Evaluated articles

Chemoreceptor co-expression in Drosophila melanogaster olfactory neurons

1. Darya Task
2. Chun-Chieh Lin
3. Alina Vulpe
4. Ali Afify
5. Sydney Ballou
6. Maria Brbic
7. Philipp Schlegel
8. Joshua Raji
9. Gregory SXE Jefferis
10. Hongjie Li
11. Karen Menuz
12. Christopher J Potter

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  A combination of methods. including a new method for tagging genes, demonstrates that the chemosensory co-receptors of Drosophila melanogaster (Orco, IR8a, IR25a, IR76b) are expressed widely and highly overlapping. These findings challenge a long-standing dogma in the field and suggest that different types of receptors, i.e. olfactory and ionotropic receptors, can be co-expressed in the same chemosensory neuron. Moreover, optogenetics and single sensillum recordings provide evidence that IR25a co-receptor might modulate the activity of typical Orco-dependent olfactory sensory 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

Social selectivity and social motivation in voles

1. Annaliese K Beery
2. Sarah A Lopez
3. Katrina L Blandino
4. Nicole S Lee
5. Natalie S Bourdon

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper introduces a new method to measure motivation to engage with familiar or unfamiliar individuals in prairie voles, a widely used animal model system for studying social relationships. The authors show that female prairie voles will work harder to access both familiar pair-bonded males or familiar females. In contrast, male prairie voles will work to access both pair-bonded females as well as unfamiliar females. These results cast a new light on decades of work based partner-preference tests that assess pair bonds that do not assess the role of motivation.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

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The anterior cingulate cortex and its role in controlling contextual fear memory to predatory threats

1. Miguel Antonio Xavier de Lima
2. Marcus Vinicius C Baldo
3. Fernando A Oliveira
4. Newton Sabino Canteras

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The manuscript used a naturalistic task where mice were fear conditioned to a context using a live predator (cat) and a variety of behavioural measures including freezing, risk assessment, and exploration. The identification of anterior cingulate cortex and its input and outputs in contextual fear acquisition and expression to predator threat is an important contribution to our understanding of neural mechanism related to fear processing. The paper will be of interest to researchers interested in using naturalistic threats in the lab, and to a more broad audience interested in learning and the related fear circuits.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

High-resolution mapping of the period landscape reveals polymorphism in cell cycle frequency tuning

1. Zhengda Li
2. Shiyuan Wang
3. Meng Sun
4. Minjun Jin
5. Daniel Khain
6. Qiong Yang

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper uses microfluidics and Xenopus extracts to investigate the effects of mitotic feedbacks on the cell cycle period. It is shown that the inhibition of G2 regulatory positive feedback loops does not reduce the tunability of the cell cycle oscillations, while interference with PP2A phosphatase can completely block of the cell cycle. The experiments are well-conducted and the results should be of interest to researchers interested in the cell cycle, specifically in the regulation of mitosis.

  (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.)

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ZHX2 promotes HIF1α oncogenic signaling in triple-negative breast cancer

1. Wentong Fang
2. Chengheng Liao
3. Rachel Shi
4. Jeremy M Simon
5. Travis S Ptacek
6. Giada Zurlo
7. Youqiong Ye
8. Leng Han
9. Cheng Fan
10. Lei Bao
11. Christopher Llynard Ortiz
12. Hong-Rui Lin
13. Ujjawal Manocha
14. Weibo Luo
15. Yan Peng
16. William Y Kim
17. Lee-Wei Yang
18. Qing Zhang

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study identifies ZHX2 as an oncogenic factor in triple negative breast cancer (TNBC), which interferes with hypoxia-related regulators and accounts for cancer aggressiveness and poor prognosis. The authors show that ZHX2 interacts with HIF1α and increases the expression of its downstream targets and identify ZHX2 residues critical for regulating its activity. This work provides a potential novel target in TNBC treatment and would be of interest to cancer biology researchers.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Temperature evolution following joint loading promotes chondrogenesis by synergistic cues via calcium signaling

1. Naser Nasrollahzadeh
2. Peyman Karami
3. Jian Wang
4. Lida Bagheri
5. Yanheng Guo
6. Philippe Abdel-Sayed
7. Lee Laurent-Applegate
8. Dominique P Pioletti

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is the study to determine the effects of mechanical loading on temperature changes in the joint and how the mechano-thermal transduction may influence chondrocyte behavior. This manuscript will be of interest to the clinicians and researchers who are working on tissue engineering and cartilage regeneration. The study has high clinical relevance. It provides new evidence that the mechanical stimuli plus with the temperature increase could influence the cell chondrogenic response. The data support the conclusions of the manuscript within the current context, although several issues need to be addressed.

  (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.)

