eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Thrifty wide-context models of B cell receptor somatic hypermutation

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Kevin Sung
   2. Mackenzie M Johnson
   3. Will Dumm
   4. Noah Simon
   5. Hugh Haddox
   6. Julia Fukuyama
   7. Frederick A Matsen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides an important method to model the statistical biases of hypermutations during the affinity maturation of antibodies. The authors show convincingly that their model outperforms previous methods with fewer parameters; this is made possible by the use of machine learning to expand the context dependence of the mutation bias. They also show that models learned from nonsynonymous mutations and from out-of-frame sequences are different, prompting new questions about germinal center function. Strengths of the study include an open-access tool for using the model, a careful curation of existing datasets, and a rigorous benchmark; it is also shown that current machine-learning methods are currently limited by the availability of data, which explains the only modest gain in model performance afforded by modern machine learning.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Ezh2 Delays Activation of Differentiation Genes During Normal Cerebellar Granule Neuron Development and in Medulloblastoma

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. James Purzner
   2. Alexander S Brown
   3. Teresa Purzner
   4. Lauren Ellis
   5. Sara Broski
   6. Ulrike Litzenburger
   7. Kaytlin Andrews
   8. Aryaman Sharma
   9. Xin Wang
   10. Michael D Taylor
   11. Yoon-Jae Cho
   12. Margaret T Fuller
   13. Matthew P Scott

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Using an unbiased approach, this important study discovered a role of Ezh2 in the differentiation of granule neuron precursors, the cell of origin for Shh group of medulloblastoma. Furthermore, the authors also provided solid evidence that combined inhibition of Ezh2 and CDK4/6 likely represents a promising strategy for the treatment of this subgroup of MB. Validation of these findings using the FDA-approved Ezh2 inhibitor is needed to further strengthen this preclinical study.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. The title and authors for this article are not available from our external data provider yet:
   10.48550/arxiv.2409.19469v1

4. Late maturation of semantic control promotes conceptual development

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Rebecca L Jackson
   2. Matthew A Lambon Ralph
   3. Timothy T Rogers

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents valuable findings suggesting that the late maturation of prefrontal cortex-based control processes enhances conceptual learning by allowing a period of less-constrained knowledge acquisition. The authors provide convincing computational evidence that delayed semantic control promotes learning without compromising representation integrity, with the strongest benefits emerging when control connections target intermediate layers of the model. However, the model's narrow scope raises concerns about scalability to more complex, real-world learning environments, and the meta-analysis, while supporting the developmental trajectory, does not directly test the model's specific predictions regarding task outcomes or error patterns.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. A titin missense variant drives atrial electrical remodeling and is associated with atrial fibrillation

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. Mahmud Arif Pavel
   2. Hanna Chen
   3. Michael Hill
   4. Arvind Sridhar
   5. Miles Barney
   6. Jaime DeSantiago
   7. Abhinaya Baskaran
   8. Asia Owais
   9. Shashank Sandu
   10. Faisal A Darbar
   11. Aylin Ornelas Loredo
   12. Bahaa Al-Azzam
   13. Brandon Chalazan
   14. Jalees Rehman
   15. Dawood Darbar

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents important findings regarding the incidence and clinical impact of a mutation in a cardiac muscle protein and its association with the development of atrial fibrillation. The authors provide convincing evidence of electrophysiological disturbances in cells with this mutation and of its association with atrial fibrillation, which would be of interest to cardiologists. Evidence supporting the conclusion that this mutation causes atrial fibrillation would benefit from more rigorous electrophysiologic approaches.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Heat stress induces phage tolerance in Enterobacteriaceae

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Fan Zhang
   2. Hao-Ze Chen
   3. Bo Zheng
   4. Liang Huang
   5. Ye Xiang
   6. Jing-Ren Zhang
   7. Jia-Feng Liu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study analyzes the effect of heat treatment on phage-bacterial interactions and convincingly shows that prior heat exposure alters the bacterial cell envelope, enhancing persistence and bacterial survival when exposed to lytic phages. The study will interest researchers working on antibiotic resistance, tolerance, and phage therapy.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The capsule and genetic background, rather than specific individual loci, strongly influence in vitro pneumococcal growth kinetics

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Chrispin Chaguza
   2. Daan W Arends
   3. Stephanie W Lo
   4. Indri Hapsari Putri
   5. Anna York
   6. John A Lees
   7. Anne L Wyllie
   8. Daniel M Weinberger
   9. Stephen D Bentley
   10. Marien I de Jonge
   11. Amelieke JH Cremers

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is an important study that examines the impact of Streptococcus pneumoniae genetics on its in vitro growth kinetics, aiming to identify potential targets for vaccines and therapeutics. The study identified significant variations in growth characteristics among capsular serotypes and lineages, linked to phylogeny and high heritability, but genome-wide association studies did not reveal specific genomic loci associated with growth features independent of the genetic background. The evidence supporting these findings is convincing.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Dynamic modulation of social gaze by sex and familiarity in marmoset dyads

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Feng Xing
   2. Alec G Sheffield
   3. Monika P Jadi
   4. Steve WC Chang
   5. Anirvan S Nandy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study establishes a methodology (machine vision and gaze pose estimation) and behavioral apparatus for examining social interactions between pairs of marmoset monkeys. It has been difficult to study social interactions using artificial stimuli rather than genuine interactions between unrestrained animals. This study makes a fundamental contribution to social neuroscience research in a laboratory setting. Their results are convincing showing that the study of unrestrained social interactions is possible with detailed quantification of position and gaze. The methodology presented here is relevant to research in social neuroscience, neuroethology, and primatology.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Relationship between cognitive abilities and mental health as represented by cognitive abilities at the neural and genetic levels of analysis

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Yue Wang
   2. Richard Anney
   3. Narun Pat

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines the relationship between cognition and mental health and investigates how brain, genetics, and environmental measures mediate that relationship. The methods and results are compelling and well-executed. Overall, this study will be of interest in the field of population neuroscience and in studies of mental health.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. A gradual transition toward categorical representations along the visual hierarchy during working memory, but not perception

    This article has 4 authors:

    1. Chaipat Chunharas
    2. Michael J Wolff
    3. Meike D Hettwer
    4. Rosanne L Rademaker

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study examined orientation representations along the visual hierarchy during perception and working memory. The authors provide results suggesting that during working memory there is a gradient where representations are more categorical in nature later in the visual hierarchy. The evidence presented is solid, most notably a match between behavioral data, though minor weakness can be attributed to the tasks and behaviors not being designed to address this question. The findings should be of interest to a relatively broad audience, namely those interested in the relationship between sensory coding and memory.

    Reviewed by eLife