Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

This study is useful because it challenges the widely accepted notion that muscle stem cell numbers decline with aging, providing novel insights into population heterogeneity and the identification of new surface markers for geriatric MuSCs. However, the evidence is considered incomplete due to insufficient quantitative comparisons of absolute cell numbers, limited analysis of age groups (particularly the lack of "aged" mice as opposed to geriatric), and the need for further functional and mechanistic validation of key subpopulations. Additional concerns that require clarification include the lack of statistical rigor in some experiments, the presentation of supporting data not being complete, and the overextension of claims relating to senescence and new marker validation. Overall, while the findings advance understanding of MuSC aging, the conclusions drawn by the authors should be strengthened with expanded experiments and more rigorous data analysis.

eLife Assessment

This study provides valuable insights into the role of the NF-kB and IKK signaling pathways in γδ T cell development and survival, using robust genetic mouse models. While the research is methodologically sound, some conclusions require further evidence, with incomplete analyses, particularly regarding cell-intrinsic effects and mechanistic details. Overall, the findings are significant for immunologists interested in innate-like T cell biology and advancing the understanding of γδ T cell differentiation and maintenance.

eLife Assessment

This study provides a valuable insight into how the medial and lateral entorhinal cortices interact through distinct excitatory and inhibitory pathways. Using anatomical tracing, optogenetics, and electrophysiology, the authors show that glutamatergic medial entorhinal neurons provide broad excitatory input to lateral entorhinal, while long-range SST+ interneurons deliver selective inhibition to layer I. These findings reveal a novel layer- and cell-type-specific organization of medial to lateral entorhinal connectivity with implications for spatial and episodic memory. The work is solid, but validation of injection specificity and viral spread is needed to fully confirm the anatomical interpretations; with these clarifications, this will be a significant contribution to understanding entorhinal-hippocampal circuit organization.

eLife Assessment

The use of DNA tethers is an important advance for studying how motor proteins respond to load. The authors use a convincing methodology to investigate the detachment and reattachment kinetics of kinesin-1, 2, and 3 motors against loads oriented parallel to the microtubule. As the manuscript stands, the conclusions drawn from the experiments, as well as the overall interpretation of the results, are incompletely supported by the presented data, and the novelty over previous reports appears less clear.

eLife Assessment

The mechanistic basis for the potential health benefits of NAD⁺ precursors remains incompletely understood. This manuscript provides a useful assessment of the role of SIRT1 in mediating the effects of NMN in mice fed a high-fat diet. The study addresses a key question, though some of the conclusions appear only partially supported by the presented data.

eLife assessment

The authors identify a novel, conserved link between glycolytic flux and sulfur amino acid metabolism that governs fungal morphological differentiation independently of the cAMP-PKA pathway. This represents an important conceptual advance in understanding metabolic control of development and virulence. While the evidence supporting this connection is compelling, the mechanistic basis of how glycolysis regulates the Met30/Met4 axis requires further experimental clarification.

eLife Assessment

This valuable work investigates the role of protein N-glycosylation in regulating T-cell activation and function and suggests that B4GALT1 is a potential target for tumor immunotherapy. The strength of evidence is solid, and further mechanistic validation could be provided.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study provides insights into the role of Pten mutations in SHH-medulloblastoma, by using mouse models to resolve the effects of heterozygous vs homozygous mutations on proliferation and cell death throughout tumorigenesis. The experiments presented are convincing, with rigorous quantifications and orthogonal experimentation provided throughout, and the models employing sporadic oncogene induction, rather than EGL-wide genetic modifications, represent an advancement in experimental design. However, the study remains limited, such that the biological conclusions do not extend greatly from those in the extant literature. This could be addressed with additional experimentation focused on cell cycle kinetic changes at early stages, as well as greater characterization of macrophage phenotypes (e.g., microglia vs circulating monocytes). The work will be of interest to medical biologists studying general cancer mechanisms, as the function of Pten may be similar across tumor types.

eLife Assessment

The study provides important mechanistic insight into the transcriptional control of γδT17 development, elegantly demonstrating how HEB and Id3 act sequentially and cooperatively to regulate γδT17 cell specification and maturation. The study provides compelling evidence that advances the understanding of E-Id protein dynamics in thymic T cell specification. The work is comprehensive, technically rigorous, and conceptually clear, and will be of interest to immunologists, developmental biologists, and those studying the molecular underpinnings of physiological outcomes.

