eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Actin-membrane interface stress regulates Arp2/3-branched actin density during lamellipodial protrusion

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Mitchell T. Butler
   2. Max A. Hockenberry
   3. Harrison H. Truscott
   4. Wesley R. Legant
   5. James E. Bear

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides direct and compelling evidence that lamellipodial protrusions dynamically adjust Arp2/3 complex incorporation in response to mechanical counterforces, while also modulating cellular responsiveness to upstream signals like Rac GTPase. By combining endogenous labeling, live-cell imaging, and optogenetic signaling activation, the work demonstrates how adhesion state and physicochemical perturbations reproducibly alter branched actin organization, offering a fundamental advance over previous works. The findings deliver significant insights that will resonate broadly with cell biologists and biochemists studying actin dynamics and mechanotransduction.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Light-entrained chromatin priming poises rapid metamorphosis in a marine sponge

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Huifang Yuan
   2. Oceane Blard
   3. Zac Pujic
   4. Bernard M. Degnan
   5. Sandie M. Degnan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this study, Yuan and colleagues perform transcriptomic and epigenomic experiments to study open chromatin regions and transcripts that change upon larval settlement in the sponge Amphimedon. The authors present compelling evidence to show that sponge larvae prepare for receiving an environmental cue (sunset) by extensively modifying their chromatin accessibility in the vicinity of genes that are going to be regulated during metamorphosis. The study represents a fundamental advance in understanding the fine genetic control of larval settlement and has significance beyond the immediate field of sponge larval biology.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. ATP-driven conformational dynamics reveal hidden intermediates in a heterodimeric ABC transporter

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Matija Pečak
   2. Christoph Nocker
   3. Robert Tampé

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents important findings revealing previously unresolved conformational dynamics of the heterodimeric type IV ABC transporter TmrAB using single-molecule FRET. The evidence presented is solid, integrating careful experimental design with computational approaches to uncover states that are typically masked and difficult to detect. The work will be of interest to scientists studying the molecular mechanisms of primary active transport processes.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Evolutionary dynamics of insect odorant receptors reveal ecological tuning shaping olfactory perception

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Tianmin Zhang
   2. Xuanxiao Yang
   3. Yufang Fu
   4. Wei Xue
   5. Yifeng Zhang
   6. Suyang Duan
   7. Yangming Yin
   8. Yi Guo
   9. Chenxi Gao
   10. Yang Liu
   11. Gang Li
   12. Chang Xu
   13. Huimeng Lu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This large-scale comparative study of odorant receptor (OR) genes across more than 100 insect species, combining sequence- and structure-based approaches, aims to explore the evolution of this large gene family involved in the detection of odorant signals by olfactory neurons. This useful work uncovers a structural feature unique to the odorant receptor co-receptor Orco that reduces ligand binding affinity. However, the strength of evidence is incomplete: the pipeline for in silico identification of odorant receptor genes lacks validation through comparison with known odorant receptor repertoires from previously studied species, and claims regarding odor response spectra, evolutionary, and ecological interpretations are not fully supported by the analyses.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Nicotine-driven hyperactivation of larval locomotion

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Stephanie Dancausse
   2. Jocelyn Robles
   3. Jenna Fitzpatrick
   4. Carolyn Garcia
   5. Oshani Fernando
   6. Anastasiia Evans
   7. James D. Baker
   8. Mason Klein

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents useful findings on the behavioral effects of nicotine exposure, suggesting the Drosophila larva as a potential model organism for studying underlying neural circuits. However, the evidence supporting the claims of the authors is incomplete and would benefit from more rigorous analysis and explanations. The study falls short of identifying the neural mechanisms and is therefore of interest to those with an interest in pharmacology and behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Ancestral secretory programs underlie the evolution of morphological innovations across Spiralia

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Yitian Bai
   2. Kunyin Jiang
   3. Hong Yu
   4. Lingfeng Kong
   5. Shaojun Du
   6. Shikai Liu
   7. Qi Li

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript examines the evolution of molluscan shells using single-cell analyses of the adult mantle of Crassostrea gigas and compares these data with previous datasets from embryonic and larval stages of this species and other spiralians. The authors provide important support for a scenario in which secretory cells are broadly conserved across spiralians, and the incorporation of lineage-restricted genes contributes to the evolution of molluscan shells. While some of the conclusions of the authors are convincing, many aspects of the manuscript remain incomplete and could be improved, especially aspects of cell-type classification and validation.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Winding-Up of Fibrin Fibers as a Novel Mechanism of Platelet-Mediated Fiber Compaction

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Alexei Grichine
   2. Tatiana Kovalenko
   3. Florence Appaix
   4. Anne-Sophie Ribba
   5. Anita Eckly
   6. Jean-Yves Rinckel
   7. Mikhail Panteleev
   8. Laurence Lafanechère
   9. Karin Sadoul

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable perspective on platelet-mediated fibrin compaction, proposing that fibrin fibers undergo "winding" or coiling, an intriguing framework with potential implications for thrombosis and clot mechanics. However, the evidence supporting an active platelet-driven winding mechanism remains incomplete, relying largely on correlative observations without direct or quantitative validation of the proposed dynamics. Overall, the work is thought-provoking and of clear interest to the field, but stronger mechanistic evidence will be required to substantiate the central claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. The Training Village: an open platform for continuous testing of rodents in cognitive tasks

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Balma Serrano-Porcar
   2. Rafael Marin-Campos
   3. Javier Rodríguez
   4. Caterina Barezzi
   5. Harshkumar Vasoya
   6. Donna Kean
   7. Duncan Pottinger
   8. Alex Taylor
   9. Hernando Martínez Vergara
   10. Jaime de la Rocha

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study introduces the "Training Village," a valuable system for which solid evidence shows that it enables group-housed rodents to autonomously learn complex tasks while preserving natural social interactions. The platform is flexible, allowing animals to learn multiple tasks sequentially and supporting applications in continual learning. This approach is likely to be of broad interest to behavioral researchers using rodent models in systems and cognitive neuroscience.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. A functional influence based circuit motif that constrains the set of plausible algorithms of cortical function

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Anna Vasilevskaya
   2. Georg B Keller

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This fundamental work significantly advances our understanding of the circuit-level implementation of predictive processing by elucidating the functional influence between putative prediction error neurons in layer 2/3 and putative internal representation neurons in layer 5. The evidence demonstrating that neither the hierarchical nor the non-hierarchical variant of predictive processing fully accounts for the presented data is convincing. Moving forward, this line of work would benefit from explicitly comparing different theories, thereby clearly articulating the points raised in this paper.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Probing the role of sequential sampling and integration in decisions about protracted, noiseless stimuli

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Hadiseh Hajimohammadi
    2. Kieran S Mohr
    3. Redmond G O’Connell
    4. Simon P Kelly

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study provides a valuable contribution to our understanding of the neural basis of perceptual decision-making by jointly modeling behavioral outcomes and EEG signals in a contrast comparison task. The methods and analyses are solid, systematically comparing standard models assuming continuous evidence accumulation with models that track evidence without temporal integration (extrema detection). The authors show that behavior and neural signals are equally consistent with both alternatives, highlighting limitations in current modeling approaches and questioning the generality of evidence accumulation mechanisms.

    Reviewed by eLife