyramidal neurons, by engineering mice in which a sulfonamide inhibitor of both channels has reduced affinity for one or the other channels. Overall, the results in the manuscript are compelling and give important information about differential roles of Nav1.6 and Nav1.2 channels. Activity-dependent inactivation of NaV1.6 was also found to attenuate seizure-like activity in cells, demonstrating the promise of activity-dependent NaV1.6-specific pharmacotherapy for epilepsy.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Old age variably impacts chimpanzee engagement and efficiency in stone tool use

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. E Howard-Spink
   2. T Matsuzawa
   3. S Carvalho
   4. C Hobaiter
   5. K Almeida-Warren
   6. T Gruber
   7. D Biro

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study provides a novel framework for leveraging longitudinal field observations to examine the effects of aging on stone tool use behaviour in wild chimpanzees. However, the analysis and interpretation are currently incomplete and would benefit from a more robust consideration of additional sources of variance for the data (e.g., foraging ecology, nut and tool properties, etc.). Despite the low sample size of five individuals, this study is of broad interest to ethologists, primatologists, archaeologists, and psychologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Computational modelling identifies key determinants of subregion-specific dopamine dynamics in the striatum

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Aske L Ejdrup
    2. Jakob K Dreyer
    3. Matthew D Lycas
    4. Søren H Jørgensen
    5. Trevor W Robbins
    6. Jeffrey W Dalley
    7. Freja Herborg
    8. Ulrik Gether

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The conclusions of this work are based on valuable simulations of a detailed model of striatal dopamine dynamics. Establishing that a lower dopamine uptake rate can lead to a 'tonic' level of dopamine in the ventral but not dorsal striatum, and that dopamine concentration changes at short delays can be tracked by D1 but not D2 receptor activation, is of value and will be of interest to dopamine aficionados. However, the simulations are incomplete, providing only partial support for the key claims. Several things can be done to strengthen the conclusions, including, for example, but not exclusively, a demonstration of how the results would change as a function of changes in D2 affinity.

    Reviewed by eLife