Latest preprint reviews

1. The penetration ring is a novel infection structure formed by the penetration peg for invading plant cell membrane in rice blast fungus

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Wenqin Fang
   2. Xiaoyu Zai
   3. Jia Chen
   4. Yakubu Saddeeq Abubakar
   5. Qiuqiu Wu
   6. Zhenyu Fang
   7. Xiuwei Huang
   8. Xiang Gan
   9. Daniel J Ebbole
   10. Zonghua Wang
   11. Wenhui Zheng

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study describes the formation of a penetration ring in the rice blast fungus Magnaporthe oryzae during host cell invasion. The work provides useful insights into how the penetration ring facilitates the transition of penetration pegs into invasive hyphae, which leads to a better understanding of plant-pathogen interactions. However, the evidence supporting the function of this novel infection structure remains incomplete and further work is needed to help clarify the exact role of the penetration ring in the infection process.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Ultraslow serotonin oscillations in the hippocampus delineate substates across NREM and waking

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Claire Cooper
   2. Daniel Parthier
   3. Jérémie Sibille
   4. John Tukker
   5. Nicolas X Tritsch
   6. Dietmar Schmitz

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study reports that slow fluctuations of serotonin release during wakefulness and non-REM sleep correspond to periods of either increased arousal or enhanced offline information processing. The evidence supporting the claim is convincing, and the methodology used in the study will benefit many in the field. The work will be of interest to neuroscientists working on sleep, memory, and neuromodulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Prosapip1 in the dorsal hippocampus mediates synaptic protein composition, long-term potentiation, and spatial memory

   This article has 9 authors:

   1. Zachary W Hoisington
   2. Himanshu Gangal
   3. Khanhky Phamluong
   4. Chhavi Shukla
   5. Yann Ehinger
   6. Jeffrey J Moffat
   7. Gregg E Homanics
   8. Jun Wang
   9. Dorit Ron

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study aims to understand the function of ProSAP-interacting protein 1 (Prosapip1) in the brain. Using a conditional Prosapip1 KO mouse (floxed prosapip1 crossed with Syn1-Cre line), the authors performed analysis including protein biochemistry, synaptic physiology, and behavioral learning. Solid evidence from this study supports a role of Prosapip 1 in synaptic protein composition, synaptic NMDA responses, LTP, and spatial memory. Addressing some of the technical and methodological weaknesses may further improve the significance of the study.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Phylogeny of neocortical-hippocampal projections provides insight in the nature of human memory

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Daniel Reznik
   2. Piotr Majka
   3. Marcello GP Rosa
   4. Menno P Witter
   5. Christian F Doeller

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable work discusses the phylogenetic conservation of the hippocampal region and primary sensory cortical regions in mammalian species. The authors propose that species-specific differences in behavior and mnemonic functions may be due to differences in cortico-hippocampal connectivity patterns. However, the manuscript, in its present form, is speculative, and the strength of evidence for this proposition is incomplete.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Endogenous Precision of the Number Sense

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Arthur Prat-Carrabin
   2. Michael Woodford

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This research investigates the precision of numerosity perception in two different tasks and concludes that human performance aligns with an efficient coding model optimized for current environmental statistics and task goals. The findings may have important implications for our understanding of numerosity perception as well as the ongoing debate on different efficient coding models. However, the evidence presented in the paper to support the conclusion is still incomplete and could be strengthened by further modeling analysis or experimental data that can address potential confounds.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Translational control in the spinal cord regulates gene expression and pain hypersensitivity in the chronic phase of neuropathic pain

   This article has 24 authors:

   1. Kevin C Lister
   2. Calvin Wong
   3. Sonali Uttam
   4. Marc Parisien
   5. Patricia Stecum
   6. Nicole Brown
   7. Weihua Cai
   8. Mehdi Hooshmandi
   9. Ning Gu
   10. Mehdi Amiri
   11. Francis Beaudry
   12. Seyed Mehdi Jafarnejad
   13. Diana Tavares-Ferreira
   14. Nikhil Nageshwar Inturi
   15. Khadijah Mazhar
   16. Hien T Zhao
   17. Bethany Fitzsimmons
   18. Christos G Gkogkas
   19. Nahum Sonenberg
   20. Theodore J Price
   21. Luda Diatchenko
   22. Yaser Atlasi
   23. Jeffrey S Mogil
   24. Arkady Khoutorsky

