RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
INTERVIEW
OBITUARY
- Suzanne Eaton (1959-2019)
Summary: Frank JĂ¼licher looks back on the life of Suzanne Eaton and reflects on how her work on Drosophila tissue morphogenesis contributed to the fields of cell and developmental biology.
PRIMER
- Model systems for regeneration: Hydra
Summary: This Primer discusses Hydra as a model system for investigating regeneration, highlighting how the reactivation of developmental processes leads to whole-body regeneration after amputation and also after tissue dissociation and reaggregation of organoid-like structures.
REVIEW
- Axo-glial interdependence in peripheral nerve development
Summary: This Review focuses on the specific interdependence of axons and Schwann cells that enables peripheral nerve development and maintenance.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
- N-cadherin stabilises neural identity by dampening anti-neural signals
Summary: As pluripotent cells undergo neural differentiation they swap E-cadherin for N-cadherin. This switch in adhesion molecules modulates signalling in order to facilitate the differentiation process.
- CDK2 kinase activity is a regulator of male germ cell fate
Summary: Although the cyclin-dependent kinase CDK2 is not necessary for spermatogonial function in mice, CDK2 hyperactivity delays establishment of the spermatogonial stem cells and prevents their differentiation.
RESEARCH REPORTS
- PLXNA1 and PLXNA3 cooperate to pattern the nasal axons that guide gonadotropin-releasing hormone neurons
Highlighted Article: PLXNA1 and PLXNA3 convey the pathfinding of olfactory and vomeronasal axons as a prerequisite for neuroendocrine neurons to migrate into the hypothalamus and release gonadotropins into the circulation.
- Disruption of the pancreatic vasculature in zebrafish affects islet architecture and function
Summary: Expressing anti-angiogenic signals in the zebrafish pancreatic islet reveals distinct roles for the vasculature in tissue architecture and function.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Dynamics of Spaetzle morphogen shuttling in the Drosophila embryo shapes gastrulation patterning
Summary: Live imaging of the early Drosophila embryo reveals the dynamics of an extracellular morphogen gradient that undergoes continuous refinement by ligand shuttling, generating a sharp morphogen peak that is essential for patterning gastrulation.
- Temporospatial sonic hedgehog signalling is essential for neural crest-dependent patterning of the intrinsic tongue musculature
Summary: Temporospatial sonic hedgehog signalling in neural crest-derived lingual mesenchyme is involved in arrangement of the lingual muscles through tenocyte differentiation.
- Crosslinking activity of non-muscle myosin II is not sufficient for embryonic cytokinesis in C. elegans
Highlighted Article: The motor activity of non-muscle myosin II is essential for cytokinesis and contributes to all stages of the process in C. elegans embryos.
- Regulation of nuclear-cytoplasmic partitioning by the lin-28-lin-46 pathway reinforces microRNA repression of HBL-1 to confer robust cell-fate progression in C. elegans
Summary: Inhibition of nuclear accumulation and microRNA-mediated repression of protein synthesis cooperate to confer the necessary precision and robustness to temporal downregulation of a transcription factor.
- GATA2 controls lymphatic endothelial cell junctional integrity and lymphovenous valve morphogenesis through miR-126
Summary: GATA2 and its target gene miR-126 are novel regulators of lymphatic endothelial cell junctions, which are important regulators of vascular morphogenesis.
- Endocrine and local signaling interact to regulate spermatogenesis in zebrafish: follicle-stimulating hormone, retinoic acid and androgens
Summary: Retinoic acid is important for, and integrated into, the endocrine regulation of zebrafish spermatogenesis; however, in contrast to mammals, is not crucial for spermatogonia differentiation.
- Three-dimensional live imaging of Atoh1 reveals the dynamics of hair cell induction and organization in the developing cochlea
Summary: Time-lapse three-dimensional imaging is a powerful method to analyze spatiotemporal gene expression changes of individual cells in inner and outer hair cell fate control of embryonic cochlear epithelium.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
- Developmental analyses of mouse embryos and adults using a non-overlapping tracing system for all three germ layers
Highlighted Article: We have developed a new transgenic technique for simultaneous labelling of all three germ layers in mice that overcomes the difficulties of conventional single-gene tracing systems in precision lineage tracing.