eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Proximal and distal spinal neurons innervating multiple synergist and antagonist motor pools

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Remi Ronzano
   2. Camille Lancelin
   3. Gardave Singh Bhumbra
   4. Robert M Brownstone
   5. Marco Beato

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript uses viral tracing to identify interneurons, throughout the spinal cord, which synapse onto motoneurons innervating pairs of flexor and extensor hindlimb muscles. Importantly, the data identifies single premotor interneurons which travel to, and presumably regulate the activity of, multiple motor pools. It is possible that these premotor neurons are involved in regulating muscle stiffness across a joint.

     (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. Neural control of growth and size in the axolotl limb regenerate

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Kaylee M Wells
   2. Kristina Kelley
   3. Mary Baumel
   4. Warren A Vieira
   5. Catherine D McCusker

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     It has long been known that nerves regulate the early formation of the blastema during limb regeneration through the promotion of cell proliferation. The manuscript by Wells-Enright et al. provides an interesting new role for nerves during salamander limb regeneration by showing that nerves also determine how much tissue to regenerate. They demonstrate that increased nerve abundance makes bigger limbs while a decrease in nerve abundance generates smaller limbs. Size regulation of organs is a broadly interesting and clinically important problem, which is why this manuscript should be of interest to a large general audience.

     (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

3. Single-cell RNA sequencing of the Strongylocentrotus purpuratus larva reveals the blueprint of major cell types and nervous system of a non-chordate deuterostome

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Periklis Paganos
   2. Danila Voronov
   3. Jacob M Musser
   4. Detlev Arendt
   5. Maria Ina Arnone

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper will be of great interest to scientists within the fields of developmental biology and evolution, as well as to researchers that generally use the sea urchin as a model system or those employing single-cell mRNA-sequencing technology. The work provides a comprehensive analysis of the cell state specification of a whole deuterostome organism and proof of principle of the use of single-cell sequencing to identity deep homologies of cell type.

     (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, #2, and #3 agreed to share their names with the authors.)

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Effect of malaria parasite shape on its alignment at erythrocyte membrane

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Anil K Dasanna
   2. Sebastian Hillringhaus
   3. Gerhard Gompper
   4. Dmitry A Fedosov

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript studies the alignment of malaria parasites (merozoites) at the surface of red blood cells (RBCs), a key element of their reproduction cycle during the blood stage of the disease. Building on a computational model the authors developed previously, which incorporates the stochastic nature of RBC deformations and adhesive bonds between the merozoite and RBC, it is demonstrated that parasite shape plays a key role in its alignment dynamics. In particular, the authors shed new light on the egg-like shape typically observed in Plasmodium merozoites, which has important implications for how effectively the parasite can survive and multiply.

     (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. Mechanical vibration patterns elicit behavioral transitions and habituation in crawling Drosophila larvae

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Alexander Berne
   2. Tom Zhang
   3. Joseph Shomar
   4. Anggie J Ferrer
   5. Aaron Valdes
   6. Tomoko Ohyama
   7. Mason Klein

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This is a strong manuscript due to its sophisticated behavioral analysis and modeling of behavioral output. The system and results provide a framework for future genetic analysis examining the biological basis of sensory behaviors.

     (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. Image3C, a multimodal image-based and label-independent integrative method for single-cell analysis

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Alice Accorsi
   2. Andrew C Box
   3. Robert Peuß
   4. Christopher Wood
   5. Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado
   6. Nicolas Rohner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This manuscript develops new software tools to analyze and classify single cells with high throughput based on single cell phenotyping using an existing imaging system. The authors show that tissues can be reproducibly decomposed into clusters of cells based on their feature space and that cell composition dynamics can be reliably detected. The main impact is to make single cell phenotyping more tractable, including for samples and organisms for which sequencing-based or fluorescent-labeling-based approaches are not readily available. Applicability was demonstrated in two research model organisms, zebrafish and freshwater snail.

     (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. Global organization of neuronal activity only requires unstructured local connectivity

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. David Dahmen
   2. Moritz Layer
   3. Lukas Deutz
   4. Paulina Anna Dąbrowska
   5. Nicole Voges
   6. Michael von Papen
   7. Thomas Brochier
   8. Alexa Riehle
   9. Markus Diesmann
   10. Sonja Grün
   11. Moritz Helias

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper details coordinated work to both measure and model long-range correlations in the primate brain, during either rest or a reach-to-grasp task. The careful analysis shows that these long-range correlations are modulated by behavioral state, and can exist in the absence of common input or long-range anatomical connections. An analytical model is developed that shows how a disordered system with heterogeneous connections can give rise to this kind of long-range correlations, with only short-range direct connections between neurons.

     (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. Pak1 kinase controls cell shape through ribonucleoprotein granules

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Joseph O Magliozzi
   2. James B Moseley

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     This paper is of interest to cell biologists studying the signal transduction regulation of RNP granule assembly and its effects on cell growth. The work provides insight into the novel role of Pak1 kinase in the control of mRNA binding protein Sts5 and determines that Pak1 colocalizes with Processing (P) bodies during starvation and has function in P body dissolution after refeeding. Overall, the data are well presented, and support previous known findings.

     (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

9. Inducible and reversible inhibition of miRNA-mediated gene repression in vivo

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Gaspare La Rocca
   2. Bryan King
   3. Bing Shui
   4. Xiaoyi Li
   5. Minsi Zhang
   6. Kemal M Akat
   7. Paul Ogrodowski
   8. Chiara Mastroleo
   9. Kevin Chen
   10. Vincenzo Cavalieri
   11. Yilun Ma
   12. Viviana Anelli
   13. Doron Betel
   14. Joana Vidigal
   15. Thomas Tuschl
   16. Gunter Meister
   17. Craig B Thompson
   18. Tullia Lindsten
   19. Kevin Haigis
   20. Andrea Ventura

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     Evaluation Summary:

     MicroRNAs (miRNAs) control gene expression during development and play crucial roles in disease. Loss-of-function mutations in key pathway components are embryonically lethal. Here, La Rocca et al. establish an elegant mouse model that enables acute and reversible inhibition of miRNA-guided silencing. Analysis of this model has convincingly demonstrated that miRNA activity is dispensable for homeostasis in most adult tissues, with the notable exception of heart and skeletal muscle. This work provides an extremely useful tool for the study of miRNAs in vivo and provides new insights into the roles of miRNAs in adult mammalian tissues. The findings presented will impact many fields given the well-established roles of miRNAs in normal development and diseases.

     (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

10. GIV/Girdin, a non-receptor modulator for Gαi/s, regulates spatiotemporal signaling during sperm capacitation and is required for male fertility

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Sequoyah Reynoso
    2. Vanessa Castillo
    3. Gajanan Dattatray Katkar
    4. Inmaculada Lopez-Sanchez
    5. Sahar Taheri
    6. Celia Espinoza
    7. Cristina Rohena
    8. Debashis Sahoo
    9. Pascal Gagneux
    10. Pradipta Ghosh

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      Evaluation Summary:

      This work is of interest to the field of reproduction. Prior to fertilization, spermatozoa undergo a series of morphological and biochemical changes to become fertilization competent, driven by a rapid and poorly understood signaling cascade, culminating in the acrosome reaction. This latter reaction releases to the outside components from a vesicle, the acrosome, in the spermatozoan head and transforms the head plasma membrane so that sperm can fuse with the egg. The work shows that a G protein modulator GIV/Girdin, influences sperm motility and the acrosome reaction. In so doing it is important for fertilization and is one more strategy to control untimely acrosome reaction. The proposed mechanism is well supported by a variety of different experimental approaches.

      (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