eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A non-human primate model of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Rachael HA Jones
   2. Luciano Saieva
   3. Fabien Balezeau
   4. Ian Schofield
   5. Caroline McCardle
   6. Mark R Baker
   7. Stuart N Baker

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This fundamental study provides a major contribution to our understanding of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) pathogenesis by utilizing a primate model that overcomes the historical limitations of rodent paradigms. By demonstrating the retrograde and trans-synaptic spread of pathological TDP-43 from the periphery to the spinal cord and motor cortex, the authors propose a new model for the disease spreading. The evidence supporting these findings is compelling, characterized by rigorous post-mortem histological observations. This work will be of profound interest to neuroscientists and translational researchers seeking to decode the mechanisms of systemic disease progression in ALS.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Method of loci training yields unique prefrontal representations that support effective memory encoding

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Jingyuan Ren
   2. Boris N Konrad
   3. Yannan Zhu
   4. Fan Li
   5. Michael Czisch
   6. Martin Dresler
   7. Isabella C Wagner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a useful array of analyses of the effects of training and/or instruction to use the method of loci during episodic encoding and retrieval. A major strength of the experiment is the impressive recruitment of memory athletes and the training of novice athletes to use the method of loci, long known to improve the precision of memory recall. That said, the sheer number of results and their organization should be addressed; streamlining the results and placing them, whenever possible, in a theoretical framework. As it stands, the presented work is incomplete with respect to the major conclusions that training itself leads to neural differentiation of prefrontal cortical neural patterns, and the authors need to temper these claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Drosophila ryanodine receptor gene triggers functional and developmental muscle properties and could be used to assess the impact of human RYR1 mutations

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Monika Zmojdzian
   2. Teresa Jagla
   3. Florian Cherik
   4. Magda Dubinska-Magiera
   5. Marta Migocka-Patrzalek
   6. Malgorzata Daczewska
   7. John Rendu
   8. Krzysztof Jagla
   9. Catherine Sarret

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important paper provides novel information on the function of the Drosophila ryanodine receptor (RyR) during muscle development. The authors analyze the effects of a rare human mutation that causes myopathy that affects a conserved region of the gene. They present compelling evidence that this variant affects muscle function in flies. These results suggest that Drosophila can be used as a tool for screening additional variants.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife

4. The long-range gene regulatory landscape of cerebellar granule neuron progenitors

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Kimberley LH Riegman
   2. Charlotte George
   3. Danielle E Whittaker
   4. Mohi U Ahmed
   5. Haiyang Yun
   6. Brian JP Huntly
   7. David Sims
   8. Cameron S Osborne
   9. M Albert Basson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This work provides a map of enhancer-promoter interactions associated with genes controlling the development of a specific neuronal cell population. The study offers a valuable resource and integrates multiple complementary datasets to provide insights into regulatory mechanisms, although the conceptual advances are moderate and the central message could be clearer. The evidence supporting the conclusions is generally solid, but the lack of direct functional testing of key regulatory elements limits the strength of some claims.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife

5. GM-CSF regulates ILC states and myeloid cell signaling during ulceration in Crohn’s disease

   This article has 29 authors:

   1. Joshua K Morrison
   2. Ksenija Sabic
   3. Neha Maskey
   4. Sayali Talware
   5. Nai-yun Hsu
   6. Colleen Chasteau
   7. Elizabeth Aslinger
   8. Jake Herb
   9. Shikha Nayar
   10. Rachel Levantovsky
   11. Christopher Tastad
   12. Rachel Moss
   13. Alan Soto
   14. Monica Garcia-barros
   15. Jessy Ntunzwenimana
   16. Mariel Glass
   17. Michelle Bao
   18. Jiayu Zhang
   19. Huajun Han
   20. Jane Stevens
   21. Lorena Tavares
   22. Tin Htwe Thin
   23. Sergey Khaitov
   24. Alexander Greenstein
   25. Rachel Brody
   26. Jaime Chu
   27. Arthur Mortha
   28. Judy H Cho
   29. Ling-shiang Chuang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors provide valuable findings showing that GM-CSF prevents the loss of ILC3 populations during gut inflammation and inhibits pro-inflammatory cytokine production. They combine a preclinical model of gut inflammation in zebrafish with spatial transcriptomic analysis of samples from Crohn's disease patients. Although the data provided are clear and point to an anti-inflammatory role of GM-CSF, the strength of evidence remains incomplete as no mechanistic insights into GM-CSF regulation of ILCs are provided, and the most significant mechanistic question remains unanswered: what are the signals downstream of GM-CSF that maintain the ILC3 population? This work will be of interest to immunologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Neurotrophin-3 produced by motor neurons non-cell autonomously regulate the development of pre-motor interneurons in the developing spinal cord

