eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The CD4 transmembrane GGXXG and juxtamembrane (C/F)CV+C motifs mediate pMHCII-specific signaling independently of CD4-LCK interactions

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Mark S Lee
   2. Peter J Tuohy
   3. Caleb Y Kim
   4. Philip P Yost
   5. Katrina Lichauco
   6. Heather L Parrish
   7. Koenraad Van Doorslaer
   8. Michael S Kuhns

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides valuable new insights as to how two evolutionary conserved motifs in CD4 contribute to the CD4-mediated enhancement of TCR signaling independently of the CD4-LCK interaction. The data at hand are convincing, even if confined to a cell line model and not substantiated in vivo and with little new mechanistic insight provided regarding the domains of CD4 shown to have significant roles in the signaling process. Without the data from primary cells it is difficult to make statements about the quantitative contribution of LCK-dependent and independent functions of CD4 in TCR signaling.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Goal-directed vocal planning in a songbird

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Anja T Zai
   2. Anna E Stepien
   3. Nicolas Giret
   4. Richard HR Hahnloser

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work identifies a previously uncharacterized capacity for songbird to recover vocal targets even without sensory experience. The evidence supporting this claim is convincing, with technically difficult and innovative experiments exploring goal-directed vocal plasticity in deafened birds. This work has broad relevance to the fields of vocal and motor learning.

   Reviewed by eLife, PREreview

3. Activity of MukBEF for chromosome management in E. coli and its inhibition by MatP

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Mohammed Seba
   2. Frederic Boccard
   3. Stéphane Duigou

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work combines DNA contact analysis and controlled genome rearrangements to investigate the processes that organize the E. coli chromosome, with a particular focus on how the SMC-related complex MukBEF is regulated. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with time-resolved experiments and analysis of mutant strains. The work will be of broad interest to chromosome biologists and bacterial cell biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Functional diversity of dopamine axons in prefrontal cortex during classical conditioning

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Kenta Abe
   2. Yuki Kambe
   3. Kei Majima
   4. Zijing Hu
   5. Makoto Ohtake
   6. Ali Momennezhad
   7. Hideki Izumi
   8. Takuma Tanaka
   9. Ashley Matunis
   10. Emma Stacy
   11. Takahide Itokazu
   12. Takashi R Sato
   13. Tatsuo Sato

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study shows that distinct midbrain dopaminergic axons in the medial prefrontal cortex respond to aversive and rewarding stimuli and suggest that they are biased toward aversive processing. The use of innovative microprism based two-photon calcium imaging to study single axon heterogeneity is convincing, although the experimental design makes it difficult to definitively distinguish aversive valence from stimulus salience in this dopamine projection. This work will be of interest to neuroscientists working on neuromodulatory systems, cortical function and decision making.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Large-scale deorphanization of Nematostella vectensis neuropeptide G protein-coupled receptors supports the independent expansion of bilaterian and cnidarian peptidergic systems

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Daniel Thiel
   2. Luis Alfonso Yañez Guerra
   3. Amanda Kieswetter
   4. Alison G Cole
   5. Liesbet Temmerman
   6. Ulrich Technau
   7. Gáspár Jékely

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work identifies cnidarian neuropeptides and pairs them to their GPCR, then shows that neuropeptide signaling systems have evolved and diversified independently in cnidarians and bilaterians. Neuropeptide-receptor partners were experimentally identified using established and widely used methodologies including single cell mapping, providing compelling evidence for the conclusions of the paper. This impressive accomplishment provides fundamental new insights into the evolution of neuropeptide signaling systems and will be of broad interest to neurobiologists and evolution of development researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Astrocytes gate long-term potentiation in hippocampal interneurons

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Weida Shen
   2. Yejiao Tang
   3. Jing Yang
   4. Linjing Zhu
   5. Wen Zhou
   6. Liyang Xiang
   7. Feng Zhu
   8. Jingyin Dong
   9. Yicheng Xie
   10. Ling-Hui Zeng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presents valuable insights into the regulation of astrocytes in the long-term potentiation of excitatory synapses onto inhibitory interneurons. However, reviewers identified concerns regarding originality and proper acknowledgment of replicated work, representation of interneuron diversity, and the robustness of certain conclusions. The strength of evidence provided is deemed incomplete, necessitating significant revisions for clarity, and accuracy, and to address highlighted concerns.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Exposure to false cardiac feedback alters pain perception and anticipatory cardiac frequency

