Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Pouch-derived BMP2a and BMP5 (symbolized by the snowflakes) are the primary niche cues that promote progenitor specification during pharyngeal arch artery morphogenesis (symbolized by the flowering plum branches). Artwork courtesy of Xiaojuan Guo (Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China). See Research article by Mao et al. (dev192658)
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
INTERVIEWS
SPOTLIGHT
Harnessing brain development to understand brain tumours
Summary: This Spotlight article looks at three of the most common paediatric brain tumours as examples of how understanding of developmental lineages and mechanisms has advanced understanding of these cancers.
REVIEWS
The many bits of positional information
Summary: This Review, which marks the 50th birthday of Lewis Wolpert's seminal article on positional information, provides a historical perspective on how this concept emerged and proposes a modern interpretation.
Dynamic patterning by morphogens illuminated by cis-regulatory studies
Summary: This Review discusses the action of Bicoid and Dorsal at enhancers, which provide a rich platform for understanding direct input by morphogens and their changing roles over time.
Stem cells in pulmonary alveolar regeneration
Summary: The present Review focuses on advances in our understanding of mammalian alveolar epithelial stem cell subpopulations and discusses insights about the regeneration-specific cell status of alveolar epithelial stem cells.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
The enteric nervous system in zebrafish larvae can regenerate via migration into the ablated area and proliferation of neural crest-derived cells
Summary: Study of neurite and neural crest-derived cell behavior during regeneration of the zebrafish enteric nervous system provides a basis for its research in vivo at single-cell resolution in vertebrates.
Satellite cell expansion is mediated by P-eIF2α-dependent Tacc3 translation
Highlighted Article: Adult stem cells require tightly regulated protein synthesis; under conditions of low protein synthesis, muscle stem cell expansion requires selective translation of Tacc3 mRNA.
Pharyngeal pouches provide a niche microenvironment for arch artery progenitor specification
Summary: Pharyngeal pouch-derived BMP2a and BMP5 are the key niche cues that induce arch artery progenitor specification during zebrafish embryonic development.
Ccn2a is an injury-induced matricellular factor that promotes cardiac regeneration in zebrafish
Highlighted Article: Loss- and gain-of-function approaches and pharmacological studies reveal that Ccn2a promotes heart regeneration by enhancing pro-regenerative extracellular matrix gene expression and by inhibiting the chemokine receptor gene cxcr3.1.
The long noncoding RNA Meg3 regulates myoblast plasticity and muscle regeneration through epithelial-mesenchymal transition
Summary: Muscle differentiation and regeneration are regulated by an evolutionarily conserved long noncoding RNA that restricts gene expression to coordinate cell state transitions.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Neural tube closure requires the endocytic receptor Lrp2 and its functional interaction with intracellular scaffolds
Highlighted Article: Analysis of neurulation in mouse and Xenopus reveals novel roles for Lrp2-mediated endocytosis in orchestrating apical constriction and planar cell polarity essential for neural tube closure.
Zebrafish model for spondylo-megaepiphyseal-metaphyseal dysplasia reveals post-embryonic roles of Nkx3.2 in the skeleton
Summary: Characterization of a zebrafish model of SMMD reveals that the transcription factor Nkx3.2 fine-tunes chondrocyte proliferation at skeletal joints versus endochondral growth plates by modulating stress-response and mTORC1 pathways.
Ceramides mediate positional signals in Arabidopsis thaliana protoderm differentiation
Highlighted Article: A lipid-transcription factor interaction is essential for correct differentiation and location of Arabidopsis epidermis.
Ror2-mediated non-canonical Wnt signaling regulates Cdc42 and cell proliferation during tooth root development
Summary: The function of Ror2-mediated non-canonical Wnt signaling and its effect on Cdc42 activation is crucial in regulating progenitor cell proliferation, odontoblast differentiation and Hertwig's epithelial root sheath formation during tooth root morphogenesis.
Extensive nuclear gyration and pervasive non-genic transcription during primordial germ cell development in zebrafish
Highlighted Article: In contrast to common thinking, zebrafish primordial germ cells do not rest after arrival at the genital ridge, but display many morphological changes accompanied by pervasive intergenic transcription and piRNA activation.
Deciphering and modelling the TGF-β signalling interplays specifying the dorsal-ventral axis of the sea urchin embryo
Summary: A predictive computational model of the regulatory network controlling the dorsal-ventral axis specification in sea urchin embryos, highlighting key features of Nodal and BMP antagonism.
The RNA helicase DDX3 induces neural crest by promoting AKT activity
Summary: To model human birth defects caused by DDX3X mutations, we show that Xenopus DDX3 induces neural crest via the AKT-GSK3β axis, which promotes Wnt signaling and Snai1 stability.
Loss of ESRP1 blocks mouse oocyte development and leads to female infertility
Highlighted Article: ESRP1 is important for alternative splicing of maternal RNAs in regulating female germline development and fertility.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
Widespread labeling and genomic editing of the fetal central nervous system by in utero CRISPR AAV9-PHP.eB administration
Summary:In utero CRISPR AAV9-PHP.eB provides a powerful platform to efficiently manipulate gene expression in the developing CNS to investigate mechanisms of neurodevelopmental disorders.
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.
