eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. T-follicular helper cell profiles differ by malaria antigen and for children compared to adults

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Catherine Suzanne Forconi
   2. Christina Nixon
   3. Hannah W Wu
   4. Boaz Odwar
   5. Sunthorn Pond-Tor
   6. John M Ong'echa
   7. Jonathan D Kurtis
   8. Ann M Moormann

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This descriptive study used multiparameter spectral flow cytometry and clustering analysis of a subset of CD4 T cells, termed circulating T follicular helper (cTfh), responding to Plasmodium falciparum antigens, PfSEA -1A and PfGARP. The results from this comprehensive study provide valuable information regarding differences in cTfh response profiles between children and adults living in malaria-endemic Kenya and thus offer a potential usefulness towards improving choices of antigen candidates for malaria vaccines. However, the analysis and interpretation of antigen-specific CD4 cTfh responses remain incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Combining radio-telemetry and radar measurements to test optimal foraging in an aerial insectivore bird

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Itai Bloch
   2. David Troupin
   3. Sivan Toledo
   4. Ran Nathan
   5. Nir Sapir

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study enhances our understanding of the foraging behaviour of aerial insectivorous birds. Using solid methodology, the authors have collected extensive data on bird movements and prey availability, which in turn provide support for the main claim of the study. The work will be of broad interest to behavioural ecologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Caspar specifies primordial germ cell count and identity in Drosophila melanogaster

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Subhradip Das
   2. Sushmitha Hegde
   3. Neel Wagh
   4. Jyothish Sudhakaran
   5. Adheena Elsa Roy
   6. Girish Deshpande
   7. Girish S Ratnaparkhi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study investigates the role of Caspar (Casp), an orthologue of human Fas-associated factor-1, in regulating the number of primordial germ cells that form during Drosophila embryogenesis. The findings are important in that they reveal an additional pathway that contributes to germ cell specification and maintenance. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid, as the authors identify Casp and its binding partner Transitional endoplasmic reticulum 94 (TER94) as factors that influence germ cell numbers.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Endogenous hydrogen peroxide positively regulates secretion of a gut-derived peptide in neuroendocrine potentiation of the oxidative stress response in Caenorhabditis elegans

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Qi Jia
   2. Drew Young
   3. Qixin Zhang
   4. Derek Sieburth

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents convincing evidence of the role of an intestine-released neuropeptide, FLP-2, in the oxidative stress response of C. elegans, as well as for the neural circuit pathway that regulates its release in response to sensing reactive oxygen species (i.e., H2O2). These valuable results advance the understanding of gut-brain signaling and the neural circuit basis of behavioral responses to stress.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Attentional modulation of secondary somatosensory and visual thalamus of mice

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Gordon H Petty
   2. Randy M Bruno

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides an important re-evaluation of modality-specific information processing in the thalamus of trained mice. Using an elegant task design that probes competing tactile and visual stimuli, the authors present compelling evidence that behavioral training reshapes the sensitivity of higher-order thalamic nuclei. Despite the powerful task design and the significance of the main findings, the origin of the cross-modal responses remains an open question and requires future investigation.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Precision-based causal inference modulates audiovisual temporal recalibration

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Luhe Li
   2. Fangfang Hong
   3. Stephanie Badde
   4. Michael S Landy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, Li et al., set out to understand the mechanisms of audiovisual temporal recalibration - the brain's ability to adjust to the latency differences that emerge due to different (distance-dependent) transduction latencies of auditory and visual signals - through psychophysical measurements and modeling. The analysis and specification of a formal model for this process provide convincing evidence to supports a role for causal inference in recalibration.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Chromatin regulator Kdm6b is required for the establishment and maintenance of neural stem cells in mouse hippocampus

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Eugene Gil
   2. Sung Jun Hong
   3. David Wu
   4. Dae Hwi Park
   5. Ryan N. Delgado
   6. Martina Malatesta
   7. Sajad Hamid Ahanger
   8. Karin Lin
   9. Saul Villeda
   10. Daniel A. Lim

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study elucidates the essential role of the chromatin regulator KDM6B in the establishment and maintenance of neural stem cells (NSCs) in the mouse hippocampus. While the evidence supporting the authors' claims is largely solid, a more comprehensive investigation into the cellular and molecular events underlying the loss of hippocampal NSCs would have further strengthened the study. Nonetheless, the findings will be of interest to biologists studying neural development and NSCs.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Cingulate cortex shapes early postnatal development of social vocalizations

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Gurueswar Nagarajan
   2. Denis Matrov
   3. Anna C Pearson
   4. Cecil C Yen
   5. Sean P Bradley
   6. Yogita Chudasama

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates the influence of the cingulate cortex on the development of the social vocalizations of marmoset monkeys by making bilateral lesions of this brain area in neonatal animals. The evidence supporting the authors' claims is convincing. The work will be of broad interest to cognitive neuroscientists, speech and language researchers, and primate neuroscientists.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Cerebellar Purkinje cells control posture in larval zebrafish (Danio rerio)

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Franziska Auer
   2. Katherine Nardone
   3. Koji Matsuda
   4. Masahiko Hibi
   5. David Schoppik

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study successfully applies an innovative chemogenetic tool to investigate cerebellar function to advance our understanding of the contributions of Purkinje cell populations to postural control in larval zebrafish. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincing and supported by rigorous statistical analysis. The study highlights the power of combining genetically targeted perturbations with quantitative high-throughput behavioral analysis and original microscopy tools.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Fast burst fraction transients convey information independent of the firing rate

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Richard Naud
    2. Xingyun Wang
    3. Zachary Friedenberger
    4. Alexandre Payeur
    5. Jiyun N. Shin
    6. Jean-Claude Béïque
    7. Blake A. Richards
    8. Moritz Drüke
    9. Matthew E. Larkum
    10. Guy Doron

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This valuable study provides evidence that during learning of a simple detection task, the change in the rate of spike bursts is a signal that is distinct from the change in firing rate, and suggests that the change in bursting is more correlated with learning than other measures of change in activity. However, the evidence for the claim that bursting contributes to learning and attention is currently incomplete, because the authors did not take into account the potentially differential effects of learning-related changes in movement on bursting compared to non-burst spike events, and there is no meaningful way to measure attention in their task. Also, the study used an artificial microstimulation as the stimulus, which limits the generalization of these results to normal sensory-motor learning.

    Reviewed by eLife