eLife

Latest preprint reviews

1. Development of the axonal βII-spectrin periodic skeleton requires active cytoskeletal remodelling

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Shivani Bodas
   2. Ashish Mishra
   3. Pramod Pullarkat
   4. Aurnab Ghose

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study examines how the neuronal cytoskeleton contributes to the formation of the axonal membrane-associated periodic skeleton (MPS) in embryonic dorsal root ganglia (DRG) neurons, using STED imaging. Conclusions are supported by convincing methods, data, and analyses. This useful work confirms previous data and improves our understanding of the roles of microtubules and actin dynamics in the chronological recruitment of MPS components.

   Reviewed by eLife

2. Center-surround inhibition in expectation and its underlying computational and artificial neural network models

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Ling Huang
   2. Shiqi Shen
   3. Yueling Sun
   4. Shipei Ou
   5. Ru-Yuan Zhang
   6. Floris P de Lange
   7. Xilin Zhang

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This is a methodologically rich manuscript that is important for revealing the center-surround inhibition profile of expectation in orientation space. The analyses are compelling in validating the critical role of predictive coding feedback. The findings provide novel insights into how expectation optimizes perception via enhancement and suppression.

   Reviewed by eLife

3. Compensation of Hyperexcitability with Simulation-Based Inference

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Daniel Müller-Komorowska
   2. Tomoki Fukai

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study introduces a valuable simulation-based inference (SBI) framework to identify degenerate compensatory mechanisms that stabilize network activity despite neuronal hyperexcitability, a feature common to many brain disorders. By estimating posterior distributions of network parameters, the authors highlight factors such as threshold potential and interneuron-to-principal cell connectivity as key compensators for increased intrinsic excitability and interneuron loss. While the approach is promising and could become a key tool for probing network degeneracy, the study is currently incomplete. To fully realize its potential, the framework requires improved scalability and more rigorous cross-validation.

   Reviewed by eLife

4. A neural mechanism for compositional generalization of structure in humans

   This article has 7 authors:

   1. Lennart Luettgau
   2. Nan Chen
   3. Tore Erdmann
   4. Sebastijan Veselic
   5. Zeb Kurth-Nelson
   6. Rani Moran
   7. Raymond J Dolan

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This study provides valuable insights into humans' ability to generalize knowledge of learned graph structures to new experiences that share the same structure but are built from different stimuli. However, the evidence for the authors' claims is incomplete, with the main claims of structural generalization and compositionality only partially supported by MEG and behavioral data. This study will be of interest to cognitive neuroscientists studying structure learning and generalization.

   Reviewed by eLife

5. The insulin / IGF axis is critically important for controlling gene transcription in the podocyte

   This article has 13 authors:

   1. Jennifer A Hurcombe
   2. Lusyan Dayalan
   3. Fern Barrington
   4. Frédéric Burdet
   5. Lan Ni
   6. Joseph T Coward
   7. Mark Ibberson
   8. Paul T Brinkkoetter
   9. Martin Holzenberger
   10. Aaron Jeffries
   11. Sebastian Oltean
   12. Gavin I Welsh
   13. Richard JM Coward

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This valuable study used genetic and pharmacological manipulations of insulin/IGF signaling to address the role of insulin/IGF axis in the function of renal glomerular podocyte. Solid data are presented to demonstrate that co-inhibition of insulin/IGF signaling in podocytes led to aberrant splicing of mRNAs, which could contribute to the loss of podocytes in vitro and in vivo in mice. In light of the fact that IR/IGF-1R signaling are critically required for normal development and growth in multiple cells and organs, the lack of the assessment of developmental phenotype of podocytes in the mouse model limits the interpretation of the data.

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

   Reviewed by eLife

6. Structural and functional evidence supports re-defining mouse higher order visual areas into a single area V2

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Declan P Rowley
   2. Madineh Sedigh-Sarvestani

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This paper performs a valuable critical reassessment of anatomical and functional data, proposing a reclassification of the mouse visual cortex in which almost all the higher visual areas are consolidated into a single area V2. However, the evidence supporting this unification is incomplete, as the key experimental observations that the model attempts to reproduce do not accurately reflect the literature. This study will likely be of interest to neuroscientists focused on the mouse visual cortex and the evolution of cortical organization.

   Reviewed by eLife

7. A biochemical mechanism for Stu2/XMAP215-family microtubule polymerases

   This article has 3 authors:

   1. Binnu Gangadharan
   2. Daniel L Kober
   3. Luke M Rice

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     In their important manuscript, Gangadharan, Kober and Rice focus on how Stu2/XMAP215-family microtubule polymerases use their TOG domains to catalytically promote microtubule growth, testing whether their mechanism follows an enzyme-like kinetic model similar to that of actin polymerases. The authors integrate measurements including microtubule polymerization rates and TOG-tubulin binding kinetics to convincingly show that Stu2 follows an enzyme-like model where tight tubulin binding enables efficient polymerization, revealing a shared mechanism with actin polymerases despite their evolutionary divergence. This work will be of general interest to the cell biology and biophysics communities.

   Reviewed by eLife

8. Conduction pathway for potassium through the Escherichia coli pump KdpFABC

   This article has 4 authors:

   1. Adel Hussein
   2. Xihui Zhang
   3. Bjørn P Pedersen
   4. David L Stokes

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This manuscript revisits the well-studied KdpFABC potassium transport system from bacteria with a convincing set of new higher resolution structures, a protein expression strategy that permits purification of the active wildtype protein, and insight obtained from mutagenesis and activity assays. The thorough and thoughtful mechanistic analyses make this a valuable contribution to the membrane transport field.

   Reviewed by eLife

9. Distinct waves of ovarian follicles contribute to mouse oocyte production

   This article has 2 authors:

   1. Qi Yin
   2. Allan C Spradling

   This article has been curated by 1 group:

   • Curated by eLife

     eLife Assessment

     This important study reports that two distinct waves of ovarian follicles contribute to oocyte production in mice. The paper provides large amounts of data that will benefit future studies, although the methods and analysis are considered incomplete at present. Justification for the criteria of wave 1 follicles would benefit from further explanation and discussion. This work will be of interest to ovarian biologists and physicians working on female infertility.

   Reviewed by eLife

10. Mitochondrial protein FgDML1 impacts DON toxin biosynthesis and cyazofamid sensitivity in Fusarium graminearum by affecting mitochondrial homeostasis

    This article has 5 authors:

    1. Chenguang Wang
    2. Xuewei Mao
    3. Weiwei Cong
    4. Lin Yang
    5. Yiping Hou

    This article has been curated by 1 group:

    • Curated by eLife

      eLife Assessment

      This important study tackles an interesting aspect of fungal physiology: how a mitochondria-associated gene influences production of the secondary metabolite DON and fungicide sensitivity. The authors have improved the manuscript and the supporting evidence is convincing.

    Reviewed by eLife