eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. HSD17B7 is required for the function of sensory hair cells by regulating cholesterol synthesis

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Yuqian Shen
   2. Ziyang Wang
   3. Xun Wang
   4. Fuping Qian
   5. Mingjun Zhong
   6. Xin Wang
   7. Jing Cheng
   8. Dong Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable data on the role of Hsd17b7, a gene involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, as a potential regulator of mechanosensory hair cell function. The authors used both zebrafish and the HEI cell line to examine the effects of deletion of Hsd17b7 on hair cell function and survival. While the study presents convincing evidence, the effect sizes observed across several experiments, including functional readouts such as the acoustic startle response, are modest, which raises questions about the biological significance of the proposed mechanism.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Profiling of terminating ribosomes reveals translational control at stop codons

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Longfei Jia
   2. Yuanhui Mao
   3. Saori Uematsu
   4. Xinyi Ashley Liu
   5. Leiming Dong
   6. Leonardo Henrique França de Lima
   7. Shu-Bing Qian

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript reports on the application of ribosome profiling (EZRA-seq and eRF1-seq) and massively parallel reporter assays (MPRA) to identify and characterize sequence elements that regulate translation termination. The authors conclude that a GA-rich element upstream of stop codons is associated with ribosome pausing during translation termination; in contrast, C-rich sequences upstream of stop codons abolish termination pausing. While the overall findings of this study are useful and the identification of GA-rich elements upstream of stop codons is compelling, support for several other claims remains incomplete. Specifically, the evidence that the MPRA results mirror the ribosome profiling, that a C-rich sequence preceding the stop codon promotes termination slippage in cellular mRNAs, and that Rps26 interferes with mRNA interactions to regulate translation termination would benefit from further support.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Mouse germline cysts contain a fusome-like structure that mediates oocyte development

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Madhulika Pathak
   2. Allan C Spradling

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides evidence that mouse germline cysts develop an asymmetric Golgi, ER, and microtubule-associated structure that resembles the fusome in Drosophila germline cysts. This fundamental study provides new evidence that fusome-like structures exist in germ cell cysts across species. Overall, the data are convincing and represent a significant advance in our understanding of germ cell biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Apparent cooperativity between human CMV virions introduces errors in conventional methods of calculating multiplicity of infection

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Christopher Peterson
   2. Joshua Miller
   3. Brent J Ryckman
   4. Vitaly V Ganusov

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors combine experiments and mathematical modeling to determine how the infectivity of human cytomegalovirus scales with the viral concentration in the inoculum, i.e., considering the multiplicity of infection (MOI). They propose and test different model assumptions to explain a mechanism termed "apparent cooperativity" of virions based on an observed super-linear increase of the number of infected cells with increasing inocula. The authors present a solid study showing valuable findings for virologists and quantitative scientists working on the analysis and interpretation of viral infection dynamics for which quantitative knowledge of MOI is needed.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Nanoscopy Reveals Heparan Sulfate Clusters as Docking Sites for SARS-CoV-2 Attachment and Entry

   This article has 14 authors:

   1. Sue Han
   2. Xin Wang
   3. Tiansheng Li
   4. Ammar Mohseni
   5. Ivan Kosik
   6. Chung Yu Chan
   7. Alberto Domingo López-Muñoz
   8. Jessica Matthias
   9. Reid Suddaby
   10. Zhixiong Wang
   11. Albert J Jin
   12. Christian A Wurm
   13. Jonathan W Yewdell
   14. Ling-Gang Wu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a role for heparin sulfate in SARS-CoV-2 entry that runs counter to prevailing data in the field. If the conclusions were firmly supported by the data, the work would be a significant contribution to the field. While the use of diverse cellular models, virological tools, and robust microscopy approaches constitutes a useful data set, the proposed model remains incomplete and requires clarification of entry mechanisms, host factors, and viral variant-specific fusion pathways to substantiate it against established entry models.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Epigenetic Adaptation Drives Monocyte Differentiation into Microglia-Like Cells Upon Engraftment into the Central Nervous System

