eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Body mass index and childhood symptoms of depression, anxiety, and attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder: A within-family Mendelian randomization study

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Amanda M Hughes
   2. Eleanor Sanderson
   3. Tim Morris
   4. Ziada Ayorech
   5. Martin Tesli
   6. Helga Ask
   7. Ted Reichborn-Kjennerud
   8. Ole A Andreassen
   9. Per Magnus
   10. Øyvind Helgeland
   11. Stefan Johansson
   12. Pål Njølstad
   13. George Davey Smith
   14. Alexandra Havdahl
   15. Laura D Howe
   16. Neil M Davies

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper uses a new statistical approach called within family Mendelian randomization and asserts that claims of childhood BMI affecting a range of psychiatric traits are unfounded and were mainly caused by confounders that this new approach is able to better identify and control for. They do find a role for maternal BMI on a child's risk for developing depression. The main issue raised is that they do not convincingly show if they do not replicate the old association of childhood BMI with a range of psychiatric traits due to their technique simply having lower power to detect the signal or due to a true lack of this effect.

     (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

2. HIV skews the SARS-CoV-2 B cell response towards an extrafollicular maturation pathway

   This article has 24 authors:

   1. Robert Krause
   2. Jumari Snyman
   3. Hwa Shi-Hsia
   4. Daniel Muema
   5. Farina Karim
   6. Yashica Ganga
   7. Abigail Ngoepe
   8. Yenzekile Zungu
   9. Inbal Gazy
   10. Mallory Bernstein
   11. Khadija Khan
   12. Matilda Mazibuko
   13. Ntombifuthi Mthabela
   14. Dirhona Ramjit
   15. COMMIT-KZN Team
   16. Oliver Limbo
   17. Joseph Jardine
   18. Devin Sok
   19. Ian A Wilson
   20. Willem Hanekom
   21. Alex Sigal
   22. Henrik Kløverpris
   23. Thumbi Ndung'u
   24. Alasdair Leslie

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors investigate how HIV-1 infection affects the immune response in the context of SARS-CoV-2 infection by characterising the circulating B cell response. They conclude that people with HIV-1 infection, who become infected by SARS-CoV-2, produce B cell responses via an extra-follicular pathway to a greater degree than people who do not have HIV-1 infection. These findings imply that in HIV-1 infected individuals, long-term B cell and antibody responses against SARS-CoV-2 might not be as robust and durable compared to those in people without HIV-1 infection. The manuscript will be of interest to infectious disease specialists, virologists, and immunologists.

     (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

3. Osteoclast-mediated resorption primes the skeleton for successful integration during axolotl limb regeneration

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Camilo Riquelme-Guzmán
   2. Stephanie L Tsai
   3. Karen Carreon Paz
   4. Congtin Nguyen
   5. David Oriola
   6. Maritta Schuez
   7. Jan Brugués
   8. Joshua D Currie
   9. Tatiana Sandoval-Guzmán

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of interest to skeletal biologists studying skeletal development and tissue regeneration. The study applies a well-established and elegant axolotl limb regeneration model and transgenic reporter strains to reveal the potential role of osteoclast-mediated resorption in limb regeneration.

     (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

4. A tug of war between filament treadmilling and myosin induced contractility generates actin rings

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Qin Ni
   2. Kaustubh Wagh
   3. Aashli Pathni
   4. Haoran Ni
   5. Vishavdeep Vashisht
   6. Arpita Upadhyaya
   7. Garegin A Papoian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This important paper uses molecular simulations to explain how actomyosin networks transition from small clusters to the cortex or ring-shaped actin networks. The authors provide compelling evidence that variation in filament turnover rate and myosin concentration triggers a phase transition of these networks. The predictions of this model are consistent with observations made in T cells, where actin ring formation can be induced following their activation by antibodies.

