Evaluated articles

eLife assessment

This paper is of interest to neuroscientists studying the effects of sex hormones on neural and behavioral plasticity, and more specifically to researchers studying the neural mechanisms underlying birdsong plasticity. The experimental design is excellent, and the work provides a comprehensive resource for understanding the intersection between testosterone's influence on gene expression and behavior. However, the work also makes claims concerning cellular effects and gene regulatory mechanisms that extend beyond the data and under the current analyses are not rigorously supported.

eLife assessment

This study is an excellent example of how one can use high-throughput technologies to address animal evolution from a cell-type perspective. The authors present a beautiful analysis of single-nucleus RNA-seq data from three embryonic stages in a sea star; this is the first single-cell data from this large group of echinoderms and the first single-nucleus transcriptomic study in any echinoderm. The authors demonstrate the presence of unique as well as previously unnoticed homologous cell types between a sea star and a sea urchin, discovery very intriguing to echinoderm developmental biologists, which will also be of great interest to scientists in the broad fields of evolution and development.

eLife assessment

The findings of this study yield important new insights into the relationship between the number of close friends and mental health, cognition, and brain structure. Due to the large sample sizes, the evidence is solid but would have been improved if both of the analyzed datasets contained more closely matched measures. This work advances our understanding of how the friendship network relates to young adolescents' mental well-being and cognitive functioning and their underlying neural mechanisms.

eLife assessment

This potentially important work proposes a novel approach, based on co-evolution analysis, machine-learning protocols and molecular dynamics simulations, to predict structures and energetics of the main states of the alternating access cycle of a family of membrane transporters, the sugar porters. The approach is compelling, especially the application of co-evolution and Alphafold to generate highly accurate models in different conformational states of a given protein, but the work is currently incomplete due to shortcomings in the calculation of the energy landscape. With this aspect strengthened, the manuscript will be of interest to the transporter and computational modeling communities.

eLife assessment

This study presents useful structural and functional connectivity profiles of patients receiving deep brain stimulation in the posterior hypothalamus for severe and refractory aggressive behavior. The inclusion of data from multiple centers is compelling. However, the imaging analysis is incomplete and the interpretation of the findings is not solid.

eLife assessment

This study reports a joint experimental and computational investigation of the structural features of biomolecular condensates formed by a specific intrinsically disordered protein. The authors also adapt emerging rules to discuss and physico-chemical determinants of these structures of condensates. Specifically, the authors adapt the analysis of fractal structures, co-opted from the field of colloidal chemistry / physics, and generate important insights regarding the network-like organization of disordered proteins within in silico facsimiles of condensates. The usage of these analyses in the context of studying all atom models for multi-chain assemblies intended to mimic the internal organization of condensates is very interesting. The work is of relevance to cell biology and structural biology.

eLife assessment

The study of Thiery et al. details the heterogeneous expression of a very large number of genes presumably associated with cell fate decisions in the ectoderm at the neural plate border in early avian embryos. The authors mostly succeed in presenting their very complex strategy of data analysis in a clear way but the work is incomplete with some conceptual weaknesses in how the authors describe and interpret their results. By focusing on one of the earliest cell fate decisions in the ectoderm of a vertebrate embryo, this study will be valuable to a broad range of developmental biologists.

eLife assessment

This study presents a useful application of a prior model published by the authors to a new dataset. The results from this approach were interesting and solid but the conclusions that one can make from the application of the model to only one paper are limited in scope and would depend on further probing to know if the model itself has face validity as a model of ventral visual stream function.

eLife Assessment

Protein and lipid homeostasis is essential for maintaining cellular functions but their crosstalk remains largely unknown. This important manuscript deals with this interesting topic and applies the powerful unbiased tools of somatic cell genetics to discover evidence suggesting a link between sphingolipids/cholesterol ester metabolism and lysosomal protein aggregation. The authors provide compelling orthogonal evidence to support their conclusions.

