eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Language comprehension functionally modulates first-order relay thalamic nuclei

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Liu Mengxing
   2. Shiya Wang
   3. Carmen Vidaurre
   4. Sara Guediche
   5. Garikoitz Lerma-Usabiaga
   6. Pedro M Paz-Alonso

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study presents a potentially valuable exploration of the role of thalamic nuclei in language processing. The results will be of interest to researchers interested in the neurobiology of language. However, the evidence is incomplete to support robust conclusions at this point.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Dynamics of sensorimotor plasticity during spatial finger augmentation

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Dominika Radziun
   2. Siebe Geurts
   3. Valeria C Peviani
   4. Luke E Miller

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides a useful contribution to understanding how wearable augmentation devices interact with human proprioception, using a longitudinal design over a single session. Results demonstrate that the perceptual representation of the biological finger and augmentation device changes across different phases of device exposure and use. The evidence supporting a representational change over time is solid, although it is still not clear whether these changes reflect three distinct phases of sensorimotor plasticity, as argued, versus 'washout' or adaptation effects. This work will be of interest to researchers studying body representation, sensorimotor learning, and human-technology interaction.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. EOLA1, a novel mitochondria-localized protein critical for heart functions via regulating mitochondrial translation

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Xiaoyan Shi
   2. Yangyi Zhang
   3. Nanbo Liu
   4. Ruiqi Wang
   5. Nan Zhang
   6. Yanlan Cao
   7. Dian Wang
   8. Yuxuan Jin
   9. Qingren Meng
   10. Simin Fan
   11. Jia Yao
   12. Chih-hung Hsu
   13. Shuoji Zhu
   14. Ping Zhu
   15. Yang Shi
   16. Hao Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In this study, the authors identify EOLA1 as a novel mitochondrial protein required for mitochondrial translation and normal cardiac function. The characterization of the molecular role of EOLA1 is still incomplete, and additional controls will be necessary. Nevertheless, the identification of a novel factor critical for mitochondrial gene expression and oxidative phosphorylation will be useful for cell biologists working on mitochondrial dysfunction.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Temporal dynamics of peri-microsaccadic modulations within the foveola

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Zoe Stearns
   2. Martina Poletti

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Stearns and Poletti present a technically impressive study that aims to uncover a deeper understanding of microsaccade function: their role in perceptual modulation and the associated temporal dynamics. The question is useful, and advances prior work by adding temporal granularity. However, the strength of the evidence is currently incomplete. Additional analysis is needed to control for the effects of endogenous attention and to demonstrate changes in perceptual performance.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Intravital calcium imaging of meningeal macrophages reveals niche-specific dynamics and aberrant responses to brain hyperexcitability

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Simone Carneiro-Nascimento
   2. Chao Wei
   3. Anna Gutterman
   4. Dan Levy

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides important insights into how immune cells in the brain's protective layers behave under normal and disease-like conditions, revealing location-specific activity patterns that may shape inflammation and disorders such as migraine. The evidence is compelling and supported by advanced imaging approaches and rigorous analyses, although some conceptual and interpretational limitations temper the mechanistic depth. Overall, the work will be of broad interest and represents an invaluable contribution to the growing field linking immune and nervous system function.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. The inactivation of DHHC7 in mouse liver promotes diet-induced obesity through a hepatic Prg4–GPR146 axis

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Yingmin Sun
   2. Ying Liu
   3. Siyu Wang
   4. Hanyu Wu
   5. Xiaoli Hou
   6. Jiaqi Duan
   7. Junkai Pei
   8. Yanhua Xu
   9. Xiaoxiang Hu
   10. Bing Chen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable evidence that hepatic DHHC7-dependent palmitoylation is a physiologically relevant regulator of systemic metabolism, and that loss of DHHC7 disrupts Gαi palmitoylation, activates cAMP-PKA-CREB signaling, and increases hepatic transcription and secretion of Prg4. The identification of Prg4 as a hepatokine that is elevated in vivo, together with some in vitro evidence for its interaction with GPR146, represents a conceptually novel contribution to the field. However, the evidence linking these mechanisms to systemic lipolysis, liver-adipose tissue crosstalk, and whole-body metabolic physiology remains incomplete, as the phenotypic analyses rely on a limited set of experiments and do not yet fully support claims regarding adipose tissue dysfunction or altered lipid flux.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. Pulsed laser lensing for phase modulation in electron microscopy

   This article has 11 authors:

   1. Daniel X Du
   2. Adam C Bartnik
   3. Cameron JR Duncan
   4. Usama Choudhry
   5. Tanya Tabachnik
   6. Chaim Sallah
   7. Yuki Ogawa
   8. Ebrahim Najafi
   9. Ding-Shyue Yang
   10. Jared M Maxson
   11. Anthony WP Fitzpatrick

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study introduces a pulsed laser phase plate that generates stable phase contrast in electron microscopy, offering a practical alternative to continuous-wave designs that suffer from optical instabilities and diffraction artifacts. The experimental results demonstrate a controllable and stable electron phase shift, and the evidence supporting the feasibility of this approach for phase-contrast electron microscopy is convincing. Clarifying the agreement between experiment and theory and further elaborating on possible applications would strengthen the manuscript.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Patient-specific midbrain organoids with CRISPR correction recapitulate neuronopathic Gaucher disease phenotypes and enable evaluation of novel therapies

   This article has 16 authors:

   1. Yi Lin
   2. Benjamin Liou
   3. Venette Fannin
   4. Stuart Adler
   5. Christopher N Mayhew
   6. Jason E Hammonds
   7. Yueh-Chiang Hu
   8. Jason Tchieu
   9. Wujuan Zhang
   10. Xueheng Zhao
   11. Rebecca L Beres
   12. Kenneth DR Setchell
   13. Ahmet Kaynak
   14. Xiaoyang Qi
   15. Ricardo A Feldman
   16. Ying Sun

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides potentially important insights by establishing a human disease model and exploring therapeutic approaches. The evidence is generally convincing for descriptive and comparative findings. The authors present solid data, but evidence for proposed biological mechanisms and functional outcomes remains limited.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Visible traits demonstrate that crispant founder mice can be used for phenotypic assessment

   This article has 10 authors:

   1. Rebekah Tillotson
   2. Marina Gertsenstein
   3. Li-Hsin Chang
   4. Julie Ruston
   5. Fernando Bellido Molías
   6. Lauri G Lintott
   7. Christine Taylor
   8. Philippe Gautier
   9. Lauryl MJ Nutter
   10. Monica J Justice

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study offers important methodological advances for CRISPR-based mutagenesis in mice, highlighting the potential of founder animals for early phenotypic characterization. The authors present convincing evidence, supported by rigorous experimental design, that "crispant" (F0) analysis in mice, despite prior concerns about genetic mosaicism, can be utilized to assess protein function.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Mixture discrimination training induces durable and generalizable olfactory learning independent of odorant structure and concentration

    This article has 6 authors:

    1. Xiaoyue Chang
    2. Huibang Tan
    3. Jiehui Niu
    4. Kaiqi Yuan
    5. Rui Chen
    6. Wen Zhou

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This potentially important study explores the specificity of olfactory perceptual learning. In keeping with previous work, the authors found that learning to discriminate between two enantiomers does not generalize across the nostrils or to unrelated enantiomers, whereas learning to discriminate odor mixtures does generalize across the nostrils and to other odor mixtures, with this learning effect persisting over at least two weeks. While the evidence presented to support these findings is convincing, it remains unclear why the results differ for enantiomers and why training on odor mixtures generalizes to other odor mixtures.

    Reviewed by eLife