Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

The authors present useful findings on the use of a single-fly behavioral paradigm for assessing different Drosophila genetic models of neurodegeneration. The experimental design and analyses are solid and can be used for quick behavioral assessment in fly models of various neurodegenerative diseases, especially those having an impact on locomotion. The work will be of interest to Drosophila biologists using behavior as a readout for their studies.

eLife Assessment

The main idea tested in this work is that host galectin-9 inhibits Mycobacterium tuberculosis (Mtb) growth by recognizing the Mtb cell wall component arabinogalactan (AG) and, as a result, disrupting mycobacterial cell wall structure. Moreover, a similar effect is achieved by anti-AG antibodies. While the hypothesis is intriguing and the work has the potential to make a valuable contribution to Mtb therapy, the evidence presented is incomplete and does not explain several critical points including the dose-independent effect of galectin-9 on Mtb growth and how anti-AG antibodies and galectin-9 access the AG layer of intact Mtb.

eLife assessment

This study offers a useful advance by introducing a cord blood DNA methylation score for maternal smoking effects, with the inclusion of cohorts from diverse backgrounds. However, the overall strength of evidence is deemed incomplete, due to concerns regarding low exposure levels and low statistical power, which hampers the generalisability of their findings. The study provides an interesting basis for future studies, but would benefit from the addition of more cohorts to validate the findings and a focus on more diverse health outcomes.

eLife assessment

In this important manuscript, the authors used unbiased approaches to identify somatic mutations in publicly available databases that would disrupt clinically approved antibodies targeting HER2. Using a solid combination of both computational and experimental approaches they identify mutations that could restore therapeutic antibody sensitivity in a series of disease-relevant model systems. Additional cell-based and in vivo assays would strengthen the work and increase the translational and potential clinical relevance of the proposed work.

eLife assessment

This potentially important study addresses the effects of aging on the sperm epigenome and its consequences for reproductive health. The evidence supporting the main claim remains incomplete. This study will be of interest to researchers working on aging and reproductive health.

eLife Assessment

The work by Han and collaborators describes valuable findings on the role of Akkermansia muciniphila during ETEC infection. If confirmed, these findings will add to a growing list of beneficial properties of this organism. The strength of the evidence used to justify the conclusions in the manuscript is solid, as the analyses broadly support the claims with only minor weaknesses.

eLife Assessment

This study proposes a new model that could solve some long-standing puzzles about inversion polymorphisms in Drosophila melanogaster by invoking sexually antagonism and negative frequency-dependent selection. While the idea developed here is a valuable contribution to the field, the experiment only addresses one element of the hypothesis, so that the empirical evidence in support of the model remains incomplete.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study highlights how the diversity of the malaria parasite population diminishes following the initiation of effective control interventions but quickly rebounds as control wanes. It also demonstrates that the asymptomatic reservoir is unevenly distributed across host age groups. The data presented are convincing and the work shows how genetic studies could be used to monitor changes in disease transmission.

eLife Assessment

This important study highlights the use of siderophores as antibacterials, and the authors also discuss the consequences and efficacy of 'siderophore therapy' in more complex communities/environments. The evidence supporting the overall hypotheses ranges is largely convincing. The work will be of broad interest to people working in the fields of evolutionary ecology, microbiology and medical sciences.

eLife assessment

This important study uses an innovative set of reporter assays to probe the role of the TnpB protein in IS608 transposition. The work provides independent support for the recently reported homing activity of TnpB, where the transposon is restored following excision, and suggests an additional function for TnpB in enhancing the transposase activity of the TnpA transposase. The overall approach is solid, but the authors should consider how the activity of the TnpB protein used, or the levels of ωRNA, impact their model.

eLife assessment

This is a compelling study on pro-inflammatory and anti-inflammatory lipids in relation to skeletal muscle injury. It convincingly identifies pro-inflammatory lipids during recovery predisposing to fibrosis, and maresin 1 as an anti-inflammatory lipid reducing fibrosis, improved muscle regeneration, partially restoring contractile function, of fundamental potential clinical application.