     (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. Dynamic proteomic and phosphoproteomic atlas of corticostriatal axons in neurodevelopment

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Vasin Dumrongprechachan
   2. Ryan B Salisbury
   3. Lindsey Butler
   4. Matthew L MacDonald
   5. Yevgenia Kozorovitskiy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Knowledge of the protein composition of defined sub-cellular compartments is of key importance for the characterization of protein machines that mediate defined cellular functionalities. The current paper presents a novel mouse line that will serve as a helpful tool in this context - a Cre-inducible APEX2 reporter mouse line for acute ex-vivo proximity biotinylation. The paper documents the successful use of the novel reporter line to assess circuit-specific proteomes and phosphoproteomes in the corticostriatal system during development. The corresponding data largely align with the published record, but potentially new biological insights deduced from bioinformatic analyses of proteomic data were not followed up by experimental validation. In sum, the new APEX2 reporter mouse line will be of substantial interest to researchers in many fields of mammalian biology. The extent of 'new biology' provided is rather limited, but will be of interest to readers in neurodevelopment.

     (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. Neural underpinning of a respiration-associated resting-state fMRI network

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Wenyu Tu
   2. Nanyin Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of interest to researchers studying control of respiration and also those developing functional magnetic resonance imaging methodology. The work provides insight into the relationship between brain activity (measured directly) and non-invasive functional magnetic resonance imaging measures. The authors find that the respiration signal is associated with the gamma band in the cingulate cortex, and both the gamma signal and respiration signal correlate with distributed neuronal networks across the brain. This contributes to our knowledge of the contribution of respiration on neuro and neuro-vascular signals during resting conditions.

     (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

7. A DARPin-based molecular toolset to probe gephyrin and inhibitory synapse biology

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Benjamin FN Campbell
   2. Antje Dittmann
   3. Birgit Dreier
   4. Andreas Plückthun
   5. Shiva K Tyagarajan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors developed a set of synthetic proteins, Designed Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (DARPins), that bind gephyrin, the main scaffold protein at inhibitory postsynaptic sites, and characterize them extensively to study gephyrin cluster morphology and biochemistry. In several aspects, DARPins outperform traditional antibodies. This study is clear, well organized and well written, demonstrating that DARPins can be important tools synaptic, cellular and circuit neuroscience fields.

     (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. Molecular mechanism of Afadin substrate recruitment to the receptor phosphatase PTPRK via its pseudophosphatase domain

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Iain M Hay
   2. Katie E Mulholland
   3. Tiffany Lai
   4. Stephen C Graham
   5. Hayley J Sharpe
   6. Janet E Deane

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     These studies establish a role for the D2 pseudophosphatase domain of the PTPRK receptor-like phosphotyrosine phosphatase in recruiting Afadin, a cell-cell junction protein that is reported to be a PTPRK substrate, for dephosphorylation by the active D1 phosphatase domain. These findings suggest that the D2 pseudophosphatase domains of RPTPKs might have a general function as platforms to recruit specific phosphotyrosine substrates.

     (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

9. Visual experience has opposing influences on the quality of stimulus representation in adult primary visual cortex

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Brian B Jeon
   2. Thomas Fuchs
   3. Steven M Chase
   4. Sandra J Kuhlman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The present manuscript examines cortical representations of basic visual attributes following a manipulation shown to enhance plasticity in the adult brain: binocular dark exposure for several days, followed by light re-introduction. The work has fundamental therapeutic and conceptual implications, and will be of potential interest to a broad readership of vision scientists, neuroscientists, clinicians and modelers. The paper is well-written and based on sophisticated experiments. The evidence provided convincingly supports the authors' contention that dark exposure does not have a negative impact on visual representations in V1. The study uses a generally appropriate study design. However, it would benefit from the addition of some key experimental details, and additional analyses and statistical tests to explore alternative interpretations of results.

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

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The circadian clock controls temporal and spatial patterns of floral development in sunflower

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Carine M Marshall
    2. Veronica L Thompson
    3. Nicky M Creux
    4. Stacey L Harmer

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This paper, of relevance to a broad range of plant biologists and colleagues in the circandian field, reports important results that demonstrate circadian coordination of characteristic floral development in sunflower. The current manuscript includes convincing observations and possible hypotheses, but the ecological relevance of the temporally-controlled flower development is incompletely shown.

    Reviewed by eLife