eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. voyAGEr, a free web interface for the analysis of age-related gene expression alterations in human tissues

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Arthur L Schneider
   2. Rita Martins-Silva
   3. Alexandre Kaizeler
   4. Nuno Saraiva-Agostinho
   5. Nuno L Barbosa-Morais

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work presents an important online platform designed to facilitate the exploration of genes and genetic pathways implicated in human aging. Leveraging a new inference methodology, the tool enables the identification and visualization of key genes and tissues impacted by aging, facilitating scientific discovery. The methods and analyses are convincing and will be broadly used by scientists aiming to mine human aging RNA-seq data.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Spatial transformation of multi-omics data unlocks novel insights into cancer biology

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Mateo Sokač
   2. Asbjørn Kjær
   3. Lars Dyrskjøt
   4. Benjamin Haibe-Kains
   5. Hugo JWL Aerts
   6. Nicolai J Birkbak

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable manuscript presents a new approach to transform multi-omics datasets into images and to exploit Deep Learning methods for image analysis of the transformed datasets. As an example, the method is applied to multi-omics datasets on different cancers. While the evidence in this specific case is solid, whether the method is working as advertised in other settings is not yet known.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Coordinated regulation of gene expression in Plasmodium female gametocytes by two transcription factors

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Yuho Murata
   2. Tsubasa Nishi
   3. Izumi Kaneko
   4. Shiroh Iwanaga
   5. Masao Yuda

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study offers important insights into the transcriptional regulatory networks driving female gametocyte maturation in rodent malaria parasites. The work is based on solid methodology and shows how two female-specific transcription factors, AP2-FG and PFG (aka Fd2), co-operate to up-regulate the expression of genes required for development after fertilization occurs in the mosquito midgut. This study will be of interest to scientists working on sexual differentiation and gene regulation in Plasmodium and other apicomplexan parasites.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Aging impairs cold-induced beige adipogenesis and adipocyte metabolic reprogramming

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Corey D Holman
   2. Alexander P Sakers
   3. Ryan P Calhoun
   4. Lan Cheng
   5. Ethan C Fein
   6. Christopher Jacobs
   7. Linus Tsai
   8. Evan D Rosen
   9. Patrick Seale

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study provides evidence that de novo beige adipogenesis from Pdgfra+ adipocyte progenitor cells is blocked during early aging in subcutaneous fat. The depth of the data at early ages is compelling, with rigorous cell tracing methodology employed. The study will aid in identifying new approaches to switch dormant adipocytes into an active thermogenic phenotype, and should be of interest to cell biologists at large.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Activation of the P2RX7/IL-18 pathway in immune cells attenuates lung fibrosis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Serena Janho dit Hreich
   2. Thierry Juhel
   3. Sylvie Leroy
   4. Alina Ghinet
   5. Frederic Brau
   6. Veronique Hofman
   7. Paul Hofman
   8. Valerie Vouret-Craviari

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a potentially valuable discovery which indicates that activation of the P2RX7 pathway by the small molecule HEI3090 can reduce lung fibrosis after its establishment by inflammatory damage. If confirmed, the study could clarify the role of specific immune networks in the establishment and progression of lung fibrosis. The presented data and analyses showing the efficacy of HEI3090 small molecule acting via the P2RX7 pathway in reducing lung fibrosis are solid. The studies also show that genetic deletion of P2RX7 itself can reduce the extent of fibrosis. P2RX7 can thus have distinct effects in various phases of the development of lung fibrosis. There is a need for additional definitive studies that specifically identify the discrete phases of when inflammasome activation via P2RX7 signaling can worsen fibrosis versus when the same signaling can be beneficial. It also needs to be established whether distinct immune cell populations mediate the detrimental and beneficial effects of P2RX7 activation in lung fibrosis.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Dissecting muscle synergies in the task space

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. David O'Reilly
   2. Ioannis Delis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The work by O'Reilly and Delis is important to extend the synergy ideas using methods from signal processing and information theory to cluster muscles and task parameters, thereby advancing our understanding of the modular architecture of motor control. The method is innovative, and the findings are compelling from theoretical and practical perspectives. The work will be of broad interest to motor control and neural engineering researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Coupling of Slack and NaV1.6 sensitizes Slack to quinidine blockade and guides anti-seizure strategy development

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Tian Yuan
   2. Yifan Wang
   3. Yuchen Jin
   4. Hui Yang
   5. Shuai Xu
   6. Heng Zhang
   7. Qian Chen
   8. Na Li
   9. Xinyue Ma
   10. Huifang Song
   11. Chao Peng
   12. Ze Geng
   13. Jie Dong
   14. Guifang Duan
   15. Qi Sun
   16. Yang Yang
   17. Fan Yang
   18. Zhuo Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors report that an interaction between the sodium-activated potassium channel Slack and Nav1.6 sensitizes Slack to inhibition by quinidine. This is an important finding because it contributes to our understanding of how the antiseizure drug quinidine affects epilepsy syndromes arising from mutations in the Slack-encoding gene KCNT1. The results are largely compelling and the work will likely spark interest in further examining the proposed channel-channel interaction in neuronal cell membranes.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A generative model of electrophysiological brain responses to stimulation

   This article has 1 author:

   1. Diego Vidaurre

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding on developing a state-of-the-art generative model of brain electrophysiological signals to explain temporal decoding matrices widely used in cognitive neuroscience. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is convincing. The results will be strengthened by providing more clear mappings between neurobiological mechanisms and signal generators in the model. The work will be of interest to cognitive neuroscientists using electrophysiological recordings.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Mesotrode allows chronic simultaneous mesoscale cortical imaging and subcortical or peripheral nerve spiking activity recording in mice

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Dongsheng Xiao
   2. Yuhao Yan
   3. Timothy H Murphy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study combines chronic widefield calcium imaging of dorsal cortex activity at the mesoscale level with electrical recording of single neurons in specific cortical and subcortical locations. This work provides compelling evidence for recording neuronal activity at multiple temporal and spatial scales by combination of optical and electrophysiological methods. This work will be of broad interest to system neuroscientists studying neural circuits.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The scheduling of adolescence with Netrin-1 and UNC5C

    This article has 17 authors:

    1. Daniel Hoops
    2. Robert Kyne
    3. Samer Salameh
    4. Del MacGowan
    5. Radu Gabriel Avramescu
    6. Elise Ewing
    7. Alina Tao He
    8. Taylor Orsini
    9. Anais Durand
    10. Christina Popescu
    11. Janet Mengyi Zhao
    12. Kelcie Shatz
    13. LiPing Li
    14. Quinn Carroll
    15. Guofa Liu
    16. Matthew J Paul
    17. Cecilia Flores

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study addresses an important, understudied question using approaches that link molecular, circuit, and behavioral changes. The findings that Netrin-1 and UNC5c can guide dopaminergic innervation from the nucleus accumbens to the cortex during adolescence are solid. The data showing that the onset of Unc5 expression is sexually dimorphic in mice, and that in Siberian hamsters environmental effects on development are also sexually dimorphic are also solid. Reviewers identified significant gaps in evidence for specificity of Netrin-1 expression, which, if filled, would strengthen the evidence for some of the claims. Future work would also benefit from Unc5C knockdown to corroborate the results and investigation of the cause-effect relationship. This paper will be of interest to those interested in neural development, sex differences, and/or dopamine function.

    Reviewed by eLife