eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The aversive value of pain in human decision‐making

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Hocine Slimani
   2. Pierre Rainville
   3. Mathieu Roy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This behavioural study in healthy participants examines how people trade-off a brief phasic pain stimulus with a monetary reward, reporting a quadratic effect of pain on decision making. It supports and adds to previous findings of a context-dependency deriving from the distribution of rewards, which is a deviation from conventional rational choice theory (which proposes that a particular level of pain should carry the same price, regardless of small context changes). Broadly, the reviewers found the work well executed and the data compelling, but there were some suggestions for alternative explanations that are not ruled out given the current data.

     (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

2. Single-cell atlas of early chick development reveals gradual segregation of neural crest lineage from the neural plate border during neurulation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Ruth M Williams
   2. Martyna Lukoseviciute
   3. Tatjana Sauka-Spengler
   4. Marianne E Bronner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Public Evaluation Summary:

     Determining when cells acquire their individual identity is critical for understanding the patterning and growth of embryos. The authors use state-of-the-art methods to map the lineages of cells that emerge during the earliest stages of development in chick embryos and that contribute to the central and peripheral nervous system. The authors have characterised the gene signature of ectoderm sub-clusters and used algorithms to infer lineage trajectories using the dataset. However, the analysis of placode and neural crest emergence is not clear-cut or well supported by in vivo experiments in the embryo. The work overall will be of broad interest to developmental and stem cell biologists, as well as neurobiologists interested in the understanding of the neural and neural crest gene regulatory networks.

     (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

3. Linking spatial self-organization to community assembly and biodiversity

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Bidesh K Bera
   2. Omer Tzuk
   3. Jamie JR Bennett
   4. Ehud Meron

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this paper, the authors use a mathematical model of plant and water dynamics in drylands to show that drylands adaptive capacity to respond to changes, via spatial self-organization in space, has also beneficial effects in preserving its biodiversity and ecosystem functions. The current study extends previous work by considering a trait diversity gradient that ranges from stress-tolerant to fast-growing plant species.

     (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 names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A Tad-like apparatus is required for contact-dependent prey killing in predatory social bacteria

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Sofiene Seef
   2. Julien Herrou
   3. Paul de Boissier
   4. Laetitia My
   5. Gael Brasseur
   6. Donovan Robert
   7. Rikesh Jain
   8. Romain Mercier
   9. Eric Cascales
   10. Bianca H Habermann
   11. Tâm Mignot

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this manuscript, the authors explore mechanisms involved in predation of other bacteria by Myxococcus xanthus. They identify two gene clusters, which encode proteins with homology to proteins of the Tad pilus system and some of which are important for predation. The work represents a good starting point for understanding how Myxococcus cells may engage in contact-dependent killing of other bacteria.

     (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

5. Information content differentiates enhancers from silencers in mouse photoreceptors

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Ryan Z Friedman
   2. David M Granas
   3. Connie A Myers
   4. Joseph C Corbo
   5. Barak A Cohen
   6. Michael A White

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript will be of interest to geneticists seeking to establish rules that govern gene regulation. To explain why a sequence enhances, rather than silences, gene transcription the authors draw our attention away from the binding of a single transcription factor, to focus instead on the number and diversity of transcription factor molecules that bind to it. Using a relatively simple metric called sequence information content they appear to be able to improve the prediction of enhancer over silencer sequences. A concern is whether the silencers are true silencers, or whether they only act as such in this specific experimental paradigm.

     (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. Inhibition of mutant RAS-RAF interaction by mimicking structural and dynamic properties of phosphorylated RAS

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Metehan Ilter
   2. Ramazan Kasmer
   3. Farzaneh Jalalypour
   4. Canan Atilgan
   5. Ozan Topcu
   6. Nihal Karakas
   7. Ozge Sensoy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is potentially an interesting paper in which extensive MD simulations are used to probe the effect of phosphorylation of a tyrosine residue on the conformational ensemble of Ras GTPase. The insights form the basis for a screen of small molecule(s) that disrupt interaction with its target Raf kinase, and predictions are tested experimentally. Overall, the integrated approach is of interest to a wide range of biochemist and protein scientists and could potentially be used to modulate the activities of other proteins.

     (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. m6A epitranscriptomic modification regulates neural progenitor-to-glial cell transition in the retina

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yanling Xin
   2. Qinghai He
   3. Huilin Liang
   4. Ke Zhang
   5. Jingyi Guo
   6. Qi Zhong
   7. Dan Chen
   8. Jinyan Li
   9. Yizhi Liu
   10. Shuyi Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This work describes the function of N6-methyladenosine (m6A) modification in developing retina. Enriched scRNA-seq and MeRIP-seq data will be an excellent resource for neurodevelopmental community.

     (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

8. Single-cell profiling of lncRNAs in human germ cells and molecular analysis reveals transcriptional regulation of LNC1845 on LHX8

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Nan Wang
   2. Jing He
   3. Xiaoyu Feng
   4. Shengyou Liao
   5. Yi Zhao
   6. Fuchou Tang
   7. Kehkooi Kee

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript provides a comprehensive analysis of expression patterns and genomic features of long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs) in the human developing gonad, using available single-cell RNA-seq datasets from both somatic and germ cells. Using multiple genetic strategies in an in vitro system of female germ cell differentiation, the study further shows a positive regulatory function of the LNC1845 lncRNA on its protein-coding neighbor LHX8, known to have a role in ovarian follicle development. This study has potential interest for reproductive biologists and for the non-coding RNA community.

     (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. Distinct elongation stalls during translation are linked with distinct pathways for mRNA degradation

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Anthony J Veltri
   2. Karole N D'Orazio
   3. Laura N Lessen
   4. Raphael Loll-Krippleber
   5. Grant W Brown
   6. Rachel Green

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript will interest a large community of molecular biologists studying translation and mRNA decay. The study provides a large-scale comparison of the roles of protein factors in No-Go Decay (NGD) and Codon-Optimality-Mediated Decay (COMD) in the yeast S. cerevisiae. A major strength of the manuscript is the direct comparison between one mRNA with a single strong translational stall and another similar mRNA with many slow translation sites (caused by changes in the genetic code). The analysis of both the factors that cause decay of these mRNAs as well as the ribosome states on the different mRNAs has the potential to reveal the molecular basis for the different mechanisms of mRNA quality control.

     (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

10. Conformational fingerprinting of allosteric modulators in metabotropic glutamate receptor 2

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Brandon Wey-Hung Liauw
    2. Arash Foroutan
    3. Michael R Schamber
    4. Weifeng Lu
    5. Hamid Samareh Afsari
    6. Reza Vafabakhsh

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      The authors advance our understanding of the molecular underpinnings of allostery in GPCRs by showing the effects of allosteric modulators of mGluR2 on receptor conformation at distinct sites in the presence and absence of orthosteric modulators. This is important as drugs and drug candidates acting outside the site where the orthosteric or endogenous ligands bind are harder to identify. This work provides insights into allosteric changes at the level of individual receptors and provides a new path for drug discovery and is this of interest to colleagues studying GPCRs in health and disease.

      (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 name with the authors.)

    Reviewed by eLife