Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: In neonatal mice, nutrients can be taken up by enterocytes of the small intestine in relatively large undigested components. The image shows enterocytes of neonatal mice at postnatal day 7 that have taken up fluorescently labeled protein (red) and dextran (green). See Research article by Bara et al. (dev201251).
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RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
EDITORIAL
PERSPECTIVE
INTERVIEW
SPOTLIGHT
Mitochondrial respiration and dynamics of in vivo neural stem cells
Summary: This Spotlight explores recent findings from Drosophila and vertebrates on how mitochondrial respiration and morphology interact with neural stem cell transitions in the developing and adult brain in vivo.
REVIEW
The origins of skin diversity: lessons from dermal fibroblasts
Summary: A review of how diverse groups of dermal fibroblasts regulate epidermal and hair follicle growth and differentiation, fueled by tools capable of resolving molecular heterogeneity at the single-cell level.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Single-cell transcriptional and functional analysis of dopaminergic neurons in organoid-like cultures derived from human fetal midbrain
Summary: A unique transcriptional profile of the developing human fetal VM and functionally mature human DA neurons that can be used to guide stem cell-based therapies and disease modeling approaches in Parkinson's disease.
RESEARCH REPORTS
The effects of Hh morphogen source movement on signaling dynamics
Summary: A combination of computational modeling and experiments examining the spatial distribution of Ptc and CiA reveals distinct signaling profiles downstream of Hh in different organs during Drosophila development.
Loss of the placental iron exporter ferroportin 1 causes embryonic demise in late-gestation mouse pregnancy
Summary: SynbCre is a new and efficient transgenic Cre line in the mouse placenta that enables functional validation of the essential role of ferroportin in placental iron transport.
Control of cranial ectomesenchyme fate by Nr2f nuclear receptors
Summary: Nr2f nuclear receptors broadly activate skeletal progenitor genes in post-migratory cranial neural crest cells.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Discoidin domain receptor regulates ensheathment, survival and caliber of peripheral axons
Highlighted Article: In vivo RNA interference identifies the receptor tyrosine kinase discoidin domain receptor as required for the proper development and function of non-myelinating glia and axonal ensheathment in the fly.
Maf family transcription factors are required for nutrient uptake in the mouse neonatal gut
Highlighted Article: Loss of the Maf family transcription factors MAFB and c-MAF or the transcriptional repressor BLIMP1 leads to an inability of neonatal enterocytes to take up nutrients.
Dynamically regulated focal adhesions coordinate endothelial cell remodelling in developing vasculature
Highlighted Article: Focal adhesions drive actin rearrangements that are essential for endothelial cell elongation and junction linearisation in flow-pressured vessels.
Position of meristems and the angles of the cell division plane regulate the uniqueness of lateral organ shape
Summary: Different lateral organs with different morphology possess different properties of meristems; cell division angles, position of cell proliferative area and AN3 localization patterns. This study examined their roles using simulation analyses.
Chemokine signaling synchronizes angioblast proliferation and differentiation during pharyngeal arch artery vasculogenesis
Summary: Genetic ablation of either cxcr4a or the ligand gene cxcl12b causes pharyngeal arch artery (PAA) stenosis in zebrafish, revealing a central role for chemokine signaling in PAA vasculogenesis through orchestrating angioblast proliferation and differentiation.
Ultrabithorax modifies a regulatory network of genes essential for butterfly eyespot development in a wing sector-specific manner
Summary: Differences in regulatory interactions between Ubx and the eyespot-essential genes Dll, sal and Antp explain the development of different numbers of eyespots in fore- and hindwings of Bicyclus anynana butterflies.
Loss of WNT4 in the gubernaculum causes unilateral cryptorchidism and fertility defects
Highlighted Article: Loss of Wnt4 in the gubernaculum leads to aberrant left unilateral testicular descent and fertility defects despite the normal descent of the right testis.
N-WASP-Arp2/3 signaling controls multiple steps of dendrite maturation in Purkinje cells in vivo
Summary: N-WASP-Arp2/3 signaling is essential to the establishment of the stem dendrite, as well as the expansion of dendritic tree, in developing Purkinje cells in vivo.
TECHNIQUES AND RESOURCES
A new CUT&RUN low volume-urea (LoV-U) protocol optimized for transcriptional co-factors uncovers Wnt/β-catenin tissue-specific genomic targets
Summary: Gene regulation is governed by protein complexes composed of DNA-binding transcription factors and non-DNA-binding co-factors. CUT&RUN-LoV-U facilitates the detection of the genome-wide binding profile of co-factors.
Development Journal Meeting 2023
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We are delighted to announce that our 2023 Journal Meeting ‘Unconventional and Emerging Experimental Organisms in Cell and Developmental Biology’ will be held from 17-20 September 2023 at Wotton House, Surrey, UK. Find out more and register here.
Call for papers: Metabolic and Nutritional Control of Development and Regeneration

We are welcoming submissions for our next special issue, which will focus on metabolic and nutritional control of development and regeneration. Submission deadline: 15 May 2023.
preLights 5th Birthday webinar

preLights, our preprint highlighting service, is celebrating its 5th birthday this year. To mark the occasion, join us online on 14 March 2023 at 16:00 GMT for a discussion, led by four preLights alumni, on how to identify and navigate the challenges and opportunities while shaping your career as an early-career researcher.
Transitions in development: Daniel Grimes

Daniel Grimes’s lab studies the consequences of ciliary mutations, including left-right patterning defects and scoliosis. We interviewed Daniel to find out more about his career path, his experience of becoming a group leader and the influence of Jurassic Park.
Preprints in Development
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As part of our efforts to support the use of preprints and help curate the preprint literature, we are delighted to launch a new article type: ‘In preprints’. These pieces will discuss one or more recent preprints and place them in a broader context.