Evaluated articles

eLife Assessment

This important study investigates the different mechanisms that provide instructions for a missing body part to regenerate its appropriate identity. The authors use two species of planarians to identify a key role for bodywide canonical Wnt gradients in controlling the outcome of regeneration. The study provides convincing evidence for variable regeneration efficiency among planarian species that will be of interest to developmental biologists interested in regeneration. However, some of the results are over-interpreted and the additional experiments could provide better support for the authors' claims.

eLife Assessment

M proteins are essential group A streptococci virulence factors that bind to numerous human proteins; a small subset of M proteins, such as M3, have been reported to bind collagen, which is thought to promote tissue adherence. In this important paper, the authors provide a solid characterization of M3 interactions with collagen. The work raises significant questions regarding the specificity of the structure and its interactions with different collagens, with implications for the variable actions of M protein collagen interactions on biofilm formation.

eLife Assessment

This important work substantially advances our understanding of how accessory olfactory bulb neurons respond to social odor cues across the estrous cycle, showing that responses vary with the strain and sex of the odor source but display no consistent differences between estrous and non-estrous states. It employs a unique electrophysiology preparation that activates the vomeronasal organ pump via electric stimulation, enabling precise recordings of accessory olfactory bulb cell responses to different chemosignals in anesthetized mice. Overall, the study presents convincing findings on the stability and variability of accessory olfactory bulb response patterns, indicating that while accessory olfactory bulb detects social signals, it does not appear to interpret them based on reproductive state. This work will be of interest to those studying olfaction, social behavior, reproductive cycles, and systems neuroscience more broadly.

eLife Assessment

Pinho et al use in vivo calcium imaging and chemogenetic approaches to examine the involvement of hippocampal sub-regions across the different stages of a sensory preconditioning task in mice. They find evidence for sensory preconditioning in male mice. They also find that, in these mice, CaMKII-positive neurons in the dorsal hippocampus encode the audio-visual association that forms in stage 1 of the task. The evidence in support of these findings is convincing. The important study will be of interest to researchers in the fields of learning and memory and/or hippocampus function.

eLife Assessment

The study introduces new tools for measuring the intracellular calcium concentration close to transmitter release sites, which may be relevant for synaptic vesicle fusion and replenishment. This approach yields important new information about the spatial and temporal profile of calcium concentrations near the site of entry at the plasma membrane. This experimental work is complemented by a coherent, open-source, computational model that successfully describes changes in calcium domains. The conclusions are solid and well supported by the data.

eLife Assessment

This important theoretical study introduces an extension to the commonly used SIR model for infectious disease dynamics, to explicitly consider the role of larger group sizes. Instead of the commonly used individual-based network models, the authors developed a simplified approach based on group sampling, with discrete high- and low-risk groups, which makes the results easier to produce and interpret, at the cost of less detail in the model. The evidence is convincing in terms of the soundness of the theoretical projections and the impact that accounting for group sizes may have on inferences from surveillance data. However, it has not yet been demonstrated that the predictions provide more realistic projections when based on real-world data.

eLife Assessment

In this convincing work by Yamaguchi et al. the cryo-EM structure of the heterohexameric 3:3 LGI1-ADAM22 complex is presented. The findings suggest that LGI1 can cluster ADAM22 in a trimeric fashion. The clustering of cell surface proteins is important in controlling signaling in the nervous system. This new version of the manuscript has been improved substantially and the figures have been enhanced and clarified.

eLife Assessment

This valuable study characterises the activity of motor units from two of the three anatomical subdivisions ("heads") of the triceps muscle while mice walked on a treadmill at various speeds. Altogether, this is the most thorough characterisation of motor unit activity in walking mice to date, providing solid evidence for probabilistic recruitment of motor units that differed between the two heads.

eLife Assessment

This important study identifies a novel role for Hes5+ astrocytes in modulating the activity of descending pain-inhibitory noradrenergic neurons from the locus coeruleus during stress-induced pain facilitation. The role of glia in modulating neurological circuits including pain is poorly understood, and in that light, the role of Hes5+ astrocytes in this circuit is a key finding with broader potential impacts. However, the impact of this work is limited by incomplete evidence, notably the fact that acute restraint stress is generally anti-nociceptive rather than pro-nociceptive, and a lack of specificity in defining this novel circuit.