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study explores the role of protein synthesis in spinal cord neurons in the regulation of chronic pain. Using innovative techniques, this valuable study outlines cell-type specific gene changes that occur in the spinal cord in the early and late phases of nerve injury. The presented evidence and methods used are, however, incomplete: there are several major technical and analysis issues that need to be addressed, and in addition, deeper gene expression analysis and additional controls would have strengthened the conclusions. This work will be of broad interest to biologists studying pathological plasticity in circuits.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. NMDA receptor antagonist memantine selectively affects recurrent processing during perceptual inference

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Samuel Noorman
   2. Timo Stein
   3. Jasper Zantvoord
   4. Johannes J Fahrenfort
   5. Simon van Gaal

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study presents a fundamental finding to the field interested in recurrent processing and its neuromodulatory underpinnings, finding unexpectedly that memantine (blocking NMDA-receptors) enhances the decoding of features thought to rely on NMDA-receptors. The evidence is solid and would be improved by further persuading the readership of the likely functional underpinnings of this direction of result and why there was no behavioural effect. These findings will be of interest to a wide community of researchers studying consciousness, sensory processing, attention, and neurotransmitters.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. A mathematical model for ketosis-prone diabetes suggests the existence of multiple pancreatic β-cell inactivation mechanisms

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Sean A Ridout
   2. Priyathama Vellanki
   3. Ilya Nemenman

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment:

     This theoretical study makes a useful contribution to our understanding of a subtype of type 2 diabetes – ketosis-prone diabetes mellitus (KPD) – with a potential impact on our broader understanding of diabetes and glucose regulation. The article presents an ordinary differential equation-based model for KPD that incorporates a number of distinct timescales – fast, slow, as well as intermediate, incorporating a key hypothesis of reversible beta cell deactivation. The presented evidence is solid and shows that observed clinical disease trajectories may be explained by a simple mathematical model in a particular parameter regime.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. The Extra-Islet Pancreas Supports Autoimmunity in Human Type 1 Diabetes

   This article has 15 authors:

   1. GL Barlow
   2. CM Schürch
   3. SS Bhate
   4. D Phillips
   5. A Young
   6. S Dong
   7. HA Martinez
   8. G Kaber
   9. N Nagy
   10. S Ramachandran
   11. J Meng
   12. E Korpos
   13. JA Bluestone
   14. GP Nolan
   15. PL Bollyky

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This valuable study advances our understanding of the histopathological features of type 1 diabetes, in particular in regard to the composition and spatial organization of pancreas infiltrating immune cells. The evidence supporting the conclusions is convincingly grounded in an application of both state-of-the-art high-dimensional in situ immunostaining technology as well as a tailored image analysis strategy. The work will be of broad interest to type 1 diabetes researchers as it contributes to a better understanding of the disease's etiopathology.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Molecular mapping and functional validation of GLP-1R cholesterol binding sites in pancreatic beta cells

    This article has 10 authors:

    1. Affiong I Oqua
    2. Kin Chao
    3. Liliane El Eid
    4. Lisa Casteller
    5. Alba Miguéns
    6. Sebastian Barg
    7. Ben Jones
    8. Jorge Bernadino de la Serna
    9. Sarah L Rouse
    10. Alejandra Tomas

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study presents a valuable finding on the role of cholesterol-binding site on GLP-1 receptors and functionally characterizes the impact of this mutation on receptor behavior in the membrane and downstream signaling. The computational and experimental approaches used in the study to arrive at the conclusions are solid. The clinical ramifications are unclear at this point, but the study is a helpful addition to the scientific community working on receptor biology and drug development.

    Reviewed by eLife