eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Specific deletion of Axin1 leads to activation of β-catenin/BMP signaling resulting in fibular hemimelia phenotype in mice

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Rong Xie
   2. Dan Yi
   3. Daofu Zeng
   4. Qiang Jie
   5. Qinglin Kang
   6. Zeng Zhang
   7. Zhenlin Zhang
   8. Guozhi Xiao
   9. Lin Chen
   10. Liping Tong
   11. Di Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript describes the mesenchymal cells expressed Axin1 as a key regulator for Wnt and BMP signaling pathway which is essential for lower limb development. Fibular hemimelia (FH) is a rare genetic disorder with unknown mechanisms. Their data clearly demonstrated that inhibition of β-catenin and BMP signaling genetically and pharmacologically could largely reverse fibular hemimelia phenotype in mice. In general, the manuscript is clear, well written, and concise, the study is well-structured and various techniques have been used to validate the data. It presents as a thorough study highlighting the importance of Axin1/ β-catenin/BMP signaling in FH development, and, furthermore, the interpretation of the results and the following conclusions are convincing.

     (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. Structure of SARS-CoV-2 M protein in lipid nanodiscs

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Kimberly A Dolan
   2. Mandira Dutta
   3. David M Kern
   4. Abhay Kotecha
   5. Gregory A Voth
   6. Stephen G Brohawn

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper reports the structure of the M protein of SARS-CoV-2, as determined by cryoEM. The structure is well-determined and reveals a homodimer with overall similar structure as ORF3a, another virally encoded protein. The surface charge distribution is skewed towards positive at the C-terminal domain, which suggests roles in interactions with viral N and S proteins, and possibly viral RNA. The work is of relevance to virologists, especially those studying SARS-CoV-2.

     (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, PREreview

3. Molecular basis for the role of disulfide-linked αCTs in the activation of insulin-like growth factor 1 receptor and insulin receptor

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Jie Li
   2. Jiayi Wu
   3. Catherine Hall
   4. Xiao-chen Bai
   5. Eunhee Choi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a valuable manuscript that addresses an important question and provides interesting mechanistic insights into the roles of specific regions of the IR and IGF1R in their activation. While many of the data convincingly support the conclusions, in some areas the data are incomplete so we are left with an unfinished picture of the mechanisms of activation of the IR and IGF1R, and why they differ.

     (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Beta human papillomavirus 8E6 promotes alternative end joining

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Changkun Hu
   2. Taylor Bugbee
   3. Rachel Palinski
   4. Ibukun A Akinyemi
   5. Michael T McIntosh
   6. Thomas MacCarthy
   7. Sumita Bhaduri-McIntosh
   8. Nicholas Wallace

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript reports useful data on how human papillomavirus 8E6 protein regulates DSB repair pathways in human cells. The data support the claim that 8E6 promotes alternative end-joining through binding and destabilizing the p300 acetyltransferase, but the study remains relatively descriptive and incomplete as it is not yet clear which alternative end-joining pathway is involved lacking a test of a direct involvement of DNA polymerases theta (POLθ).

     (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

5. Structural and thermodynamic analyses of the β-to-α transformation in RfaH reveal principles of fold-switching proteins

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Philipp K Zuber
   2. Tina Daviter
   3. Ramona Heißmann
   4. Ulrike Persau
   5. Kristian Schweimer
   6. Stefan H Knauer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is an interesting and timely paper that presents thermodynamic and structural (NMR) analyses of six KOW domains from the NusG superfamily of transcription factors. The authors identify a second fold-switching member of the NusG superfamily, VcRfaH, and investigate the physical basis of this fold-switching transition. The authors also compare the thermodynamic and structural properties of six fold-switching and single-folding KOW domains from different organisms, and show that fold-switching domains are less thermodynamically stable than their single-folding counterparts. This work will be of great interest for scientists in the fields of protein folding (theory and experiment), structural biophysics, and advanced protein NMR spectroscopy.

     (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

6. Cardiovascular disease and subsequent risk of psychiatric disorders: a nationwide sibling-controlled study

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Qing Shen
   2. Huan Song
   3. Thor Aspelund
   4. Jingru Yu
   5. Donghao Lu
   6. Jóhanna Jakobsdóttir
   7. Jacob Bergstedt
   8. Lu Yi
   9. Patrick Sullivan
   10. Arvid Sjölander
   11. Weimin Ye
   12. Katja Fall
   13. Fang Fang
   14. Unnur Valdimarsdóttir

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a useful quantification of the links of vascular disease on the development of subsequent mental health issues. It uses a robust dataset to quantify this association. Further work to focus the analyses, ensure claims are supported by the data, and consider alternative explanations is needed.

     (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. Bundling and segregation affect pheromone deposition, but not choice, in an ant

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Massimo De Agrò
   2. Chiara Matschunas
   3. Tomer J Czaczkes

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript has the potential to be of interest to a broad range of behavioral scientists. It provides insights into how biases can affect value-based behavior in invertebrates, similar to what has been reported in humans. However, there are a number of potential confounders that need to be addressed before drawing robust conclusions from the data reported.

     (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, Reviewer #2 and Reviewer #4 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife, preLights

8. Learning predictive cognitive maps with spiking neurons during behavior and replays

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Jacopo Bono
   2. Sara Zannone
   3. Victor Pedrosa
   4. Claudia Clopath

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a valuable paper that uses solid computational modeling approaches to link plasticity in the hippocampal circuit with behavioral learning. The work focuses on reinforcement learning, a theoretical framework for how animals can optimize learning by extracting the statistical structure of the sensory environments. While a vast range of experimental data regarding the physiological properties of neurons in the hippocampus exists, reinforcement learning often lacks such physiological details. The manuscript begins to fill this gap, by developing a spiking computational model of the hippocampus that can implement reinforcement learning and capture some features of hippocampal physiology.

     (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. A novel cis-regulatory element drives early expression of Nkx3.2 in the gnathostome primary jaw joint

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Jake Leyhr
   2. Laura Waldmann
   3. Beata Filipek-Górniok
   4. Hanqing Zhang
   5. Amin Allalou
   6. Tatjana Haitina

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this elegant study, Leyhr et al. identify the first potent nkx3.2 jaw joint enhancer, which they show to be deeply conserved across gnathostomes and likely to be absent from jawless fishes. The data support the hypothesis that this enhancer arose with the origin of hinged jaws during vertebrate evolution and is required for some aspects of early joint development in zebrafish. The work has important implications both for our basic understanding of enhancer function and evolution as well as potential genetic causes of craniofacial defects in humans.

     (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. Functional interactions among neurons within single columns of macaque V1

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Ethan B Trepka
    2. Shude Zhu
    3. Ruobing Xia
    4. Xiaomo Chen
    5. Tirin Moore

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This paper will be of interest to readers who perform extracellular recordings with high-density electrodes. It provides a proof of principle that high-density recordings allow assessing the interactions of pairs of neurons within local cortical networks in nonhuman primates.

      (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