eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Molecular architecture of the tumor microenvironment caused by BRCA1 and BRCA2 somatic mutations in human lung adenocarcinoma

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Gaoming Liao
   2. Xinbin Yang
   3. Qi Liu
   4. Shufeng Nan
   5. Yan Liu
   6. Jinwei Li
   7. Si Huang
   8. Wang Ning
   9. Xionghai Qin
   10. Gang Xu

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study investigates the impact of BRCA1/2 mutations on immunotherapy in lung adenocarcinoma using multi-omics approaches. The detailed genetic analysis of two cancer genes (BRCA1 and BRCA2) demonstrated their new roles in causing the tumor microenvironment in lung cancer. The solid findings of this study provide an essential foundation for further developing drugs targeting BRCA1/2 in lung cancer therapy.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Noradrenergic infraslow rhythm during sleep is the critical link between heart-rate dynamics and memory consolidation

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Sofie S Jacobsen
   2. Allison B Morehouse
   3. Pin-Chun Chen
   4. Ryszard S Gomolka
   5. Mie Andersen
   6. Maiken Nedergaard
   7. Sara C Mednick
   8. Celia Kjaerby

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study provides evidence that locus coeruleus activity is coordinated with heart rate during sleep, confirming previous work in mice and humans, with a possible role for sleep-dependent memory consolidation. The claims are supported by solid evidence, although the underlying mechanisms and the predictive value of the correlative dataset would benefit from additional controls. This work will be of interest to neuroscientists focusing on sleep, memory, and autonomic functions.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Repurposed small molecule toxin inhibitors neutralise a diversity of venoms from the Neotropical viperid snake genus Bothrops

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Rachel H Clare
   2. Adam Westhorpe
   3. Emma Stars
   4. Taline D Kazandjian
   5. Laura-Oana Albulescu
   6. Stefanie K Menzies
   7. Nicholas R Casewell

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The findings of this study are important since they cover the repurposing of small molecules as metalloprotease and phospholipase inhibitors for early intervention in the treatment of bothropic envenoming in the Neotropics, and thus provide a strong rationale for the progression of these inhibitors into future preclinical and clinical evaluation for snakebite indications across various ecological zones, albeit the current evidence casts doubts on the viability of repurposing nafamostat. The strength of the evidence is solid; however, there are some weaknesses, such as a lack of translatability of the in vivo model and insufficient venom characterization. Thus, the strength of the evidence can be enhanced by using a mouse model in future studies. The paper remains of interest to ophiologists, biochemists and medicinal chemists.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Neural Mechanisms of Willed Attention Control

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Changhao Xiong
   2. Qiang Yang
   3. Sungkean Kim
   4. Sreenivasan Meyyappan
   5. Jesse J Bengson
   6. George R Mangun
   7. Mingzhou Ding

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This useful study supplements previous publications of willed attention by addressing a frontoparietal network that supports internal goal generation. The evidence is solid in analyzing two datasets collected at different independent sites, using the same willed-attention paradigm and combining fMRI and EEG. This work will interest cognitive psychologists and neuroscience researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The effect of physical activity on brain structure and cognitive function in the population-based cohort of LIFE-Adult-Study

   This article has 8 authors:

   1. Polona Kalc
   2. Rober Dahnke
   3. Christian Sander
   4. Frauke Beyer
   5. Andrea Zülke
   6. Steffi G Riedel-Heller
   7. Veronica Witte
   8. Christian Gaser

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a valuable examination of two measurements of physical activity (self-report and objective) in relation to widely studied structural MRI measures of the brain (hippocampal volume and BrainAGE) and cognitive function (Trail Making Test). Cross-sectional and longitudinal data were analyzed using established and validated methodology. The results convincingly suggest that brain health is more likely a cause of physical activity than an outcome of it, although limitations to the data could mask evidence of benefits to brain health but these are discussed by the authors. This work will be of interest to neurologists and epidemiologists studying the etiology of cognitive decline, to clinicians interested in advising patients on strategies for preserving brain health in aging, and to members of the lay public.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Designing optimal perturbation inputs for system identification in neuroscience

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Mikito Ogino
   2. Daiki Sekizawa
   3. Jun Kitazono
   4. Masafumi Oizumi

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     The authors establish solid theoretical principles for designing brain perturbations under the assumption that brain activity evolves under a linear model. By prioritizing low-variance components, resonant frequencies, and hub nodes, this framework provides an important foundation for optimizing information gain, neural state classification, and the control of neural dynamics. However, the lack of investigation of model mismatch makes the study incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Desert Hedgehog mediates stem Leydig cell differentiation through Ptch2/Gli1/Sf1 signaling axis

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Changle Zhao
   2. Yongxun Chen
   3. Lei Liu
   4. Xiang Liu
   5. Hesheng Xiao
   6. Feilong Wang
   7. Qin Huang
   8. Xiangyan Dai
   9. Wenjing Tao
   10. Deshou Wang
   11. Jing Wei

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable contributions to establish canonical Dhh signaling as a primary mediator in the differentiation of Leydig cells and their steroidogenic capacity. Together, the experimental design using their established stem Leydig cell line alongside relevant genetically mutated models, both derived using the relevant Nile tilapia animal system, provided largely convincing evidence to support their conclusions. The work will be of broad interest to developmental biologists interested in differentiation of steroidogenic or hormone producing cells.

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

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Pupil size reveals the perceptual quality and effortless nature of synesthesia

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Christoph Strauch
   2. Casper Leenaars
   3. Romke Rouw

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study used pupillometry to provide an objective assessment of a form of synesthesia in which people see additional color when reading numbers. It provides convincing evidence that subjective color ratings are matched by changes in pupil size that recapitulate brightness-mediated changes when exposed to the real color. The work provides a valuable contribution to the literature on both synesthetic perception and the use of pupillometry to probe perception and related psychological processes.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Evaluation of antibiotic and peptide vaccine strategies for mirror bacterial infections

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Alexander Kleinman
   2. Joe Torres
   3. Brian Wang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study experimentally probes potential antibiotic activity against hypothetical "mirror bacteria" with reversed chirality, showing that D-enantiomers of several approved antibiotics largely lack activity against natural bacteria (as a proxy for mirror organisms) and that conjugated D-peptides can elicit strong binding antibody responses in mice when adjuvanted. The evidence is solid for these core observations but incomplete on issues of chiral purity, functional antibody assays, replicates, and pharmacodynamic readouts; the work also overreaches in extrapolations without deeper mechanistic integration or native-format validation. Overall, the work offers a cautious, relevant contribution to mirror microbiology discussions and will interest infectious disease researchers.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Anesthesia Lowers Spatial Frequency Preference in the Primary Visual Cortex

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Jiahao Wu
    2. Taisuke Yoneda
    3. Kallum Robinson
    4. Naotsugu Tsuchiya
    5. Yumiko Yoshimura

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This paper describes useful findings on the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on the visual cortical circuitry of the mouse. It provides solid evidence that the visual spatial frequency sensitivity becomes coarser (lower resolution) during anesthesia, with distinct effects described in excitatory neurons, and parvalbumin (PV) and somatostatin (SOM) positive interneurons. This study should be of interest to neuroscientists studying the mouse visual cortex and the effects of anesthesia on cortical circuitry.

    Reviewed by eLife