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Eleonora Parrotta
   2. Patric Bach
   3. Giovanni Pezzulo
   4. Andrea Zaccaro
   5. Mauro Gianni Perrucci
   6. Marcello Costantini
   7. Francesca Ferri

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, Parrotta et al. showed that it is possible to modulate pain perception and heart rate by providing false heart rate (HR) acoustic feedback before administering electrical cutaneous shocks. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is rather solid, although what they consider an interoceptive signal is not necessarily supported as such by the results. In this regard, including a larger number of trials per participant, increasing the sample size, and adding a measure of actual pain perception after its induction would have strengthened the study. Although mechanisms and some alternative explanations for this effect remain to be addressed, the work will nonetheless be of interest to neuroscientists working on predictions and perception, health psychologists, pain researchers, and placebo researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Active dendrites enable robust spiking computations despite timing jitter

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Thomas SJ Burger
   2. Michael E Rule
   3. Timothy O’Leary

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study develops and exploits novel ideas in dendritic integration and implements these ideas in a neural network. Historically, dendritic plateau potentials were thought to exist primarily for maintaining neurons in a depolarized state for 100s of milliseconds, but this study presents a new perspective that dendritic plateau potentials are equally effective in much shorter integration windows. The computational evidence supporting the article's claims is compelling.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Retinal metabolism displays evidence for uncoupling of glycolysis and oxidative phosphorylation via Cori-, Cahill-, and mini-Krebs-cycle

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Yiyi Chen
   2. Laimdota Zizmare
   3. Victor Calbiague
   4. Lan Wang
   5. Shirley Yu
   6. Fritz W Herberg
   7. Oliver Schmachtenberg
   8. Francois Paquet-Durand
   9. Christoph Trautwein

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Chen and colleagues utilize an in situ explant model of the neural retina and retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), along with small molecule inhibition of key metabolic enzymes and targeted metabolomic analysis, to decipher key differences in metabolic pathways used by rods, cones, Muller glia, and the RPE. They conclude that rods are heavily reliant on oxidative metabolism, cones are heavily reliant on glycolysis, and multiple mechanisms exist to decouple glycolysis from oxidative metabolism in the retina. This study provides valuable metabolomic data and insights into the metabolic flexibility of different retinal cells. However, current evidence is still incomplete as several of the conclusions from the paper stand in contradiction to other published findings and the authors naturally suggests experiments that will be needed in the future to validate the hypothesized pathways and refute existing published data. Such future validation includes animal models with tissue specific knockout of the key enzymes probed in the study; inhibiting the targets of this study with more than 1 small molecule that is structurally different, and at different doses and timings; using retinal explants from matured animals; performing labeled metabolite tracing experiments; and direct assessment of mitochondrial function (via OCR) under various manipulations.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Association of genetic variation in COL11A1 with adolescent idiopathic scoliosis

    This article has 25 authors:

    1. Hao Yu
    2. Anas M Khanshour
    3. Aki Ushiki
    4. Nao Otomo
    5. Yoshinao Koike
    6. Elisabet Einarsdottir
    7. Yanhui Fan
    8. Lilian Antunes
    9. Yared H Kidane
    10. Reuel Cornelia
    11. Rory R Sheng
    12. Yichi Zhang
    13. Jimin Pei
    14. Nick V Grishin
    15. Bret M Evers
    16. Jason Pui Yin Cheung
    17. John A Herring
    18. Chikashi Terao
    19. You-qiang Song
    20. Christina A Gurnett
    21. Paul Gerdhem
    22. Shiro Ikegawa
    23. Jonathan J Rios
    24. Nadav Ahituv
    25. Carol A Wise

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable study analyzes a large cohort of Adolescent Idiopathic Scoliosis (AIS) patients, identifying an association with a variant in COL11A1 (Pro1335Leu). Experimental testing of this potentially pathogenic variant in vitro suggests a connection between Pax1, Col11a1, Mmp3, and estrogen signaling, thus providing solid support for the proposed link between hormonal and matrix components in the development of AIS.

    Reviewed by eLife