Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

The authors propose a new methodology to survey insects, using new sensors and analytical capabilities that could be valuable for addressing urgent conservation challenges. While the results of the optical sensors appear to be comparable to those obtained with classical survey methodologies, current analyses are considered incomplete.

eLife assessment

This important manuscript describes experimental evolution experiments using a novel genetic system in yeast, showing that solute carrier transporters can incorporate additional functionality through the introduction of point mutations to either the ligand binding site or gating helices. These findings provide convincing evidence to establish that for Amino Acid transporters of the APC-type family, evolution to recognize new substrates passes through generalist intermediates that can transport most amino acids.

eLife Assessment

By taking advantage of noise in gene expression, this important study introduces a new approach for detecting directed causal interactions between two genes without perturbing either. The main theoretical result is supported by a proof. Preliminary simulations and experiments on small circuits are solid, but further investigations are needed to demonstrate the broad applicability and scalability of the method.

eLife assessment

This important study highlights cell types preserving long-lived proteins and lays a foundation for identifying exceptionally long-lived proteins in the ovary. Convincing evidence describes helpful data about protein turnover and identifies long-lived macromolecules in oocytes and somatic cells during mouse ovarian aging. This work will be of interest to researchers working on aging and reproductive health.

eLife Assessment

This useful paper systematically evaluates B-cell receptor (BCR) repertoires across tumors, tumor-draining lymph nodes, and peripheral blood in patients with melanoma, lung adenocarcinoma, and colorectal cancer. It investigates the interplay between the tumor microenvironment and immune responses, revealing differences in BCR clonotype maturity, hypermutation, and spatial distribution. The study highlights the heterogeneity in immune responses and provides solid insights into the potential of tumor-infiltrating B cells for therapeutic applications, despite limitations in patient cohort size and sequencing methodology.

eLife assessment

This paper provides an important assessment of competition dynamics allowing coexistence of the carnivore guild within a large national park in China. Multiple surveying techniques (camera traps and DNA metabarcoding) provide convincing evidence that spatial segregation represents the main strategy of coexistence, while species have a certain degree of temporal and dietary overlap. Altogether, the manuscript provides information critical to the conservation and management agenda of the park.

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.

eLife assessment

This study investigates the role of the bile acid receptor TGR5 in adult hematopoiesis of the mouse model. The findings are potentially useful because the loss of TGR5 leads to dysregulation of bone marrow adipose tissue (BMAT) that has emerging regulatory functions. However, the study is still incomplete because the mechanism of TGR5 is not clear, the stromal cells expressing TGR5 have not been well defined, and there is not strong evidence for the role of TGR5 in recovery from transplant stress.

eLife assessment

This important study shows that in teleost fish, the RIG-I-like protein MDA5 can compensate for the absence of RIG-I by detecting 5'-triphosphorylated RNA. A fish virus containing such RNA can nevertheless evade MDA5 detection through a mechanism involving m6A methylation-induced silencing. The conclusions, which are supported by solid data, advance our understanding of antiviral immunity and virus-host conflicts in vertebrates.

eLife assessment

This important manuscript provides new insights into the biophysics of the SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid. The evidence, which relies on a convincing combination of genetic and biophysical data, nicely supports the conclusions.

eLife assessment

This valuable study advances our understanding of why diabetes is a risk factor for more severe Covid-19 disease. The authors offer convincing evidence that cathepsin L is more active in diabetic individuals because of the presence of high glucose, where the main mechanism is increased cathepsin L maturation. This study should be of interest to researchers in diabetes, virology and immunology.

eLife assessment

This important study addresses the mechanisms by which mutations in the PURA protein, a regulator of gene transcription and mRNA transport and translation, cause the neurodevelopmental PURA syndrome. Based on convincing evidence from structural biology, molecular dynamics simulation, biochemical, and cell biological analyses, the authors show that the PURA structure is very dynamic, rendering it generally sensitive to structure-altering mutations that affect its folding, DNA-unwinding activity, RNA binding, dimerization, and partitioning into processing bodies. These findings are of substantial importance to cell biology, neurogenetics, and neurology alike, because they provide first insights into how very diverse PURA mutations can cause similar and penetrant molecular, cellular, and clinical defects.

eLife assessment

This useful study uses a mouse model of pancreatic cancer to examine mitochondrial mass and structure in atrophying muscle along with aspects of mitochondrial metabolism in the same tissue. Most relevant are the solid transcriptomics and proteomics approaches to map out related changes in gene expression networks in muscle during cancer cachexia.

eLife assessment

This study presents a cellular automaton model to study the dynamics of virus-induced signalling and innate host defense against viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 in epithelial tissue. The simulations and data analysis are convincing and represent a valuable contribution that would be of interest to researchers studying the dynamics of viral propagation.

eLife Assessment

This important study investigates the molecular mechanisms underpinning how the tumor necrosis factor alpha-induced protein (TIPE) regulates aerobic glycolysis to promote tumor growth in melanoma. Convincing data using multiple independent approaches provides new insights into the molecular mechanisms underpinning aerobic glycolysis in melanoma cells. The work will be of interest to biomedical researchers working in cancer and metabolism.

eLife assessment

This important study reports that FBXO24 is essential for the normal formation and function of the sperm flagellum, motility, and male fertility in mice. The evidence supporting the direct role of this protein in preventing RNP granule formation in the sperm flagellum is compelling. This work will be of interest to biomedical researchers who work on testicular biology and male fertility.

eLife assessment

This study provides a detailed evaluation of how HIV evades nascent immune pressure from people living with HIV followed nearly immediately after infection. There is convincing evidence that H173 mutations in the V2 loop was a key determinant of selection pressure and escape. These data are congruent with protection in the RV144 clinical trial, the only trial that showed protection from infection. Overall, this study is an important contribution to the field.

eLife assessment

This valuable work uses unbiased approaches to discover critical molecules in C. elegans and its bacterial food for nutrition sensing and food choice, providing a framework for other studies. The data convincingly support their model that C. elegans uses UPRER and immune response pathways to evaluate sugar contents in the bacteria to change their behaviors.

eLife assessment

This important paper presents a thoroughly detailed methodology for mesoscale-imaging of extensive areas of the cortex, either from a top or lateral perspective, in behaving mice. The examples of scientific results to be derived with this method offer promising and stimulating insights. Overall, the method and results presented are convincing and will be of interest to neuroscientists focused on cortical processing in rodents and beyond.