eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Comprehensive characterization of tumor microenvironment in colorectal cancer via molecular analysis

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Xiangkun Wu
   2. Hong Yan
   3. Mingxing Qiu
   4. Xiaoping Qu
   5. Jing Wang
   6. Shaowan Xu
   7. Yiran Zheng
   8. Minghui Ge
   9. Linlin Yan
   10. Li Liang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study represents a valuable body of work in which the authors assemble a molecular description of colorectal cancer and classification into subtypes. Overall, the evidence supporting the findings is solid and could be improved with more detail. Consensus over a diverse range of data from publicly available sources is convincing. When added to existing knowledge this work may contribute to future biomarker discoveries for colorectal cancer.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Task-evoked metabolic demands of the posteromedial default mode network are shaped by dorsal attention and frontoparietal control networks

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Godber M Godbersen
   2. Sebastian Klug
   3. Wolfgang Wadsak
   4. Verena Pichler
   5. Julia Raitanen
   6. Anna Rieckmann
   7. Lars Stiernman
   8. Luca Cocchi
   9. Michael Breakspear
   10. Marcus Hacker
   11. Rupert Lanzenberger
   12. Andreas Hahn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study advances our understanding of the metabolic and hemodynamic underpinnings of different brain networks. The evidence is convincing, drawn from multiple datasets and including simultaneous fMRI and PET, although the authors should make clear which claims are supported by their evidence and which are speculation based on the literature. The study will be of interest to neuroscientists and researchers who use functional neuroimaging tools to study brain activity.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Environment- and epigenome-wide association study of obesity in ‘Children of 1997’ birth cohort

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jie Zhao
   2. Bohan Fan
   3. Jian Huang
   4. Benjamin John Cowling
   5. Shiu Lun Ryan Au Yeung
   6. Andrea Baccarelli
   7. Gabriel M Leung
   8. C Mary Schooling

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents useful information on the environmental and epigenomic associations of obesity in children and adolescents. The data were collected and analyzed using a solid and validated methodology and can be referenced at the clinics and health authorities to make a guideline and a policy strategy.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Phase separation-mediated actin bundling by the postsynaptic density condensates

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Xudong Chen
   2. Bowen Jia
   3. Shihan Zhu
   4. Mingjie Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript presents an exciting set of experiments on the mechanisms through which PSD proteins induce actin bundle formation. The work included deep mechanistic analyses which determine the necessity of upper vs. lower levels of PSD proteins for actin bundle formation, identify the domains and interactions of these proteins that are necessary and sufficient to induce actin bundles, and provide a first assessment in neurons of potential roles of the newly discovered mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Using light and X-ray scattering to untangle complex neuronal orientations and validate diffusion MRI

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Miriam Menzel
   2. David Gräßel
   3. Ivan Rajkovic
   4. Michael M Zeineh
   5. Marios Georgiadis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper presents a valuable cross-validation study of mesoscopic measurements of axonal orientations from three different modalities: x-ray tomography, scattered light imaging, and diffusion MRI. The authors show convincing similarities and differences in fibre orientations from all three methods over partial ex vivo brain samples, though as only a single diffusion method is investigated, there is inadequate evidence to support conclusions about diffusion MRI reconstruction methods in general. As a first example of work comparing these three modalities, it is of interest to researchers who want to apply x-ray tomography or scattered light imaging to image the white matter ex vivo or use these methods for future validation of diffusion MRI methods.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Thermal phenotypic plasticity of pre- and post-copulatory male harm buffers sexual conflict in wild Drosophila melanogaster

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Claudia Londoño-Nieto
   2. Roberto García-Roa
   3. Clara Garcia-Co
   4. Paula González
   5. Pau Carazo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study has important implications for the impact of sexual conflict on population viability under different temperatures. The authors propose that male harm to females in sexual conflict can be reduced as a function of temperature within the optimal reproductive range of a species. The evidence for this proposal is currently incomplete because there is methodological detail that needs to be further clarified. The results could have implications for the likelihood of the evolutionary rescue of species facing the climate crisis.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Synaptic and circuit mechanisms prevent detrimentally precise correlation in the developing mammalian visual system

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Ruben A Tikidji-Hamburyan
   2. Gubbi Govindaiah
   3. William Guido
   4. Matthew T Colonnese

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors use computational modeling of the mammalian visual system to address an important and understudied problem: how precise temporal properties of synaptic transmission might impact the kinds of neuronal correlations that instruct development. The present description of the simulations provides mixed evidence for the authors' conclusions. That slow NMDA currents help to minimize rapid timescale correlations is compelling, but other aspects of the simulations, such as neuronal heterogeneity may also contribute.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Resolving the origins of secretory products and anthelmintic responses in a human parasitic nematode at single-cell resolution

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Clair R Henthorn
   2. Paul M Airs
   3. Emma K Neumann
   4. Mostafa Zamanian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this important study, the authors generate and analyse single-cell datasets for the human parasitic nematode Brugia malayi. The new resource has the potential to uncover new details of the biology of secretory systems in this filarial nematode but the main claims are only partially supported and strengthening them would require additional experimental support and new analyses. With the methodological part strengthened, the new resource would be of broad interest to parasitologists and nematode biologists and would have the potential to accelerate research in the search of new anthelmintics and vaccines.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Role of cytoneme structures and extracellular vesicles in Trichomonas vaginalis parasite-parasite communication

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Nehuén Salas
   2. Manuela Blasco Pedreros
   3. Tuanne dos Santos Melo
   4. Vanina G Maguire
   5. Jihui Sha
   6. James A Wohlschlegel
   7. Antonio Pereira-Neves
   8. Natalia de Miguel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     We believe this study has the potential to be fundamental for the field of microbial communication and compelling evidence with the chance of changing the current state-of-the-art in this area has been presented. This is will be of natural interest to the field of parasitology, but scientists in the general area of cell-to-cell communication will certainly benefit from this contribution too. A major strength of this manuscript is the clear demonstration of the role of cytoneme-like structures and extracellular vesicles in parasite communication using the Trichomonas vaginalis model. Given the potential of these findings, the authors could deepen their discussion and perspectives for other areas.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Subfunctionalized expression drives evolutionary retention of ribosomal protein paralogs Rps27 and Rps27l in vertebrates

    This article has 11 authors:

    1. Adele Francis Xu
    2. Rut Molinuevo
    3. Elisa Fazzari
    4. Harrison Tom
    5. Zijian Zhang
    6. Julien Menendez
    7. Kerriann M Casey
    8. Davide Ruggero
    9. Lindsay Hinck
    10. Jonathan K Pritchard
    11. Maria Barna

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study reports a cutting-edge set of experiments examining evolutionary models of paralog function differentiation for the mammalian ribosomal proteins eS27 and eS27L. No differentiated roles were identified for either paralog, but the paralogs are differentially expressed, and they preferentially associate with different transcript classes. Reciprocal switching of their coding sequences yielded no detectable phenotypes, but loss of either paralog resulted in lethality at different developmental stages, suggesting that subfunctionalized expression patterns underlie the retention of these paralogs. The work will be of interest to colleagues studying the evolution and diversification of ribosomes.

    Reviewed by eLife