eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Robust capability of renal tubule fatty acid uptake from apical and basolateral membranes in physiology and disease

   This article has 22 authors:

   1. Ryo Kawakami
   2. Hirofumi Hanaoka
   3. Ayaka Kanai
   4. Hideru Obinata
   5. Daisuke Nakano
   6. Hidekazu Ikeuchi
   7. Miki Matsui
   8. Toshiyuki Matsuzaki
   9. Rina Tanaka
   10. Hiroaki Sunaga
   11. Sawako Goto
   12. Hiroki Matsui
   13. Norimichi Koitabashi
   14. Keiko Saegusa
   15. Tomoyuki Yokoyama
   16. Keiju Hiromura
   17. Akira Nishiyama
   18. Akihiko Saito
   19. Motoko Yanagita
   20. Hideki Ishii
   21. Masahiko Kurabayashi
   22. Tatsuya Iso

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript presents valuable and significant data on how lipids may accumulate in the tubulointerstitial compartment of the diseased kidney, but the work is largely descriptive, using methods that are inadequate for quantification (colorimetric assays versus mass spec), thus rendering data interpretation not very convincing. Therefore, while a major strength is the presentation of innovative ideas, additional experiments would be needed to support the main conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. SUMOylation of NaV1.2 channels regulates the velocity of backpropagating action potentials in cortical pyramidal neurons

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Oron Kotler
   2. Yana Khrapunsky
   3. Arik Shvartsman
   4. Hui Dai
   5. Leigh D Plant
   6. Steven AN Goldstein
   7. Ilya Fleidervish

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important work will be of interest to neuroscientists working on synaptic transmission and modulation of ion channel activity. This work provides solid evidence of how modulation of Nav1.2 channels by SUMOYLation alters the function of layer 5 pyramidal neurons, using convincing methodology that includes the use of a mouse engineered to eliminate the SUMOYLation site on Nav1.2. Some aspects need to be revised to strengthen data analysis and interpretation.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Promoting Fc-Fc interactions between anti-capsular antibodies provides strong immune protection against Streptococcus pneumoniae

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Leire Aguinagalde Salazar
   2. Maurits A den Boer
   3. Suzanne M Castenmiller
   4. Seline A Zwarthoff
   5. Carla de Haas
   6. Piet C Aerts
   7. Frank J Beurskens
   8. Janine Schuurman
   9. Albert JR Heck
   10. Kok van Kessel
   11. Suzan HM Rooijakkers

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper will be of interest to immunologists and infectious disease experts, as it reports the investigation of a novel treatment of invasive pneumococcal diseases using complement-activating monoclonal antibodies. Using a combination of in vitro and in vivo methods, the authors demonstrate convincingly that the introduction of specific mutations in human monoclonal antibodies that target the surface of pneumococcus bacteria can result in enhanced complement activation after these antibodies bind to the bacterial surface.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. An acetylation-mediated chromatin switch governs H3K4 methylation read-write capability

   This article has 30 authors:

   1. Kanishk Jain
   2. Matthew R Marunde
   3. Jonathan M Burg
   4. Susan L Gloor
   5. Faith M Joseph
   6. Karl F Poncha
   7. Zachary B Gillespie
   8. Keli L Rodriguez
   9. Irina K Popova
   10. Nathan W Hall
   11. Anup Vaidya
   12. Sarah A Howard
   13. Hailey F Taylor
   14. Laylo Mukhsinova
   15. Ugochi C Onuoha
   16. Emily F Patteson
   17. Spencer W Cooke
   18. Bethany C Taylor
   19. Ellen N Weinzapfel
   20. Marcus A Cheek
   21. Matthew J Meiners
   22. Geoffrey C Fox
   23. Kevin EW Namitz
   24. Martis W Cowles
   25. Krzysztof Krajewski
   26. Zu-Wen Sun
   27. Michael S Cosgrove
   28. Nicolas L Young
   29. Michael-Christopher Keogh
   30. Brian D Strahl

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study shows that cis H3 tail acetylation promotes nucleosome accessibility to H3K4 methyl readers and writers such as MLL1. The findings provide a molecular basis for the long-standing connection between H3 acetylation and H3K4 methylation. Additional evidence is required to fully support the conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Dopamine in the dorsal bed nucleus of stria terminalis signals Pavlovian sign-tracking and reward violations

