eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Single-cell RNA sequencing unveils the hidden powers of zebrafish kidney for generating both hematopoiesis and adaptive antiviral immunity

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Chongbin Hu
   2. Nan Zhang
   3. Yun Hong
   4. Ruxiu Tie
   5. Dongdong Fan
   6. Aifu Lin
   7. Ye Chen
   8. Li-xin Xiang
   9. Jian-zhong Shao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study characterizes the composition and immune diversity of the zebrafish kidney, the immune organ equivalent to human bone marrow, with convincing single-cell transcriptomic data of hematopoietic cells and immunocytes. The key findings suggest that zebrafish kidney is a secondary lymphatic organ, and that hematopoietic stem cells in zebrafish may exhibit trained immunity, which are the unique features of the fish immune system. This study provides new and valuable insights into the antiviral response in teleost fish, which will be of interest to biologists in general, and to immunologists and cancer researchers in particular.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Conformational dynamics of a nicotinic receptor neurotransmitter site

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Mrityunjay Singh
   2. Dinesh C Indurthi
   3. Lovika Mittal
   4. Anthony Auerbach
   5. Shailendra Asthana

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful work provides insight into agonist binding to nicotinic acetylcholine receptors, which is the stimulus for channel activation that regulates muscle contraction at the neuromuscular junction. The authors use in silico methods to explore the transient conformational change from a low to high affinity agonist-bound conformation as occurs during channel opening, but for which structural information is lacking owing to its transient nature. The simulations indicating that ligands flip ~180 degrees in the binding site as it transitions from a low to high affinity bound conformation are solid. A limitation is the approximation of binding energies using Poisson-Boltzmann Surface Area and mismatch between calculated and experimental binding energies for two of the four ligands tested. Nonetheless, this work presents an intriguing picture for the nature of a transient conformational change at the agonist binding site correlated with channel opening.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Structure of the human heparan-α-glucosaminide N-acetyltransferase (HGSNAT)

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Vikas Navratna
   2. Arvind Kumar
   3. Jaimin K Rana
   4. Shyamal Mosalaganti

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study presents the structure of human heparan-alpha-glucosaminide N-acetyltransferase (HGSNAT) in the acetyl-CoA bound state, providing the first description of the architecture of this family of integral membrane enzymes, and revealing the mode of acetyl-CoA binding. The structural work is convincing, with a high resolution and isotropic single-particle cryoEM map and an atomic model that is well-justified by the density map, with strong density for the acetyl-CoA ligand. However, experimental support for the molecular mechanism of the HS acetylation reaction and the impact of disease-causing mutations is incomplete. This work will be of interest to biochemists and structural biologists studying the structure and function of integral membrane enzymes, as well as those interested in genetic diseases resulting from mutations in this family of enzymes, such as mucopolysaccharidosis IIIC (MPS III-C).

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Associations of combined phenotypic aging and genetic risk with incident cancer: A prospective cohort study

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Lijun Bian
   2. Zhimin Ma
   3. Xiangjin Fu
   4. Chen Ji
   5. Tianpei Wang
   6. Caiwang Yan
   7. Juncheng Dai
   8. Hongxia Ma
   9. Zhibin Hu
   10. Hongbing Shen
   11. Lu Wang
   12. Meng Zhu
   13. Guangfu Jin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents fundamental findings that advance our understanding of the role of phenotypic aging in cancer risk. This article presents compelling results that show Phenotypic Age Acceleration (PhenoAgeAccel) can predict cancer incidence of different types and could be used with genetic risk to facilitate the identification of cancer-susceptible individuals. These results will be of broad interest to the research community and clinicians.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Gcn5 – mTORC1 – TFEB signalling axis mediated control of autophagy regulates Drosophila blood cell homeostasis

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. AR Arjun
   2. Suraj Math
   3. Laxmi Kata
   4. Rohan Jayant Khadilkar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript shows that manipulating the expression of the histone acetyltransferase Gcn5 affects blood cell homeostasis in the Drosophila larval hematopoietic organ. The data suggest a link between autophagy and the mTOR pathway, as could be expected from the literature. The authors use several genetic manipulations as well as some chemical modulators to generate solid evidence supporting most of their conclusions, but some of the analyses are inadequate and would benefit from improvement.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Sub-surface deformation of individual fingerprint ridges during tactile interactions

