eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Chondroitin sulfate proteoglycan 4,6 sulfation regulates sympathetic nerve regeneration after myocardial infarction

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Matthew R Blake
   2. Diana C Parrish
   3. Melanie A Staffenson
   4. Shanice Sueda
   5. William R Woodward
   6. Beth A Habecker

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In the present manuscript by Blake et al., the investigators show that myocardial infarction (MI) leads to increased sulfation of CSPGs in the cardiac scar. The investigators subsequently demonstrate that reducing sulfation with a sulfatase, arylsulfatase B (ARSB), promotes sympathetic neurite growth in vitro and ex vivo in a co-culture system. This paper provides interesting results regarding neural remodeling of the heart and has implications for visceral innervation in health and disease. This work is important in highlighting the role of neural-myocardial interactions after MI and offering a potential pathway to target in preventing post-MI sudden cardiac death.

     (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

2. Integrating multi-omics data reveals function and therapeutic potential of deubiquitinating enzymes

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Laura M Doherty
   2. Caitlin E Mills
   3. Sarah A Boswell
   4. Xiaoxi Liu
   5. Charles Tapley Hoyt
   6. Benjamin Gyori
   7. Sara J Buhrlage
   8. Peter K Sorger

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     To better understand proteins and pathways regulated by deubiquitinating enzymes (DUBs), this study has assembled a database that integrates existing datasets with additional knock-out experiments. Co-dependent genes as well as protein-protein interactions and co-expression were taken into account. The combined data confirms known functions and highlights potential new functions of DUBs. This will be a useful resource for investigators aiming to elucidate DUB functions, as well as for research efforts to develop therapies for the treatment of different cancer types through targeting DUBs.

     (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

3. Perceptual restoration fails to recover unconscious processing for smooth eye movements after occipital stroke

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Sunwoo Kwon
   2. Berkeley K Fahrenthold
   3. Matthew R Cavanaugh
   4. Krystel R Huxlin
   5. Jude F Mitchell

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study investigates oculomotor behavior of cortically-blind patients (with lesions in area V1) performing a saccade and ocular following response toward a cued moving target placed either in their intact or in their blind visual field. Whereas perceptual training led to a good recovery of perceptual performance in the blind field, the ocular following response did not appear to benefit from this training. The authors conclude that V1 lesions result in impaired transmission of signals selectively driving the ocular following response. The manuscript is based on a valuable patient dataset, well written and illustrated, and will be of potential interest to a broad readership of vision scientists, neuroscientists, and clinical neurologists. However, some major weaknesses in the analysis and interpretation of data call into question the conclusion that the selective eye movement deficit reveals a true perception-action dissociation.

     (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

4. Controllability boosts neural and cognitive signatures of changes-of-mind in uncertain environments

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Marion Rouault
   2. Aurélien Weiss
   3. Junseok K Lee
   4. Jan Drugowitsch
   5. Valerian Chambon
   6. Valentin Wyart

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of potential interest to psychologists and cognitive neuroscientists studying learning, decision-making, belief formation and metacognition. The authors use a clever, elegant task in which people make decisions with or without control over the information they sample, and link the cognitive processes at play to MEG and pupillometry signatures. The key finding is that when participants have control over information sampling (i.e. are seeking information), they need more contradictory evidence in order to switch their choices, and such switches are made with lower confidence. Anticipatory suppression of alpha-band activity in occipital and frontal regions occurred prior to decision switches, while pupil dilation increased post-switch. The authors propose a computational model to account for behavioral differences between conditions. However, some of the conclusions may not be fully supported by the data and alternative interpretations are possible; therefore further analyses are required to bolster the authors' claims.

     (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. Genome editing in the unicellular holozoan Capsaspora owczarzaki suggests a premetazoan role for the Hippo pathway in multicellular morphogenesis

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Jonathan E Phillips
   2. Maribel Santos
   3. Mohammed Konchwala
   4. Chao Xing
   5. Duojia Pan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this study, Phillips et al. report the ancient role of Hippo signaling nuclear effector YAP/TAZ/Yorkie ortholog (coYki) in a unicellular organism Capsaspora owczarzaki. Two major advances of this work include development of genome editing in Capsaspora owczarzaki and characterization of a key gene coYki. The authors found that different from Yki's role in multicellular organisms, the coYki does not contribute to cell proliferation. Instead, it affects cell adhesion to extracellular matrix to ensure the spherical shape of the aggregates. Overall, the presentation of this manuscript is clear with a nice logical flow, and this study should be of interest to the evolutionary cell biology 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 #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Arl15 upregulates the TGFβ family signaling by promoting the assembly of the Smad-complex

