eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Divergent spatiotemporal integration of whole-field visual motion in medaka and zebrafish larvae

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Yasuko Isoe
   2. Yasmine Fatima Mabene
   3. Marie-Abèle Bind
   4. Florian Engert

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides a quantitative comparison of how zebrafish and medaka larvae process visual motion, revealing clear differences in how they integrate information across space and time. The evidence is convincing, combining a broad set of behavioral assays with response decomposition and mechanistic modeling that together support the central conclusions. Some aspects remain incomplete, particularly the link between the spatial and temporal findings, the extent to which the model accounts for the full range of behavioral results, and the framing of broader evolutionary or social interpretations. Overall, the work offers a careful and informative analysis that should be of broad interest to researchers studying visual processing, sensorimotor computation, and comparative neuroscience.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Modality-Specific and Amodal Language Processing by Single Neurons

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Yair Lakretz
   2. Naama Friedmann
   3. Jean-Rémi King
   4. Emily Mankin
   5. Anthony Rangel
   6. Ariel Tankus
   7. Stanislas Dehaene
   8. Itzhak Fried

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a large-scale characterization of single-neuron responses during reading and listening, enabling examination of both 'low-level' (orthographic/phonological) and 'higher-level' (syntactic) features, as well as links between single-neuron activity and multi-scale field potentials, making it a valuable resource for bridging micro- and macroscale accounts of language processing. The analyses identify modality-specific and putatively modality-independent responses across distributed brain regions, offering an intriguing framework for understanding how sensory-specific and abstract representations may relate. However, the evidence supporting the central claims is currently incomplete, due to limited population-level quantification, insufficient statistical characterization of how many neurons encode the relevant features, ambiguity in the interpretation of encoding model results, and a lack of rigorous tests of cross-modal generalization and alternative accounts, which together weaken the conclusions about amodal representations and hierarchical processing.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Contrasting walking styles map to discrete neural substrates in the mouse brainstem

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Audrey Worley
   2. Alana Kirby
   3. Sophie Luks
   4. Tamara Samardzic
   5. Brian Ellison
   6. Lauren Broom
   7. Alban Latremoliere
   8. Veronique G VanderHorst

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This is a valuable survey of movements and locomotor patterns produced by circuits in the medial reticular formation (MRF) of the brainstem. The authors provide solid evidence that activation of GABAergic MRF neurons slowed down walking, activation of glutamatergic neurons induced a specific "shuffle" limb trajectory, and the activation of serotonergic neurons increased locomotor speed without affecting walking signature. This study adds to the growing body of knowledge about the effects of brainstem circuits on specific aspects of locomotor function.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Photo-downregulation of SIRT4 mitigates aging in mice by enhancing H3K9ac via fatty acid metabolism

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Fangqing Deng
   2. Rong Yang
   3. Xu Li
   4. Jinyun Niu
   5. Zibo Gao
   6. Monian Wang
   7. Yang Liu
   8. Lihua Yang
   9. Huifang Liu
   10. Yingchun Yang
   11. Zhaoxiang Yu
   12. Lianbing Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This potentially valuable study investigates the anti-senescence effects of red light exposure, proposing that reduced SIRT4 levels enhance fatty acid metabolism and H3K9ac, thereby attenuating ageing-related phenotypes. The authors use multiple approaches, including cultured cells, animal models, and molecular analyses, to support their conclusions. However, the evidence remains incomplete, as additional controls and stronger mechanistic data are needed to fully support the proposed pathway, particularly how red light exposure reduces SIRT4 levels.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. ARHGEF6-dependent cytoskeletal regulation underlies a conserved program of forebrain interneuron development

   This article has 22 authors:

   1. Carla Liaci
   2. Beatrice Savarese
   3. Elena Ferretti
   4. Jean-Paul Urenda
   5. Junyu Joanna Lu
   6. Giovanni Catapano
   7. Lucia Prandi
   8. Mattia Camera
   9. Rohin Manohar
   10. Simona Rando
   11. Alessandro Umbach
   12. Enis Hidisoglu
   13. Giuseppe Chiantia
   14. Andrea Marcantoni
   15. Maurizio Giustetto
   16. Roberto Oleari
   17. Alyssa Paganoni
   18. Anna Cariboni
   19. Van Truong
   20. Luciano Conti
   21. Giorgia Quadrato
   22. Giorgio R Merlo

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study presents valuable findings regarding the impact of ARHGEF6 deletion, a RhoGTPase regulator linked to X-linked intellectual disability (XLID46), in the development of interneurons. The evidence supporting the observed cellular and developmental phenotypes collected in both mouse and human iPSC models is convincing, although further work would strengthen the mechanistic interpretation and clarify the specificity of the findings. This work offers new insights into ARHGEF6 function and the potential contribution of its dysfunction to neurodevelopmental disorders.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. A miniaturized MR1 metabolite display system with native-like protein features

