eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Dynamic organization of cerebellar climbing fiber response and synchrony in multiple functional components reduces dimensions for reinforcement learning

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Huu Hoang
   2. Shinichiro Tsutsumi
   3. Masanori Matsuzaki
   4. Masanobu Kano
   5. Mitsuo Kawato
   6. Kazuo Kitamura
   7. Keisuke Toyama

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important study of the dimensionality and synchrony of calcium responses in Purkinje cells measured across a large region of the cerebellar cortex over the course of learning. This work has the potential to inform our understanding of the functional organization of the cerebellum and longstanding hypotheses about the role of cerebellar climbing fibers in the induction of learning and in the timing of movement, but the evidence provided for the many sweeping claims is incomplete. The paper would benefit from additional statistical analyses to more rigorously evaluate the central claims, with consideration of appropriate comparison groups and potential confounds.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Theoretical analysis reveals a role for RAF conformational autoinhibition in paradoxical activation

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Gaurav Mendiratta
   2. Edward Stites

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study uses mathematical modelling to demonstrate that conformational autoinhibition of the RAF kinase is an important feature of its paradoxical activation by pharmacological inhibitors. This part of the theoretical analysis is highly compelling but its extension to the investigation of how the binding of 14-3-3 adaptors additionally contributes to the paradoxical activation phenomenon is incomplete and would benefit from more rigorous experimental validation. With the experimental part addressing 14-3-3-dependent regulation strengthened or the 14-3-3 part completely removed, this paper would be of considerable interest to cell biologists and cancer biologists, ultimately paving the way for improved RAF therapeutics.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Transparency of research practices in cardiovascular literature

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Gabriel O Heckerman
   2. Eileen Tzng
   3. Arely Campos-Melendez
   4. Chisomaga Ekwueme
   5. Adrienne Mueller

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a descriptive paper in the field of metascience, which documents levels of accessibility and reproducible research practices in the field of cardiovascular science. As such, it does not make a theoretical contribution, but it argues, first, that there is a problem for this field, and second, it provides a baseline against which the impact of future initiatives to improve reproducibility can be assessed. The study was pre-registered and the methods and data are clearly documented. This kind of study is extremely labour-intensive and represents a great deal of work.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A rapid review of COVID-19’s global impact on breast cancer screening participation rates and volumes from January to December 2020

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Reagan Lee
   2. Wei Xu
   3. Marshall Dozier
   4. Ruth McQuillan
   5. Evropi Theodoratou
   6. Jonine Figueroa
   7. On Behalf of UNCOVER and the International Partnership for Resilience in CancerSystems (I-PaRCS), Breast Cancer Working Group 2

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents important evidence of the impact of the covid pandemic on breast cancer screening globally but with important variations by healthcare setting. The data analysis is comprehensive, using solid systematic review methods. The results will be of interest to public health policymakers and health care and cancer control practitioners and researchers across the globe.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Isoform-specific disruption of the TP73 gene reveals a critical role for TAp73γ in tumorigenesis via leptin

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Xiangmudong Kong
   2. Wensheng Yan
   3. Wenqiang Sun
   4. Yanhong Zhang
   5. Hee Jung Yang
   6. Mingyi Chen
   7. Hongwu Chen
   8. Ralph W de Vere White
   9. Jin Zhang
   10. Xinbin Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     TP73 is a member of the p53 family of tumor suppressors. The authors provide compelling evidence that a TAp73-alpha to TAp73-gamma switch could be a frequent phenomenon in human cancers and provide novel evidence that TAp73-gamma has oncogenic functions via Leptin. The authors provide a substantial amount of high-quality data and convincingly demonstrate a novel function of this specific isoform of p73 in lipid metabolism and tumorigenesis.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Id2 GABAergic interneurons comprise a neglected fourth major group of cortical inhibitory cells

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Robert Machold
   2. Shlomo Dellal
   3. Manuel Valero
   4. Hector Zurita
   5. Ilya Kruglikov
   6. John Hongyu Meng
   7. Jessica L Hanson
   8. Yoshiko Hashikawa
   9. Benjamin Schuman
   10. György Buzsáki
   11. Bernardo Rudy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a valuable contribution to the effort to provide genetic access to and characterization of the major classes of interneurons in the mammalian neocortex. The authors develop an improved strategy for intersectionally targeting a fourth (and final) major category of diverse interneurons in the mouse, including the previously studied neurogliaform cells. They provide a detailed characterization of these cells and show convincingly that their genetic strategy can be used to identify and manipulate these cells, both in vitro and in vivo.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Scavenger receptor endocytosis controls apical membrane morphogenesis in the Drosophila airways

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Ana Sofia Pinheiro
   2. Vasilios Tsarouhas
   3. Kirsten André Senti
   4. Badrul Arefin
   5. Christos Samakovlis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this important study, the authors present evidence for the novel involvement of a scavenger receptor in tubular morphogenesis. Using a convincing set of data, the authors propose that the Drosophila scavenger receptor Emp (homologous to human CD36 ) couples endocytosis of luminal molecules and regulates tube length via controlling Crumbs and Src. This work will be of broad interest to cell and development biologists as well as cancer biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Manganese-enhanced magnetic resonance imaging reveals light-induced brain asymmetry in embryo

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Elena Lorenzi
   2. Stefano Tambalo
   3. Giorgio Vallortigara
   4. Angelo Bifone

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript is important as it showed an establishment of a method for looking a neuronal activity in embryos which can support the previously reported laterality in chick thalamofugal system. However, the evidence the author provided was incomplete as no actual data was provided.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Divergent regulation of KCNQ1/E1 by targeted recruitment of protein kinase A to distinct sites on the channel complex

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Xinle Zou
   2. Sri Karthika Shanmugam
   3. Scott A Kanner
   4. Kevin J Sampson
   5. Robert S Kass
   6. Henry M Colecraft

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study provides a substantial advance with a method by which a protein target resistant to therapeutic approaches can be uniquely modulated by a cellular protein kinase ferried by nanobodies to a precise molecular site of recruitment. Evidence for this major claim is compelling, but evidence for some of the minor claims seems incomplete. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists, cardiovascular researchers, and drug developers.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Using multi-modal neuroimaging to characterise social brain specialisation in infants

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Maheen Siddiqui
    2. Paola Pinti
    3. Sabrina Brigadoi
    4. Sarah Lloyd-Fox
    5. Clare E Elwell
    6. Mark H Johnson
    7. Ilias Tachtsidis
    8. Emily JH Jones

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This important study provides a state-of-the-art framework to explore the coupling of complementary cerebral measures (neural, hemodynamic, and metabolic) during development by providing an interesting roadmap for multimodal neuroimaging in infants. The methodological contribution is compelling with an original setup for simultaneous EEG and NIRS recording and solid data analyses. However, the claims about functional specialization and the role of the temporal-parietal junction in social processing are only partially supported by the results. This work will be of interest to a broad audience of scientists interested in multimodal neuroimaging and cognitive development.

    Reviewed by eLife