eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A prefrontal network model operating near steady and oscillatory states links spike desynchronization and synaptic deficits in schizophrenia

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. David A Crowe
   2. Andrew Willow
   3. Rachael K Blackman
   4. Adele L DeNicola
   5. Matthew V Chafee
   6. Bagrat Amirikian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript reports important new results, but it provides incomplete support for its claims. Recent data has shown that schizophrenia-related synaptic alterations induce changes in neural network synchrony, and this manuscript provides the first theoretical understanding of the underlying network mechanisms. Proper support for this result, however, requires a tighter link between the computational model and the experimental data and a more in-depth understanding of the model mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Effect of an enhanced public health contact tracing intervention on the secondary transmission of SARS-CoV-2 in educational settings: The four-way decomposition analysis

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Olivera Djuric
   2. Elisabetta Larosa
   3. Mariateresa Cassinadri
   4. Silvia Cilloni
   5. Eufemia Bisaccia
   6. Davide Pepe
   7. Laura Bonvicini
   8. Massimo Vicentini
   9. Francesco Venturelli
   10. Paolo Giorgi Rossi
   11. Patrizio Pezzotti
   12. Alberto Mateo Urdiales
   13. Emanuela Bedeschi
   14. The Reggio Emilia Covid-19 Working Group

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides a potentially useful assessment of the effect of testing contacts of cases in school classes when identified, rather than at the end of quarantine, on both the number of secondary infections and other outcomes including tracing delay and identification of the possible source of infection. The authors find that the intervention likely led to a decrease in tracing delay and an increase in the number of possible sources of infection, though were unable to determine whether secondary transmission decreased, due in part to unmeasured confounding. While the surveillance system described provides a solid dataset appropriate for this analysis, the description of methods, study outcomes, and consideration of potential confounding factors is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Nicotinic acetylcholine receptor signaling maintains epithelial barrier integrity

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Nadja S Katheder
   2. Kristen C Browder
   3. Diana Chang
   4. Ann De Maziere
   5. Pekka Kujala
   6. Suzanne van Dijk
   7. Judith Klumperman
   8. Tzu-Chiao Lu
   9. Hongjie Li
   10. Zijuan Lai
   11. Dewakar Sangaraju
   12. Heinrich Jasper

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study reveals a novel mechanism of Acetylcholine- Acetylylcholine receptor signaling in regulating gut barrier function in Drosophila, which provides important implications on the pathway played in human diseases, such as Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary DiseaseCOPD. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Long-timescale anti-directional rotation in Drosophila optomotor behavior

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Omer Mano
   2. Minseung Choi
   3. Ryosuke Tanaka
   4. Matthew S Creamer
   5. Natalia CB Matos
   6. Joseph W Shomar
   7. Bara A Badwan
   8. Thomas R Clandinin
   9. Damon A Clark

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The present study provides a valuable new perspective on the optomotor response based on an inversion of the behavior under specific (non-natural) conditions that may help elucidate the principles of this specific behavior. The evidence provided is convincing.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Erythrocyte invasion-neutralising antibodies prevent Plasmodium falciparum RH5 from binding to basigin-containing membrane protein complexes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Abhishek Jamwal
   2. Cristina F Constantin
   3. Stephan Hirschi
   4. Sebastian Henrich
   5. Wolfgang Bildl
   6. Bernd Fakler
   7. Simon J Draper
   8. Uwe Schulte
   9. Matthew K Higgins

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This elegantly performed and rigorous study generates new and conceptually important insights into the interaction between an essential malaria parasite invasion ligand (and vaccine candidate) called PfRH5, and its erythrocyte surface integral membrane receptor basigin. The authors provide compelling evidence based on rigorous biochemical assays that erythrocyte basigin is predominantly expressed in a complex with one of two distinct erythrocyte membrane proteins called PMCA and MCT1 and that PfRH5 binds to these complexes better than to isolated basigin. Certain invasion-inhibitory antibodies, that do not prevent binding of PfRH5 to isolated basigin, do in contrast prevent binding to the basigin complexes, explaining the mode of action of these previously enigmatic antibodies and providing valuable data towards the improved design of vaccines based on PfRH5.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A comprehensive model of Drosophila epithelium reveals the role of embryo geometry and cell topology in mechanical responses

