eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. A Theory of Synaptic Transmission

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Bin Wang
   2. Olga K. Dudko

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The present MS describes an effort to create a general mathematical model of synaptic neurotransmission. The authors invested great efforts to create a complex model of the presynaptic mechanisms. This is an exceptionally challenging task and it falls short of a true general theory. Nonetheless, the model will be an important addition to an emerging field attempting to generate predictive models of complex neuronal biophysical processes, including synaptic transmission.

     (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. Flagellar energy costs across the tree of life

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Paul E Schavemaker
   2. Michael Lynch

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This work will be of interest to readers in the fields of cell biology, evolutionary biology, and biophysics. The collected data are of good quality and are properly analysed. The work thus convincingly demonstrates that energetic considerations (building costs versus potential benefit) must be taken into account to understand flagellar evolution.

     (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. Comprehensive fitness landscape of SARS-CoV-2 Mpro reveals insights into viral resistance mechanisms

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Julia M Flynn
   2. Neha Samant
   3. Gily Schneider-Nachum
   4. David T Barkan
   5. Nese Kurt Yilmaz
   6. Celia A Schiffer
   7. Stephanie A Moquin
   8. Dustin Dovala
   9. Daniel NA Bolon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The main protease of SARS-CoV-2 (Mpro) is a leading target for drug design due to its conserved and indispensable role in the life cycle. This study used cutting-edge molecular and statistical methods to generate a detailed genotype-phenotype map of this protein, also called a "fitness landscape." This fitness landscape is impressive in its detail and resolution and offers new insight that can be used to potentially generate new anti-viral drugs. This study was original in conception, precise in execution, and impressive in design. In sum, this constitutes a very meaningful addition to scientific literature.

     (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, ScreenIT

4. The orphan ligand, activin C, signals through activin receptor-like kinase 7

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Erich J Goebel
   2. Luisina Ongaro
   3. Emily C Kappes
   4. Kylie Vestal
   5. Elitza Belcheva
   6. Roselyne Castonguay
   7. Ravindra Kumar
   8. Daniel J Bernard
   9. Thomas B Thompson

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study was designed to examine the orphan ligand ActivinC. The authors show that ActivinC signals through ALK7. The data presented are strong and convincing. Indeed, the use of purified proteins for the interaction assays and in vivo analysis of adipocytes provide considerable rigor to the analysis. The work will be of interest to the areas of signal transduction and drug design.

     (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

5. Structure-activity relationships of mitochondria-targeted tetrapeptide pharmacological compounds

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Wayne Mitchell
   2. Jeffrey D Tamucci
   3. Emery L Ng
   4. Shaoyi Liu
   5. Alexander V Birk
   6. Hazel H Szeto
   7. Eric R May
   8. Andrei T Alexandrescu
   9. Nathan N Alder

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Wayne Mitchell et al. report the study aimed to determine the structural features of cationic hydrophobic tetrapeptides in their cytoprotective efficacy. Detailed structural characterization of the peptides "free" in solution and bound to membranes is followed by their comparison in protecting cells from starvation-induced stress and the loss of viability. Overall, there are important and detailed observations regarding the peptide-membrane interactions, while their relevance to cytoprotection mechanisms in not demonstrated.

     (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

6. Septin7 is indispensable for proper skeletal muscle architecture and function

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Mónika Gönczi
   2. Zsolt Ráduly
   3. László Szabó
   4. János Fodor
   5. Andrea Telek
   6. Nóra Dobrosi
   7. Norbert Balogh
   8. Péter Szentesi
   9. Gréta Kis
   10. Miklós Antal
   11. György Trencsenyi
   12. Beatrix Dienes
   13. László Csernoch

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The study of previously unexplored roles of a cytoskeleton protein termed Septin-7 in muscle could be a significant contribution to understand muscle development and regeneration. The majority of the data support the importance of Septin-7 protein in muscle physiology. With some additional experiments and data analysis to strengthen the mechanistic characterization of Septin-7 in muscle physiology, this manuscript will be of broad interest to readers in the skeletal muscle research 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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Enteroendocrine cell types that drive food reward and aversion

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Ling Bai
   2. Nilla Sivakumar
   3. Shenliang Yu
   4. Sheyda Mesgarzadeh
   5. Tom Ding
   6. Truong Ly
   7. Timothy V Corpuz
   8. James CR Grove
   9. Brooke C Jarvie
   10. Zachary A Knight

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The effective approach for targeting select subsets of enteroendocrine cells described here will be important for neuroscientists, endocrinologists, microbiologists, and other scientists studying nutritional biology. The study reveals new detail of how enteroendocrine cells signal through spinal and vagal sensory neurons to control immediate behavior and to guide learning about potential food sources. Overall, the approach is well thought out and the results are interesting and unexpected.

     (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

8. Host-parasite coevolution promotes innovation through deformations in fitness landscapes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Animesh Gupta
   2. Luis Zaman
   3. Hannah M Strobel
   4. Jenna Gallie
   5. Alita R Burmeister
   6. Benjamin Kerr
   7. Einat S Tamar
   8. Roy Kishony
   9. Justin R Meyer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study uses the parlance and framing of the fitness landscape to articulate a co-evolution story between host and parasite. It utilizes a tractable system, bacteriophage λ and E. coli, to ask questions that unite different pillars of evolutionary theory - evolutionary genetics (via the fitness landscape analogy), co-evolution, and host-parasite interactions. The findings will be relevant to a number of audiences, and will likely spawn downstream studies that further interrogate the molecular specifics that underlie host-parasite co-evolution.

     (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

9. Long-term transverse imaging of the hippocampus with glass microperiscopes

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. William T Redman
   2. Nora S Wolcott
   3. Luca Montelisciani
   4. Gabriel Luna
   5. Tyler D Marks
   6. Kevin K Sit
   7. Che-Hang Yu
   8. Spencer Smith
   9. Michael J Goard

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors develop a new technique allowing simultaneous imaging of hippocampal subfields in behaving mice. This paper will be of interest to the large number of neuroscientists who study the hippocampal circuit, and more broadly to those interested in methods to enable high-resolution in vivo imaging across depths in the brain.

     (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

10. Mutational robustness changes during long-term adaptation in laboratory budding yeast populations

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Milo S Johnson
    2. Michael M Desai

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      Johnson and Desai previously reported "increasing cost epistasis", where mutations tended to have more deleterious effects in higher fitness backgrounds. Here they use the same system as before to investigate adapting populations by introducing a set of 91 mutations at multiple time points. As expected, the mean fitness effect of the mutations does decline in most (but not all) populations as they adapt but the effect is weaker than in the previous work, and in another condition, mean fitness effects of mutations do not change as the populations adapt. They suggest an intriguing interpretation (among others) that the "control coefficient" of selection on growth shifts between different genetic modules over time.

      (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