eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Feedback inhibition by a descending GABAergic neuron regulates timing of escape behavior in Drosophila larvae

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jiayi Zhu
   2. Jean-Christophe Boivin
   3. Alastair Garner
   4. Jing Ning
   5. Yi Q Zhao
   6. Tomoko Ohyama

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The aim of this important study is to functionally characterize neuronal circuits underlying the escape behavior in Drosophila larvae. Upon detection of a noxious stimulus, larvae follow a series of stereotyped movements that include bending of their body, rolling and crawling away. This paper combines quantitative behavioral analyses, cell-type specific manipulations, optogenetics, calcium imaging, immunostaining, and connectomic analysis to provide convincing evidence of an inhibitory descending pathway that controls the switch from rolling to fast crawling behaviors of the larval escape response.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Insights in neuronal tuning: Navigating the statistical challenges of autocorrelation and missing variables

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Fredrik Nevjen
   2. Benjamin Adric Dunn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents important new insights into how best to address common problems encountered in the statistical analysis of neural data, including those related to temporal autocorrelations and unknown variables. The authors show that certain approaches, including those using cross-validation and permutation tests, are better than others at controlling error rates, particularly false negatives. At present, the evidence presented is incomplete, including a lack of more rigorous theoretical justifications for the differences observed between the different approaches tested and a focus on p-values without considering effect sizes, but could be improved with substantial revisions that address these issues.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Automating an insect biodiversity metric using distributed optical sensors: an evaluation across Kansas, USA cropping systems

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Klas Rydhmer
   2. James O Eckberg
   3. Jonathan G Lundgren
   4. Samuel Jansson
   5. Laurence Still
   6. John E Quinn
   7. Ralph Washington
   8. Jesper Lemmich
   9. Thomas Nikolajsen
   10. Nikolaj Sheller
   11. Alex M Michels
   12. Michael M Bredeson
   13. Steven T Rosenzweig
   14. Emily N Bick

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors propose a new methodology to survey insects, using new sensors and analytical capabilities that could be valuable for addressing urgent conservation challenges. While the results of the optical sensors appear to be comparable to those obtained with classical survey methodologies, current analyses are considered incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Fitness landscape of substrate-adaptive mutations in evolved amino acid-polyamine-organocation transporters

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Foteini Karapanagioti
   2. Úlfur Águst Atlason
   3. Dirk J Slotboom
   4. Bert Poolman
   5. Sebastian Obermaier

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important manuscript describes experimental evolution experiments using a novel genetic system in yeast, showing that solute carrier transporters can incorporate additional functionality through the introduction of point mutations to either the ligand binding site or gating helices. These findings provide convincing evidence to establish that for Amino Acid transporters of the APC-type family, evolution to recognize new substrates passes through generalist intermediates that can transport most amino acids.

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5. Exploiting fluctuations in gene expression to detect causal interactions between genes

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Euan Joly-Smith
   2. Mir Mikdad Talpur
   3. Paige Allard
   4. Fotini Papazotos
   5. Laurent Potvin-Trottier
   6. Andreas Hilfinger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     By taking advantage of noise in gene expression, this important study introduces a new approach for detecting directed causal interactions between two genes without perturbing either. The main theoretical result is supported by a proof. Preliminary simulations and experiments on small circuits are solid, but further investigations are needed to demonstrate the broad applicability and scalability of the method.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Exceptional longevity of mammalian ovarian and oocyte macromolecules throughout the reproductive lifespan

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ewa K Bomba-Warczak
   2. Karen M Velez
   3. Luhan T Zhou
   4. Christelle Guillermier
   5. Seby Edassery
   6. Matthew L Steinhauser
   7. Jeffrey N Savas
   8. Francesca E Duncan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study highlights cell types preserving long-lived proteins and lays a foundation for identifying exceptionally long-lived proteins in the ovary. Convincing evidence describes helpful data about protein turnover and identifies long-lived macromolecules in oocytes and somatic cells during mouse ovarian aging. This work will be of interest to researchers working on aging and reproductive health.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Systematic evaluation of intratumoral and peripheral BCR repertoires in three cancers

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Sofia V Krasik
   2. Ekaterina A Bryushkova
   3. George V Sharonov
   4. Daria S Myalik
   5. Elizaveta V Shurganova
   6. Dmitry V Komarov
   7. Irina A Shagina
   8. Polina S Shpudeiko
   9. Maria A Turchaninova
   10. Maria T Vakhitova
   11. Igor V Samoylenko
   12. Dimitr T Marinov
   13. Lev V Demidov
   14. Vladimir E Zagaynov
   15. Dmitriy M Chudakov
   16. Ekaterina O Serebrovskaya

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful paper systematically evaluates B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoires across tumors, tumor-draining lymph nodes, and peripheral blood in patients with melanoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and colorectal cancer. It investigates the interplay between the tumor microenvironment and immune responses, revealing differences in BCR clonotype maturity, hypermutation, and spatial distribution. The study highlights the heterogeneity in immune responses and provides solid insights into the potential of tumor-infiltrating B cells for therapeutic applications, despite limitations in patient cohort size and sequencing methodology.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Different coexistence patterns between apex carnivores and mesocarnivores based on temporal, spatial, and dietary niche partitioning analysis in Qilian Mountain National Park, China

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Wei Cong
   2. Jia Li
   3. Charlotte Hacker
   4. Ye Li
   5. Yu Zhang
   6. Lixiao Jin
   7. Yi Zhang
   8. Diqiang Li
   9. Yadong Xue
   10. Yuguang Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper provides an important assessment of competition dynamics allowing coexistence of the carnivore guild within a large national park in China. Multiple surveying techniques (camera traps and DNA metabarcoding) provide convincing evidence that spatial segregation represents the main strategy of coexistence, while species have a certain degree of temporal and dietary overlap. Altogether, the manuscript provides information critical to the conservation and management agenda of the park.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Evidence from pupillometry, fMRI, and RNN modelling shows that gain neuromodulation mediates task-relevant perceptual switches

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Gabriel Wainstein
   2. Christopher J Whyte
   3. Kaylena A Ehgoetz Martens
   4. Eli J Müller
   5. Vicente Medel
   6. Britt Anderson
   7. Elisabeth Stöttinger
   8. James Danckert
   9. Brandon R Munn
   10. James M Shine

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable paper explores the idea that transient modulations of neural gain promote switches between distinct perceptual interpretations of ambiguous stimuli. The authors provide solid evidence for this idea by pupillometry (an indirect proxy of neuromodulatory activity), fMRI, neural network modeling, and dynamical systems analyses. The highly integrative nature of this approach is rare in the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The bile acid receptor TGR5 regulates the hematopoietic support capacity of the bone marrow niche

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Alejandro Alonso-Calleja
    2. Alessia Perino
    3. Frédérica Schyrr
    4. Silvia Ferreira Lopes
    5. Vasiliki Delitsikou
    6. Antoine Jalil
    7. Ulrike Kettenberger
    8. Dominique P. Pioletti
    9. Kristina Schoonjans
    10. Olaia Naveiras

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study investigates the role of the bile acid receptor TGR5 in adult hematopoiesis of the mouse model. The findings are potentially useful because the loss of TGR5 leads to dysregulation of bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) that has emerging regulatory functions. However, the study is still incomplete because the mechanism of TGR5 is not clear, the stromal cells expressing TGR5 have not been well defined, and there is not strong evidence for the role of TGR5 in recovery from transplant stress.

    Reviewed by eLife