eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Rate-distortion theory of neural coding and its implications for working memory

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Anthony MV Jakob
   2. Samuel J Gershman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of potential interest to readers in the fields of working memory and neural coding. It presents a model of a neural circuit that learns to optimally represent its inputs subject to an information capacity limit and claims that this model can account for a range of empirical phenomena in the visual working memory literature. However, the fit to empirical data is qualitative and in some cases unconvincing, certain aspects of the neural model seem difficult to square with established neurophysiology, and there is insufficient conceptual or quantitative comparison with other models in the WM literature that seek to explain the same data.

     (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

2. Mesoscopic in vivo human T 2 * dataset acquired using quantitative MRI at 7 Tesla

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Omer Faruk Gulban
   2. Saskia Bollmann
   3. Laurentius (Renzo) Huber
   4. Konrad Wagstyl
   5. Rainer Goebel
   6. Benedikt A. Poser
   7. Kendrick Kay
   8. Dimo Ivanov

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The methods presented in this work are of potential broad interest across different domains of human neuroscience. Reliable methods for pushing the limits of spatial resolution for mesoscopic scale imaging of the living human cortex are of wide interest and utility. The image quality and high-spatial resolution of the data are exceptionally high. The paper in its current form demonstrates the application of the developed methods to a few exemplary cortical regions and sequences.

     (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

3. Altered regulation of Ia afferent input during voluntary contraction in humans with spinal cord injury

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Bing Chen
   2. Monica A Perez

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of interest to basic and clinical neurophysiologists who are focused on understanding neural mechanisms that influence recovery following spinal cord injury (SCI). The work compares the afferent regulation of motor output to soleus muscle in controls and individuals with SCI. The results indicate differences between groups such that there is less facilitation in the SCI group during muscle contraction.

     (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

4. Genome-wide base editor screen identifies regulators of protein abundance in yeast

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Olga T Schubert
   2. Joshua S Bloom
   3. Meru J Sadhu
   4. Leonid Kruglyak

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Schubert and coworkers report the development of a novel CRISPR-based screening method that allows probing interactions between (a large set of) specific mutations and the abundance of specific proteins, and, more generally, investigate the spectrum of effects that (point) mutations can have on protein abundance. This complements existing strategies for measuring effects of genetic perturbations on transcript levels, which is important as for some proteins mRNA and protein levels do not correlate well. The ability to measure proteins directly therefore promises to close an important gap in our understanding of the links between genotype and phenotype, and the strategy is broadly applicable beyond the current study.

     (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Unsuppressed HIV infection impairs T cell responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection and abrogates T cell cross-recognition

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Thandeka Nkosi
   2. Caroline Chasara
   3. Andrea O Papadopoulos
   4. Tiza L Nguni
   5. Farina Karim
   6. Mahomed-Yunus S Moosa
   7. Inbal Gazy
   8. Kondwani Jambo
   9. COMMIT-KZN-Team
   10. Willem Hanekom
   11. Alex Sigal
   12. Zaza M Ndhlovu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The study shows that individuals with unsuppressed HIV infection had poorer T cell polyfunctionality and lower cross-reactive responses to SARS-CoV-2 variants compared to those who were HIV negative or aviremic. The conclusions of this paper are well supported by the data and will be of interest to clinicians, immunologists, and public health practitioners, particularly in Southern Africa.

     (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, ScreenIT

6. Molecular characteristics and laminar distribution of prefrontal neurons projecting to the mesolimbic system

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Ákos Babiczky
   2. Ferenc Matyas

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study examined the nature of projections from the prefrontal cortex (PFC) to the nucleus accumbens (NAc) and to the ventral tegmental area (VTA). The authors show that PFC projections to NAc and VTA are largely non-overlapping, originate in different layers of PFC, and express different molecular markers. This study provides high-quality data to the long-standing question.

     (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

7. Combining transgenesis with paratransgenesis to fight malaria

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Wei Huang
   2. Joel Vega-Rodriguez
   3. Chritopher Kizito
   4. Sung-Jae Cha
   5. Marcelo Jacobs-Lorena

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study tests the potential of using a combination of mosquito-based approaches, transgenesis and paratransgenesis, for malaria control relative to the use of the individual technologies. The results show that a combination of approaches can be more powerful at preventing the transmission of malaria parasites, opening the possibility of using similar combination approaches to reduce the malaria burden. The findings will be interesting for a broad audience of mosquito biologists and malaria researchers, but as they are limited to a specific transgenic-paratransgenic combination, more work will be needed to determine the true potential of this strategy for disease control.

     (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

8. Selenocyanate derived Se-incorporation into the nitrogenase Fe protein cluster

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Trixia M Buscagan
   2. Jens T Kaiser
   3. Douglas C Rees

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript describes the unexpected observation of selenium exchange into an iron-sulfur cluster cofactor of a component of nitrogenase. The work sets the stage for future mechanistic study of this phenomenon. It also provides a roadmap for the study of sulfide exchange in other classes of iron-sulfur cluster enzymes.

     (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

9. The cytokine receptor DR3 identifies and activates thymic NKT17 cells

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Shunqun Luo
   2. Nurcin Liman
   3. Assiatu Crossman
   4. Jung-Hyun Park

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The manuscript by Luo et al. showed that the cytokine receptor DR3 is selectively expressed on thymic NKT17 cells and DR3 ligation leads to the activation of NKT17 cells in the thymus. Overall, The presented experiment are properly executed, controlled and presented. The finding that DR3 acts as a costimulatory molecule for thymic NKT17 cells is interesting. The mechanism and the functional relevance of this finding remain wanting.

     (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

10. Regionally distinct trophoblast regulate barrier function and invasion in the human placenta

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Bryan Marsh
    2. Yan Zhou
    3. Mirhan Kapidzic
    4. Susan Fisher
    5. Robert Blelloch

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      By using single-cell RNA sequencing, elegant computational approaches, protein validation, and in vitro functional assays, this study characterizes the cellular composition and gene expression profiles of the human placenta in mid-gestation. The findings and dataset provided by the authors represent an important resource for readers interested in human development and placenta biology. However, conclusions require additional experimental support.

      (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