Issues

Summary: In this Editorial, we announce the recruitment of several Associate Editors to cover new and expanding areas of developmental biology. We also discuss various policies and initiatives to improve transparency and efficiency in our editorial processes.

Summary: This Review summarizes recent progress in the isolation and characterization of stem cell populations that build, maintain and repair the vertebrate skeleton, outlining the challenges in this growing field and highlighting promising new avenues of research.

Summary: Lumen formation provides both mechanical and biochemical cues to influence cellular behaviours and ensure robust morphogenesis and patterning during development.

Summary: This study reports a mechanism underpinning the crucial role of histone variant H2A.Z.2 in fate allocation and subsequent commitment of melanocyte identity, from a multipotent state.

Summary: Estrogen receptor (ER) α palmitoylation is required for mammary epithelial cell stem cell function, intercellular and intercompartmental communication with altered expression of paracrine factors and impaired ECM remodeling/protease function.

Highlighted Article: Wingless signaling activity controls cell shape and mechanical tension to guide the morphogenesis of Drosophila wing discs.

Highlighted Article: Analysis of the requirement for Grainy head in determining chromatin accessibility at multiple stages of Drosophila development demonstrates that its pioneering activity is temporally regulated and not essential in the early embryo.

Summary: Reactive oxygen species and oxidative stress regulated by the transcriptional regulator PRDM16 actively influence radial glial progenitor mitotic behavior and precise neuronal output in the developing mouse cortex.

Summary: During metamorphosis, larval ensheathing glia (EG) dedifferentiate, proliferate and redifferentiate into two adult glial subtypes. With developmental plasticity, two lineages (larval EG and gcm-positive lineages) ensure the robust development of adult neuropil-glia architecture.

Highlighted Article: A developmental switch in the cell extrusion mechanism correlates with changes in cell mechanical properties during tissue replacement in the Drosophila abdominal epidermis.

Highlighted Article: The HOX gene Ubx governs the wing-to-haltere transformation in dipteran insects by regulating expression of proteases that control ECM remodelling to disrupt wing elongation and flattening.

Summary: RHEB-1 and DAF-15/Raptor, components of the nematode TORC1 complex, are necessary for animals to progress through each stage of post-embryonic development. Restoration of DAF-15 after depletion leads to resumed development.

Summary: The transcription factor Pbx4 restricts outflow tract size in the zebrafish heart by reinforcing distinct cardiac progenitor differentiation states.