Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Mouse-zebrafish hematopoietic tissue chimeric embryo generated by transplanting murine hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells into zebrafish blastulae. Mouse cells (cyan) colonize and differentiate in the zebrafish caudal hematopoietic tissue (magenta), allowing visualization of novel murine cell behaviors, such as homing to primitive and definitive hematopoietic tissues, dynamic hematopoietic cell-niche interactions and response to bacterial infection. See article by Parada-Kusz et al. (dmm034876). Cover image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
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EDITORIAL
The secret lives of cancer cell lines
Summary: A recent study in Nature demonstrated that ongoing mutational processes cause significant heterogeneity of widely used cancer cell lines. In this Editorial, the authors discuss the implications of these findings for the cancer and cell biology fields.
FIRST PERSON
REVIEWS
Modeling epigenetic modifications in renal development and disease with organoids and genome editing
Summary: In this Review, we provide an overview on how epigenetic processes are altered in kidney development and disease, and discuss how CRISPR-modified kidney organoids can help us to understand the function of epigenetic marks.
Dissecting human disease with single-cell omics: application in model systems and in the clinic
Summary: This Review summarises the current state of the art of single-cell techniques and their potential applications in deciphering the heterogeneous nature of diseases and tailoring personalised therapies.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Targeting ulcerative colitis by suppressing glucose uptake with ritonavir
Summary: Insights into immuno-metabolism open up new avenues for therapeutic intervention. The study presented here suggests that inhibition of glucose suppresses inflammation in a mouse model of ulcerative colitis.
Neuromuscular degeneration and locomotor deficit in a Drosophila model of mucopolysaccharidosis VII is attenuated by treatment with resveratrol
Summary: The authors generate a new Drosophila model of MPS VII, which offers insights into the pathophysiology of this disease, and also uncovers the therapeutic potential of resveratrol in treating MPS VII.
A novel mutation in the NADH dehydrogenase (ubiquinone) 1 alpha subcomplex 4 (Ndufa4) gene links mitochondrial dysfunction to the development of diabetes in a rodent model
Summary: Here, we report, for the first time, a major inherited mutation in a diabetes-prone animal model that adversely affects mitochondrial function and leads, through oxidative stress, to the development of diet-induced diabetes.
Pathogenic and non-pathogenic Escherichia coli colonization and host inflammatory response in a defined microbiota mouse model
Summary: Mice harboring a defined microbiota of the altered Schaedler flora were identified as a reliable tool to assess prolonged Escherichia coli intestinal colonization and activation of the host inflammatory response.
Drosophila melanogaster as a function-based high-throughput screening model for antinephrolithiasis agents in kidney stone patients
Summary: Chemical library screens using Drosophila melanogaster as a model of nephrolithiasis can be performed in a high-throughput and efficient manner, leading to candidate drugs with clinical potential in kidney stone patients.
Fetal growth restriction in a genetic model of sporadic Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome
Summary: A novel genetic mouse model of sporadic Beckwith–Wiedemann syndrome (BWS) recapitulates placentomegaly, but placental defects lead to late gestation fetal growth restriction, which contrasts with the fetal overgrowth characteristic of BWS in humans.
Cooperation of loss of NKX3.1 and inflammation in prostate cancer initiation
Summary: Chronic inflammation collaborates with loss of function of the prostate-specific tumor-suppressor NKX3.1 to promote prostate cancer initiation, increase cellular plasticity and impair cellular differentiation.
Modelling brain dopamine-serotonin vesicular transport disease in Caenorhabditis elegans
Summary: The first Caenorhabditis elegans model to study brain dopamine-serotonin vesicular transport disease, demonstrating impairment of pharyngeal pumping and grazing phenotypes.
Overexpression of Fgfr2c causes craniofacial bone hypoplasia and ameliorates craniosynostosis in the Crouzon mouse
Summary: Increased levels of FGFR2c cause craniofacial bone hypoplasia, microtia and cleft palate, but not craniosynostosis. Introduction of an extra Fgfr2c allele into a mouse model for Crouzon syndrome partially rescues the craniosynostosis phenotype.
RESOURCE ARTICLES
Generation of mouse-zebrafish hematopoietic tissue chimeric embryos for hematopoiesis and host-pathogen interaction studies
Editor's choice: A new method to xenotransplant murine bone marrow cells into zebrafish blastulae that generates hundreds of transient chimeric animals with functional murine blood progenitor cells and innate immune cells.
Optimizing the design of population-based patient-derived tumor xenograft studies to better predict clinical response
Summary: A freely available interactive tool is presented that explores the optimal design of a population PDX preclinical study.
PREPRINT HIGHLIGHTS
Virtual Meeting - Developmental Disorders: From Mechanism to Treatment
A collaboration between the Development and Disease Models & Mechanisms journal teams, this virtual Meeting will unite developmental biologists, human geneticists and clinical researchers to focus on building bridges from bench to clinic. Register your interest and find out more.
High-dose vitamin B1 therapy prevents the development of experimental fatty liver driven by overnutrition
Vitamin B1 is shown to prevent nutrition-induced fatty liver in our current Editor’s choice by Hay Davir and his colleagues, when they use sheep as a large-animal model for studying the disease.
Find out more in an interview with the paper's first authors, Mugagga Kalyesubula and Ramgopal Mopuri.
Upcoming grant deadlines
Grants awarded by The Company of Biologists help scientists travel, attend events and host sustainable activities. Make a note of the upcoming application deadlines and find out more about the grants on offer:
DMM Conference Travel Grants
17 May 2021
Sustainable Conferencing Grants
17 May 2021
Travelling Fellowships
31 May 2021
Scientific Meeting Grants
4 June 2021
Call for papers - The RAS Pathway: Diseases, Therapeutics and Beyond
Our upcoming special issue is welcoming submissions until 3 May 2021. Guest-edited by Donita Brady (Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, USA) and Arvin Dar (Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, USA), the issue will focus on targeting the RAS pathway.