eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. P. falciparum K13 mutations present varying degrees of artemisinin resistance and reduced fitness in African parasites

   This article has 31 authors:

   1. Barbara H. Stokes
   2. Kelly Rubiano
   3. Satish K. Dhingra
   4. Sachel Mok
   5. Judith Straimer
   6. Nina F. Gnädig
   7. Jade R. Bath
   8. Ioanna Deni
   9. Kurt E. Ward
   10. Josefine Striepen
   11. Tomas Yeo
   12. Leila S. Ross
   13. Eric Legrand
   14. Frédéric Ariey
   15. Clark H. Cunningham
   16. Issa M. Souleymane
   17. Adama Gansané
   18. Romaric Nzoumbou-Boko
   19. Claudette Ndayikunda
   20. Abdunoor M. Kabanywanyi
   21. Aline Uwimana
   22. Samuel J. Smith
   23. Olimatou Kolley
   24. Mathieu Ndounga
   25. Marian Warsame
   26. Rithea Leang
   27. François Nosten
   28. Timothy J.C. Anderson
   29. Philip J. Rosenthal
   30. Didier Ménard
   31. David A. Fidock

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This study is of interest to the broad malaria research community and especially those who work on drug resistance. The authors provide a summary of their surveys of African and Southeast Asian Plasmodium falciparum parasites for the Kelch 13 gene, a marker of artemisinin resistance. The contribution of several K13 mutations to artemisinin resistance is investigated in different genetic backgrounds and confirms the lack of a barrier for the potential emergence of artemisinin resistance in African parasites. These findings are of prime importance in the context of public health perspective on managing the risk of resistance appearing in Africa.

     (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. Whole-organism 3D quantitative characterization of zebrafish melanin by silver deposition micro-CT

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Spencer R Katz
   2. Maksim A Yakovlev
   3. Daniel J Vanselow
   4. Yifu Ding
   5. Alex Y Lin
   6. Dilworth Y Parkinson
   7. Yuxin Wang
   8. Victor A Canfield
   9. Khai C Ang
   10. Keith C Cheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     In this paper, Katz and colleagues present an extension of their previous CT methods to now image melanin, a biologically important molecule in melanocytes and melanoma. This work very nicely demonstrates the way in which micro-CT can be applied to very specific biological questions in the context of a whole animal, and will be useful to those working in zebrafish, melanocyte biology and imaging 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 and Reviewer #2 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Calcium dependence of neurotransmitter release at a high fidelity synapse

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Abdelmoneim Eshra
   2. Hartmut Schmidt
   3. Jens Eilers
   4. Stefan Hallermann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     The authors examined the Ca-dependence of exocytosis at cerebellar mossy fiber boutons using eectrophysiology, Ca imaging, Ca uncaging and capacitance measurements. The study reveals the presence of a high affinity Ca sensor for exocytosis, a shallow, seemingly non-saturating relationship between Ca and release or Ca and synaptic delay, a high-affinity sensory for priming of vesicles with very low (near basal) Ca levels, a late rate of release that is independent of Ca concentration (presumably due to sensor saturation), and extremely fast peak kinetics of release. This work contributes to a comparative view of synapses. These general approaches have been used at other synapses over many years by Neher and others, and they show intriguing differences among different types of synapse that are likely functionally significant. A strength of this manuscript is the masterful implementation and explanation of the techniques. The recordings at physiological temperatures, pushing-the-envelope for speed of capacitance measurements, the very careful measurement of KDs of indicators, and the unbiased testing of diverse modern-day kinetic models for release, all combine to lend the paper reliability and give it lasting value.

     (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

4. Ubiquitination and degradation of NF90 by Tim-3 inhibits antiviral innate immunity

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Shuaijie Dou
   2. Guoxian Li
   3. Ge Li
   4. Chunmei Hou
   5. Yang Zheng
   6. Lili Tang
   7. Yang Gao
   8. Rongliang Mo
   9. Yuxiang Li
   10. Renxi Wang
   11. Beifen Shen
   12. Jun Zhang
   13. Gencheng Han

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Stress granules are a critical component in the defense against certain viruses. The mechanisms regulating stress granules induced but the NF90 pathway are not well defined. Here, the authors use biochemical, cell-based, and in vivo approaches to make the novel discovery that Tim3 functions as a negative regulator of NF90-mediated antiviral responses.

