eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Downregulation of Dickkopf-3, a Wnt antagonist elevated in Alzheimer’s disease, restores synapse integrity and memory in a disease mouse model

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Nuria Martin Flores
   2. Marina Podpolny
   3. Faye McLeod
   4. Isaac Workman
   5. Karen Crawford
   6. Dobril Ivanov
   7. Ganna Leonenko
   8. Valentina Escott-Price
   9. Patricia C Salinas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important manuscript investigates the roles of DKK3 in AD synapse integrity. Although previous work has identified the involvement of Wnt and DKK1 in synaptic physiology, this study provides compelling evidence that suppression of DKK3 rescues the changes in excitatory synapse numbers, as well as memory deficits in an established AD model mice. The authors provide both gain and loss of function data that support the main conclusion and advance our understanding of the mechanisms by which Wnt pathway mediates early synaptic dysfunction in AD models.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Exploring natural odour landscapes: A case study with implications for human-biting insects

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Jessica L. Zung
   2. Sumer M. Kotb
   3. Carolyn S. McBride

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript provides a useful qualitative analysis of hair extracts from mammals, with the goal of understanding how mosquitoes encode the chemicals in the odor. The data were collected using standard spectrometric approaches in the field of chemical ecology, but they suffer from artifacts associated with the sampling approach and analyses, and are limited in their replicates and sampling which may prevent inter-species comparisons at this point. Without additional analysis, the evidence supporting the claims currently remains unfortunately incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. CryoEM structures of the human CLC-2 voltage-gated chloride channel reveal a ball-and-chain gating mechanism

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Mengyuan Xu
   2. Torben Neelands
   3. Alexander S Powers
   4. Yan Liu
   5. Steven D Miller
   6. Grigore D Pintilie
   7. J Du Bois
   8. Ron O Dror
   9. Wah Chiu
   10. Merritt Maduke

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study examines the human voltage-gated chloride channel CLC-2. A combination of cryo-EM, electrophysiology, and computational analysis provides compelling support for a "ball and chain" mechanism of inactivation. This and other findings regarding the gating and inhibition mechanisms of the channel are of fundamental interest to ion channel physiologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Allosteric regulation of kinase activity in living cells

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Shivani Sujay Godbole
   2. Nikolay V Dokholyan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     One of the most promising strategies in development of drugs targeting kinases is provided by using allosteric control that allows specific regulation and study of kinase function without directly targeting the active site. This important paper reviews convincingly the current repertoire of tools for regulating the activity of protein kinases with the ultimate goal of developing novel approaches in treating diseases associated with signal dysregulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. An atypical basement membrane forms a midline barrier during left-right asymmetric gut development in the chicken embryo

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Cora Demler
   2. John C Lawlor
   3. Ronit Yelin
   4. Dhana Llivichuzcha-Loja
   5. Lihi Shaulov
   6. David Kim
   7. Megan Stewart
   8. Frank K Lee
   9. Natalia Shylo
   10. Paul A Trainor
   11. Thomas M Schultheiss
   12. Natasza A Kurpios

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study reports the fundamental discovery of a novel structure in the developing gut that acts as a midline barrier between left and right asymmetries. Some of the evidence supporting the dynamics, composition, and function of this novel basement membrane in the chick is solid, some is even convincing, but investigation of its origin and impact on asymmetric organogenesis remains challenging and is not yet conclusive. This careful work is of broad relevance to patterning mechanisms, the importance of the extracellular matrix, and laterality disorders.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Adulis and the transshipment of baboons during classical antiquity

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Franziska Grathwol
   2. Christian Roos
   3. Dietmar Zinner
   4. Benjamin Hume
   5. Stéphanie M Porcier
   6. Didier Berthet
   7. Jacques Cuisin
   8. Stefan Merker
   9. Claudio Ottoni
   10. Wim Van Neer
   11. Nathaniel J Dominy
   12. Gisela H Kopp

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This Research Advance provides compelling evidence connecting the ancient Egyptian trade of baboons with the ancient port city of Adulis. Combining ancient DNA methods from a single mummified baboon with historical accounts, this work fundamentally advances our understanding of the ancient baboon trade in the Red Sea. Some additional reporting of DNA contamination will make the evidence provided even stronger.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Genomic stability of self-inactivating rabies

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Ernesto Ciabatti
   2. Ana González-Rueda
   3. Daniel de Malmazet
   4. Hassal Lee
   5. Fabio Morgese
   6. Marco Tripodi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors previously developed a tool with the goal of non-toxic trans-synaptic tracing using a modified rabies virus, an important goal for the neuroscience field. The tool has the propensity to accumulate mutations over time that promote toxicity, and the manuscript here describes techniques to avoid these mutations. It remains important to show that the non-mutated virus can serve as an effective trans-synaptic tracing tool.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Optogenetic activation of visual thalamus generates artificial visual percepts

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jing Wang
   2. Hamid Azimi
   3. Yilei Zhao
   4. Melanie Kaeser
   5. Pilar Vaca Sánchez
   6. Abraham Vazquez-Guardado
   7. John A Rogers
   8. Michael Harvey
   9. Gregor Rainer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study shows that tree shrews can detect optogenetic stimulation of the lateral geniculate nucleus (LGN) after training detection of visual stimuli. The solid evidence links optogenetic stimulation of the LGN to behavioural detection and neurophysiological responses. This paper is potentially of interest to neuroscientists and clinicians working on the visual system and visual prostheses.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. MEMO1 binds iron and modulates iron homeostasis in cancer cells

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Natalia Dolgova
   2. Eva-Maria E Uhlemann
   3. Michal T Boniecki
   4. Frederick S Vizeacoumar
   5. Anjuman Ara
   6. Paria Nouri
   7. Martina Ralle
   8. Marco Tonelli
   9. Syed A Abbas
   10. Jaala Patry
   11. Hussain Elhasasna
   12. Andrew Freywald
   13. Franco J Vizeacoumar
   14. Oleg Y Dmitriev

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Dolgova et al present a well-written and important manuscript focused on the mechanism of MEMO1 function in tumor cells. The authors explore whether the mechanism of MEMO1 overexpression in breast cancer, especially TNBC, is related to regulating iron given evidence that MEMO1 binds multiple proteins in the iron regulation pathway. While the data is in part compelling, the claims are based on indirect evidence for a central role of MEMO1 in tumorogenesis and perhaps metastasis via its effect on iron homeostasis.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Neutrophils actively swell to potentiate rapid migration

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Tamas L Nagy
    2. Evelyn Strickland
    3. Orion D Weiner

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This fundamental study significantly advances our understanding of the role of water influx and swelling on neutrophil migration in response to chemoattractant. The evidence supporting the conclusions, based on a genome-wide CRISPR screen and high quality cellular observations, is compelling. This paper will be of interest to cell biologists and biophysicists working on cell migration.

    Reviewed by eLife