eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Tracking maternal proteins uncovers a central role for the residual body in organelle recycling during Toxoplasma gondii replication

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Julia von Knoerzer-Suckow
   2. Parnian Sazegar
   3. Javier Periz
   4. Simon Gras
   5. Markus Meissner

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents valuable new insights into the patterns of organelle inheritance in the protozoan parasite Toxoplasma gondii. An innovative dual-labeling approach used in this study to track maternal-derived and de novo synthesized organelles provides a technical advance with potential to be more broadly applied. Solid evidence is provided that different organelles show distinct inheritance fates during cell replication; however, the data describing the residual body component in this process is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Orco regulates the circadian activity of pheromone-sensitive olfactory receptor neurons in hawkmoths

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Aditi Vijayan
   2. Mauro Forlino
   3. Yajun Chang
   4. Pablo Rojas
   5. Katrin Schröder
   6. Anna C Schneider
   7. Martin E Garcia
   8. Monika Stengl

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this manuscript, the authors used in vivo long-term tip recordings of the long trichoid sensilla of male hawkmoths to analyze spontaneous spiking activity indicative of the ORNs' endogenous membrane potential oscillations. The authors combine extracellular electrophysiology of the hawkmoth antennae with computational modeling to predict that Orco receptor neuron (ORN) activity is required for circadian, not ultradian, firing patterns. The work provides valuable support for the hypothesis that a posttranslational feedback loop regulates daily and ultradian rhythms in neuronal excitability. Nevertheless, the evidence reported provides only incomplete support for their conclusions, especially with regard to the biological implications of their assumption-heavy models.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Uncovering Shared and Tissue-Specific Molecular Adaptations to Intermittent Fasting in Liver, Brain, and Muscle

   This article has 19 authors:

   1. Yibo Fan
   2. Senuri De Silva
   3. Nishat I Tabassum
   4. Xiangyuan Peng
   5. Vernise Lim
   6. Xiangru Cheng
   7. Keshava K Datta
   8. Rohan Lowe
   9. Terrance G Johns
   10. Mark P Mattson
   11. Suresh Mathivanan
   12. Christopher G Sobey
   13. Eitan Okun
   14. Yong U Liu
   15. Guobing Chen
   16. Mitchell KP Lai
   17. Dong-Gyu Jo
   18. Jayantha Gunaratne
   19. Thiruma V Arumugam

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a solid paper on intermittent fasting that will be of interest to readers. The data presented are certainly valuable as a resource. The findings of both shared and tissue-specific signatures, both at the proteomic and transcriptomic levels, align well with what has been established and bring new insight into metabolic adaptation and its consequences in muscle, cortex, and liver.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A tale of two birds: cognitive simplicity drives collective route improvements in homing pigeons

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Shoubhik Chandan Banerjee
   2. Fritz A Francisco
   3. Albert B Kao

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study addresses an important question and shows how social navigation in homing pigeons can be explained by simple averaging, without requiring any complex cognitive abilities. The evidence, based on a rigorous and systematic comparison of seven models and data on how social routes can be generated from solitary routes, is compelling. The authors should be commended for their willingness to critically re-examine established interpretations.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Enterovirus D68 2A protease causes nuclear pore complex dysfunction and motor neuron toxicity

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Katrina M Zinn
   2. Mathew W McLaren
   3. Michael T Imai
   4. Malavika M Jayaram
   5. Jeffrey D Rothstein
   6. Matthew J Elrick

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study examines the cleavage of motor neuron nucleoporins by proteases 2A and 3C of enterovirus D68, a pathogen associated with acute flaccid myelitis. The evidence supporting the effects of EV-D68 proteases on nuclear import and export is solid and confirms previous results on the specific targeting of nucleoporins by proteases from other enteroviruses. However, the claim that cleavage of nucleoporins by EV-D68 2A is neurotoxic, though intriguing, is incomplete, as the evidence is largely indirect.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Multiple event segmentation mechanisms in the human brain

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Tan T Nguyen
   2. Joset A Etzel
   3. Matthew A Bezdek
   4. Jeffrey M Zacks