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Giulia Corniani
   2. Zing S Lee
   3. Matt J Carré
   4. Roger Lewis
   5. Benoit P Delhaye
   6. Hannes P Saal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     By leveraging optical coherence tomography this study provides important insight into the deformation of human fingertip ridges when contacting raised features such as edges and contours. The study provides solid evidence that such features tend to cause deformation and relative movement of what the authors term ridge flanks rather than bending of the ridges themselves. Clarification about the anatomical structures under study is needed to fully interpret the claims and the resulting implications for both skin mechanics as well as the neural coding of touch.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Aberrant hippocampal Ca2+ microwaves following synapsin-dependent adeno-associated viral expression of Ca2+ indicators

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Nicola Masala
   2. Manuel Mittag
   3. Eleonora Ambrad Giovannetti
   4. Darik A O'Neil
   5. Fabian J Distler
   6. Peter Rupprecht
   7. Fritjof Helmchen
   8. Rafael Yuste
   9. Martin Fuhrmann
   10. Heinz Beck
   11. Michael Wenzel
   12. Tony Kelly

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study provides convincing evidence of artifactual calcium micro-waves during calcium imaging of populations of neurons in the hippocampus using methods that are common in the field. The work raises awareness of these artifacts so that any research labs planning to do calcium imaging in the hippocampus can avoid them by using alternative strategies that the authors propose.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A comprehensive neuroanatomical survey of the Drosophila Lobula Plate Tangential Neurons with predictions for their optic flow sensitivity

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Arthur Zhao
   2. Aljoscha Nern
   3. Sanna Koskela
   4. Marisa Dreher
   5. Mert Erginkaya
   6. Connor W. Laughland
   7. Henrique Ludwigh
   8. Alex Thomson
   9. Judith Hoeller
   10. Ruchi Parekh
   11. Sandro Romani
   12. Davi D. Bock
   13. Eugenia Chiappe
   14. Michael B. Reiser

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study presents the first comprehensive catalog of the large neurons that compute optic flow in any insect. The morphological reconstructions from volume electron microscopy of the large arbors of these neurons, the Lobula Plate Tangential Neurons, were followed by the examination of their spatial arrangement to estimate their individual receptive fields and predict their optimal motion sensitivity. This compelling, rigorous data set, which includes the synaptic connectivity of the neurons under study with major target neurons in the fly brain, establishes a foundation for future studies on visual processing on the basis of a known connectome plus genetic driver lines to manipulate its constituent neurons. It will be of interest beyond insect vision to those studying sensory processing and neural circuit function.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Heterozygous expression of a Kcnt1 gain-of-function variant has differential effects on somatostatin- and parvalbumin-expressing cortical GABAergic neurons

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Amy N Shore
   2. Keyong Li
   3. Mona Safari
   4. Alshaima'a M Qunies
   5. Brittany D Spitznagel
   6. C David Weaver
   7. Kyle Emmitte
   8. Wayne Frankel
   9. Matthew C Weston

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Shore et al. report the important effects of a heterozygous mutation in the KCNT1 potassium channel on ion currents and firing behavior of excitatory and inhibitory neurons in the cortex of KCNT1-Y777H mice. The authors provide solid evidence of physiological differences between this heterozygous mutation and their previous work with homozygotes. The reviewers appreciated the inclusion of recordings in ex vivo slices and dissociated cortical neurons, as well as the additional evidence showing an increase in persistent sodium currents in parvalbumin-positive interneurons in heterozygotes.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. PKCδ is an activator of neuronal mitochondrial metabolism that mediates the spacing effect on memory consolidation

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Typhaine Comyn
    2. Thomas Preat
    3. Alice Pavlowsky
    4. Pierre-Yves Plaçais

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This is a fundamental research study which identifies some of the molecular mechanisms underlying the energy costly process of memory consolidation. The strength of evidence is exceptional. The paper should be of broad interest because it establishes a clear mechanistic link between long-term memory processes and the energy-producing machinery in neurons.

    Reviewed by eLife