eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Mountain gorillas maintain strong affiliative biases for maternal siblings despite high male reproductive skew and extensive exposure to paternal kin

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Nicholas M Grebe
   2. Jean Paul Hirwa
   3. Tara S Stoinski
   4. Linda Vigilant
   5. Stacy Rosenbaum

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study investigates the potential role of kin selection in driving social behaviours among siblings in wild mountain gorillas. Using an impressive dataset of 14 years for 157 individuals the authors find some evidence for kin recognition in guiding biases for affiliative and aggressive behaviours. However, the results of the current study will be more convincing if a number of major concerns with the analysis can be addressed.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Exploratory data on the clinical efficacy of monoclonal antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant of concern

   This article has 21 authors:

   1. Fulvia Mazzaferri
   2. Massimo Mirandola
   3. Alessia Savoldi
   4. Pasquale De Nardo
   5. Matteo Morra
   6. Maela Tebon
   7. Maddalena Armellini
   8. Giulia De Luca
   9. Lucrezia Calandrino
   10. Lolita Sasset
   11. Denise D'Elia
   12. Emanuela Sozio
   13. Elisa Danese
   14. Davide Gibellini
   15. Isabella Monne
   16. Giovanna Scroccaro
   17. Nicola Magrini
   18. Annamaria Cattelan
   19. Carlo Tascini
   20. MANTICO Working Group
   21. Evelina Tacconelli

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of broad interest to clinicians and scientists in the area, providing clinical trial data on how the efficacy of monoclonal antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 varies according to the variant of concern. The clinical outcome data were consistent with previously reported in vitro data, which are being used to inform the clinical use of monoclonal antibodies. However, as the trial was stopped early, conclusions regarding the efficacy and safety of the individual monoclonal antibodies are limited.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife, ScreenIT

3. Selection on plastic adherence leads to hyper-multicellular strains and incidental virulence in the budding yeast

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Luke I Ekdahl
   2. Juliana A Salcedo
   3. Matthew M Dungan
   4. Despina V Mason
   5. Dulguun Myagmarsuren
   6. Helen A Murphy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The origin of virulence in pathogenic microbes is not understood for many microbial species. The concept of 'accidental virulence' was proposed as a mechanism by which a microbe could acquire the capacity for virulence through interaction with other microbial species, such as amoeba. This paper adds an important new dimension to that concept by showing that the capacity for virulence can emerge from abiotic interactions, such as adherence to plastic.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Distinct architectural requirements for the parS centromeric sequence of the pSM19035 plasmid partition machinery

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Andrea Volante
   2. Juan Carlos Alonso
   3. Kiyoshi Mizuuchi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The work by Volante et al. studied a new plasmid partition system, in which the authors discovered that four or more contiguous ParS sequence repeats are required to assemble a stable partitioning ParAB complex and to activate the ParA ATPase. The work reveals a new plasmid partitioning mechanism in which the mechanic property of DNA and its interaction with the partition complex may drive the directional movement of the plasmid.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Male rodent perirhinal cortex, but not ventral hippocampus, inhibition induces approach bias under object-based approach-avoidance conflict

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Sandeep S Dhawan
   2. Carl Pinter
   3. Andy CH Lee
   4. Rutsuko Ito

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this interesting study the authors combined innovative object-based conflict assays with optogenetic silencing to probe the role of the perirhinal cortex in motivational conflict. The manuscript is well-written and the approach was adequate. The findings provide new insight into how conflicting motivation is processed and would benefit from additional analysis and experimental investigation to more conclusively support the interpretations.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

6. eRNA profiling uncovers the enhancer landscape of oesophageal adenocarcinoma and reveals new deregulated pathways

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ibrahim Ahmed
   2. Shen-Hsi Yang
   3. Samuel Ogden
   4. Wei Zhang
   5. Yaoyong Li
   6. The OCCAMs consortium
   7. Andrew D Sharrocks

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this manuscript, the authors identify enhancer-associated (e)RNAs that are specifically associated with esophageal adenocarcinoma. Based on combining the data with analyses of patient gene expression data and epigenetic data from cell lines, they conclude that eRNAs are markers of enhancers relevant to the transition from Barrett's esophagus to cancer. This work provides new insights into the epigenetic alterations that occur in cancer progression, and it will be of interest to the cancer and epigenetics fields.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Hippocampal place cell remapping occurs with memory storage of aversive experiences

