Optic cup morphogenesis (OCM), which generates the basic structure of the vertebrate eye, is usually depicted as a series of epithelial sheet folding events but experimental evidence to support this stepwise model is lacking. Now, Kristen Kwan, Chi-Bin Chien and colleagues investigate the cellular dynamics of OCM in zebrafish by combining four-dimensional time-lapse imaging and cell tracking (see p. 359). The researchers show that OCM depends on a complex set of sometimes unanticipated cell movements that are coordinated between the prospective neural retina, retinal pigmented epithelium and lens, the tissues that comprise the mature optic cup. Using their cell tracking data, the researchers construct subdomain fate maps for these three tissues that might provide clues to developmental signalling events. Finally, they show that similar movements occur during chick eye morphogenesis, which suggests that the complex choreography of cell movements that shape the vertebrate eye is conserved. These new insights into eye development could, therefore, help to improve our understanding of human eye defects.
Complex dance of eye morphogenesis unveiled
Complex dance of eye morphogenesis unveiled. Development 15 January 2012; 139 (2): e202. doi:
Download citation file:
Advertisement
Cited by
Development Journal Meeting 2023
-DevMeeting.png?versionId=4659)
We are delighted to announce that our 2023 Journal Meeting ‘Unconventional and Emerging Experimental Organisms in Cell and Developmental Biology’ will be held from 17-20 September 2023 at Wotton House, Surrey, UK. Find out more and register here.
Call for papers: Metabolic and Nutritional Control of Development and Regeneration

We are welcoming submissions for our next special issue, which will focus on metabolic and nutritional control of development and regeneration. Submission deadline: 15 May 2023.
preLights 5th Birthday webinar

preLights, our preprint highlighting service, is celebrating its 5th birthday this year. To mark the occasion, join us online on 14 March 2023 at 16:00 GMT for a discussion, led by four preLights alumni, on how to identify and navigate the challenges and opportunities while shaping your career as an early-career researcher.
Transitions in development: Daniel Grimes

Daniel Grimes’s lab studies the consequences of ciliary mutations, including left-right patterning defects and scoliosis. We interviewed Daniel to find out more about his career path, his experience of becoming a group leader and the influence of Jurassic Park.
Preprints in Development
(update)-InPreprints.png?versionId=4659)
As part of our efforts to support the use of preprints and help curate the preprint literature, we are delighted to launch a new article type: ‘In preprints’. These pieces will discuss one or more recent preprints and place them in a broader context.