eLife Assessment

This study presents valuable findings on the increased prevalence of pain in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and its relationship to health outcomes. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling with a large number of patients and sound methodology, and can be used as a starting point for studies of etiology and mechanisms of pain in women with polycystic ovary syndrome and comorbidities. The work will be of interest to medical biologists working on polycystic ovary syndrome pathophysiology and clinicians.

eLife Assessment

This paper presents the important finding that BNIP3/NIX, a mitophagy receptor, and its binding to ATG18 are required for mitophagy during muscle cell reorganization in Drosophila. Although the involvement of the BNIP3-ATG18/WIPI axis in mitophagy induction has been reported in mammalian cell culture systems, this study provides the first compelling evidence for this pathway in vivo in animals. The physiological significance of this BNIP3-dependent mitophagy will require further investigation.

eLife Assessment

This paper provides a compelling and rigorous quantitative analysis of the turnover and maintenance of CD4+ tissue-resident memory T cell clones, in the skin and the lamina propria. It provides a fundamental advance in our understanding of CD4 T cell regulation. Interestingly, in both tissues, maintenance involves an influx from progenitors on the time scale of months. The evidence that is based on fate mapping and mathematical inference is strong, although open questions on the interpretation of the Ki67-based fate mapping remain.

eLife Assessment

Du et al. present a valuable study on neural activation in medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) subpopulations projecting to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) and nucleus accumbens (NAc) during behavioral tasks assessing anxiety, social preference, and social dominance. The study has innovative approaches and solid in vivo calcium imaging data, but the evidence linking neural physiology to behavioral outcomes is incomplete. Addressing these gaps would significantly enhance the understanding of how distinct mPFC→BLA and mPFC→NAc pathways influence anxiety, exploration, and social behaviors.

eLife Assessment

This study approaches an important topic providing insight into the neuronal circuitry that interconnects memory consolidation and sleep. The data were collected and analysed using a solid methodology, contributing new findings for neurobiologists working on how memories are stored and the roles of sleep. However, the data is incomplete to support the proposed role of the PAM-DPM circuits as the link between sleep state and long-term memory consolidation.

eLife Assessment

The authors of this important study investigate how telomere length regulates hTERT expression via non-telomeric binding of the telomere-associated protein TRF2. They conclusively show that TRF2 binding to long telomeres results in a reduction in its binding to the hTERT promoter, while short telomeres restore TRF2 binding in the hTERT promoter, recruiting repressor complexes like PRC2, and suppressing hTERT expression. There is convincing support for the claims and the findings should be of broad interest for cell biologists and those working in fields where telomeres alter function, such as cancer and aging.

eLife Assessment

This is an important study linking olfactory bulb activity not only to sniffing parameters but also to movement and place. The evidence for odor sampling is mostly solid, but the analysis supporting the potentially exciting result on the encoding of place is currently incomplete.

eLife Assessment

This work presents a valuable resource combining scRNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics studies to map mouse pre-clinical models of colorectal cancer, identifying distinct cellular programs and microenvironments that could enhance patient stratification and therapeutic approaches in colorectal cancer. While the evidence provided in the manuscript are not fully validated, these solid data were collected and analyzed using a validated methodology that will be of interest to the community in future studies.

eLife Assessment

This valuable manuscript presents a potentially novel mechanism by which the phospholipid scramblase, PLSCR1, defends against influenza A virus infection. The strength of the paper rests on solid findings involving knockout and lung specific over-expressing Plscr1 mice, airway tissue expression and mechanistic studies to show Plscr1 enhances type III interferon-mediated viral clearance.

eLife Assessment

CellDetective is a useful software package for segmentation, tracking, and analysis of time‐lapse microscopy datasets, specifically designed to be accessible to researchers without coding expertise. The authors provide solid evidence of its capabilities through comprehensive validations and well‐executed comparisons across immunological assays. However, the current implementation is limited to 2D widefield imaging and presents technical challenges - including occasional crashes, restricted flexibility in defining multiple cell populations, and some interface issues that hinder the full user experience. Overall, this work will be of significant interest to the bioimaging community, especially those in immunology and cell biology, and promises to evolve into a more robust tool with further development.

eLife Assessment

This valuable manuscript uses mathematical modeling to address the synchrony of the vertebrate segmentation clock with the developmental processes. The authors use convincing arguments to support the idea that this would allow the evolution of flexible body plans and a variable number of segments. This manuscript could be of interest to developmental biologists and systems biologists.

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