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Meng Shi
   2. Hieng Chiong Tie
   3. Mahajan Divyanshu
   4. Xiuping Sun
   5. Yan Zhou
   6. Boon Kim Boh
   7. Leah A Vardy
   8. Lei Lu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The mechanisms of TGF-beta signaling have been intensively investigated. In this study, the authors reveal a novel mechanism of TGF-beta regulation, which suggests a higher order of signaling complexity. With some stronger experimental support, the paper will be of interest to those studying signal transduction.

     (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

7. Distinct responses to rare codons in select Drosophila tissues

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Scott R Allen
   2. Rebeccah K Stewart
   3. Michael Rogers
   4. Ivan Jimenez Ruiz
   5. Erez Cohen
   6. Alain Laederach
   7. Christopher M Counter
   8. Jessica K Sawyer
   9. Donald T Fox

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The results in this report are intriguing in providing evidence that differences in codon optimality in mRNAs can underlie tissue-specific differences in expression and that this phenomenon operates in restricting expression of an evolutionarily young endogenous genes to the testis versus ovaries in a manner important for female fertility in the fruit fly. The scientific quality of the work would be further enhanced by additional experiments to determine whether the differences in expression arise primarily at the translational level or also/rather involve altered mRNA turnover or transcription in response to poor codon usage outside of testis and 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 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A new insight into RecA filament regulation by RecX from the analysis of conformation-specific interactions

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Aleksandr Alekseev
   2. Georgii Pobegalov
   3. Natalia Morozova
   4. Alexey Vedyaykin
   5. Galina Cherevatenko
   6. Alexander Yakimov
   7. Dmitry Baitin
   8. Mikhail Khodorkovskii

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of interest to readers in the fields of DNA repair, DNA-protein interactions and those employing single-molecule techniques. Using single-molecule methods, the authors discovered that RecX exerts its regulatory effect on the RecA filament through two modes of action: i) by promoting RecA dissociation from ssDNA, and ii) by causing a reversible conformational change of the filament. The latter mode of RecX action is novel and of particular interest. The authors present a plausible model of the RecX-RecA-ATP-ssDNA system that could be further validated in future experiments.

     (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

9. A bidirectional switch in the Shank3 phosphorylation state biases synapses toward up- or downscaling

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Chi-Hong Wu
   2. Vedakumar Tatavarty
   3. Pierre M Jean Beltran
   4. Andrea A Guerrero
   5. Hasmik Keshishian
   6. Karsten Krug
   7. Melanie A MacMullan
   8. Li Li
   9. Steven A Carr
   10. Jeffrey R Cottrell
   11. Gina G Turrigiano

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study is of great interest to a broad group of neuroscientists including those studying plasticity in the nervous system and in neurodevelopmental disorders such as autism. The current work illustrates the importance of protein phosphorylation in regulating a form of homeostatic plasticity known as synaptic scaling, which has been associated with different neurodevelopmental disorders. In particular, the authors provide compelling evidence that the phosphorylation state of one synaptic scaffolding protein, Shank 3, is a necessary part of a complex signaling pathway mediating synaptic scaling and thus could be therapeutically useful for certain associated disorders.

     (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 KASH5 protein involved in meiotic chromosomal movements is a novel dynein activating adaptor

    This article has 8 authors:

    1. Ritvija Agrawal
    2. John P Gillies
    3. Juliana L Zang
    4. Jingjing Zhang
    5. Sharon R Garrott
    6. Hiroki Shibuya
    7. Jayakrishnan Nandakumar
    8. Morgan E DeSantis

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This study contributes to our understanding of how a diverse and increasing number of activating adaptors allow the dynein motor protein to move a wide range of intracellular cargoes. Here the authors identify a transmembrane protein called KASH5 as the activating adaptor required for dynein to move meiotic chromosomes, a process that facilitates homolog pairing. Overall, the work is well done and will be of interest to the cell biology, cytoskeletal, and meiosis research communities.

      (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 names with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife