Xenopus embryos have an `odd man out' of nodal-related proteins– Xnr3. It is structurally different to other Xnrs, and, uniquely among them, induces cellular finger-like protrusions when ectopically expressed. This led Janet Heasman and colleagues to investigate the role of Xnr3in convergent extension movements during embryogenesis with morpholino oligos. They report, on p. 2199, that Xnr3– embryos have gastrulation and neurulation defects, and that Xnr3– cells fail to undergo convergent extension movements in gastrulae explants. Xnr3 requires the FGF receptor FGFR1 to induce these cell elongation movements, and also interacts synergistically with FRL1 (an FGFR-binding, EGF-CFC protein), indicating that Xnr3 regulates cell movement through FGFR signalling. Importantly, because Xnr3 is a target of the maternal Wnt/β-catenin pathway, these findings link the allocation of early cell fate by this pathway to the subsequent movement of cells from the organizer.
Interviews with Biologists @ 100 conference speakers
Explore our interviews with keynote speakers from the Biologists @ 100 conference, hosted to celebrate our publisher’s 100th anniversary, where we discuss climate change and biodiversity with Hans-Otto Pörtner and Jane Francis, health and disease with Charles Swanton and emerging technologies with Manu Prakash and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 15 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
In preprints
How to build a community site for developmental biologists
Our community site, the Node, has been serving the developmental and stem cell biology community for 15 years. In this post, our Community Manager, Joyce Yu, shares how the Node was born and describes how to build a community site from scratch.
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