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Utsav Gyawali
   2. David A Martin
   3. Fangmiao Sun
   4. Yulong Li
   5. Donna Calu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     Authors investigated the role of dopamine (DA) release via GRABDA in the dorsal bed nucleus of the stria terminalis (dBNST) in sign and goal tracking behavior, in response to systemic fentanyl, and to fentanyl self-administration. The behavioral experiments were well-conducted and provide novel information about BNST DA in theories of learning and reinforcement. Identified limitations had to do with acknowledgment and discussion of divergent sources of DA innervation, the low sample size in fentanyl experiments with the exclusion of a large number of animals, and a need for additional analyses of the photometry data and/or control recordings to rule out spontaneous transients in this region.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Brown adipocytes local response to thyroid hormone is required for adaptive thermogenesis in adult male mice

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yanis Zekri
   2. Romain Guyot
   3. Inés Garteizgogeascoa Suñer
   4. Laurence Canaple
   5. Amandine Gautier Stein
   6. Justine Vily Petit
   7. Denise Aubert
   8. Sabine Richard
   9. Frédéric Flamant
   10. Karine Gauthier

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The manuscript by Yanis Zekri et al identifies the direct T3 target genes that are important in thyroid hormone signaling in brown adipose tissue (BAT). The findings reported in this manuscript are significant and fundamental to our understanding of thyroid hormone action in response to environmental changes. The strength of the evidence presented with the novel methodological approaches used makes the manuscript exceptional in the area of BAT biology and T3 regulation of adaptive thermogenesis.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Endocytic trafficking determines cellular tolerance of presynaptic opioid signaling

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Damien Jullié
   2. Camila Benitez
   3. Tracy A Knight
   4. Milos S Simic
   5. Mark von Zastrow

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This manuscript examines the inhibition of transmitter release induced by the activation of opioid receptors, both MOR and DOR, using a novel imaging method. The authors specifically examine how the inhibition of transmitter release is changed following prolonged exposure to saturating concentrations of agonists. They showed convincingly that there is a depletion of plasma membrane-associated receptors and suggest that the decline in receptors at the plasma membrane underlies presynaptic tolerance. This work addresses a long-standing question about how tolerance develops at the presynaptic level and indicates that the location of receptors is critically important in the development of tolerance. This work is fundamental and a game changer in the understanding of tolerance at the cellular level.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Contrast polarity-specific mapping improves efficiency of neuronal computation for collision detection

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Richard Burkett Dewell
   2. Ying Zhu
   3. Margaret Eisenbrandt
   4. Richard Morse
   5. Fabrizio Gabbiani

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This paper will be of interest to neuroscientists who study visual processing or are interested in dendritic integration. The authors used calcium imaging, pharmacology, and electrophysiology to investigate how a large, loom-sensitive neuron in grasshoppers integrates visual input to respond to both light and dark looming objects. These experiments support the finding that the integration is done by two distinct arbors of the neuronal dendritic tree, one of which loses retinotopic information. The authors suggest potential advantages of this dendritic arrangement.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. A prebiotic diet modulates microglial states and motor deficits in α-synuclein overexpressing mice

   This article has 19 authors:

   1. Reem Abdel-Haq
   2. Johannes CM Schlachetzki
   3. Joseph C Boktor
   4. Thaisa M Cantu-Jungles
   5. Taren Thron
   6. Mengying Zhang
   7. John W Bostick
   8. Tahmineh Khazaei
   9. Sujatha Chilakala
   10. Livia H Morais
   11. Greg Humphrey
   12. Ali Keshavarzian
   13. Jonathan E Katz
   14. Matthew Thomson
   15. Rob Knight
   16. Viviana Gradinaru
   17. Bruce R Hamaker
   18. Christopher K Glass
   19. Sarkis K Mazmanian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The complex mechanisms through which diet impact Parkinson's Disease are unclear, limiting the ability to guide patients to an optimal diet. Here, researchers use a mouse model to test the impact of dietary fiber, revealing changes in gut microbes and immune cells in the brain. This study raises intriguing hypotheses about how diet-induced changes in the microbiome could lead to changes in brain function.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Taxonium, a web-based tool for exploring large phylogenetic trees

    This article has 1 author:

    1. Theo Sanderson

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      Sanderson developed novel interactive software for visualizing phylogenetic trees representing millions of sequences. This is a fundamental advance over previous software that is typically limited to trees with a few thousand tips. Taxonium has been used intensively by the virus evolution community over the past months and has thus already proven its utility and performance.

    Reviewed by eLife