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Clp protease and antisense RNA jointly regulate the global regulator CarD to mediate mycobacterial starvation response

1. Xinfeng Li
2. Fang Chen
3. Xiaoyu Liu
4. Jinfeng Xiao
5. Binda T Andongma
6. Qing Tang
7. Xiaojian Cao
8. Shan-Ho Chou
9. Michael Y Galperin
10. Jin He

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  CarD is an RNA polymerase interacting protein that is essential for mycobacterial viability, the levels of which are important for controlling gene expression in mycobacteria during various stress conditions. This study reports two mechanisms that regulate levels of CarD under stress conditions, including starvation. The authors report that CarD levels are tightly regulated and that there was a dramatic decrease in the levels of CarD when cells switched from the nutrient-rich to the starvation condition. They discovered two synergistic mechanisms that led to this dramatic decrease in CarD. The first is SigF-dependent induction of antisense RNA of CarD (AscarD), which inhibits CarD translation and a second mechanism involving Clp protease-mediated degradation of intracellular CarD. The work will be of interest to researchers studying non-coding RNAs, microbial gene expression, physiology and stress response.

  (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.)

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Wnt signaling mediates acquisition of blood–brain barrier properties in naïve endothelium derived from human pluripotent stem cells

1. Benjamin D Gastfriend
2. Hideaki Nishihara
3. Scott G Canfield
4. Koji L Foreman
5. Britta Engelhardt
6. Sean P Palecek
7. Eric V Shusta

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The manuscript by Gastfriend et al. establishes a novel protocol for the differentiation of blood-brain barrier endothelial cells by activating Wnt/β-catenin signaling in human pluripotent stem cells at a critical stage of naïve endothelial progenitors. The characterization of naïve endothelial progenitors and the novel model has potential impact on basic research approaches as well as on the use of in vitro models in drug development and pharmacology. The strength of the study is the comprehensive analysis of the differentiated blood-brain barrier endothelial cells, whereas weaknesses are present in some experimental setups and data conclusion, requiring additional experimental support.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Sex differences in learning from exploration

1. Cathy S Chen
2. Evan Knep
3. Autumn Han
4. R Becket Ebitz
5. Nicola M Grissom

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Chen et al. trained male and female animals on an explore/exploit (2-armed bandit) task. Despite similar levels of accuracy in these animals, authors report higher levels of exploration in male than in female mice. The patterns of exploration were analyzed in fine-grained detail, with the addition of computational modeling: males are less likely to stop exploring once exploring is initiated, whereas females stop exploring once they learn. The results are of broad interest to those interested is sex differences in learning. Inclusion of more primary behavioral data and further justification of the models and parameters is needed to clarify data presentation and interpretation.

  (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

Urgency forces stimulus-driven action by overcoming cognitive control

1. Christian H Poth

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  It has been shown previously that saccades are obligatorily directed to visual stimuli if they are generated under time pressure, indicating that cognitive control is reduced briefly after a stimulus onset. The present study demonstrates this temporary impairment in cognitive control is present for manual responses, can occur when the conflict arises from non-spatial features of stimuli, and therefore is more general than previously thought. The data conclusively support the conclusions of the paper.

  (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

Transferrin receptor 1-mediated iron uptake regulates bone mass in mice via osteoclast mitochondria and cytoskeleton

1. Bhaba K Das
2. Lei Wang
3. Toshifumi Fujiwara
4. Jian Zhou
5. Nukhet Aykin-Burns
6. Kimberly J Krager
7. Renny Lan
8. Samuel G Mackintosh
9. Ricky Edmondson
10. Michael L Jennings
11. Xiaofang Wang
12. Jian Q Feng
13. Tomasa Barrientos
14. Jyoti Gogoi
15. Aarthi Kannan
16. Ling Gao
17. Weirong Xing
18. Subburaman Mohan
19. Haibo Zhao

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors present a very well written manuscript addressing an important unknown in bone homeostasis, aiming to understand the mechanism of iron mediated effects on bone, findings of novel significance that are of interest to basic iron biologists, bone biologists, experts in mitochondrial respiration, and endocrinologists. This is the first study to show that Tfr1 is important for iron uptake in vivo and for proper osteoclast function. Mechanistically, Tfr1-mediated iron uptake is important for mitochondrial function and cytoskeleton organization, which is important for bone resorption. Overall, this study adds important information regarding the role of Tfr1 and iron metabolism in osteoclasts.

  (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

Low-affinity integrin states have faster ligand-binding kinetics than the high-affinity state

1. Jing Li
2. Jiabin Yan
3. Timothy A Springer

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Li, Yan and Springer report ligand binding on- and off-rates for three different conformations of α4β1 as well as α5β1 integrin. This is the first report that provides these numbers, which are important to understand the 'mode of integrin activation'. The study is - from a technical stand point - flawlessly performed and the calculated data is in perfect agreement with the previously published data.

  (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

A test of the pioneer factor hypothesis using ectopic liver gene activation

1. Jeffrey L Hansen
2. Kaiser J Loell
3. Barak A Cohen

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  How transcription factors access their DNA binding motifs in chromatin and cooperate with other transcription factors in DNA binding remains a contentious question. It is clear that some transcription factors ("pioneer transcription factors") play a dominant role in opening chromatin during development and reprogramming, but it has also been clear that the ability of transcription factors to do so lies on a spectrum, that pioneer transcription factors may mutually interact with other transcription factors in their pioneering activity and that their mode of binding is still poorly understood. This manuscript's presentation attempts to refute an overly simplified pioneer factor hypothesis. Overall, this is an important topic and the authors use a good experimental approach, but the analyses are limited and the interpretation too simplified.

