Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: False-coloured whole-mount immunofluorescence on a mouse kidney organ explant stained for WT1 (magenta) and E-cadherin (green). Branching ureteric tips are surrounded by nephron progenitor cells on the peripheral face and nascent nephrons are developing on the central face. WT1 acts to maintain nephron progenitor cells throughout kidney development, in part by activating Gas1 transcription. See Research article by Kann et al. on p. 1254.
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IN THIS ISSUE
HYPOTHESIS
Positional information and reaction-diffusion: two big ideas in developmental biology combine
Summary: This Hypothesis discusses the relationship between positional information and reaction-diffusion, two fundamental principles governing the arisal of structures and shapes in organisms.
REVIEW
Cellular and molecular insights into Hox protein action
Summary: This Review discusses the molecular and cellular scale mechanisms underlying the diverse roles of the Hox transcription factors during morphogenesis and organogenesis.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
p53 enables metabolic fitness and self-renewal of nephron progenitor cells
Highlighted article: Although classically thought to restrain proliferation, p53 promotes self-renewal in nephron progenitors of the mouse kidney and also regulates their metabolic profile.
Pericytes in the myovascular niche promote post-natal myofiber growth and satellite cell quiescence
Summary: In the muscle stem cell niche, satellite cells are apposed to pericytes which regulate their quiescence and differentiation via angiopoietin 1 and insulin growth factor 1 pathways, respectively.
WT1 targets Gas1 to maintain nephron progenitor cells by modulating FGF signals
Highlighted article: Wilms' tumor suppressor 1 (WT1) controls nephron numbers by regulating fibroblast growth factor signaling in nephron progenitors via Gas1, a novel WT1 target gene.
Duration of culture and sonic hedgehog signaling differentially specify PV versus SST cortical interneuron fates from embryonic stem cells
Summary: Mimicking development, production of parvalbumin versus somatostatin cortical interneurons from embryonic stem cells can be controlled just by modulating culture duration and exposure to sonic hedgehog.
RESEARCH REPORTS
Cellular analysis of cleavage-stage chick embryos reveals hidden conservation in vertebrate early development
Summary: Early chick embryos share previously unappreciated features with anamniote embryos such as the timing of zygotic gene activation and yolk syncytial layer formation.
Disruption of Th2a and Th2b genes causes defects in spermatogenesis
Summary: During mouse spermatogenesis, the histone variants Th2a and Th2b control histone levels and cohesin release from chromatin, necessary for meiotic progression in germ cells.
Retinoic acid signaling regulates development of the dorsal forebrain midline and the choroid plexus in the chick
Summary: In the chick embryo, retinoic acid signaling controls the invagination of the forebrain roof plate and exerts a negative influence on choroid plexus development.
Accumulation of the Drosophila Torso-like protein at the blastoderm plasma membrane suggests that it translocates from the eggshell
Summary: The translocation of Torso-like from the eggshell membrane to the oocyte plasma membrane regulates the spatial and temporal control of body plan specification during Drosophila oogenesis.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Morphogenesis of the mouse neural plate depends on distinct roles of cofilin 1 in apical and basal epithelial domains
Highlighted article: In the neuroepithelium, apical cofilin 1 activates actomyosin contractility to promote neural tube closure, while basally it prevents ectopic myosin activation and tight junction formation.
Genome-wide characterisation of Foxa1 binding sites reveals several mechanisms for regulating neuronal differentiation in midbrain dopamine cells
Summary: ChIP-Seq and RNA-Seq experiments identify novel molecular mechanisms underlying midbrain dopaminergic neuron production downstream of Foxa1 and Foxa2 during mouse neurogenesis.
Lgd regulates the activity of the BMP/Dpp signalling pathway during Drosophila oogenesis
Summary: In addition to restricting Notch activation, Lethal (2) giant discs controls egg chamber architecture and germ stem cell formation through BMP/Dpp pathway activation during Drosophila oogenesis.
Axonal wrapping in the Drosophila PNS is controlled by glia-derived neuregulin homolog Vein
Summary: Differentiation of Drosophila wrapping glia affects axonal wrapping and blood-brain barrier development through autocrine activation of the EGF receptor, similar to mammalian re-myelination after injury.
Activity-dependent FMRP requirements in development of the neural circuitry of learning and memory
Summary: In the Drosophila brain, the fragile X mental retardation protein mediates neuron type-specific and activity-dependent changes in dendritic synaptic connectivity within the learning/memory center.
Augmented BMP signaling in the neural crest inhibits nasal cartilage morphogenesis by inducing p53-mediated apoptosis
Summary: BMP signaling levels control p53-mediated apoptosis through SMAD1/5 phosphorylation and MDM2-p53 complex formation in cranial neural crest cells, regulating nasal cartilage morphogenesis.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
Dynamic visualization of transcription and RNA subcellular localization in zebrafish
Summary: An easily-applied MS2 labeling system in zebrafish allows the visualization of RNA localization in germline stem cells and zygotic genome activation in vivo.
Activin A directs striatal projection neuron differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells
Highlighted article: Striatal projection neurons, which degenerate in Huntington's disease, can be generated in vitro using activin A treatment, in a manner independent of sonic hedgehog signalling.
CORRECTION
RETRACTION
ARTICLES OF INTEREST IN OTHER COB JOURNALS
From Journal of Cell Science
α-Catenin phosphorylation promotes intercellular adhesion through a dual-kinase mechanism
History of our journals
As our publisher, The Company of Biologists, turns 100 years old, read about Development’s journey and highlights from some its first issues, and explore the history of each of our sister journals: Journal of Cell Science, Journal of Experimental Biology, Disease Models & Mechanisms and Biology Open.
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
Did you know that Development publishes perspectives on recent preprints? These articles help our readers navigate the ever-growing preprint literature. We welcome proposals for ‘In preprints’ articles, so please do get in touch if you’d like to contribute.
