eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Environmental dynamics shape human learning: change points versus random walks

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Cedric Foucault
   2. Lilian A Weber
   3. Laurence Hunt

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Foucault and colleagues examine how human adaptive learning depends on the structure of the learning task. The authors provide useful findings clarifying the differences in how people learn in environments that are continuously versus discontinuously changing. While they provide solid evidence for most conclusions, support for some of the claims is incomplete in the current form.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Fine-tuning of outer membrane–peptidoglycan tethering by the redox-active lipoprotein LppB from Salmonella enterica

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Elisa S. Pierre Despas
   2. Seung-Hyun Cho
   3. Bogdan I. Iorga
   4. Jean-François Collet

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study convincingly demonstrates how bacterial cells can modulate outer membrane-peptidoglycan tethering by expressing two different Lpp homologs with distinct cross-linking efficiencies, revealing that Salmonella typhimurium LppB forms disulfide-based homodimers (or heterotrimers with Lpp when present) and is covalently attached to peptidoglycan primarily via the L,D-transpeptidase LdtB at residue K58. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is solid, including the regulatory role of LppB dimerization for its abundance in E. coli and its ability to inhibit Lpp/A crosslinking to peptidoglycan, although additional analysis and quantification of muropeptides in wild-type E. coli overexpressing LppB would further strengthen the findings. Overall, the work will be of great interest to microbiologists studying cell envelope biogenesis.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Serial Dependence Predicts Generalization in Perceptual Learning

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Noga Pinchuk-Yacobi
   2. Dov Sagi
   3. Yoram S Bonneh

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study describes long-range serial dependence of performance on a visual texture discrimination training task that manipulated conditions to induce differing degrees of location transfer of learning. The authors re-analyzed a previously-published behavioral data set, generating compelling evidence from converging approaches that serial dependence effects can persist across multiple days post-training, and are impacted by whether training promotes more or less location transfer. Although underlying mechanisms for these processes remain unclear, these results will interest neuroscientists in general by informing our understanding of the importance of temporal integration to long-term perceptual learning and its propensity towards specificity or generalizability.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Functional imaging of nine distinct neuronal populations under a miniscope in freely behaving animals

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Mary L Phillips
   2. Nicolai T Urban
   3. Taddeo Salemi
   4. Zhe Dong
   5. Ryohei Yasuda

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The new development of Neuroplex, a pipeline that links projection-defined neuronal identity to in vivo calcium activity within the same animal, is a valuable contribution to the field of neuroscience and beyond. The strength of evidence is judged to be solid, as the methods, data, and analyses broadly support the stated claims.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Dynamic brain states during encoding and their post-encoding reinstatement predicts episodic memory in children

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Yimeng Zeng
   2. Sandhya P Chakravartti
   3. Srikanth Ryali
   4. Shaozheng Qin
   5. Vinod Menon

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study uses a Bayesian framework to characterize latent brain state dynamics associated with memory encoding and performance in children, as measured with functional magnetic resonance imaging. The novelty of the approach offers valuable insights into memory-related brain activity, but the consideration of developmental changes in memory and brain dynamics, and the evidence to support the proposed mapping between specific states and distinct aspects of memory, are incomplete. This work will be of interest to researchers interested in cognitive neuroscience and the development of memory.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Working Memory Guides Perceptual Decisions Through Fast Capture and Slow Drift

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Hyung-Bum Park
   2. Weiwei Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides important insights into how working memory shapes perceptual decisions, using a dual-task design, continuous mouse tracking, and hierarchical Bayesian modeling. By dissociating fast attentional capture effects from slower, sustained perceptual biases within single trials, the authors provide compelling evidence that working memory-perception interactions unfold through distinct dynamic processes rather than a single mechanism. This work will be of interest to researchers studying working memory, perception, decision-making, and mouse-tracking methodology.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Autosomal Allelic Inactivation: Variable Replication and Dosage Sensitivity

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Michael B. Heskett
   2. Athanasios E. Vouzas
   3. Brian Johnstone
   4. Krister P. Freese
   5. Phillip A. Yates
   6. Philip F. Copenhaver
   7. Paul T. Spellman
   8. David M. Gilbert
   9. Mathew J. Thayer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study links allelic expression imbalance with replication timing, suggesting a stochastic model for haploinsufficiency in dosage-sensitive disease. The integration of allele-specific RNA-seq and replication timing in clonal systems provides solid evidence for an association between asynchronous replication and allelic imbalance, although the scope and generality of some conclusions require more cautious interpretation. This study will interest epigeneticists and genome regulation researchers studying replication timing and monoallelic expression, as well as developmental biologists and human geneticists concerned with clonal heterogeneity, haploinsufficiency, and variable disease penetrance.

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

   Reviewed by eLife

8. The transcription factor BCL11A restores differentiation potential to aged oligodendrocyte progenitor cells

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Tanay Ghosh
   2. Roey Baror
   3. Chao Zhao
   4. Amar Sharma
   5. Nick Goldman
   6. Robin JM Franklin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study demonstrates molecular changes associated with age related impairment in oligodendrocyte differentiation and ability to myelinate. The identification of particular genes that are associated with this decline will provide potential future targets for therapeutic interventions. The reviewers felt that the quality of the evidence was solid while identifying some minor weaknesses that if addressed would enhance the rigor of the study.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Structural basis for the folding of PINK1 by the HSP90–CDC37 chaperone complex

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Kei Okatsu
   2. Hayato Yamamoto
   3. Akinori Okamoto
   4. Shinya H Goto
   5. Yumiko Nishimoto
   6. Yukihiko Sugita
   7. Takeshi Noda
   8. Shuya Fukai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a high-quality cryo-EM structure of the human kinase PINK1 in complex with the HSP90-CDC37 chaperone complex, capturing a partially folded intermediate in which the C-lobe and C-terminal extension are structured while the N-lobe remains unfolded and engaged by the HSP90 clamp. The structural data are broadly consistent with a recently published structure of the same complex, providing useful insight into early steps of PINK1 maturation and highlighting residues linked to familial Parkinson's disease. However, the mechanistic conclusions remain incomplete because the manuscript does not experimentally validate key hypotheses raised by the structure, including the functional roles of the C-lobe interface, the HPNI motif, the C-terminal extension, or the proposed competition between HSP90 and TOM20.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. RNA Selectively Modulates Activity of Virulent Amyloid PSMα3 and Host Defense LL-37 via Phase Separation and Aggregation Dynamics

    This article has 12 authors:

    1. Bader Rayan
    2. Eilon Barnea
    3. Rinat Indig
    4. Christian F Pantoja
    5. Jesse Gayk
    6. Yael Lupu- Haber
    7. Alexander Upcher
    8. Amir Argoetti
    9. Jacob Aunstrup Larsen
    10. Alexander K Buell
    11. Markus Zweckstetter
    12. Meytal Landau

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study investigates how RNA molecules modulate phase separation, aggregation, and cytotoxicity of the staphylococcal virulent peptide PSMα3 and the human host‑defence peptide LL‑37 using an array of biophysical and cell‑based assays. If validated, these findings would be important, as they suggest that nucleic acids can tune the material state and bioactivity of amyloids, with implications for host-pathogen interactions and for the design of therapeutics that target phase behaviour. However, the evidence is incomplete: many key claims rest on qualitative imaging and contested assumptions about "functional" amyloids, and the absence of quantitative binding data, phase diagrams, and appropriate controls limits confidence in the conclusions.

    Reviewed by eLife