     (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

5. Stimulus-specific plasticity in human visual gamma-band activity and functional connectivity

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Benjamin J Stauch
   2. Alina Peter
   3. Heike Schuler
   4. Pascal Fries

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This MEG pupillometry study investigated the stimulus-specific plasticity in human visual gamma-band activity. The results show that both Gamma-band MEG and pupil size responses to visual stimuli adapt across stimulus repetitions. This work will be of broad interest to readers in the fields of non-human primate and human electrophysiology. The claims are fully supported by the data but the links between behavior, pupil size and MEG signals could be investigated further.

     (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. Cryo-EM structures of the caspase-activated protein XKR9 involved in apoptotic lipid scrambling

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Monique S Straub
   2. Carolina Alvadia
   3. Marta Sawicka
   4. Raimund Dutzler

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper reports the atomic structure of XKR9, a membrane protein that is implicated in initiating the process to get rid of cells that are undergoing programmed cell death (apoptosis). The protein of interest was originally proposed to be a lipid channel, but the work presented here suggests that it is unlikely to function in this capacity alone. As a first step in this nascent field, the paper should be of interest to membrane structural biologists, and those working on lipid transport and apoptosis.

     (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

7. Scn1a-GFP transgenic mouse revealed Nav1.1 expression in neocortical pyramidal tract projection neurons

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Tetsushi Yamagata
   2. Ikuo Ogiwara
   3. Tetsuya Tatsukawa
   4. Toshimitsu Suzuki
   5. Yuka Otsuka
   6. Nao Imaeda
   7. Emi Mazaki
   8. Ikuyo Inoue
   9. Natsuko Tokonami
   10. Yurina Hibi
   11. Shigeyoshi Itohara
   12. Kazuhiro Yamakawa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Yamagata et al., present a new transgenic mouse where the cells expressing the gene Scn1a also express green fluorescent protein. This new model is an important contribution to the study of Dravet Syndrome- an epileptic disorder, that is often drug-resistant, where ~80% of patients have loss-of-function mutations in SCN1A. This study confirms the well-known presence of Scn1a in interneurons and identifies Scn1a-expressing subpopulations of cortical neurons that could also potentially contribute to the symptoms of Dravet Syndrome.

     (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. Tissue-specific targeting of DNA nanodevices in a multicellular living organism

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Kasturi Chakraborty
   2. Palapuravan Anees
   3. Sunaina Surana
   4. Simona Martin
   5. Jihad Aburas
   6. Sandrine Moutel
   7. Franck Perez
   8. Sandhya P Koushika
   9. Paschalis Kratsios
   10. Yamuna Krishnan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of interest to anyone who wants to deliver nucleic acids to specific cell types in whole animals. The work provides a new method to target and deliver of nanodevices to specific cell types and intracellular compartments within live animals. It relies on cell types that can be induced to express a transmembrane protein chimera with a newly developed DNA sequence-specific camelid antibody. In general the data appeared to be of high quality and were well controlled, supporting the authors' conclusions. This work could help pave the way for future advancements in the cell-specific delivery of custom-engineered payloads such as dsDNA nanodevices utilized as quantitative chemosensors and effectors in living cells.

     (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

9. Linking plasmid-based beta-lactamases to their bacterial hosts using single-cell fusion PCR

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Peter J Diebold
   2. Felicia N New
   3. Michael Hovan
   4. Michael J Satlin
   5. Ilana L Brito

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     Tracking horizontal gene transfer of mobile resistance genes is exceptionally important in the context of AMR and its burden on public health. An accessible high-throughput technique that provides an alternative to Hi-C or single-cell whole genome sequencing for associating mobile antibiotic resistance genes with their bacterial hosts in complex microbial populations is an important development for the field. The method introduced here, which relies on cellular emulsion and fusion PCR in one step, is an improvement over the previously published epicPCR. In addition, the method can be applied to other studies on complex microbial communities beyond antibiotic resistance.

     (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

10. The entorhinal cortex modulates trace fear memory formation and neuroplasticity in the mouse lateral amygdala via cholecystokinin

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Hemin Feng
    2. Junfeng Su
    3. Wei Fang
    4. Xi Chen
    5. Jufang He

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This study implicates excitatory projections from cholecystokinin (CCK) entorhinal cortical neurons to the lateral amygdala in trace fear conditioning in mice. Behavioral, chemogenetic, optogenetic, and electrophysiological work show that these projections are critical for the acquisition of conditioned freezing to a trace conditioned stimulus. The identification of a novel circuit and genetically defined cell type for regulating fear memory formation important. However, whether this pathway is specifically involved in trace fear conditioning is unclear from the present results and further work is needed to address analytic and interpretational concerns.

      (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