eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Cerebellar Activation Bidirectionally Regulates Nucleus Accumbens Core and Medial Shell

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Alexa F. D’Ambra
   2. Ksenia Vlasov
   3. Se Jung Jung
   4. Swetha Ganesan
   5. Evan G. Antzoulatos
   6. Diasynou Fioravante

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study expands our understanding of the neural circuitry downstream of the cerebellum by describing pathways between the deep cerebellar nuclei and the nucleus accumbens. The authors use a combination of in vivo electrophysiology, electrical and optogenetic stimulation, and both anterograde and retrograde tracing to demonstrate two functional neural pathways. The experiments convincingly support the claims. The finding extends previous investigations about the connections between these two brain areas, and are important for elucidating the role of the cerebellum in influencing functions supported by the nucleus accumbens, such as motivation and reward.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. A theory of hippocampal theta correlations accounting for extrinsic and intrinsic sequences

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Yuk-Hoi Yiu
   2. Christian Leibold

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work presents an interesting perspective for the generation and interpretation of phase precession in the hippocampal formation. Through numerical simulations and comparison to experiments, the study provides a convincing theoretical framework explaining the segregation of sequences reflecting navigation and sequences reflecting internal dynamics in the DG-CA3 loop. This study will be of interest for researchers in the spatial navigation and computational neuroscience fields.

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3. Parallel reconstruction of the excitatory and inhibitory inputs received by single neurons reveals the synaptic basis of recurrent spiking

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Julian Bartram
   2. Felix Franke
   3. Sreedhar Saseendran Kumar
   4. Alessio Paolo Buccino
   5. Xiaohan Xue
   6. Tobias Gänswein
   7. Manuel Schröter
   8. Taehoon Kim
   9. Krishna Chaitanya Kasuba
   10. Andreas Hierlemann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study makes an important effort to observe and quantify synaptic integration in a large and active network of cultured neurons, using simultaneous patch-clamp and large-scale extracellular recordings. They developed a method to distinguish excitatory and inhibitory contributions, show compelling evidence that the subthreshold activity of these neurons is dominated by few presynaptic neurons. They provide convincing statistics about connectivity and network dynamics.

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4. Genetic and dietary modulators of the inflammatory response in the gastrointestinal tract of the BXD mouse genetic reference population

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Xiaoxu Li
   2. Jean-David Morel
   3. Giorgia Benegiamo
   4. Johanne Poisson
   5. Alexis Bachmann
   6. Alexis Rapin
   7. Jonathan Sulc
   8. Evan Williams
   9. Alessia Perino
   10. Kristina Schoonjans
   11. Maroun Bou Sleiman
   12. Johan Auwerx

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study provides a framework for leveraging systems genetics data to dissect mechanisms of gut physiology. The authors provide compelling analyses to highlight diverse modes of interrogating intestinal inflammation, dietary response, and consequent impacts on inflammatory bowel disease. As a resource, it will have great utility for linking genetic variation and diet to gut-related pathophysiologies.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. An important role for triglyceride in regulating spermatogenesis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Charlotte F Chao
   2. Yanina-Yasmin Pesch
   3. Huaxu Yu
   4. Chenjingyi Wang
   5. Maria J Aristizabal
   6. Tao Huan
   7. Guy Tanentzapf
   8. Elizabeth Rideout

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study identifies a role for triglycerides and lipid droplets in spermatogenesis, with data supporting relevance of this finding across phyla. The work shows with convincing data that a triglyceride lipase is required cell-autonomously for germline differentiation into meiotic stages and haploid spermatids and that an increase in triglycerides is detrimental to spermatogenesis. This paper would be of interest to developmental and cell biologists working on gametogenesis.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A novel single alpha-helix DNA-binding domain in CAF-1 promotes gene silencing and DNA damage survival through tetrasome-length DNA selectivity and spacer function

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ruben Rosas
   2. Rhiannon R Aguilar
   3. Nina Arslanovic
   4. Anna Seck
   5. Duncan J Smith
   6. Jessica K Tyler
   7. Mair EA Churchill

