eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Spatially Periodic Computation in the Entorhinal-Hippocampal Circuit During Navigation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Bo Zhang
   2. Xin Guan
   3. Dean Mobbs
   4. Jia Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable results on how entorhinal and hippocampal activity may support human thinking in perceptual spaces. It replicates the hexagonal symmetry of fMRI activity in the entorhinal cortex, reports novel findings on 3-fold symmetry in both behavioral performance and hippocampal fMRI activity, and links these results within a computational model. However, the methods – while potentially creative and interesting – are not fully justified or explained, and the conclusions remain incomplete. With further explanation, justification, and interpretation, this work could represent a significant step forward in understanding how cognitive maps are utilized.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. In vivo mapping of striatal neurodegeneration in Huntington’s disease with Soma and Neurite Density Imaging

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Vasileios Ioakeimidis
   2. Marco Palombo
   3. Chiara Casella
   4. Lucy Layland
   5. Carolyn B McNabb
   6. Robin Schubert
   7. Philip Pallmann
   8. Monica E Busse
   9. Cheney JG Drew
   10. Sundus Alusi
   11. Timothy Harrower
   12. Anne E Rosser
   13. Claudia Metzler-Baddeley

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important manuscript presents a novel application of the SANDI (Soma and Neurite Density Imaging) model to study microstructural alterations in the basal ganglia of individuals with Huntington's disease (HD). The compelling methods, to our understanding, the first application of SANDI to neurodegenerative diseases, provide strong evidence for HD-related neurodegeneration in the striatum, account significantly for striatal atrophy, and correlate with motor impairments. The integration of novel diffusion acquisition and modelling methods with multimodal behavioural data are both of high value in their own right, and create a framework for future studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Allosteric effects of the coupling cation in melibiose transporter MelB

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Parameswaran Hariharan
   2. Yuqi Shi
   3. Rosa Viner
   4. Lan Guan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript presents useful insights into the molecular basis underlying the positive cooperativity between the co-transported substrates (galactoside sugar and sodium ion) in the melibiose transporter MelB. Building on years of previous studies, this work improves on the resolution of previously published structures and reports the presence of a water molecule in the sugar binding site that would appear to be key for its recognition, introduces further structures bound to different substrates, and utilizes HDX-MS to further understand the positive cooperativity between sugar and the co-transported sodium cation. Although the experimental work is solid, the presentation of the data lacks clarity, and in particular, the HDX-MS data interpretation requires further explanation in both methodology and discussion, as well as a clearer description of the new insight that is obtained in relation to previous studies. The work will be of interest to biologists and biochemists working on cation-coupled symporters, which mediate the transport of a wide range of solutes across cell membranes.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A genome-wide MAGIC kit for recombinase-independent mosaic analysis in Drosophila

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yifan Shen
   2. Ann T Yeung
   3. Payton Ditchfield
   4. Elizabeth Korn
   5. Rhiannon Clements
   6. Xinchen Chen
   7. Bei Wang
   8. Michael Sheen
   9. Parker A Jarman
   10. Chun Han

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study showcases a significant and important enhancement of the MAGIC transgenesis method, by extending it genome-wide to all chromosomes. The authors convincingly demonstrate that the MAGIC mosaic clones can be generated for genes from all, including the 4th chromosome. With this toolkit extension, the method is now most likely set to strongly rival the classical FRT/Flp recombination system for gene manipulation in flies.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. A cell atlas of the developing human outflow tract of the heart and its adult derivatives

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Rotem Leshem
   2. Syed Murtuza Baker
   3. Joshua Mallen
   4. Lu Wang
   5. John Dark
   6. Andrew D Sharrocks
   7. Karen Piper Hanley
   8. Neil A Hanley
   9. Magnus Rattray
   10. Simon D Bamforth
   11. Nicoletta Bobola

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into human valve development by integrating snRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics to characterize cell populations and regulatory programs in the embryonic and fetal outflow tract. The methods, data, and analyses are solid overall, but with some weaknesses that can be strengthened. The findings will be of interest to those who work in the field of heart development and congenital heart disease.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Male-Biased Cyp17a2 Governs Antiviral Sexual Dimorphism in Fish via STING Stabilization and Viral Protein Degradation

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Long-Feng Lu
   2. Bao-jie Cui
   3. Sheng-Chi Shi
   4. Yang-Yang Wang
   5. Can Zhang
   6. Xiao Xu
   7. Meng-Ze Tian
   8. Zhen-Qi Li
   9. Na Xu
   10. Zhuo-Cong Li
   11. Dan-Dan Chen
   12. Li Zhou
   13. Gang Zhai
   14. Zhan Yin
   15. Shun Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study describes an interesting infection phenotype that differs between adult male and female zebrafish. The authors present data indicating that male-biased expression of Cyp17a2 mediates viral infection through STING and USP8 activity regulation. The authors present solid evidence linking this factor to direct and indirect antiviral outcomes through ubiquitination pathways. These findings raise interesting questions about immune mechanisms that underlie sex dimorphism and the selective pressures that might shape it.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Challenges in Replay Detection by TDLM in Post-Encoding Resting State

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Simon Kern
   2. Juliane Nagel
   3. Lennart Wittkuhn
   4. Steffen Gais
   5. Ray Dolan
   6. Gordon Feld

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents valuable findings on the ability of a state-of-the-art method – temporally delayed linear modelling (TDLM) – to detect the replay of sequences in human memory. The investigation provides convincing evidence that TDLM has limitations in its sensitivity to detect replay when being applied to extended (minutes-long) rest periods, though a more thorough treatment of the relationship to prior positive findings would make the demonstration even stronger. The work will be of particular interest to researchers investigating memory reactivation in humans, especially using iEEG, MEG, and EEG.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Genome reorganization and its functional impact during breast cancer progression

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Kathleen S Metz Reed
   2. Andrew Fritz
   3. Haley Greenyer
   4. Kerstin Heselmeyer-Haddad
   5. Seth Frietze
   6. Janet Stein
   7. Gary Stein
   8. Tom Misteli

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study by Reed et al. provides fundamental findings and convincing evidence defining the topological changes that occur during tumorigenesis. The findings enhance the understanding of stable long-range connections among genes that reprogram cancer-related functions. Nevertheless, performing additional experiments is recommended.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Dissecting organoid-bacteria interaction highlights decreased contractile force as a key factor for heart infection

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Anheng Wang
   2. Jiaxian Wang
   3. Zhe Zhang
   4. Chuan Yang
   5. Chunhao Deng
   6. Guokai Chen
   7. Chengwu Li
   8. Qian Wang
   9. Lei Dong
   10. Chunming Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports important findings that have theoretical or practical implications beyond a single subfield. However, despite the combination of numerous analytical tools established and applied in the study, the work has substantial experimental limitations leading to incomplete evidence, indicating that the conclusions may be an over-interpretation of the findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. In silico design and validation of high-affinity RNA aptamers for SARS-CoV-2 comparable to neutralizing antibodies

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Yanqing Yang
    2. Lulu Qiao
    3. Yangwei Jiang
    4. Zhiye Wang
    5. Dong Zhang
    6. Damiano Buratto
    7. Liquan Huang
    8. Ruhong Zhou

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents a computational-experimental workflow for optimizing RNA aptamers targeting SARS-CoV-2 RBD. While the integrated approach combining docking, molecular dynamics, and experimental validation shows some promise, the useful findings are limited by the extremely weak binding affinities (>100 µM KD) and restriction to a single target system. The evidence is incomplete, with experimental design issues in the antibody competition assays and a lack of specificity testing undermining confidence in the conclusions.

    Reviewed by eLife