eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Arrayed single-gene perturbations identify drivers of human anterior neural tube closure

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Roya E Huang
   2. Giridhar M Anand
   3. Heitor C Megale
   4. Jason Chen
   5. Chudi Abraham-Igwe
   6. Sharad Ramanathan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study is a fundamental advance in the field of developmental biology and transcriptional regulation that demonstrates the use of hPSC-derived organoids to generate reproducible organoids to study the mechanisms that drive neural tube closure. The work is exceptional in its development of tools to use CRISPR interference to screen for genes that regulate morphogenesis in human PSC organoids. The additional characterization of the role of specific transcription factors in neural tube formation is solid. The work provides both technical advances and new knowledge on human development through embryo models.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Resolving synaptic events using subsynaptically targeted GCaMP8 variants

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jiawen Chen
   2. Junhao Lin
   3. Kaikai He
   4. Luyi Wang
   5. Yifu Han
   6. Chengjie Qiu
   7. Dion Dickman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this important study, the authors engineered and characterised novel genetically encoded calcium indicators (GECIs) and an analytical tool (CaFire) capable of reporting and quantifying various sub-synaptic events, including miniature synaptic events, with a speed and sensitivity approaching that of intracellular electrophysiological recordings. While the evidence supporting the improvements in the speed and accuracy of these tools is convincing, including additional information about key imaging parameters, the Bar8f experiments, and CaFire would strengthen the study. This work will be of interest to neurobiologists studying synaptic calcium dynamics in various model systems.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Widespread cortical representations of innate behaviors in the mouse

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Nicholas J Michelson
   2. Pankaj K Gupta
   3. Timothy H Murphy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable work shows that subcortically-generated behaviors, like grooming, can have widespread representations in cortical activity. While the evidence is solid, additional analyses are necessary to strengthen the claims associated with outsized cortical representations of grooming onsets, as well as to address atypical grooming events. This work will be of interest to neuroscientists interested in how subcortically-generated behaviors are represented across the cortex.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. BuzzWatch: Uncovering Multi-scale Temporal Patterns in Mosquito Behavior Through Continuous Long-term Monitoring

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Théo Maire
   2. Zhong Wan
   3. Louis Lambrechts
   4. Felix JH Hol

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper reports a useful low-cost platform for studying mosquito behaviors such as flight activity, sugar feeding, and host-seeking responses over the course of several weeks, and demonstrates key applications of this platform. While the authors provide a biological proof of principle, the evidence that supports the validation of the tracking algorithm is incomplete; it lacks biological replicates, independent confirmation of the tracking algorithm, and data on mosquito survival.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Sulfation affects apical extracellular matrix organization during development of the Drosophila embryonic salivary gland tube

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. J Luke Woodward
   2. Jeffrey Matthew
   3. Rutuparna Joshi
   4. Vishakha Vishwakarma
   5. Ying Xiao
   6. SeYeon Chung

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper is important in demonstrating a requirement for sulfation in organizing apical extracellular matrix (aECM) during tubulogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster. The authors identify and characterize the organization of some of the first known components of the non-chitinous aECM in the Drosophila salivary gland tube, and these findings are supported by convincing data. This study would be of interest to developmental and cell biologists.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

6. Evidence of off-target probe binding in the 10x Genomics Xenium v1 Human Breast Gene Expression Panel compromises accuracy of spatial transcriptomic profiling

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Caleb Hallinan
   2. Hyun Joo Ji
   3. Steven L Salzberg
   4. Jean Fan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study identifies and characterizes probe binding errors in a widely used commercial platform for visualizing gene activity in tissue samples, discovering that at least 21 out of 280 genes in a human breast cancer panel are not accurately detected. The authors provide convincing evidence for their findings validated against multiple independent sequencing technologies and reference datasets. Given the broad adoption of this spatial gene detection platform in biomedical research, this work provides an essential quality control resource that will improve data interpretation across numerous studies.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Single-cell transcriptome sequencing for opening the blood-brain barrier through specific mode electroacupuncture stimulation

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Congcong Ma
   2. Zhaoxing Jia
   3. Tianxiang Jiang
   4. Qian Cai
   5. Jinding Yang
   6. Lin Gan
   7. Kecheng Qian
   8. Zixin Pan
   9. Qinyu Ye
   10. Mengyuan Dai
   11. Xianming Lin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding that the blood-brain barrier (BBB) may be modulated through specific modes of electroacupuncture stimulation. The data were collected and analyzed using a solid and validated methodology, and can be used as a starting point for functional studies of the BBB for drug delivery across healthy and diseased states. The work will be of broad interest to scientists working in the field of drug delivery and drug development.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. The basolateral amygdala complex and perirhinal cortex represent focal and peripheral states of information processing in rats

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Francesca S Wong
   2. A Simon Killcross
   3. R Fred Westbrook
   4. Nathan M Holmes

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important Research Advance builds on the authors' previous work delineating the roles of the rodent perirhinal cortex and the basolateral amygdala in first- and second-order learning. The convincing results show that serial exposure of non-motivationally relevant stimuli influences how those stimuli are encoded within the perirhinal cortex and basolateral amygdala when paired with a shock. This manuscript will be interesting for researchers in cognitive and behavioral neuroscience.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Peripheral anatomy and central connectivity of proprioceptive sensory neurons in the Drosophila wing

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Ellen Lesser
   2. Anthony Moussa
   3. John C Tuthill

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work by Lesser et al provides a first and comprehensive description of Drosophila wing proprioceptors at an EM resolution. By linking peripheral neurons with information on their morphology and connectivity in the central nervous system, the authors provide new hypotheses and tools to study proprioceptive motor control of the wing in the fruit fly. The evidence and techniques supporting this work are solid, and this resource will contribute to connectome-based modeling of fly behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The hypoxic response extends lifespan through a bioaminergic and peptidergic neural circuit

    This article has 13 authors:

    1. Elizabeth S Kitto
    2. Shijiao Huang
    3. Mira Bhandari
    4. Cassie Tian
    5. Rebecca L Cox
    6. Safa Beydoun
    7. Emily Wang
    8. Danielle Shave
    9. Hillary A Miller
    10. Sarah A Easow
    11. Ella Henry
    12. Megan L Schaller
    13. Scott F Leiser

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This fundamental study identifies specific neural mechanisms through which HIF-1 signaling in ADF serotonergic neurons extends lifespan in C. elegans, revealing that downstream signaling in multiple types of neurons, as well as other neuromodulators like GABA, tyramine, and NLP-17, is required for this effect. The strength of the evidence is largely convincing, as the authors establish the necessity and causality of key neuronal components using multiple genetic tools and functional dissection in a well-validated model organism.

    Reviewed by eLife