eLife assessment

The authors introduce a potentially valuable novel method that provides trial-by-trial probabilistic estimates of learning and decision-making strategies inferred from choice behavior across species. This approach could prove more useful over traditional techniques for arbitrating between strategies and detecting when learning happens, and because it is computationally lightweight. Reviewers identified several concerns that limit the strength of the evidence provided, rendering the findings incomplete.

eLife assessment

George et al. present a convincing new Python toolbox ("RatInABox") that allows researchers to generate synthetic behavior and neural data specifically focusing on hippocampal functional cell types (place cells, grid cells, boundary vector cells, head direction cells).

This is valuable for theory-driven research where synthetic benchmarks should be used. Beyond just navigation, it can be highly useful for novel tool development that requires jointly modeling behavior and neural data. The authors provide convincing evidence of its utility with well documented and easy to use code and the corresponding manuscript.

eLife assessment

This potentially valuable study provides some evidence that upregulation of sodium-activated potassium channels contributes to neuronal hyperexcitability and seizures following traumatic brain injury. However, the evidence supporting a direct link is incomplete. This work will be of interest to epilepsy and ion channel researchers.

eLife Assessment

These valuable studies explore the consequences of exposure to the toxin hydrogen sulfide (H2S) on the behavior and physiology of C. elegans. The work finds that behavioral changes evoked by H2S exposure are modulated by several regulatory pathways known to influence chemosensory-evoked locomotor behavior, but there is incomplete data to support the authors' claim of comprehensive mechanistic insight into the consequences of H2S exposure. Nevertheless, the findings may be informative for those studying organismal stress responses and the effects of mitochondrial ROS on behavior and physiology.

eLife assessment

In this important study, Guma and colleagues describe the use of structural neuroimaging to assess the cross-species convergence of sex differences in global and regional brain volumes in humans and mice. The goal of the work is to inform to what extent mouse studies of these aforementioned sex differences have relevance to humans. The authors suggest which aspects of brain anatomy (as measured by volume) are conserved or not, across species, which has theoretical and practical implications beyond a single sub-field. The evidence to support the findings is solid, it uses methods and data analysis that are appropriate and validated.

eLife assessment

This important work advances our understanding of how brains flexibly gate actions in different contexts, a topic of great interest to the broader field of systems neuroscience. Recording neural activity from several sensory and motor cortical areas along a sensorimotor pathway, the authors found that preparatory activity in motor cortical areas of the mouse depends on the context in which an action will be carried out, consistent with previous theoretical and experimental work. Furthermore, the authors provide causal evidence that these changes support flexible gating of actions. The carefully carried out experiments were analyzed using state-of-the-art methodology and provide convincing conclusions.

eLife assessment

This important work provides insight into the activity and spatial organization of synapses during early postnatal development in the mouse visual cortex, using state-of-the-art tools to show that synapses are distributed in co-active clusters well before eye opening. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing, and this revised version provides additional methodological details about the experimental paradigm and image analysis.. This work is of particular interest to the field of developmental neuroscience and can also be used by computational neuroscientists studying dendritic integration.

eLife Assessment

The contributions of ipsilateral cortical pathways to motor control are yet not fully understood. Here, the authors present important insights into their role in locomotion following unilateral spinal cord injury. Their data provide convincing evidence in rats that stimulation of ipsilateral motor cortex improves the injured side's ability to support weight and leads to improved locomotion, a result that may inspire new treatments for spinal or cerebral injuries.

eLife assessment

This study investigates BMP signaling mechanisms in the developing chick cerebellum to better understand germinal layer formation, cellular amplification and neuronal differentiation. The data from human tissue is compelling and lends support to the possible links of these processes to medulloblastoma, although this study does raise exciting questions regarding the generalized role of BMP signaling during normal development and malignant growth. Overall, this is an important study with beautifully presented findings.