eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. The neuron-specific IIS/FOXO transcriptome in aged animals reveals regulatory mechanisms of cognitive aging

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Yifei Weng
   2. Shiyi Zhou
   3. Katherine Morillo
   4. Rachel Kaletsky
   5. Sarah Lin
   6. Coleen T Murphy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This fundamental study investigates the transcriptional changes in neurons that underlie loss of learning and memory with age in C. elegans, and how cognition is maintained in insulin/IGF-1-like signaling mutants. The presented evidence is compelling, utilizing a cutting-edge method to isolate neurons from worms for genomics that is clearly conveyed with a rigorous experimental approach. Overall, this study supports that older daf-2 worms maintain cognitive function via mechanisms that are unique from younger wild type worms, which will be of great interest to neuroscientists and researchers studying ageing.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Differential functions of the dorsal and intermediate regions of the hippocampus for optimal goal-directed navigation in VR space

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Hyeri Hwang
   2. Seung-Woo Jin
   3. Inah Lee

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors report solid evidence for a valuable set of findings in rats performing a new virtual place-preference task. Temporary pharmacological inhibition targeting the dorsal or intermediate hippocampus disrupted navigation to a goal location in the task, and functional inhibition of the intermediate hippocampus was more detrimental than functional inhibition of the dorsal hippocampus. The work provides novel insights into functional differentiation along the dorsal-ventral axis of the hippocampus.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Synchronous ensembles of hippocampal CA1 pyramidal neurons during novel exploration

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. En-Li Chen
   2. Tsai-Wen Chen
   3. Eric R Schreiter
   4. Bei-Jung Lin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this valuable study, the authors use a cutting-edge method to perform voltage imaging of CA1 pyramidal cells in head-fixed mice running on a track while local field potentials (LFPs) were recorded in the contralateral hemisphere. The authors provide solid evidence of synchronous ensembles of CA1 pyramidal neurons that are associated with contralaterally recorded theta rhythms but not with contralaterally recorded sharp wave-ripples during exploration of a novel environment. The paper will be of interest to scientists who are interested in hippocampal neuronal coding of novel environments, particularly those with experimental questions that can benefit from this cutting-edge imaging technique.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. High frequency spike inference with particle Gibbs sampling

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Giovanni Diana
   2. B Semihcan Sermet
   3. Gerard J Broussard
   4. Samuel S.-H Wang
   5. David A DiGregorio

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In their study, Diana et al. introduce a novel method for spike inference from calcium imaging data using a Monte Carlo-based approach, emphasizing the quantification of uncertainties in spike time estimates through a Bayesian framework. This method employs particle Gibbs sampling for estimating model parameter probabilities, offering accuracy comparable to existing methods with the added benefit of directly assessing uncertainties. The presentation of the underlying methods and its characterization is convincing and it presents a valuable advancement for neuroscientists interested in new approaches for parameter estimation from calcium imaging data.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Complementary cognitive roles for D2-MSNs and D1-MSNs during interval timing

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Robert A Bruce
   2. Matthew Weber
   3. Alexandra Bova
   4. Rachael Volkman
   5. Casey Jacobs
   6. Kartik Sivakumar
   7. Hannah Stutt
   8. Youngcho Kim
   9. Rodica Curtu
   10. Nandakumar S Narayanan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study examines the activity and function of dorsomedial striatal neurons in the estimation of time. The authors examine striatal activity as a function of time as well as the impact of optogenetic striatal manipulation on the animal's ability to estimate a time interval, providing solid evidence for their claims. The study could be further strengthened with a more rigorous characterization of activity and a stronger connection between their proposed model and the experimental data. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists examining how striatum contributes to behavior.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Large-scale characterization of drug mechanism of action using proteome-wide thermal shift assays

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Jonathan G Van Vranken
   2. Jiaming Li
   3. Julian Mintseris
   4. Ting-Yu Wei
   5. Catherine M Sniezek
   6. Meagan Gadzuk-Shea
   7. Steven P Gygi
   8. Devin K Schweppe

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The study provides a valuable showcase of a workflow to perform large-scale characterization of drug mechanisms of action using proteomics in which on-target and off-targets of 166 compounds using proteome solubility analysis in living cells and cell lysates were determined. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, however, the inclusion of more replicate experiments and more statistical rigor would have strengthened the study. This will be of broad interest to medicinal chemists, toxicologists, computational biologists and biochemists.

   Reviewed by PREreview, eLife

7. Spontaneous activity of striatal projection neurons supports maturation of striatal inputs to substantia nigra dopaminergic neurons

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Bojana Kokinovic
   2. Patricia Seja
   3. Angelica Donati
   4. Maria Ryazantseva
   5. Alban de Kerchove d’Exaerde
   6. Serge N. Schiffmann
   7. Tomi Taira
   8. Svetlana M. Molchanova

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study describes early postnatal compartmental differences in the functional maturation of striatal projection neurons. It explores how the postnatal activity of these neurons may determine the GABAergic innervation of dopaminergic neurons in the adult substantia nigra pars compacta. While the functional characterization of striatal neuron development is solid, analysis of how early postnatal activity of striatal projection neurons shapes their functional innervation of dopaminergic neurons is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Role of N343 glycosylation on the SARS-CoV-2 S RBD structure and co-receptor binding across variants of concern

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Callum M Ives
   2. Linh Nguyen
   3. Carl A Fogarty
   4. Aoife M Harbison
   5. Yves Durocher
   6. John Klassen
   7. Elisa Fadda

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents an important finding on the structural role of glycosylation at position N343 of the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein's receptor-binding domain in maintaining its stability, with implications across different variants of concern. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing, since appropriate and validated methodology in line with current state-of-the-art has been approached. The work will be of interest to evolutionary virologists.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Deletion of sulfate transporter SUL1 extends yeast replicative lifespan via reduced PKA signaling instead of decreased sulfate uptake

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Juan Long
   2. Meng Ma
   3. Yuting Chen
   4. Bo Gong
   5. Yi Zheng
   6. Hao Li
   7. Jing Yang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study offers a valuable contribution to the understanding of how inorganic nutrient transporters, particularly SUL1, influence yeast lifespan through signaling pathways rather than transport functions. The findings suggest a novel link between SUL1 deletion and extended replicative lifespan, supported by transcriptomic and stress-response data. However, the strength of the evidence remains incomplete, with key experiments-such as sulfate supplementation tests, functional autophagy validation, and transport assays-either missing or insufficiently described. As a result, while the manuscript presents promising insights, additional work is needed to robustly support its conclusions.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. The geometric basis of epithelial convergent extension

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Fridtjof Brauns
    2. Nikolas H Claussen
    3. Matthew F Lefebvre
    4. Eric F Wieschaus
    5. Boris I Shraiman

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This important study analyzes in an original way how tension pattern dynamics can reveal the contribution of active versus passive intercalation during tissue elongation. The authors develop a compelling, elegant analytical framework (isogonal tension decomposition) to disentangle the passive (adjacent tissues pulling) and active (local tension anisotropy) contributions to intercalation events. This allows the generation of global maps of tissue mechanics that will be extremely helpful in the field of biomechanics.

    Reviewed by eLife