eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Optical single-channel recording of CRAC channels with HaloTag and a Ca2+-sensitive ligand

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Harsharan Dhillon
   2. Richard S Lewis

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a fundamental methodological advance that enables measurements of single-channel gating behavior of CRAC channels whose unitary currents are too small to be resolved electrically. By combining a channel-tethered calcium-sensitive dye (JF646-BAPTA) with voltage-clamp TIRF imaging, the authors discovered new kinetic behaviors of CRAC channels and further identified a dye-blinking artifact with implications that are of importance for optical single-channel studies. Although the work is convincing and the findings have biological relevance, some quantitative aspects of the study can be strengthened by additional analysis.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Layer-specific wide-field calcium imaging of neocortical activity

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Dayra A Lorenzo
   2. Yasir Gallero-Salas
   3. Matteo Panzeri
   4. Anna-Sophia Wahl
   5. Ariel Gilad
   6. Christopher M Lewis
   7. Fritjof Helmchen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study advances methods for improved analyses of wide-field optical imaging of mice expressing the genetically encoded calcium indicator GCaMP6f in different neocortical layers through registering to layer-specific cortical atlases and deconvolution to account for depth-dependent light scattering. However, the key underlying assumption of the work, that widefield signals originate in somata, and not in their superficial axonal and dendritic compartments, remains untested. Similarly, other signal sources like intrinsic optical signals and hemodynamic occlusion are incompletely considered. This study is likely to be of interest to neuroscientists carrying out wide-field optical imaging of the mouse neocortex.

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3. Dominant α-tubulin mutations rescue tauopathy neurodegenerative phenotypes in C. elegans

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Sarah J Benbow
   2. Aleen D Saxton
   3. Misa Baum
   4. Rikki L Uhrich
   5. Jade G Stair
   6. Kelly Keene
   7. Chloe Dahleen
   8. Linda Wordeman
   9. Nicole F Liachko
   10. Rebecca L Kow
   11. Brian C Kraemer

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Using a genetic screen in C. elegans, Benbow et al., identify mutations in alpha-tubulin genes that suppress Tau-induced neurodegenerative phenotypes. The results provide solid support the authors' claim that the tubulin mutants protect against neurodegeneration without altering tau aggregation and hyperphosphorylation. While precise mechanisms of protection by tubulin mutants remain to be established, the results are valuable for understanding the underlying cellular mechanisms of Tauopathies and for the development of therapeutic interventions.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Hippocampal neuronal and astrocytic responses to noradrenaline and natural arousal

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Sian N. Duss
   2. Maria Wilhelm
   3. Alina-Mariuca Marinescu
   4. Runzhong Zhang
   5. Fritjof Helmchen
   6. Johannes Bohacek
   7. Peter Rupprecht

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important work uses a sophisticated combination of neuromodulator imaging, optogenetics, and two-photon calcium imaging to examine how locus coeruleus-mediated norepinephrine signaling influences distinct hippocampal cell types. The evidence is solid and provides novel insights into cell type-specific responses to norepinephrine release. However, the conclusions would be strengthened by a more thorough analysis of the differences between locomotion-associated activity and optogenetic stimulation of the locus coeruleus.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Reduction of complex dynamic touch information to a single stable perceptual feature

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Naghmeh Zamini
   2. Benjamin Stephens-Fripp
   3. Chase Tymms
   4. Sonny Chan
   5. Roham Padakhtim
   6. Heather Culbertson
   7. Jess Hartcher-O’Brien

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable finding that perception of a material's properties and hardness during brief touches can be altered using only vibrotactile feedback. The user studies show that vibration energy can influence judgements of material hardness, but the evidence is incomplete to support the broader claim made by the authors that spectral energy is the dominant feature governing hardness perception.

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6. Transcriptional profiling of extraocular motor neurons reveals sim1a as a candidate strabismus-related gene

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Emily Gershowitz
   2. Kyla Rose Hamling
   3. Başak Rosti
   4. Hannah Gelnaw
   5. Grace Xiang
   6. Cheryl Quainoo
   7. Dena Goldblatt
   8. Paige Leary
   9. David Schoppik

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study adds important data on the transcriptional identity of the motor neurons innervating eye muscles in larval zebrafish, and shows how disruption to a specific gene, sim1a, impairs the movements of the eye. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing, with bulk and single-cell RNA sequencing as well as functional testing of the vestibulo-ocular reflex. This work will be of interest to developmental biologists and eye movement specialists.

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7. Dopamine ramps as a normative consequence of dual-process control

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Luke Priestley
   2. Thomas Akam

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study developed a novel theory to account for various aspects of dopamine signals, particularly dopamine ramps. The authors propose that dopamine reward prediction error (RPE) signals are generated by a dual-process learning system in which values inferred by a model-based system enter the RPE asymmetrically into the update target but not the prediction. The results are well-presented and convincing, and make a contribution that is of importance to the field. This work will be of interest to those studying dopamine specifically or brain learning computations and systems more broadly.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. In-cell cryo-electron tomography reveals differential effects of type I and type II kinase inhibitors on LRRK2 filament formation and microtubule association

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Tamar Basiashvili
   2. Joshua Hutchings
   3. Siyu Chen
   4. Eva P Karasmanis
   5. W Alexander Flaherty
   6. Andres E Leschziner
   7. Elizabeth Villa

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study reports important findings by showing that two classes of kinase inhibitors, which stabilise the LRRK2 enzyme in either an active (Type I) or inactive state (Type II), have distinct effects on the formation of LRRK2 filaments and their association with cellular structures. Using correlative light microscopy, cryo-electron tomography and sub-tomogram averaging, the authors provide convincing evidence that a Type I inhibitor leads to the extensive decoration of microtubules with LRRK2 in a closed-kinase conformation, and that such decoration is not seen for a type-II inhibitor. The conclusions are consistent with previous work, although the physiological relevance of the work remains somewhat limited due to reliance on overexpression and the use of a rare mutation in a single cell type.

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9. Hierarchical priors enable neural prediction of perceived biological motion

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Ingmar EJ de Vries
   2. Floris P de Lange
   3. Moritz F Wurm

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, de Vries and colleagues aim to determine how the perception of biological motion is organized at the neural level, specifically testing whether this process rests on hierarchical predictive processing by extending a methodological framework that the authors previously published. The evidence is solid for the empirical claim that neural representations of body motion systematically lead the stimulus in time, with simulations validating the regression approach and consistent effects on both peak magnitude and peak latency. Support for the stronger theoretical interpretation that these signatures specifically reflect active hierarchical predictive inference requires further substantiation, since the design and analysis do not distinguish such inference from cached associative retrieval or from nonlinear temporal integration of slowly varying features.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Uncovering the Heterogeneity and Ontogeny of Mouse Thymic Macrophages Reveals an Unexpected Early Checkpoint Role

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Helen Wang
    2. Vinothkumar Rajan
    3. Anthony Wong
    4. Slava Epelman
    5. Juan Carlos Zúñiga-Pflücker

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This study characterizes the heterogeneity and developmental origins of macrophages in the thymus and offers tantalizing evidence of their potential involvement in the first step of T cell selection. The macrophage characterisation is interesting, although the evidence for the specific involvement of macrophages in beta-selection is incomplete, as alternative explanations have not been ruled out. These results provide an important advance that further our understanding of thymus biology, especially in view of the contribution of heterogenous thymic macrophage subpopulations.

    Reviewed by eLife