Somite
- Neural tube development depends on notochord-derived sonic hedgehog released into the sclerotome
Summary: Loss- and gain-of-function, and floor plate deletions, reveal that Shh that transits through the sclerotome is presented to the neuroepithelium from its basal aspect to affect motoneuron development.
- Single cell dynamics of embryonic muscle progenitor cells in zebrafish
Summary: Live imaging and single cell clonal analysis reveal dynamic behaviors of zebrafish embryonic muscle progenitor cells in quiescence and activation.
- Size-reduced embryos reveal a gradient scaling-based mechanism for zebrafish somite formation
Highlighted Article: A new ‘clock and scaled gradient’ model of zebrafish somite formation demonstrates that dynamic gradient scaling in the presomitic mesoderm plays a central role in progression and size control of somitogenesis.
- Making muscle: skeletal myogenesis in vivo and in vitro
Summary: This Review discusses the mechanisms that underpin the formation of skeletal muscle during development and its recapitulation from pluripotent stem cells in vitro.
- Basal filopodia and vascular mechanical stress organize fibronectin into pillars bridging the mesoderm-endoderm gap
Highlighted article: In developing quail embryos, pulsations from the dorsal aorta help establish fibronectin pillars that bridge the somite-endoderm gap, potentially aiding communication between these tissues.
- Fat4-Dchs1 signalling controls cell proliferation in developing vertebrae
Summary: The protocadherins Fat4 and Dchs1 promote proliferation in the developing mouse somites, independently of both the planar cell polarity pathway and the Yap/Taz Hippo effectors.
- Dynamics of the slowing segmentation clock reveal alternating two-segment periodicity
HIGHLIGHTED ARTICLE: Real-time imaging of clock gene oscillations in zebrafish embryos reveals that the segmentation clock shifts from one- to two-segment periodicity, suggesting an updated model for somite formation.
- Communication between distant epithelial cells by filopodia-like protrusions during embryonic development
Summary: Epithelial cells of chick embryo somites exhibit filopodia-like protrusions that serve as transport conduits connecting them to the overlying surface ectoderm.