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Andrea Angla-Navarro
   2. Ana Dominguez Bajo
   3. Mathilde Toch
   4. Cédric Francius
   5. Maria Hidalgo-Figueroa
   6. Jingwen Zhang
   7. Olivier Schakman
   8. Manon Martin
   9. Xiuqian Mu
   10. René Rezsohazy
   11. Françoise Gofflot
   12. Frédéric Clotman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a useful study that seeks to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying spinal motor circuit assembly. The authors demonstrate that loss of Onecut transcription factors in spinal motor neurons affects the size and spatial distribution of pre-motor interneurons. However, the study in its current form is incomplete: the data and analyses do not fully support the main conclusion that Onecut acts through Neurotrophin-3 to regulate interneuron development in a non-cell autonomous manner. The work will be of broad interest to cell and developmental biologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Morphine regulates astrocyte transcriptional dynamics in the ventral tegmental area by stimulation of glucocorticoid signaling

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jennifer J Tuscher
   2. Angela Cleere
   3. Robert A Phillips
   4. Catherine E Newman
   5. Guy Twa
   6. Nathaniel J Robinson
   7. Lara Ianov
   8. Robert E Sorge
   9. Jeremy J Day

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines how chronic pain and opioid exposure interact at the cellular and molecular levels in a reward-related brain region. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing, the authors map transcriptional changes in the rat ventral tegmental area following chronic inflammatory pain and acute morphine exposure. Notably, their convincing data support that acute morphine, not chronic pain, elicits a stress-related transcriptional response primarily in glial cells rather than neurons, challenging prevailing views of opioid action and supporting growing evidence for glucocorticoid signaling in glial responses. A limitation is the use of a single opioid dose and time point, and further discussion of these constraints would help clarify the broader implications of the findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Prophylactic Lipoxin A4 Attenuates Clostridioides difficile Infection by Augmenting Epithelial Barrier and Resolving Inflammation

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Hui Wen
   2. Yunqing Xiang
   3. Yue Yu
   4. Zhixin Ma
   5. Ying Xin
   6. Yufang Deng
   7. Huipai Peng
   8. Yong Shi
   9. Nan Li
   10. Shuqiang Huang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors developed and validated a gut-on-chip system to mimic the gut environment for studies of Clostridioides difficile infection in vitro. Although the data generated is useful to the field, the evidence provided to support the conclusions is incomplete. Methodology that is not complete, as well as discrepancies regarding the proposed mode of action of lipoxin A4, are significant weaknesses.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Integrated Human Transcriptomics Identifies Fallopian Tube Progenitors as Plausible Precursors of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Qian Li
   2. Keren Cheng
   3. Lili Sun
   4. Wei Yan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study reports a substantial single-cell RNAseq and bulk RNAseq dataset from multiple high-grade serous ovarian cancers, including a single-cell atlas of human fallopian tube epithelium. The bioinformatic analysis investigating the lineage and location of epithelial progenitor cells is convincing, although this will require experimental validation. The work also provides a resource to examine additional features of normal fallopian tubes and ovarian cancers, and for developing methods for early detection and tumour stratification.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The cow udder is a potential coinfection site for influenza A viruses

    This article has 34 authors:

    1. Rute Maria Pinto
    2. Colin P Sharp
    3. Maia Beeson
    4. Nunticha Pankaew
    5. Jack A Hassard
    6. Alexander Moxom
    7. Callum Magill
    8. Laura Tuck
    9. Stephen Meek
    10. Hui Min Lee
    11. Kirsty Jensen
    12. Inga Dry
    13. Pedro Melo
    14. Jiayun Yang
    15. Wenfang Spring Tan
    16. Ashwin Ashok Raut
    17. Anamika Mishra
    18. Sjaak de Wit
    19. J Ross Fitzgerald
    20. Jayne C Hope
    21. Joanne Stevens
    22. Tom Burdon
    23. Kate Sutton
    24. Cristina L Esteves
    25. F Xavier Donadeu
    26. Ian Brown
    27. Wendy Barclay
    28. Thomas P Peacock
    29. Daniel H Goldhill
    30. Munir Iqbal
    31. Pablo R Murcia
    32. Stuart M Haslam
    33. Eleanor Gaunt
    34. Paul Digard

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study presents important findings that bovine mammary epithelial cells can be infected with both avian and human influenza A viruses, providing a potential site for viral reassortment. The evidence to support these claims is generally solid; however, the evidence suggesting lower permissiveness of cells from other organs is incomplete. The work will be of interest to virologists and evolutionary biologists working on cross-species transmission of viruses and pandemic preparedness.

    Reviewed by eLife