Issues

Summary: This Primer reviews how exploratory studies of the vertebrate embryonic structure known as the neural crest contribute to enrich our understanding of cancers and congenital malformations.

Summary: This Review summarizes current knowledge of the spatiotemporal control of brassinosteroid function in plants, focusing on primary root development and growth, stem cell self-renewal and death, and adaptation to environmental stress.

Summary: A modified culture format offers a simple and cost-effective method for expansion of hPSC-derived kidney cells, facilitating scale-up of kidney cell types in vitro for biomedical applications.

Summary: Temporal shifts in chromatin accessibility lead to CDX2 activating distinct target genes in developing versus adult mouse and human intestinal cells, explaining the differential phenotypes of CDX2 loss over developmental time.

Summary: YPT-interacting proteins 4a and 4b (YIP4a/b) contribute to activation and plasma membrane accumulation of Rho-of-plant (ROP) small GTPases during hair initiation, identifying YIP4a/b as central trafficking components in ROP-dependent root hair formation.

Highlighted Article: Upon a decrease in ambient temperature, the plant miRNA biogenesis machinery produces miRNAs, even in the absence of the key DICER LIKE1 co-factors HYPONASTIC LEAVES 1 and SERRATE.

Highlighted Article: By regulating the developmental timing of hypodermal tissues in C. elegans, lin-28 controls signaling between the hypodermis and somatic gonad that is crucial for gonadal morphogenesis.

Summary: Analysis of a cortical hem-specific Cux2 enhancer reveals a role for Lmx1a as a crucial upstream regulator of Cux2 expression patterns in neural progenitors during early forebrain development.

Summary: RNA-binding protein LIN-28 is necessary for the trans-splicing event that regulates let-7 biogenesis in cis as well as the activity of members of the let-7 seed family in trans.

Highlighted Article: Expression and functional analyses reveal that the tissue-specific cell proliferation leading to mandible-specific elongation during termite soldier differentiation is coordinated by the interactions between endocrine signals and patterning genes.

Summary: Actin dynamics are examined in zebrafish axons using DeSOS, a new super-resolution technique combining deconvolution with stepwise optical saturation microscopy that allows detailed intravital imaging of cells in their native environments.