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Mohamad Ibrahim Cheikh
   2. Joel Tchoufag
   3. Miriam Osterfield
   4. Kevin Dean
   5. Swayamdipta Bhaduri
   6. Chuzhong Zhang
   7. Kranthi Kiran Mandadapu
   8. Konstantin Doubrovinski

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Using a novel micropipette-based, minimally invasive approach in combination with theoretical and computational analysis, this important work probes tissue mechanics in the Drosophila embryo. The authors provide compelling evidence for the applicability of their method, which reveals important differences between the mechanical properties on the apical and basal tissue sides. This work should be of broad interest to scientists studying tissue mechanics, membranes, and developmental processes.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. β-cell intrinsic dynamics rather than gap junction structure dictates subpopulations in the islet functional network

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jennifer K Briggs
   2. Anne Gresch
   3. Isabella Marinelli
   4. JaeAnn M Dwulet
   5. David J Albers
   6. Vira Kravets
   7. Richard KP Benninger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript describes a set of detailed modeling and experimental studies to disentangle the respective roles of gap junctional electrical vs. metabolic coupling mechanisms in the synchronization of islet activity. This is of interest due to the importance of islet synchronization and generally islet network properties in the regulation of insulin secretion from the pancreas. The significance of the findings was judged to be mostly important and the strength of evidence provided was judged to be mostly solid overall.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Continuous sensing of nutrients and growth factors by the mTORC1-TFEB axis

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Breanne Sparta
   2. Nont Kosaisawe
   3. Michael Pargett
   4. Madhura Patankar
   5. Nicholaus DeCuzzi
   6. John G Albeck

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this study, Sparta et al., generated and employed a battery of fluorescent reporters that allowed them to perform time-resolved monitoring of mechanistic target of rapamycin complex 1 (mTORC1) responses to stimuli including glucose, amino acids, and insulin at the single cell resolution. The results of this elegant approach support a model of graded mTORC1 activation in response to the aforementioned stimuli when applied individually or in combination. This model is consistent with continuous adjustment of mTORC1 signaling to changes in cellular environment and opposed to the "on/off" model of mTORC1 function. Considering the pivotal role of mTORC1 in integrating signals such as nutrients, hormones, growth factors, oxygen, and energy status with a plethora of outputs that affect cell fate and organismal physiology, it was thought that this study will be of interests across a variety of biomedical disciplines. Overall, the elegance and robustness of the approach was highly appreciated, though the paper would be strengthened by addressing some technical issues and concerns regarding the positioning of the proposed model of mTORC1 regulation in the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Coupling and uncoupling of midline morphogenesis and cell flow in amniote gastrulation

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Rieko Asai
   2. Vivek N Prakash
   3. Shubham Sinha
   4. Manu Prakash
   5. Takashi Mikawa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Large scale cell movements occur during gastrulation in vertebrate embryos but their role in this major morphogenetic transition in formation of the body plan is poorly understood. Using the chick embryo model system, this study makes important advances using elegant methods to show that extension of the primitive streak during gastrulation, occurring through cell proliferation, polarisation and intercalation, and large-scale polonaise cell movements, can be uncoupled. Although the driving mechanism and precise role of these movements remains a mystery, the study provides convincing evidence for the uncoupling through independent approaches, the most creative of which are the effects shown after induction of a supernumerary primitive streak.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Minimal twister sister-like self-cleaving ribozymes in the human genome revealed by deep mutational scanning

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Zhe Zhang
    2. Xu Hong
    3. Peng Xiong
    4. Junfeng Wang
    5. Yaoqi Zhou
    6. Jian Zhan

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study uncovers a surprising link between two self-cleaving RNAs that belong to the same structural family. The evidence supporting the main conclusions is convincing and based on extensive biochemical and bioinformatic analysis. This research will be of broad interest to RNA molecular biologists and biochemists.

    Reviewed by eLife