   This article has 18 authors:

   1. Jie Liu
   2. Fengyang Lei
   3. Bin Yan
   4. Tian Cao
   5. Naiwen Cui
   6. Jyoti Sharma
   7. Victor Correa
   8. Lara Roach
   9. Savvas Nicolaou
   10. Kristen Pitts
   11. James Chodosh
   12. Daniel E Maidana
   13. Demetrios Vavvas
   14. Milica A Margeta
   15. Huidan Zhang
   16. David Weitz
   17. Raul Mostoslavsky
   18. Eleftherios I Paschalis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors investigated the epigenetic mechanisms regulating the differentiation of circulating monocytes that infiltrate the CNS and adopt microglia-like characteristics. The work is useful to the field, as the contribution of circulating myeloid cell-derived microglia remains controversial. However, the evidence presented is inadequate as the analyses are based on a very limited set of genes, which does not sufficiently support the authors' central claims.

   Reviewed by PREreview, eLife

7. Readout and delayed transmission of initial afferent V1 activity in decisions about stimulus contrast

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Kieran S Mohr
   2. Simon P Kelly

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports that EEG recordings of the earliest stage of information processing in human visual cortex can be used to predict subsequent choice responses. The findings provide novel, convincing evidence for integrative processing in low-level sensory cortices at the level of scalp-recorded potentials, with the exact nature of the neural signals at the single cell level to be determined. The paper is likely to be of interest to neuroscientists interested in the contribution of early sensory signals to decision making.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Excitatory cholecystokinin neurons in CA3 area regulate the navigation learning and neuroplasticity

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Fengwen Huang
   2. Abdul Baset
   3. Stephen Temitayo Bello

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents data suggesting that excitatory cholecystokinin (CCK)-expressing neurons in hippocampal area CA3 influence hippocampal-dependent memory using multiple methods to manipulate excitatory CCK-expressing CA3 neurons. The study is valuable, particularly considering that most past studies of CCK-expressing neurons have focused on those neurons that co-express CCK and GABA. Currently, the strength of evidence is incomplete, but it would improve if evidence of specificity was provided and other concerns were addressed. If this is not possible, the conclusions, particularly those requiring evidence of specific targeting of excitatory neurons, should be modified accordingly.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Progressive postnatal hearing development limits early parent-offspring vocal communication in the zebra finch

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Tommi Anttonen
   2. Jakob Christensen-Dalsgaard
   3. Coen PH Elemans

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Zebra finches are a prominent model system for vocal learning and auditory system function, yet little is known about the functional development of the auditory system. Here, the authors convincingly show that newly hatched zebra finches lack detectable auditory brainstem responses and that auditory neural signals emerge only days after hatching, challenging influential claims of prenatal acoustic communication in altricial birds. This important work clarifies the developmental timeline for auditory communication and highlights the value of neuroscientific methods for validating and complementing behavioral ecological studies of animal perception.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Acute opioid responses are modulated by dynamic interactions of Oprm1 and Fgf12

    This article has 17 authors:

    1. Paige M Lemen
    2. Yanning Zuo
    3. Alexander S Hatoum
    4. Price E Dickson
    5. Guy Mittleman
    6. Arpana Agrawal
    7. Benjamin C Reiner
    8. Wade Berrettini
    9. David G Ashbrook
    10. Mustafa Hakan Gunturkun
    11. Xusheng Wang
    12. Megan K Mulligan
    13. Caleb J Browne
    14. Eric J Nestler
    15. Francesca Telese
    16. Robert W Williams
    17. Hao Chen

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study integrates large-scale behavioral, genetic, and molecular analyses in animal models to investigate morphine response. Utilizing high-quality, time-series Quantitative Trait Loci (QTL) mapping, the work provides compelling evidential support for novel, time-dependent genetic interactions (epistasis). A fundamental result of this rigorous analysis is the discovery of a novel Oprm1-Fgf12-MAPK signaling pathway, which offers new insights into the mechanisms of opioid sensitivity.

    Reviewed by eLife