RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
DEVELOPMENT AT A GLANCE
- Retinoic acid signaling pathways
Summary: This Development at a Glance article highlights how retinoic acid and its nuclear receptors regulate organ development, which may guide efforts for its use as a therapeutic agent to improve human health.
MEETING REVIEW
- A SY-Stematic approach towards understanding stem cell biology
Summary: This Meeting Review reports on the main results presented 2nd SY-Stem Symposium held in March 2019.
REVIEW
- Cell competition: the winners and losers of fitness selection
Summary: This Review summarises key discoveries in the field of cell competition and outlines exciting future directions for this area of research.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
- Human retinal ganglion cell axon regeneration by recapitulating developmental mechanisms: effects of recruitment of the mTOR pathway
Highlighted Article: Recruitment of the developmentally relevant mTOR pathway can facilitate regeneration of injured axons of human retinal neurons, which die in glaucoma leading to irreversible vision loss.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
- Regionally specified human pluripotent stem cell-derived astrocytes exhibit different molecular signatures and functional properties
Summary: Astrocytes generated from hPSC-derived regional neural progenitors maintain their identity throughout their differentiation and exhibit differential gene expression and functions, suggesting developmental origins of astrocyte functional diversity.
- Neuropilin 1 mediates epicardial activation and revascularization in the regenerating zebrafish heart
Summary: nrp1a is required for zebrafish heart regeneration in response to cryoinjury by inducing wt1b to promote the revascularization, and the activation and migration of the epicardium.
- The exocyst functions in niche cells to promote germline stem cell differentiation by directly controlling EGFR membrane trafficking
Summary: The exocyst directly controls EGFR membrane trafficking, recycling and activation in Drosophila and human cells, and is required in the niche to promote germline stem cell differentiation by regulating EGFR signaling.
RESEARCH REPORTS
- Organization of motor pools depends on the combined function of N-cadherin and type II cadherins
Summary: In mouse, type II cadherins control the organization of motor neurons into pools by functional interaction with N-cadherin rather than via the implementation of an adhesive code.
- Transcription factor autoregulation is required for acquisition and maintenance of neuronal identity
Highlighted Article: Mutation of an autoregulatory motif of che-1, a cell identity-specifying transcription factor, shows that autoregulation is required for both acquisition and maintenance of cellular identity in C. elegans.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- PHF7 is a novel histone H2A E3 ligase prior to histone-to-protamine exchange during spermiogenesis
Summary: PHF7 functions as both an epigenetic reader that recognizes H3K4me3/2 and an epigenetic writer that can mediate H2A ubiquitylation prior to histone-to-protamine exchange in mouse spermiogenesis.
- Type-B response regulators of rice play key roles in growth, development and cytokinin signaling
Summary: Developmental roles are uncovered in rice for a family of transcription factors that mediate signaling using the hormone cytokinin, including roles in inflorescence branching, flower development and fertilization.
- Tfap2a is a novel gatekeeper of nephron differentiation during kidney development
Summary: tfap2a functions in distal nephron development to control the progression of cells to a fully differentiated state. This fundamentally deepens our knowledge about the genetic control of kidney development.
- Drosophila Mon1 constitutes a novel node in the brain-gonad axis that is essential for female germline maturation
Summary: Mon1 activity in a small subset of 137 neurons regulates ovary maturation, over a distance, by regulating activity of insulin-like peptides.
- PIP degron-stabilized Dacapo/p21Cip1 and mutations in ago act in an anti- versus pro-proliferative manner, yet both trigger an increase in Cyclin E levels
Summary: Mutating the PIP degron stabilizes Dacapo/p21Cip1, making them strongly anti-proliferative. Yet stabilized Dacapo/p21Cip1 trigger a major increase in Cyclin E levels.
- HAND2-mediated epithelial maintenance and integrity in cardiac outflow tract morphogenesis
Summary: Using aSHF-specific Hand2-deletion mice, a new function is revealed for HAND2 in mediating OFT epithelial maintenance and integrity in OFT morphogenesis during early heart development.
- The lncRNA Hand2os1/Uph locus orchestrates heart development through regulation of precise expression of Hand2
Summary: The lncRNA Hand2os1 locus critically controls the precise expression of its neighboring gene Hand2, thereby balancing cardiac lineages and expression programs that are essential for heart development and function.
- Actin dynamics and the Bmp pathway drive apical extrusion of proepicardial cells
Summary: Proepicardial cells emerge from the pericardial mesothelium through apical extrusion, a process that depends on BMP signaling and actomyosin rearrangements.
- Destruction complex dynamics: Wnt/β-catenin signaling alters Axin-GSK3β interactions in vivo
Summary: Distinct conformations for active and inactivated destruction complex, the central regulator in the Wnt/β-catenin pathway, are identified in vivo using bimolecular fluorescence complementation.
- Strip and Cka negatively regulate JNK signalling during Drosophila spermatogenesis
Summary: A novel role for Strip and Cka in JNK signalling is revealed in the Drosophila testis, using the jam mutant.
- Evidence of a developmental origin for β-cell heterogeneity using a dual lineage-tracing technology
Summary: Using a novel dual lineage-tracing technology (Dre/RoxP and Cre/LoxP), differential activation of Ptf1a in the developing pancreas is revealed to potentially correlate with β-cell heterogeneity.
- yap1b, a divergent Yap/Taz family member, cooperates with yap1 in survival and morphogenesis via common transcriptional targets
Summary: Using a combination of DamID-seq and CRISPR-Cas9, the evolutionary origin, chromatin-binding properties and biological function of Yap1b, a novel Yap family member with an atypical activation domain, are investigated.
- Specification of basal region identity after asymmetric zygotic division requires mitogen-activated protein kinase 6 in rice
Highlighted Article: Studies in gle4/osmpk6 rice mutants raise the possibility that the asymmetric zygotic division and cellular differentiation that lead to apical-basal polarity can be separately regulated.
- SOX2 is required for inner ear growth and cochlear nonsensory formation before sensory development
Summary: The transcription factor SOX2 has a novel early role in promoting progenitor proliferation and in the growth and morphogenesis of the otocyst before its sensory-specific function during inner ear development.
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Special Issue: Imaging development, stem cells and regeneration
We are now welcoming submissions to our next Special Issue, which will focus on the innovative use of advanced imaging techniques to further our understanding of developmental and regenerative processes. The issue will be published mid-2021 and the deadline for submissions is 31 March 2021.
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Development and COVID-19
We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on researchers worldwide. The Editors of all The Company of Biologists’ journals have been considering ways in which we can alleviate concerns that members of our community may have around publishing activities during this time. Read about the actions we are taking at this time.