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study tests whether prediction error or prediction uncertainty controls how the brain segments continuous experience into events. The paper uses validated models that predict human behavior to analyze multivariate neural pattern changes during naturalistic movie watching. The authors provide solid evidence that there are overlapping but partially distinct brain dynamics for each signal.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. The age and sex dynamics of heterosexual HIV transmission in Zambia: an HPTN 071 (PopART) phylogenetic and modelling study

   This article has 27 authors:

   1. Matthew D Hall
   2. William Probert
   3. Lucie Abeler-Dörner
   4. Chris Wymant
   5. Francesco di Lauro
   6. Xiayoue Xi
   7. Rafael Sauter
   8. Tanya Golubchik
   9. David Bonsall
   10. Michael Pickles
   11. Anne Cori
   12. Justin Bwalya
   13. Sian Floyd
   14. Nomtha Bell-Mandla
   15. Kwame Shanaube
   16. Blia Yang
   17. Peter Bock
   18. Deborah Donnell
   19. Mary K Grabowski
   20. Deenan Pillay
   21. Andrew Rambaut
   22. Oliver Ratmann
   23. Sarah Fidler
   24. Helen Ayles
   25. Richard Hayes
   26. Christophe Fraser
   27. the PANGEA-HIV consortium and the HPTN 071 (PopART) study team

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study provides evidence for our understanding of HIV transmission dynamics by age and sex in Zambia during the PopART trial; by combining phylogenetic and individual-based mathematical modelling (IBM), it adds depth to the epidemiological literature and may inform more strategic allocation of HIV prevention resources in sub-Saharan Africa. The authors employ two complementary and well-established methodologies (phylogenetics and IBM), and this dual approach is a notable strength. However, the evidence supporting key conclusions is incomplete, with several claims insufficiently substantiated by the data presented. Improvements in data presentation (e.g., quantification of qualitative statements, statistical estimates, and clearer description of results) would substantially strengthen the paper.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. RadD from Fusobacterium nucleatum Engages NKp46 to Promote Antitumor Cytotoxicity

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Ahmed Rishiq
   2. Johanna Galski
   3. Reem Bsoul
   4. Mingdong Liu
   5. Rema Darawshe
   6. Renate Lux
   7. Gilad Bachrach
   8. Ofer Mandelboim

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study describes a mechanism of microbial modulation of anti-tumor immunity, which is of considerable interest in the field. However, the experimental supports for the key mechanistic claim, the interaction between RadD and NKp46, are not robust. Multiple experimental inconsistencies, especially in vivo, weaken the conclusions, making the strength of evidence incomplete. Additional controls, direct binding assays, and clarification of in vivo mechanistic relevance would strengthen the work.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Inverted Assembly of the Lens Within Ocular Organoids Reveals Alternate Paths to Ocular Morphogenesis

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Elin Stahl
   2. Miguel Angel Delgado-Toscano
   3. Ishwariya Saravanan
   4. Anastasija Paneva
   5. Joachim Wittbrodt
   6. Lucie Zilova

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study demonstrates that ocular organoids can generate both retina and lens through a non-canonical, "inside-out" morphogenetic route. The work is solid, with well-designed experiments combining imaging, molecular analyses, and transcriptomics to establish that lens formation in organoids follows conserved molecular programs despite an alternative morphogenesis. These findings expand our understanding of self-organization and developmental plasticity, and will be of broad interest to researchers working on eye development, organoids, and tissue engineering.

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

   Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

10. Neural Representation of Associative Threat Learning in Pulvinar Divisions, Lateral Geniculate Nucleus, and Mediodorsal Thalamus in Humans

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Muhammad Badarnee
    2. Zhenfu Wen
    3. B Isabel Moallem
    4. Stephen Maren
    5. Mohammed R Milad

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      The study provides valuable insights into the role of thalamic nuclei in associative threat and extinction learning, supported by a large dataset and multipronged analyses. However, aspects of the evidence remain incomplete, particularly regarding the statistical methods, the claims of plasticity, and the network modeling framework. With this addressed, this manuscript will be of interest to those interested in learning and memory, fear, thalamic circuitry, and related mental heath conditions.

    Reviewed by eLife