eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Ventral striatum dopamine release encodes unique properties of visual stimuli in mice

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. L Sofia Gonzalez
   2. Austen A Fisher
   3. Shane P D'Souza
   4. Evelin M Cotella
   5. Richard A Lang
   6. J Elliott Robinson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this manuscript, Gonzalez et al investigated the dynamics of dopamine signals in the lateral shell of the nucleus accumbens (LNAc) in response to different types of carefully defined visual stimuli. Contrary to reigning theories of dopamine signaling, the authors presented convincing evidence that LNAcc dopamine transients tracked visual sensory transitions rather than any immediately apparent motivational variable. These important findings based on compelling evidence point to a potentially new role for dopamine signaling in the ventral striatum.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Cryo-EM structure of the endothelin-1-ETB-Gi complex

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Fumiya K Sano
   2. Hiroaki Akasaka
   3. Wataru Shihoya
   4. Osamu Nureki

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Based on the Cryo-EM structure of human ETB in complex with the vasoconstricting peptide ET-1 and the inhibitory G-protein (Gi), this valuable study presents convincing data on how agonist binding is coupled to Gi-protein binding. The complex structure is solid and will appeal to the GPCR and pharmacology communities.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Characterisation of an Escherichia coli line that completely lacks ribonucleotide reduction yields insights into the evolution of parasitism and endosymbiosis

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Samantha DM Arras
   2. Nellie Sibaeva
   3. Ryan J Catchpole
   4. Nobuyuki Horinouchi
   5. Dayong Si
   6. Alannah M Rickerby
   7. Kengo Deguchi
   8. Makoto Hibi
   9. Koichi Tanaka
   10. Michiki Takeuchi
   11. Jun Ogawa
   12. Anthony M Poole

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Nearly all organisms require a ribonucleotide reductase (RNR) to convert ribonucleotides to their deoxyribonucleotide counterparts. In this important study, the reader learns how the model organism Escherichia coli can adapt to survive without any of its three RNRs. Compelling microbiology experiments to develop this model and analysis of compensatory mutations reveals patterns that are conserved in the few known pathogens that have also eliminated their dependence on an RNR. The manuscript will be of interest to microbiologists, biochemists, and those who work on the evolution of microbial metabolism.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Retinal motion statistics during natural locomotion

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Karl S Muller
   2. Jonathan Matthis
   3. Kathryn Bonnen
   4. Lawrence K Cormack
   5. Alex C Huk
   6. Mary Hayhoe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study should be of interest to vision scientists and those seeking to model naturalistic image processing for humans in simulated or real navigational [walking] situations. The experiments aim to provide information about the statistics of "retinal" motion patterns generated by human participants physically walking a straight path in real terrains that differ in "smoothness". State-of-the-art eye, head, and body tracking allowed simultaneous assessment of eye movements, head movements, and gait, with convincing evidence for an asymmetrical gradient of flow speeds during walking, tied predominantly to vertical gaze angle, together with a radial motion direction distribution tied most critically on horizontal gaze angle. While not a major weakness per se, additional details on analytical methods used and estimations of variance across observers would strengthen these results and clarify the basis of the global claims made about visual motion information across the visual field in walking humans.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Flexible control of representational dynamics in a disinhibition-based model of decision-making

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Bo Shen
   2. Kenway Louie
   3. Paul Glimcher

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This work provides a promising first pass at providing an integrative model for how decisions arise from neural circuits. The approach is novel but lacks a more rigorous vetting against alternative model formulations to be able to determine its true significance. More stringent evaluations of the model in the context of existing work, as well as a clearer description of the goals and implementation of the approach, would help to address these concerns.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A pH-dependent cluster of charges in a conserved cryptic pocket on flaviviral envelopes

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Lorena Zuzic
   2. Jan K Marzinek
   3. Ganesh S Anand
   4. Jim Warwicker
   5. Peter J Bond

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study represents an impressive effort to use atomistic simulations to probe cryptic binding sites in the envelope of six flaviviruses. Moreover, using constant pH simulations, the authors suggest that a cluster of ionizable residues contribute to the pH dependent conformational rearrangements required in the infection process. Therefore, the study provides new mechanistic insights that can be helpful in future efforts to develop drugs that target flaviviruses.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Predictive nonlinear modeling of malignant myelopoiesis and tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jonathan Rodriguez
   2. Abdon Iniguez
   3. Nilamani Jena
   4. Prasanthi Tata
   5. Zhong-Ying Liu
   6. Arthur D Lander
   7. John Lowengrub
   8. Richard A Van Etten

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important study that investigates the impact of tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) in chronic myeloid leukemia. Through a combination of pre-clinical in vivo measurements, clinical data, and computational modeling, the authors present solid evidence regarding the heterogeneous effects of TKIs in patients and how the response to treatment may be improved. With the assumptions about differences between normal and leukemic cells addressed, this study would be of interest to those working in the fields of mathematical oncology and cancer biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. GABABR silencing of nerve terminals

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Daniel C Cook
   2. Timothy A Ryan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors revisit fundamentals of synaptic transmission using a combination of advanced optical methods capable of visualizing calcium influx and neurotransmitter release at single release sites. By doing so, the authors present evidence for silencing of neurotransmitter release at single release sites as a function of external calcium. The data have relevance to a wide range of phenomena including neural plasticity and inhibitory modulation of synaptic communication.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Rapid geographical source attribution of Salmonella enterica serovar Enteritidis genomes using hierarchical machine learning

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Sion C Bayliss
   2. Rebecca K Locke
   3. Claire Jenkins
   4. Marie Anne Chattaway
   5. Timothy J Dallman
   6. Lauren A Cowley

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study presents a machine learning-based classifier that can accurately determine the geographic origin of a Salmonella enterica sample from its whole-genome sequencing data in under five minutes leading to actionable public health insights. Applying the method to 2,313 whole genome sequences collected in the United Kingdom and several external validation datasets, the authors provide convincing evidence that Salmonella genomic data can be used to identify the likely geographic source of a food-borne outbreak and, in most cases, correctly identify the country of origin of an infection acquired overseas. The work presents an excellent case for the potential utility of routine genomics coupled with machine learning for public health microbiology and the methods are likely to be applicable to other pathogens besides Salmonella enterica.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Impaired bone strength and bone microstructure in a novel early-onset osteoporotic rat model with a clinically relevant PLS3 mutation

    This article has 12 authors:

    1. Jing Hu
    2. Bingna Zhou
    3. Xiaoyun Lin
    4. Qian Zhang
    5. Feifei Guan
    6. Lei Sun
    7. Jiayi Liu
    8. Ou Wang
    9. Yan Jiang
    10. Wei-bo Xia
    11. Xiaoping Xing
    12. Mei Li

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      The findings in this study are important as they establish a rat model of a classic form of early-onset osteoporosis and demonstrate that osteoporosis medications are effective in the model. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is compelling.

    Reviewed by eLife