  (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.)

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Proximity labeling identifies LOTUS domain proteins that promote the formation of perinuclear germ granules in C. elegans

1. Ian F Price
2. Hannah L Hertz
3. Benjamin Pastore
4. Jillian Wagner
5. Wen Tang

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors use proximity labeling and genetic experiments to identify and functionally characterize new components of C. elegans P granules. The conclusions of the paper are well-supported by the data. This work will be of broad interest to developmental biologists, particularly those interested in the formation and function of germ cells.

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

Reviewed by eLife

Effects of arousal and movement on secondary somatosensory and visual thalamus

1. Gordon H Petty
2. Amanda K Kinnischtzke
3. Y Kate Hong
4. Randy M Bruno

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors show that secondary thalamic region POm provides information on slow as opposed to rapid changes in whisker angular position; these appear to be secondary to changes in the animal's behavioral state. The authors find similar state dependent activity in LP, a higher level visual thalamic nucleus. This is a timely study in that many labs have observed state-dependent activity throughout the cortex and thalamus, but the mechanisms of this activity are incompletely understood. This study brings us closer to revealing the source of this signal by ruling out some of the likely candidates, such as reafferent signals and cortical feedback.

  (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

Specialized neurons in the right habenula mediate response to aversive olfactory cues

1. Jung-Hwa Choi
2. Erik R Duboue
3. Michelle Macurak
4. Jean-Michel Chanchu
5. Marnie E Halpern

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The three reviewers have appreciated the novelty and originality of the study, but note that improved visualization, quantifications and statistical analyses will be necessary to fully support the conclusions of the manuscript. Without performing these quantifications and statistical tests for all figures as detailed below, the magnitude and significance of reported effects are not clear, nor do they take into account the variability of the measures and the dependence of some of the measures.

  (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

The OpenNeuro resource for sharing of neuroscience data

1. Christopher J Markiewicz
2. Krzysztof J Gorgolewski
3. Franklin Feingold
4. Ross Blair
5. Yaroslav O Halchenko
6. Eric Miller
7. Nell Hardcastle
8. Joe Wexler
9. Oscar Esteban
10. Mathias Goncavles
11. Anita Jwa
12. Russell Poldrack

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript describes the OpenNeuro data sharing platform, which is built upon the Brain Imaging Data Structure (BIDS). More than 500 data sets are stored in BIDS, following the FAIR principles, and integrated with data analysis tools. This is a highly important resource for the neuroimaging community, and the shared data sets have already been used in basic neuroscience and for methods development.

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

Reviewed by eLife

Metabolic requirement for GOT2 in pancreatic cancer depends on environmental context

1. Samuel A Kerk
2. Lin Lin
3. Amy L Myers
4. Damien J Sutton
5. Anthony Andren
6. Peter Sajjakulnukit
7. Li Zhang
8. Yaqing Zhang
9. Jennifer A Jiménez
10. Barbara S Nelson
11. Brandon Chen
12. Anthony Robinson
13. Galloway Thurston
14. Samantha B Kemp
15. Nina G Steele
16. Megan T Hoffman
17. Hui-Ju Wen
18. Daniel Long
19. Sarah E Ackenhusen
20. Johanna Ramos
21. Xiaohua Gao
22. Zeribe C Nwosu
23. Stefanie Galban
24. Christopher J Halbrook
25. David B Lombard
26. David R Piwnica-Worms
27. Haoqiang Ying
28. Marina Pasca di Magliano
29. Howard C Crawford
30. Yatrik M Shah
31. Costas A Lyssiotis

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This paper investigating specific metabolic dependencies of pancreatic cancer cells growing in vitro and in vivo will be of interest to scientists in the field of cancer metabolism. The data reveal that cancer-associated stromal cells can play an important role supporting the redox state of cancer cells cultured in vitro, but at present the data do not support the conclusion that this mechanism controls the metabolic resilience of cancer cells growing in vivo and alternate hypotheses remain to be addressed.

  (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.)

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An Algorithmic Barrier to Neural Circuit Understanding

1. Venkatakrishnan Ramaswamy

Reviewed by eLife

A mechano-osmotic feedback couples cell volume to the rate of cell deformation

1. Larisa Venkova
2. Amit Singh Vishen
3. Sergio Lembo
4. Nishit Srivastava
5. Baptiste Duchamp
6. Artur Ruppel
7. Alice Williart
8. Stéphane Vassilopoulos
9. Alexandre Deslys
10. Juan Manuel Garcia Arcos
11. Alba Diz-Muñoz
12. Martial Balland
13. Jean-François Joanny
14. Damien Cuvelier
15. Pierre Sens
16. Matthieu Piel

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The paper by Venkova et al. is a comprehensive study of mammalian cell volume dynamics during the common cellular process of adhesion and spreading on a flat substrate, osmotic changes, and mechanical confinement. The paper reveals a complex interplay between cell water/ion regulation, cytoskeletal processes, and mechanical deformation of the cell. The topic is important in cell physiology and should be of considerable interest to cell biologists, mechanobiologists and biophysicists.

  (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