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Garrett J Blair
   2. Changliang Guo
   3. Shiyun Wang
   4. Michael S Fanselow
   5. Peyman Golshani
   6. Daniel Aharoni
   7. Hugh T Blair

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper describes results obtained from multi-cellular imaging of CA1 cells using large-field-of-view miniscopes in rats performing a shock avoidance task. By exploiting behavioral (barriers) and pharmacological (scopolamine) manipulations the authors explore cell remapping dynamics during aversive learning. This work will be of interest to the neuroscience community by setting new methodological standards and providing data for across-species comparisons.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer 3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Disrupting the ciliary gradient of active Arl3 affects rod photoreceptor nuclear migration

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Amanda M Travis
   2. Samiya Manocha
   3. Jason R Willer
   4. Timothy S Wessler
   5. Nikolai P Skiba
   6. Jillian N Pearring

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The current paper is of interest to cell biologists studying ciliogenesis and specifically vertebrate photoreceptors, which are specialized cilia. The study shows that mutations in the small GTP binding protein ARL3 known to cause dominant inherited retinal dystrophies in humans result in ARL3 hyperactivity, disrupting the normal ciliary gradient of ARL3 activity and leading to altered retinal development. The authors demonstrate restored normal nuclear distribution by overexpression of ARL3 effectors, suggesting that the active mutants disrupt nuclear migration, at least in part, by sequestering ARL3 effectors. Overall, the experiments are properly controlled, executed, and analyzed and involve a series of extensive biochemical analyses complemented with in vivo phenotypic assessment. The development of a method to analyze snapshots of the interaction between ARL3 and its interactors is also a strength of the paper, however, significant concerns remain regarding links between nuclear migration failure and ciliogenesis in the outer segment, and alternative possibilities that could explain the phenotype of the ARL3 Y90C mutant with respect to its sequestration of the GEF ARL13B. Addressing these major concerns would improve the manuscript and could have considerable impact on the field.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

9. A novel rhesus macaque model of Huntington’s disease recapitulates key neuropathological changes along with motor and cognitive decline

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Alison R Weiss
   2. William A Liguore
   3. Kristin Brandon
   4. Xiaojie Wang
   5. Zheng Liu
   6. Jacqueline S Domire
   7. Dana Button
   8. Sathya Srinivasan
   9. Christopher D Kroenke
   10. Jodi L McBride

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors show the utility of an AAV-based approach in non-human primates to develop an improved model of Huntington's disease. They have presented a very thorough, carefully executed, body of work that will be of benefit to a range of researchers studying HD or developing therapies for HD. While this extends the work from an earlier paper (that presented the tools used to induce phenotypes) the results presented are new, relevant, and important to the community.

     (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A mosaic-type trimeric RBD-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate induces potent neutralization against Omicron and other SARS-CoV-2 variants

    This article has 25 authors:

    1. Jing Zhang
    2. Zi Bo Han
    3. Yu Liang
    4. Xue Feng Zhang
    5. Yu Qin Jin
    6. Li Fang Du
    7. Shuai Shao
    8. Hui Wang
    9. Jun Wei Hou
    10. Ke Xu
    11. Wenwen Lei
    12. Ze Hua Lei
    13. Zhao Ming Liu
    14. Jin Zhang
    15. Ya Nan Hou
    16. Ning Liu
    17. Fu Jie Shen
    18. Jin Juan Wu
    19. Xiang Zheng
    20. Xin Yu Li
    21. Xin Li
    22. Wei Jin Huang
    23. Gui Zhen Wu
    24. Ji Guo Su
    25. Qi Ming Li

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      In this work, the authors test a multivalent vaccine design they term Mos-tri-RBD, consisting of three linked spike receptor binding domains, one based on Omicron sub-lineage BA.1 and the others with different SARS-CoV-2 variant mutations. Immunization with this construct either as a prime or booster vaccine resulted in better neutralization of the Omicron and Beta variants relative to the same design, but with the ancestral receptor binding domain, and supports the notion that vaccination with variant sequences may broaden the neutralization capacity of vaccines against divergent variants.

      (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife, ScreenIT