Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Confocal micrograph showing vascular smooth muscle cells (red) tightly wrapped around blood vessels (blue) within the skin of a mouse. By synthesising and assembling large quantities of extracellular matrix, vascular smooth muscle cells provide the vasculature with the structural strength and elasticity required to withstand the pulsatile flow of blood from the heart. See Research article by Turner et al. on p. 797.
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IN THIS ISSUE
REVIEWS
Activin/Nodal signalling in stem cells
Summary: This Review discusses how Activin/Nodal signalling controls the self-renewal and differentiation of stem cells during organ development and homeostasis.
The melanocyte lineage in development and disease
Summary: This Review discusses melanocyte development and differentiation, melanocyte stem cells, and the role of the melanocyte lineage in diseases such as melanoma.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
Generation of neuropeptidergic hypothalamic neurons from human pluripotent stem cells
Highlighted article: Using two complementary approaches, human pluripotent stem cells are differentiated into hypothalamic neurons that regulate sleep, feeding behavior and metabolism.
Enteroendocrine cells are generated from stem cells through a distinct progenitor in the adult Drosophila posterior midgut
Summary: The generation of enteroendocrine cells from stem cells in the adult Drosophila midgut occurs via a distinct progenitor stage and involves the transcription factor Prospero.
Generation of enteroendocrine cell diversity in midgut stem cell lineages
Summary: Molecular mapping, lineage tracing and genetic analyses provide insight into the mechanisms governing enteroendocrine cell diversity in the adult Drosphila gastrointestinal tract.
RESEARCH REPORT
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.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Vascular patterning regulates interdigital cell death by a ROS-mediated mechanism
Highlighted article: The vascularization of limb interdigital regions leads to an increase in tissue oxygenation that, in turn, triggers ROS production and cell death during mouse limb development.
Mitochondrial dysfunction in oocytes of obese mothers: transmission to offspring and reversal by pharmacological endoplasmic reticulum stress inhibitors
Highlighted article: In mice, obesity induces oocyte mitochondrial dysfunction that is transmitted to offspring but that can be reversed using interventions prior to conception.
Force production and mechanical accommodation during convergent extension
Highlighted article: A new method for measuring tissue-scale force production is used to investigate the mechanical control of convergent extension in Xenopus embryos.
Plant embryogenesis requires AUX/LAX-mediated auxin influx
Highlighted article: Auxin-dependent cell specification during plant embryo development requires balanced and regulated auxin transport involving both influx and efflux machineries.
The cyclophilin A DIAGEOTROPICA gene affects auxin transport in both root and shoot to control lateral root formation
Summary: DIAGEOTROPICA modulates the localization of PIN proteins and is required for proper polar auxin transport, highlighting a new developmental role for this cyclophilin.
Snail2/Slug cooperates with Polycomb repressive complex 2 (PRC2) to regulate neural crest development
Summary: Components of the polycomb repressive complex 2 are expressed in neural crest cells and cooperate with Snail2 to modulate neural crest specification and migration.
Akt1 signaling coordinates BMP signaling and β-catenin activity to regulate second heart field progenitor development
Summary: The deletion of Pten reveals that Pten/Akt signaling coordinates BMP signaling and β-catenin to regulate the proliferation and differentiation of second heart field progenitors.
Cavefish eye loss in response to an early block in retinal differentiation progression
Summary: The characteristic eye loss seen in cavefish species occurs via different mechanisms, indicating that there are several ways to arrest the development and maintenance of an eye.
Zebrafish foxc1a drives appendage-specific neural circuit development
Summary: The transcription factor foxc1a is dispensable for trunk motor nerve guidance but is required to guide spinal nerves innervating the pectoral fins in zebrafish.
Jag1b is essential for patterning inner ear sensory cristae by regulating anterior morphogenetic tissue separation and preventing posterior cell death
Summary: Jag1b differentially regulates FGF signaling, cell death and cell differentiation during the patterning of anterior and posterior cristae in the zebrafish inner ear.
UXT potentiates angiogenesis by attenuating Notch signaling
Summary: UXT/ART27 is a novel repressor of Notch signaling that impairs the interaction between NICD and RBP-Jκ/CSL and is indispensable for zebrafish intersegmental vessel formation.
Scleraxis and osterix antagonistically regulate tensile force-responsive remodeling of the periodontal ligament and alveolar bone
Summary: Cell populations expressing the transcription factors Scleraxis and Osterix are involved in the tensile force-induced remodeling of periodontal tissues in a position-specific manner.
α5 and αv integrins cooperate to regulate vascular smooth muscle and neural crest functions in vivo
Summary: α5 and αv integrins on neural-crest-derived vascular smooth muscle cells cooperate to control pharyngeal arch remodeling and are essential for heart and outflow tract septation.
CORRECTIONS
Doublecortin marks a new population of transiently amplifying muscle progenitor cells and is required for myofiber maturation during skeletal muscle regeneration
ARTICLES OF INTEREST IN OTHER COB JOURNALS
From Journal of Cell Science
Biologists @ 100 - join us in Liverpool in March 2025
We are excited to invite you to a unique scientific conference, celebrating the 100-year anniversary of The Company of Biologists, and bringing together our different communities. The conference will incorporate the Spring Meetings of the BSCB and the BSDB, the JEB Symposium Sensory Perception in a Changing World and a DMM programme on antimicrobial resistance. Find out more and register your interest to join us in March 2025 in Liverpool, UK.
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.
Development presents…
Development is excited to host a webinar series showcasing the latest developmental biology and stem cell research. The webinars are chaired each month by a different Development Editor, who invites talks from authors of exciting new papers and preprints. Visit Development presents... on the Node to see which topics are coming up and to catch up on recordings of past webinars.
Development’s Pathway to independence programme
We are delighted to announce a new call for our Pathway to Independence (PI) programme. This scheme is aimed at supporting postdocs planning to go on the job market in 2025, and will provide mentorship, training, networking and profile-raising opportunities. Apply by 31 Jan 2025.
Become a 2025 Node correspondent
The Node is looking for new correspondents to work together with the team to develop and produce content over the coming year. Apply by 20 January 2025.
