Issues

Summary: Movement patterns resembling Lévy walks are found in a wide variety of organisms, from cells to humans. In this Review the latest research into their origins and biological significance is discussed.

Summary: Teratoma development from primordial germ cells is repressed by downregulation of Ccnd1 via histone H3 lysine 27 methylation controlled by Dnd1-mediated maintenance of Ezh2.

Summary: Injecting hiNSCs into developing chick brains and systemically infecting with ZIKV produces embryos with severe microcephaly. Using this humanized model we show that niclosamide rescues ZIKV-induced microcephaly and decreases infection of hiNSCs in vivo.

Summary: Using a transgenomic approach we determine specific roles of the intra- and extracellular domain of the Crumbs protein for the maintenance of apico-basal epithelial polarity and epithelial morphogenesis in Drosophila embryos.

Summary: Mir-9a overexpression can suppress the overgrowth phenotype caused by Lgl knock-down in epithelia. Gene profiling identifies pathways dysregulated in lgl mutants and shared features between flies and human cancer cells.

Summary: GSK3 inhibitors have potential use against Alzheimer's disease and other conditions. In this study, a classic inhibitor produced unexpected molecular effects on key components of the Wnt signaling pathway.

Summary: Immunofluorescent and radiolabel analyses demonstrate that neurofilaments establish a resident population within growing axonal neurites that undergoes exchange with a surrounding, transporting pool.

Summary: ALADIN knock-out mice present with an unexpected compensated metabolism of glutathione after application of chronic oxidative stress, whilst lacking a phenotype resembling human triple A syndrome.

Summary: The rate of tumor formation in a BRAF-driven zebrafish melanoma model can be significantly altered by increased feeding and opens a new avenue for studying the underlying metabolic pathways involved.

Summary: Quantitative trait locus’ (QTLs) for dormancy and gibberellic acid production in potato are localized to the same genomic region in potato.

Summary: Using knocked-out Xenopus tropicalis founders generated by CRISPR-Cas, TRβ was shown to have significant effects on developmental timing but is not required for completion of metamorphosis.

Summary: Esrrb is a downstream target and effector of LIF during reprogramming. Forced Esrrb expression accelerates pluripotency establishment in the absence of LIF signaling. The activation of Esrrb is LIF dependent in the reprogramming process.

Summary: This study revealed that hepatic metabolomic changes are related to functional adaption in breeder roosters, which contribute to a better understanding of the hepatic metabolites composition differences during different periods.

Summary: Prion protein dysfunction at the synapse impacts learning in Alzheimer disease. Here, we demonstrate similar roles for prion protein in zebrafish, revealing ancient constructive roles for this infamously toxic protein.

Summary: We exploit the BioGRID gene interaction database to identify and characterize susceptibilities in fission yeast cells lacking tsc1 or tsc2, orthologs of the human TSC1 and TSC2 tumor suppressor genes.

Summary: This research clarifies the important and distinct roles of JAK family members in primordial follicle formation of female mammals, and further explore the regulation mechanism of primordial follicle formation.

Summary: The protochordate, Ciona intestinalis, is defining conserved properties of gut mucosal barriers and inflammatory processes. Diverse model systems can benefit studies concerning human pathologies of the gut.

Summary: GSN can suppress cell proliferation and invasion and promote apoptosis of YTS cells, and the PI3K/AKT signaling pathway is likely to be involved in this process.

Summary: Insulin regulates multiple signaling pathways leading to monocyte/macrophage chemotaxis into the wound tissue, involving -Akt, SPAK/JNK, and p38 MAPK which in turn are involved in Rac1 activation. Furthermore, these results augment our understanding of the insulin-regulated wound inflammatory response.

Summary: Intracellular signaling involved in early memory formation in insects is not fully understood. Here, we pharmacologically elucidated the role of phospholipase C in learning and memory in the honeybee.

Summary: Centrosomes acquire and lose pericentriolar material during each cell cycle. We show that dephosphorylation and cortically directed forces disassemble pericentriolar material at the end of mitosis.

Summary: BALB/c strain embryos contributed poorly to mouse aggregation chimaeras by E8.5. Selection appears linked to slow BALB/c development and might also explain the good ES cell contribution in BALB/c↔ES-cell chimaeras.

Summary: We identify and test the function of nerve growth factor to reprogram human metastatic melanoma cells to a less aggressive phenotype. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper as part of the supplementary information.

Summary: We generated and verified iPS cells from urine-derived cells in a totally noninvasive manner and induced the differentiation of iPS cells into functional cardiomyocytes both in vitro and in vivo.

Summary: The head-tuck and leg-tuck postures of peafowl help conserve heat but can impair antipredator responses.

Summary: The traction forces of two typical marine fouling invertebrates were quantitatively assessed by using PDMS micropost arrays and beam-bending theory.

Summary: With remote physiological sensing in mind, the study explores the fate of fluorescent microcapsules with elastic shell after injection in bloodstream and muscles of adult zebrafish.

Summary: In this study, a mutant of M. tuberculosis with the deletion of four important genes has been evaluated in guinea pigs for its attenuation and protective efficacy against tuberculosis.

Summary: Genetic deletion of Baf60c leads to embryonic cardiac hypoplasia and dysfunction. Baf60c coordinates a program of gene expression that regulates the fundamental functional properties of cardiomyocytes.

Summary: We combined genome-guided gene prediction and whole transcriptome assembly from RNA sequencing data to improve the chicken genome annotation. This method may be also applicable to other imperfectly annotated genomes.