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Photis Rotsides
   2. Omkar Shinde
   3. Julia N Danon
   4. Nikolaos G Sgourakis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The manuscript by Rotsides et al. reports the design and validation of SMART-MR1, a miniaturized MR1 metabolite-display platform in which the α1/α2 ligand-binding domain is stabilized by a synthetic helical domain in place of the α3 domain and β2-microglobulin. Supported by biochemical, biophysical, and structural approaches, including ITC, NMR, and cryo-EM, the work provides solid evidence that SMART-MR1 retains native-like ligand binding and A-F7 TCR recognition while enabling experimental approaches for ligand screening that are difficult with conventional MR1 constructs. The study is valuable for the MR1 and MAIT-cell fields, particularly as a tool for ligand screening and mechanistic studies of MR1-restricted antigen presentation. There are several suggestions to further strengthen the study's impact, including clearer benchmarking against existing MR1 platforms, broader validation across ligands and TCRs, and functional evidence from MAIT-cell staining or activation assays.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Examining Alzheimer’s Disease modifiable risk factors: Impact of physical activity and diet on neuroanatomy and behaviour in mouse models

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Cindy L García
   2. Chloe Anastassiadis
   3. Mila Urosevic
   4. Megan Park
   5. Daniel Gallino
   6. Gabriel A Devenyi
   7. Stephanie Tullo
   8. Yohan Yee
   9. M Mallar Chakravarty

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study examines the effects of diet and exercise on brain structure and behaviour in the 3xTg mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. They show that combined access to a low-fat diet and exercise improves regional brain volume and behaviour in transgenic and wild-type control mice in a sex-specific manner, with analyses linking functional improvements to glucose homeostasis. Although some claims are well supported, the overall strength of the evidence is incomplete and hampered by a lack of clarity regarding the statistical analyses chosen. The work may be of interest to researchers studying neurodegenerative disease, particularly in preclinical contexts.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Uncovering genetic mechanisms underlying trait variation in switchgrass using explainable artificial intelligence

   This article has 12 authors:

   1. Paulo Izquierdo
   2. Xiaoyu Weng
   3. Thomas E Juenger
   4. Jason Bonnette
   5. Yuko Yoshinaga
   6. Chris Daum
   7. Anna Lipzen
   8. Kerrie Barry
   9. Matthew Blow
   10. Melissa D Lehti-Shiu
   11. David B Lowry
   12. Shin-Han Shiu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study by Izquierdo and colleagues provides important insights into the field of genomic and transcriptomic prediction of traits across multiple environments. The rationale and analyses conducted to integrate the two types of ~omics datasets across two environments are solid. However, some clarification would be appreciated in the presentation of the results, and adding some statistical control to clarify how the predictors were selected, or assessing their importance using the SHAP framework, would further consolidate the findings.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Intron Retention Controls Localization of lncRNAs PURPL and MALAT1 to Promote Cell Proliferation and Migration

   This article has 20 authors:

   1. Ioannis Grammatikakis
   2. Chosita Norkaew
   3. You Jin Song
   4. Amit K Behera
   5. Erica C Pehrsson
   6. Corrine Corrina R Hartford
   7. Shreya Kordale
   8. Rishabh Prasanth
   9. Yongmei Zhao
   10. Biraj Shrethsa
   11. Xiao Ling Li
   12. Ravi Kumar
   13. Ragini Singh
   14. Tayvia Brownmiller
   15. Xinyu Wen
   16. Natasha J Caplen
   17. Pablo Perez-Pinera
   18. Kannanganattu V Prasanth
   19. Thomas Gonatopoulos-Pournatzis
   20. Ashish Lal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript provides important insights into how U2AF2-dependent intron retention regulates the localization and function of long noncoding RNAs, with evidence supported by multiple complementary approaches. The work is notable for linking intron retention to nuclear speckle localization and cellular phenotypes, including proliferation and migration, although the mechanistic basis remains incompletely resolved. Overall, the study presents a compelling dataset with clear biological implications but would benefit from additional analyses to strengthen mechanistic interpretation and generality.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Bacterial ancestry of the mitochondrial ATP exporter

    This article has 2 authors:

    1. Jotin Gogoi
    2. Rajan Sankaranarayanan

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This potentially useful paper presents an intriguing hypothesis about the evolutionary origins of the SLC25 family of mitochondrial carrier proteins common to all eukaryotic life, proposing that all members originated from the ADP/ATP carrier (AAC) and that AAC itself may have emerged from bacterial homologs such as CysZ and YihY. While the phylogenetic analyses and structural searches are reasonable methodologies to explore ancient evolutionary events, the evidence provided here is deemed to provide incomplete support for the conclusion that the mitochondrial ATP transporter is related to CysZ and Yih.

    Reviewed by eLife