eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Atherosclerosis, Intracranial Aneurysms, and Intermediate Biomarkers: Real-World Observational and Mendelian Randomization Research

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Wei Liu
   2. Zhaoxu Zheng
   3. Chenglong Liu
   4. Yuanren Zhai
   5. Shuang Wang
   6. Liangran Huang
   7. Rong Wang
   8. Yan Zhang
   9. Peicong Ge
   10. Dong Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is valuable work with theoretical implications for possible mediation by MMP12 in the link between atherosclerosis and intracranial aneurysms, using Mendelian Randomization for causal inference. Additional analysis would be required to verify the claims, which currently have incomplete support in terms of the strength of evidence. Given that most of the identified causal associations do not hold after correcting for multiple tests, the conclusions should be carefully reviewed in order to be fully supported by the results.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Cryo-EM structures of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel in liposomes

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Vikram Dalal
   2. Brandon K Tan
   3. Hanrui Xu
   4. Wayland WL Cheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The reported cryo-EM imaging of a pentameric ligand-gated ion channel in liposomes as opposed to nanodiscs has both broad implications and contributes valuable methodological advances to the structural investigation of membrane receptors. The comparison of structures assigned to distinct functional states in liposomes versus nanodiscs is convincing and will aid membrane protein structural biologists in selection of functionally relevant membrane reconstitution environments.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Chemostat culturing reduces fecal eukaryotic virus load and delays diarrhea after virome transplantation

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Simone Margaard Offersen
   2. Signe Adamberg
   3. Malene Roed Spiegelhauer
   4. Xiaotian Mao
   5. Torben Sølbeck Rasmussen
   6. Frej Larsen
   7. Jingren Zhong
   8. Duc Ninh Nguyen
   9. Dennis Sandris Nielsen
   10. Lise Aunsholt
   11. Thomas Thymann
   12. Kaarel Adamberg
   13. Anders Brunse

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, the authors report on an innovative chemostat propagation system to reduce eukaryotic viruses while retaining phages in mixtures used for FVTs (fecal virome transplant). The authors hypothesized that chemostat-propagated viromes could modulate the gut microbiota and reduce necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) lesions while avoiding potential side effects, such as earlier onset of diarrhea. Although no effect on NEC could be demonstrated, the revised document addressed the other concerns and is much improved from its original version. The study is convincing in that it integrates in vitro fermentation, high-resolution metagenomics, immunogenicity assays, and in vivo validation, demonstrating the potential of FVT using eukaryotic-free virome-based therapeutics.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Hierarchical encoding of natural sound mixtures in ferret auditory cortex

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Agnès Landemard
   2. Célian Bimbard
   3. Yves Boubenec

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper presents valuable findings on the processing of sound mixtures in the auditory cortex of ferrets, a species widely used for studies of auditory processing. Using the convenient and relatively high-resolution method of functional ultrasound imaging, the authors provide convincing evidence that background noise invariance emerges across the auditory cortical processing hierarchy. They also draw informative comparisons with previously published fMRI data obtained in humans. This work will be of interest to researchers studying the auditory cortex and the neural mechanisms underlying auditory scene analysis and hearing in noise.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Single-cell atlas of AML reveals age-related gene regulatory networks in t(8;21) AML

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Jessica Whittle
   2. Stefan Meyer
   3. Georges Lacaud
   4. Syed Murtuza-Baker
   5. Mudassar Iqbal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides a single-cell transcriptomic atlas for AML (222 samples comprising 748,679 cells) integrating data from multiple studies. They use this dataset to investigate t(8;21) AML, and they reconstruct the Gene Regulatory Network and enhancer Gene Regulatory Network, which allowed identification of interesting targets. This aggregation is important and can help infer differences in genetic regulatory modules based on the age of disease onset. Their compelling effort may help explain age-related variations in prognosis and disease development in subtype-specific manner.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Evidence from pupillometry, fMRI, and RNN modelling shows that gain neuromodulation mediates task-relevant perceptual switches

