eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Regulatory and coding sequences of TRNP1 co-evolve with brain size and cortical folding in mammals

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Zane Kliesmete
   2. Lucas Esteban Wange
   3. Beate Vieth
   4. Miriam Esgleas
   5. Jessica Radmer
   6. Matthias Hülsmann
   7. Johanna Geuder
   8. Daniel Richter
   9. Mari Ohnuki
   10. Magdelena Götz
   11. Ines Hellmann
   12. Wolfgang Enard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is an important paper that combines comparative analysis and experimental assays to investigate the role of protein-coding and regulatory changes at TRNP1 in mammalian brain evolution. The evidence supporting a contribution of TRNP1 is convincing, although the link between protein-coding changes and trait evolution is stronger and more readily interpretable than the data on gene regulation. The work will be of interest to researchers in the areas of mammalian evolution, brain evolution, and evolutionary genetics.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Nutrigenomic regulation of sensory plasticity

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Hayeon Sung
   2. Anoumid Vaziri
   3. Daniel Wilinski
   4. Riley KR Woerner
   5. Lydia Freddolino
   6. Monica Dus

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work identifies new proteins and outlines the interactions between molecular players that control diet-induced plasticity in sensory neuron function in the Drosophila taste system. The authors provide solid evidence in support of their working model and open clear avenues to follow up on downstream molecular mechanisms.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Coarsening dynamics can explain meiotic crossover patterning in both the presence and absence of the synaptonemal complex

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. John A Fozard
   2. Chris Morgan
   3. Martin Howard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     During meiotic prophase I, protein complexes essential for crossover recombination are distributed non-randomly along chromosomes. With mathematical modelling and based on results from super-resolution microscopy, the authors introduce a second type of coarsening of protein ensembles between chromosome axes and nucleoplasm between chromosomes and nucleoplasm to support the random distribution of the complexes in the synapsis-defective mutant. The new model is interesting and may be applied to other chromosomal events accompanied by the formation of large protein ensembles on the chromosomes. The work is of interest to colleagues studying recombination and meiosis.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Syncytin-mediated open-ended membrane tubular connections facilitate the intercellular transfer of cargos including Cas9 protein

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Congyan Zhang
   2. Randy Schekman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This convincing demonstration of intercellular transfer of material and its subsequent function in the acceptor cell lends important evidence for the membrane tubular systems' role in cell communication. Importantly a fusogenic protein, syncytin, is shown to play a role in providing an open connection between the cytoplasms of both the acceptor and donor cells. The work has implications for how cells can influence each other's functions.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. A case–control study based on the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey to evaluate the effects of human papilloma virus on bone health in women

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Xiang Li
   2. Guangjun Jiao
   3. Yunzhen Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The study presents a useful finding on a potential link between two common public health issues, namely HPV infection and osteoporosis. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is incomplete as a more robust statistical methodology would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to epidemiologists working on associations of infectious diseases with other health issues.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Development of frequency tuning shaped by spatial cue reliability in the barn owl’s auditory midbrain

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Keanu Shadron
   2. José Luis Peña

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a valuable study that uses an innovative approach to show how the statistics of sound stimulation influence neural coding in an experience-dependent fashion in the developing barn owl brain. The paper will therefore be of interest to the fields of developmental and sensory neuroscience. In its present form, however, the evidence presented to support the main claims of the paper is incomplete and could be strengthened in various ways.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. EPAC1 inhibition protects the heart from doxorubicin-induced toxicity

   This article has 21 authors:

   1. Marianne Mazevet
   2. Anissa Belhadef
   3. Maxance Ribeiro
   4. Delphine Dayde
   5. Anna Llach
   6. Marion Laudette
   7. Tiphaine Belleville
   8. Philippe Mateo
   9. Mélanie Gressette
   10. Florence Lefebvre
   11. Ju Chen
   12. Christilla Bachelot-Loza
   13. Catherine Rucker-Martin
   14. Frank Lezoualch
   15. Bertrand Crozatier
   16. Jean-Pierre Benitah
   17. Marie-Catherine Vozenin
   18. Rodolphe Fischmeister
   19. Ana-Maria Gomez
   20. Christophe Lemaire
   21. Eric Morel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental work substantially contributes to our understanding of the mechanisms underlying doxorubicin-induced cardiotoxicity. The evidence supporting the role of EPAC1 inhibition in this context is compelling, using rigorous molecular biology techniques. The work will be of broad interest to scientists and clinicians working in the field of oncology and cardiovascular medicine.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Connectomics of the Octopus vulgaris vertical lobe provides insight into conserved and novel principles of a memory acquisition network

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Flavie Bidel
   2. Yaron Meirovitch
   3. Richard Lee Schalek
   4. Xiaotang Lu
   5. Elisa Catherine Pavarino
   6. Fuming Yang
   7. Adi Peleg
   8. Yuelong Wu
   9. Tal Shomrat
   10. Daniel Raimund Berger
   11. Adi Shaked
   12. Jeff William Lichtman
   13. Binyamin Hochner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This extraordinary study mapped the circuit architecture of a brain module for learning and memory in the octopus brain. In particular, one gyrus of the Octopus vulgaris brain vertical lobe was imaged with volume electron microscopy, its neurons reconstructed and their synapses mapped. The acquisition of this pioneering data set was followed by a very convincing analysis of the circuits supporting learning and memory, and therefore behavioral plasticity, in this animal. The data and findings establish an important point of comparison with analogous brain structures in other organisms, such as the vertebrate cerebellum and the arthropod mushroom body, offering a new neural circuit architecture to support the study of behavior and inspire the design of artificial neural networks.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Structural screens identify candidate human homologs of insect chemoreceptors and cryptic Drosophila gustatory receptor-like proteins

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Richard Benton
   2. Nathaniel J Himmel

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Overall, this manuscript provides fundamental advances to our understanding of the ancestry of insect gustatory and olfactory receptors, by identifying new members of these two related ion channel families in distant species. The approaches to compare protein structure are exceptional and use cutting-edge techniques, going beyond the commonly used approaches. The authors suggest that the family of odorant and gustatory receptors have a common origin and share structural homology in very distant organisms, although the possibility of convergent evolution still exists. This work will serve as a reference for scientists working on insect olfaction and for those working on molecular evolution.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Domestication and lowland adaptation of coastal preceramic maize from Paredones, Peru

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Miguel Vallebueno-Estrada
    2. Guillermo G Hernández-Robles
    3. Eduardo González-Orozco
    4. Ivan Lopez-Valdivia
    5. Teresa Rosales Tham
    6. Víctor Vásquez Sánchez
    7. Kelly Swarts
    8. Tom D Dillehay
    9. Jean-Philippe Vielle-Calzada
    10. Rafael Montiel

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      In this important article, the authors characterize ancient DNA from maize unearthed in archaeological contexts from Paredones and Huaca Prieta in the Chicama river valley of Peru, recovered by painstakingly controlled excavation. The genetic evidence is compelling, albeit from a small sample size, but the dating evidence, despite the excellent archaeological context, is inadequate. Since the age of the samples is so important for the inferences, the individual radiocarbon determinations should be subject to further scrutiny.

    Reviewed by eLife