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The important paper describes the structure of a single alpha helix in the large subunit of the Chromatin Assembly Factor 1 (CAF-1) that binds DNA. The single alpha-helix DNA interaction is novel and, combined with the CAF-1 Winged Helix Domain, is required for CAF-1 function in vivo for gene silencing and DNA damage response. The data are convincing, but there are additional analyses that may be considered.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. α1-Adrenergic receptor–PKC–Pyk2–Src signaling boosts L-type Ca2+ channel CaV1.2 activity and long-term potentiation in rodents

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Kwun Nok Mimi Man
   2. Peter Bartels
   3. Peter B Henderson
   4. Karam Kim
   5. Mei Shi
   6. Mingxu Zhang
   7. Sheng-Yang Ho
   8. Madeline Nieves-Cintron
   9. Manuel F Navedo
   10. Mary C Horne
   11. Johannes W Hell

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study reports of a new signaling pathway in hippocampal neurons by which alpha-1 receptors for norepinephrine regulates Cav1.2 calcium channels; activation of alpha-1 receptors enhances a form of long-lasting synaptic plasticity that is dependent on L-type calcium channels. The experiments are comprehensive and well executed although additional data are warranted to compellingly support the main conclusions. The work has significance for the field of neuroscience in general and for cellular mechanisms of neuroregulation in particular.

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8. Flexible specificity of memory in Drosophila depends on a comparison between choices

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Mehrab N Modi
   2. Adithya E Rajagopalan
   3. Hervé Rouault
   4. Yoshinori Aso
   5. Glenn C Turner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Modi et al. investigate the question of how learned information guides behavior. They combine optogenetic conditioning in Drosophila to spatially restrict the formation of olfactory memory traces in mushroom bodies (MBs), where olfactory memory traces are formed during pavlovian olfactory conditioning and follow up with behavioral studies and physiological analysis to examine how flies use these 'minimal memories' during learned olfactory discrimination. They discover that MBONs' responses predict behavioral outcomes, with odor responses showing physiological differences under conditions where broadly similar odorants must be discriminated. Thus, flies use olfactory memory templates flexibly to suit their behavioral needs. Modi et al. conclude that a hitherto unknown mechanism downstream of mushroom body output neurons creates these context-specific responses at the MBONs. Overall, the experiments provide convincing physiological evidence for a neural mechanism that underlies a contextual basis for the precision of memory recall, which constitutes a fundamentally important advance in our understanding of the neurobiology of memory retrieval, however, the authors need to more deeply consider caveats to their arguments, more deeply discuss differences and similarities with prior publications and bolster their data by including a few controls that are currently missing.

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9. Glial-dependent clustering of voltage-gated ion channels in Drosophila precedes myelin formation

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Simone Rey
   2. Henrike Ohm
   3. Frederieke Moschref
   4. Dagmar Zeuschner
   5. Marit Praetz
   6. Christian Klämbt

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors set out to characterize a function of Drosophila glia that form an expansion of myelin-like membranes that might facilitate rapid nerve conduction. A combination of Drosophila genetics, antibody staining, and electron microscopy is used to characterize this "myelin" and the role of glial wrapping in clustering of sodium/potassium channels at motor exit points. The results are valuable, as they would point to Drosophila as a new, genetically accessible model organism to study myelin evolution. While the results are interesting, the strength of the evidence provided is incomplete due to inadequate quantification of the data provided.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Proteostasis is differentially modulated by inhibition of translation initiation or elongation

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Khalyd J Clay
    2. Yongzhi Yang
    3. Christina Clark
    4. Michael Petrascheck

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This manuscript is of interest for the fields of ageing, mRNA translation and C. elegans biology, as it provides new insights into the regulation of lifespan by alternate mechanisms that modulate mRNA translation in selected environmental contexts. While overall the main conclusions are supported by the data and of interest, the work would be stronger with control experiments that more fully and more consistently support all the conclusions. Furthermore, data presentation and interpretation need some attention.

    Reviewed by eLife