eLife assessment

This is an important paper that revises the canonical model of how olfactory sensory neurons choose which odor receptor to express. The data presented in the paper are convincing and the model proposed is provocative and likely to enable future work.

eLife assessment

This important study combines state-of-the art proteomics and genetic manipulation of Chlamydia trachomatis to study the function of a chlamydial effector, Cdu1, with deubiquitination and acetylation activities. Solid evidence is provided to show that Cdu1 is able to protect itself and three other chlamydial effectors, which are involved in the control of chlamydial egress from host cells, from ubiquitin-mediated degradation, and that this depends on the acetylation activity of Cdu1, but not on its deubiquitination activity. This work will be of interest to microbiologists and cell biologists studying host cell-pathogen interactions.

eLife assessment

This valuable manuscript describes a novel role of Vangl2, a core planar cell polarity protein, in linking the NF-kB pathway to selective autophagic protein degradation in myeloid cells. The mechanistic studies provide convincing evidence that Vangl2 targets p65 for NDP52-mediated autophagic degradation, limiting inflammatory NF-kB response, with functional significance of the proposed mechanism in sepsis. Additional future studies dissecting autophagic Vangl2 functions in various myeloid subsets in the context of inflammation could be informative, and additional Vangl2 targets in the inflammatory pathway, including IKK2, could also be explored. Overall, this exciting study can advance our understanding of NF-kB control, particularly in the context of inflammatory diseases.

eLife assessment

This work presents an important methodological advance for single-molecule force spectroscopy of membrane proteins providing a new robust design of the linkage between a target single molecule and solid support. The data provide compelling evidence of the improved mechanical stability of the pulling system. Allowing more statistically reliable force measurements of biomolecules, this method may be broadly applicable in the field of single-molecule biophysics.

eLife assessment

The authors present an exciting idea about how to integrate morphogens into a gene regulatory network with the dynamics of morphogenesis and cell movement. It represents a novel methodology, but in its current form the hypotheses, data and relationships described do not provide a sufficiently compelling model to disentangle cause and effect or elucidate the impact of cell movements on differentiation dynamics the zebrafish mesoderm.

eLife Assessment

This important work investigates how two distinct processes, morphological changes and synaptic plasticity, contribute to the final shape of neuronal dendrites and the spatial structure of their synaptic inputs. The modelling is convincing and could be broadly applied to other similar questions. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists studying dendritic development and connectivity at a single-cell level.

eLife assessment

This paper presents important findings on the hexametric structure of MCM8/9, which potentially explain its role as a DNA helicase in homologous recombination. This solid work will be of interest to biologists studying DNA transactions.

eLife assessment

This useful manuscript presents an analysis of different factors that are required for release of the lipid-linked morphogen Shh from cellular membranes. The evidence is still incomplete, as experiments rely on over-expression of Shh in a single cell line and are sometimes of a correlative nature. The study, which otherwise confirms and extends previous findings, will be of interest to developmental biologists who work on Hedgehog signaling.

eLife assessment

This important paper reveals how cells in adjacent tissues use the extracellular matrix to establish mechanical connections. Through a series of crisp genetic manipulations and quantitative image analyses, the authors provide compelling evidence to show how an essential adhesion between the uterus and the seam cells in the nematode C. elegans is formed. The assembly of type IV collagen triggers internalization of a cell surface receptor, which then signals from endocytic vesicles to strengthen the connection.

eLife assessment:

This study introduces a valuable paradigm in the field of adipose tissue biology: blocking triglyceride storage in adipose tissue does not lead to lipodystrophy and impaired glucose homeostasis but instead improves metabolic health. The evidence supporting these claims is convincing, based on a comprehensive metabolic analysis, although mechanistic studies would strengthen the study and its impact. This study will be of high interest to those in the adipose tissue biology and metabolism fields.

eLife assessment

This important study combines experiments and computational approaches to understand the effects of influenza H1N1 infection on hypothalamic cells. The methodology and analysis are solid and raise questions around how a respiratory virus affects the central nervous system.