eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. 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

2. 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

3. 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.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. 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.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. 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

6. 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

7. Calcium and bicarbonate signaling pathways have pivotal, resonating roles in matching ATP production to demand

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Maura Greiser
   2. Mariusz Karbowski
   3. Aaron David Kaplan
   4. Andrew Kyle Coleman
   5. Nicolas Verhoeven
   6. Carmen A Mannella
   7. W Jonathan Lederer
   8. Liron Boyman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The important work presented here provides findings that substantially advance our understanding of a major research question into how bicarbonate/CO2 signaling regulates cardiac mitochondrial energy supply. The methods, data, and analyses broadly support the claims with only minor weaknesses concerning the exact spatial location of the enzymes involved. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists and biochemists interested in metabolic control.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Histone variants shape chromatin states in Arabidopsis

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Bhagyshree Jamge
   2. Zdravko J Lorković
   3. Elin Axelsson
   4. Akihisa Osakabe
   5. Vikas Shukla
   6. Ramesh Yelagandula
   7. Svetlana Akimcheva
   8. Annika Luisa Kuehn
   9. Frédéric Berger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents an important description on the dynamics of histone variant exchange controlling the organization of the chromatin state of the Arabidopsis genome, combining the analysis of histone variants, histone modification, and chromatin states. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is compelling. This work will be of great interest to those in the field of epigenetics and chromatin biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Substrate evaporation drives collective construction in termites

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Giulio Facchini
   2. Alann Rathery
   3. Stéphane Douady
   4. David Sillam-Dussès
   5. Andrea Perna

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study investigates the environmental drivers behind termite construction, focusing, in particular, on pellet deposition behavior, with the conclusion that termites likely sense curvature indirectly through substrate evaporation. The findings reconcile discrepancies between previous studies through experimental and computational approaches. While the strength of the evidence supporting these claims is compelling, the authors do not discuss how their results affect our understanding of insect nest construction or animal-built structures more broadly.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Independent regulation of Z-lines and M-lines during sarcomere assembly in cardiac myocytes revealed by the automatic image analysis software sarcApp

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Abigail C Neininger-Castro
    2. James B Hayes
    3. Zachary C Sanchez
    4. Nilay Taneja
    5. Aidan M Fenix
    6. Satish Moparthi
    7. Stéphane Vassilopoulos
    8. Dylan Tyler Burnette

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This manuscript describes a useful tool for quantitative assessment of sarcomere structures in healthy and perturbed cardiomyocytes grown in vitro. The work is solid, and the methods, data and analyses broadly support the claims with only minor weaknesses. The tool will be relevant to biologists working on and interested in obtaining quantitative information on sarcomere structure, function and development.

    Reviewed by eLife