Issues

Summary: This work analyses the mechanisms that cells use to coordinate cell shape changes at the apical and basal compartments during morphogenesis.

Summary: Activin A (NANOG) and canonical WNT signaling (NANOG and SOX2) inhibit expression of pluripotency factors in bovine embryonic stem cells; activin A also inhibits formation of cells positive for NANOG and SOX2 in the blastocyst while promoting TE formation.

Summary: During the vitamin A cycle, byproducts of vitamin A form in the eye. Using a rat model, we show that the byproducts alone can explain several retinal derangements observed in the prodromal phase of human retinal disease. Retarding the formation of these byproducts may address the root cause of the most prevalent retinal diseases.

Summary: Hatchling pythons from an invasive population displayed substantial phenotypic variation in morphometrics, growth rates, and behaviors. This information may be useful for managing populations of cryptic, endangered, and invasive species.

Summary: The study focuses on the processes that determine the survival of parasites in warm-blooded animals and demonstrates the potential for the application of proteomics in veterinary medicine.

Summary: Inhibition of Src family kinases leads to a sharp reduction in YAP1 expression and an increase in CDX2 and HNF4α, two regulators of intestinal cell differentiation, while its paralog TAZ appears not to be directly involved.

Summary: A mutant, stum 9-3, affecting the proliferation and differentiation of Drosophila adult intestinal stem cells (ISCs) was identified in a forward genetic screen for factors regulating the proliferation and differentiation ISCs. stum 9-3 acts through the Notch signaling pathway. Detailed mapping, rescue experiments and characterization show that stum 9-3 is not a stumble mutant where the p-element is inserted, but a new allele of O-fucosyltransferase 1 (O-fut1).

Summary: Dysplastic and tumorigenic phenotypes are worsened by aneuploidy induction in adult stem cells in the Drosophila intestinal epithelium.

Summary: Discs large and GPSM2 interact to drive cell division orientation. In this article the authors investigate the evolutionary history of this interaction and speculate on its importance to development.