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Gabriel Wainstein
   2. Christopher J Whyte
   3. Kaylena A Ehgoetz Martens
   4. Eli J Müller
   5. Vicente Medel
   6. Britt Anderson
   7. Elisabeth Stöttinger
   8. James Danckert
   9. Brandon R Munn
   10. James M Shine

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable paper explores the idea that transient modulations of neural gain promote switches between distinct perceptual interpretations of ambiguous stimuli. The authors provide solid evidence for this idea by pupillometry (an indirect proxy of neuromodulatory activity), fMRI, neural network modeling, and dynamical systems analyses. The highly integrative nature of this approach is rare in the field.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. TopBP1 biomolecular condensates as a new therapeutic target in advanced-stage colorectal cancer

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Laura Morano
   2. Nadia Vezzio-Vié
   3. Adam Aissanou
   4. Tom Egger
   5. Antoine Aze
   6. Solène Fiachetti
   7. Benoit Bordignon
   8. Cedric Hassen-khodja
   9. Hervé Seitz
   10. Louis-Antoine Milazzo
   11. Véronique Garambois
   12. Laurent Chaloin
   13. Nathalie Bonnefoy
   14. Céline Gongora
   15. Angelos Constantinou
   16. Jihane Basbous

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study reveals that the GSK-3 inhibitor AZD2858 inhibits the formation of TOPBP1 condensates and hence DNA damage responses in colorectal cancer cells. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing, although uncovering how this drug blocks bio-condensate formation would have strengthened the study. The work will be of interest to cancer researchers searching for synergistic drug combination strategies.

     [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Nuclear and cytosolic J-domain proteins provide synergistic control of Hsf1 at distinct phases of the heat shock response

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Carmen Ruger-Herreros
   2. Lucia Svoboda
   3. Gurranna Male
   4. Aseem Shrivastava
   5. Markus Höpfler
   6. Katharina Jetzinger
   7. Jiří Koubek
   8. Günter Kramer
   9. Fabian den Brave
   10. Axel Mogk
   11. David S Gross
   12. Bernd Bukau

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study focuses on defining how the HSP70 chaperone system utilizes J-domain proteins to regulate the heat shock response-associated transcription factor HSF1. Using a combination of orthogonal techniques in yeast, this manuscript provides compelling evidence that the J-domain protein Apj1 facilitates attenuation of HSF1 transcriptional activity through a mechanism involving its dissociation from heat shock gene promoter regions. This work generates new insight into the mechanism of HSF1 transcriptional regulation and is a significant contribution of broad interest to cell biologists interested in proteostasis, chaperone networks, and stress-responsive signaling.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. A theory of brain-computer interface learning via low-dimensional control

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Jorge A Menéndez
   2. Jay A Hennig
   3. Matthew D Golub
   4. Emily R Oby
   5. Patrick T Sadtler
   6. Aaron P Batista
   7. Steven M Chase
   8. Byron M Yu
   9. Peter E Latham

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study proposes a network implementation of the "re-aiming" learning strategy, which has been hypothesized to underlie brain-computer interface learning. Combining theoretical arguments, numerical simulations, and analysis of experimental data, the authors provide convincing evidence for their hypothesis. This paper will likely be of broad interest to the systems neuroscience community.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Cross-species insemination reveals mouse sperm ability to enter and cross the fish micropyle

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Suma Garibova
    2. Eva Stickler
    3. Fatima AlAli
    4. Maha A Abdulla
    5. Abbirami Sathappan
    6. Sahar I Da'as
    7. Lillian Ghanem
    8. Mohamed Nadhir Djekidel
    9. Rick Portman
    10. Matteo Avella

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study reports the conservation of sperm-egg envelope binding by demonstrating successful recognition of the micropyle in fish eggs by mouse sperm. The evidence supporting the conclusions drawn is convincing. This study will be of interest to reproductive biologists and clinicians studying the biology of fertilization and fertility.

    Reviewed by eLife