Issues

Summary: This Primer gives an overview of how recent technological advances have improved our understanding of the multifaceted, context-dependent functions of SOX2 as a master regulator of stem cell activities.

Highlighted Article: Mouse preimplantation embryos are vulnerable to Zika virus-induced lethality even in the presence of the zona pellucida, highlighting a potential risk of sexually transmitted infection in early pregnancy.

Highlighted Article: Cell-autonomous growth of specialized cells, such as stomata, causes local growth variability that is buffered by their immediate neighbors to ensure reproducible organ development.

Highlighted Article: The identification of unique molecular markers of GABAergic neuron subtypes in the periaqueductal grey and midbrain reticular formation can facilitate studying the function of specific neuronal circuits.

Summary: Bmp7, known to be crucial for nephron progenitor cells, is also required throughout kidney development and has a role promoting growth of the postnatal kidney.

Summary: Single-cell genomic approaches reveal transcriptomic atlases of midfacial primordia, and a mesenchymal gene regulatory network modulated by Wls during midline facial formation and fusion.

Summary: Recently identified histone lysine acylations such as histone lysine crotonylation and lactylation are tightly correlated with gene expression and regulate neuronal fate during neural development via transcriptome remodeling.

Summary: Genetic analysis reveals that crosstalk between the AMPK-insulin pathway and the Nrf2-Keap1 pathway is involved in neuronal remodelling during Drosophila metamorphosis.

Highlighted Article: In early postnatal mice, rapid eye size increment is governed by a retinal pigment epithelium-derived signaling pathway, which is composed of both positive and negative regulators of eye growth.

Summary: Pigmentation and immune surveillance functions in murine tail skin are spatially segregated by Lrig1- and Wnt-Lef1-dependent keratinocyte lineages that control the partitioning of melanocytes and tissue-resident immune cells into distinct epidermal niches.

Summary: Implemented as an easy-to-use Fiji plug-in, SAIBR provides effective autofluorescence correction for cells and tissues using standard off-the-shelf imaging conditions.

Highlighted Article: A new open-access Normal Table of Xenopus development is presented that integrates new embryo images with gene expression markers in Xenbase, the Xenopus biomedical research knowledgebase.