eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. When and why does motor preparation arise in recurrent neural network models of motor control?

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Marine Schimel
   2. Ta-Chu Kao
   3. Guillaume Hennequin

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This important study provides a new perspective on why preparatory activity occurs before the onset of movement. The authors report that when there is a cost on the inputs, the optimal inputs should start before the desired network output for a wide variety of recurrent networks. The authors present compelling evidence by combining mathematically tractable analyses in linear networks and numerical simulation in nonlinear networks.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Mechanical coupling coordinates microtubule growth

   This article has 6 authors:

   1. Bonnibelle K Leeds
   2. Katelyn F Kostello
   3. Yuna Y Liu
   4. Christian R Nelson
   5. Sue Biggins
   6. Charles L Asbury

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     In this technically advanced and important piece of work, the authors study the coordination of microtubule growth in kinetochore fibers using force spectroscopy and numerical simulations. With compelling evidence the authors address the question of how microtubules, which naturally exhibit variable growth rates, can coordinate their behavior by mechanical coupling so as to function as a single unit in generating forces during chromosome segregation.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Spatial–temporal order–disorder transition in angiogenic NOTCH signaling controls cell fate specification

   This article has 5 authors:

   1. Tae-Yun Kang
   2. Federico Bocci
   3. Qing Nie
   4. José N Onuchic
   5. Andre Levchenko

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors used an appropriate micro-engineered experimental model of angiogenesis coupled to mathematical model to study the early steps of the angiogenic sprouting. To this end, the authors developed a convincing model to predict how VEGF activates Delta-Notch signaling. The work affords important new insight into the complex processes involved in the onset of angiogenesis.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. Glucose-stimulated KIF5B-driven microtubule sliding organizes microtubule networks in mouse pancreatic β cells

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Kai M Bracey
   2. Margret A Fye
   3. Alisa Cario
   4. Kung-Hsien Ho
   5. Pi'illani Noguchi
   6. Guoqiang Gu
   7. Irina Kaverina

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In their valuable study, Bracey et al. investigate how microtubule organization within pancreatic islet beta cells supports optimal insulin secretion. Using a combination of live imaging and photo-kinetic assays in an in vitro culture system, they provide compelling evidence that kinesin-1-mediated microtubule sliding, which plays critical roles in neurons and embryos, also plays a critical role in forming the sub-membranous microtubule band in response to glucose in beta cells. This work will be of interest to cell biologists studying cytoskeletal dynamics and organelle trafficking, as well as to translational biologists focused on diabetes.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. Allelic strengths of encephalopathy-associated UBA5 variants correlate between in vivo and in vitro assays

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Xueyang Pan
   2. Albert N Alvarez
   3. Mengqi Ma
   4. Shenzhao Lu
   5. Michael W Crawford
   6. Lauren C Briere
   7. Oguz Kanca
   8. Shinya Yamamoto
   9. David A Sweetser
   10. Jenny L Wilson
   11. Ruth J Napier
   12. Jonathan N Pruneda
   13. Hugo J Bellen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     The authors establish a Drosophila model to assess the severity of disease-linked alleles of Uba5. Using both in vivo and in vitro experiments, this valuable study demonstrates the alleles fall into mild, intermediate, and severe classes, with convincing evidence to support their conclusion. This well-executed study establishes a model for further characterization of Uba5-related phenotypes in a powerful model system.

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Multiomics analyses reveal dynamic bioenergetic pathways and functional remodeling of the heart during intermittent fasting

   This article has 26 authors:

   1. Thiruma V Arumugam
   2. Asfa Alli-Shaik
   3. Elisa A Liehn
   4. Sharmelee Selvaraji
   5. Luting Poh
   6. Vismitha Rajeev
   7. Yoonsuk Cho
   8. Yongeun Cho
   9. Jongho Kim
   10. Joonki Kim
   11. Hannah LF Swa
   12. David Tan Zhi Hao
   13. Chutima Rattanasopa
   14. David Yang-Wei Fann
   15. David Castano Mayan
   16. Gavin Yong-Quan Ng
   17. Sang-Ha Baik
   18. Karthik Mallilankaraman
   19. Mathias Gelderblom
   20. Grant R Drummond
   21. Christopher G Sobey
   22. Brian K Kennedy
   23. Roshni R Singaraja
   24. Mark P Mattson
   25. Dong-Gyu Jo
   26. Jayantha Gunaratne

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study provides a useful catalog of the cardiac proteome and transcriptome in response to intermittent fasting. Although mechanistic integration is limited, the technical aspects have been executed in a solid way, and sufficient evidence is provided to support the main conclusions. Future work can build on this study to expand our understanding of the relationship between dietary perturbations and cardiac function.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. SIV-specific neutralizing antibody induction following selection of a PI3K drive-attenuated nef variant

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Hiroyuki Yamamoto
   2. Tetsuro Matano

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     Yamamoto and Matano provide convincing evidence that a G63E/R CD8+ T-cell escape mutation in the accessory viral protein Nef promote the induction of neutralizing antibody (nAb) responses in rhesus macaques infected with SIVmac239, which is usually largely resistant to neutralization. Functional analyses support that this mutation specifically impairs Nef`s ability to stimulate PI3K/Akt/mTORC2 signalling. This important study suggests that the accessory viral protein Nef impairs B cell function and effective humoral immune responses and is of interest for researchers and physicians interested in HIV/AIDS and vaccine development.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. ChatGPT identifies gender disparities in scientific peer review

   This article has 1 author:

   1. Jeroen PH Verharen

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study used ChatGPT to assess certain linguistic characteristics (sentiment and politeness) of 500 peer reviews for 200 neuroscience papers published in Nature Communications. The vast majority of reviews were polite, but papers with female first authors received less polite reviews than papers with male first authors, whereas papers with a female senior author received more favourable reviews than papers with a male senior author. Overall, the study is an important contribution to work on gender bias, and the evidence for the potential utility of generative AI programs like ChatGPT in meta-research is solid.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Transcriptional immune suppression and up-regulation of double-stranded DNA damage and repair repertoires in ecDNA-containing tumors

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Miin S Lin
   2. Se-Young Jo
   3. Jens Luebeck
   4. Howard Y Chang
   5. Sihan Wu
   6. Paul S Mischel
   7. Vineet Bafna

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife assessment

     This study of extrachromosomal DNA (ecDNA) identifies genes that distinguish ecDNA+ and ecDNA- tumors. The findings in the manuscript are important and the genomic analyses convincing. However, some of the data remain observational and the inferences would therefore be more robust with experimental validation. This manuscript could well be of relevance to biologists interested in cancer biology and gene regulation.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Convergent evolution in silico reveals shape and dynamic principles of directed locomotion

    This article has 3 authors:

    1. Renata B Biazzi
    2. André Fujita
    3. Daniel Y Takahashi

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife assessment

      This study provides an important, original framework to study locomotion on the ground with physics-based simulations. Through numerical simulations, the authors propose that intermediate numbers of body modules and high body symmetry enhance speed. The current way discussions and conclusions are written is overly broad: evidence that evolution may favour bilateral symmetry and modularity for efficient directed locomotion is still incomplete as further performance metrics and a more accurate description of the dynamics in water are needed.

    Reviewed by eLife