Issues

Summary: This Primer explores the fundamental impact of developmental biology on our understanding and therapeutic control of the hedgehog signalling pathway.

Summary: This Review discusses the multiple roles played by centrosomes during embryonic growth of the vertebrate central nervous system, highlighting the links between centrosome dysfunction and microcephaly.

Highlighted Article: Analysis of stage-matched, single-cell gene expression data from three mammalian species reveals conserved and primate-specific regulation of early embryogenesis and lineage specification.

Summary: After radiation-induced damage, KRT14⁺ cells repopulate granulated ductal cells primarily through asymmetric division, whereas KIT⁺ cells maintain intercalated ductal tissue structure through limited cell turnover.

Summary: Analysis of the role of lncRNAs in feather regeneration reveal that lncRNAs can modulate Wnt signaling and regulate feather regeneration, suggesting that feather follicles can be used to functionally annotate chicken genome lncRNAs.

Summary: A combination of expression analysis and reverse genetics has demonstrated that the phytohormone abscisic acid plays an essential role in regulating the differentiation of fibres during the transition to phase II xylem formation in Arabidopsis.

Summary: Studies on albino and pigmented retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) reveal that Wnt signaling provides a potential molecular link between RPE and retinal ganglion cell (RGC) generation and specification.

Summary: Patterning signals in the three territories in which neurogenesis is initiated during sea urchin gastrulation differentially affect proneural expression of six transcription factors resulting in three unique specification trajectories.

Summary: Mutually exclusive activity of Notch and Atoh7 in the ciliary marginal zone gives rise to two distinct lineages resulting in specification of the full complement of cell types in medaka retina.

Summary: Inactivation of Lats1/2 in mouse lung led to a halt in branching morphogenesis, resulting in reduced organ size, defective cell polarity and increased terminally differentiated alveolar epithelium type I cells.

Highlighted Article: A complete lineage analysis of neuromesodermal progenitors in zebrafish through a combination of genetic clonal labelling, forward fate mapping and in toto imaging.

Summary: The dynamic nature of trafficking at the plant trans-Golgi network (TGN) is revealed, highlighting the distinct nature of TGN function in dividing versus interphase cells.

Summary: Requirements for dynamic Sonic hedgehog activity at distinct stages of tuberal hypothalamic development are defined using fate-mapping and conditional deletion models in mice, suggesting a mechanism for the pathogenesis of hypothalamic hamartomas.

Summary: Nutrition regulates conversion of the steroid hormone ecdysone to 20-hydroxyecdysone, which, in turn, regulates insulin signalling and growth via insulin-producing cells in the brain and via the trachea.

Summary: A new role is revealed for semaphorin/neuropilin signalling in guiding preganglionic sympathetic axons and chromaffin cell precursors into the adrenal primordia, ensuring correct regulation of the autonomic stress response.

Summary: RhoA-ERK signalling regulates JunB and Nfix expression in developmental and postnatal myogenesis, providing a new research avenue for therapeutic approaches to the treatment of muscular dystrophies.