eLife Assessment

The manuscript by Hensley and Yildez studies the mechanical behavior of kinesin under conditions where the z-component of the applied force is minimized. The important study shows that much of the mechanical information gleaned from the traditional "one bead" with attached kinesin approach was probably profoundly influenced by the direction of the applied force. The data are convincing, but in some cases the amount of data collected appears to be smaller than optimal.

eLife Assessment

This useful manuscript reports findings indicating that cell cycle progression and cytokinesis both play a role in the transition of early to late neural stem cell fates. The imaging data are solid and mostly support the conclusions. However, experimental details are missing, the method of quantitation could be improved, and orthogonal approaches are needed to confirm the findings, which are based on loss-of-function approaches and are not sufficient to support some of the authors' conclusions. Lastly, there is no investigation of the underlying mechanism linking the cell cycle or cytokinesis to the changes (or lack thereof) of early and late NSC fates.

eLife Assessment

This study provides a valuable genome-centric characterization of microbial communities across deep sediment cores from a Spartina patens salt marsh. The study provides claims on the metabolic capabilities of the deep sediment microbiome as well as on a burial microbial assembly process and functional complementarity at depth. However, some of these claims remain incomplete and would benefit from further supporting evidence. Overall, this work will be of interest to microbial ecologists working on wetlands.

eLife Assessment

The authors used a Bayesian modeling framework to fit behavior and serotonin neuron activity to reward history across multiple timescales. A key goal was to distinguish value coding from other influences, particularly thirst, by comparing model fits across neurons. Although the question and approach are valuable, several limitations of the current manuscript mean that support for the conclusions is incomplete.

eLife Assessment

This valuable work defines a "learning proteome" for a C. elegans gustatory associative learning paradigm. These results provide the field with a new set of genes to further explore their roles in learning and memory, provide new tools for other labs to employ in their investigations of behavior, and molecular pathways revelant for C. elegans learning and memory. The methodological evidence and the quality of the dataset are convincing. The results will be of interest to neuroscientists and developmental biologists seeking to understand the self-assembly and operation of neural circuits for learning and memory.

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

eLife Assessment

This study presents valuable findings from a spatiotemporal analysis of arbovirus case notification data from 2013 to 2020 in Brazil, reporting associations between covariates representing potential drivers of arbovirus transmission and recorded incidence. The work is methodologically solid, though it is unclear how much explanatory power inclusion of the covariates adds. The findings will be of interest to researchers working on the epidemiology of arboviruses.

eLife Assessment

This study offers a valuable advance for neuroscience by extending a visualization tool that enables intuitive assessment of how dendritic and synaptic currents shape the output of neurons. The evidence supporting the tool's capabilities is convincing and solid, with well-documented code, algorithmic innovation, and application to hippocampal pyramidal neurons - although experimental confirmation of the predictions is not provided. The work will be of interest to computational and systems neuroscientists seeking accessible methods to examine dendritic computations.

eLife Assessment

This important study investigates how the nervous system adapts to changes in body mechanics using a tendon transfer surgery that imposes a mismatch between muscle contraction and mechanical action. Using electromyography (EMG) to track muscle activity in two macaque monkeys, the authors conclude that there is a two-phase recovery process that reflects different underlying strategies. However, neither monkey's data includes a full set of EMG and kinematic measurements, and the two datasets are not sufficiently aligned with each other from a behavioural point of view; as a result, the evidence supporting the conclusions is solid but could be improved.

eLife Assessment

The authors have performed a potentially valuable new kind of analysis in connectomics, mapping to an interesting developmental problem of synaptic input to sensory neurons. While the analysis itself is solid, the authors have drawn broader conclusions than are directly supported by the presented data. With more measured claims and greater clarity and explanations for the analysis, the study could potentially become stronger.

eLife Assessment

The study presents important insights into the regulation of muscle hypertrophy, regulated by Muscle Ankyrin Repeat Proteins (MARPs) and mTOR. The methods are overall solid and complementary, with only minor limitations. Overall, the findings will be of interest for both muscle-biology specialists and the broader mechanobiology community.

eLife Assessment

This study is important as it demonstrates that 4-aminoquinoline antimalarials antagonize artemisinin activity under physiologically relevant conditions. Using isogenic parasite lines and a chemical probe, the authors provide mechanistic insight and compelling evidence implicating PfCRT in this antagonism. However, some weaknesses have been identified that limit full interpretation of the findings, which are based solely on in vitro assays, though the results have implications that will be of importance in optimizing future antimalarial combination strategies.