Issues
-
Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Live confocal microscope image of GFP-expressing dopaminergic neurons in the brain of a 3-day-old dat:eGFP zebrafish larva, overlaid onto a brightfield image. Confocal z-stack projection shows that GFP-labelled neurons are visible in the forebrain telencephalon, the ventral diencephalic clusters and the retina. See article by Siddiqui et al. (dmm052011). Cover image is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International license.
- PDF Icon PDF LinkTable of contents
- PDF Icon PDF LinkIssue info
EDITORIAL
Making sense of missense: challenges and opportunities in variant pathogenicity prediction
Summary: This Editorial discusses in silico tools for predicting missense variant pathogenicity, with a focus on AlphaMissense, highlighting their strengths, limitations and challenges in unbiased performance benchmarking.
A MODEL FOR LIFE
THE PATIENT'S VOICE
EDITOR'S CHOICE
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Impact of distinct dystrophin gene mutations on behavioral phenotypes of Duchenne muscular dystrophy
Summary: This study reports the behavioral phenotypes of two Duchenne muscular dystrophy mouse models lacking one or several dystrophin isoforms, highlighting the main outcome measures and their reproducibility in distinct laboratories.
Loss of function of VCP/TER94 causes neurodegeneration
Summary: Mutations in the VCP gene cause frontotemporal lobar degeneration. Our data from a Drosophila model including genetic rescue experiments revealed that loss-of-function of VCP/TER94 causes neurodegeneration.
The role of mesenchymal cells in cholangiocarcinoma
Summary: Exploring the tumour microenvironment in cholangiocarcinoma enables key pathways to be restored in pre-clinical models, enhancing their accuracy and application in understanding of cancer progression.
Slc26a2-mediated sulfate metabolism is important in tooth development
Summary: Slc26a2-mediated sulfate metabolism plays a critical role in tooth development, with deficiencies leading to disrupted odontoblast differentiation and downregulation of Wnt signaling.
Stat3 mediates Fyn kinase-driven dopaminergic neurodegeneration and microglia activation
Summary: This study describes a novel in vivo zebrafish model of neural Fyn kinase activation and identifies Stat3 signaling as a downstream Fyn effector in dopaminergic neuron degeneration and neuroinflammation.
Generation of a zebrafish neurofibromatosis model via inducible knockout of nf2a/b
Editor's choice: Zebrafish nf2a/b genes are expressed in tissues involved in neurofibromatosis type II (NF-2). Inducible knockout of nf2a/b triggers the development of a spectrum of tumors, mirroring the manifestations observed in patients with NF-2.
Modelling quiescence exit of neural stem cells reveals a FOXG1-FOXO6 axis
Summary: This study finds a pro-oncogenic role for FOXO6, downstream of glioblastoma-associated elevated FOXG1, in controlling quiescence exit of mouse neural stem cells.
FIRST PERSON
Call for papers – In Vitro Models of Human Disease to Inform Mechanism and Drug Discovery

We invite you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue: In Vitro Models of Human Disease to Inform Mechanism and Drug Discovery, coordinated by DMM Editor Vivian Li (The Francis Crick Institute, London, UK), alongside Guest Editors Austin Smith (University of Exeter, UK) and Joseph Wu (Stanford University School of Medicine, USA).The deadline for submitting articles is 6 October 2025.
The Company of Biologists Workshops

For the last 15 years, our publisher, The Company of Biologists, has provided an apt environment to inspire biology and support biologists through our Workshops series. Read about the evolution of the Workshop series and revisit JEB's experience with hosting the first Global South Workshop.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say

We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.
Fast & Fair peer review

Our sister journal Biology Open has recently launched the next phase of their Fast & Fair peer review initiative: offering high-quality peer review within 7 working days. To learn more about BiO’s progress and future plans, read the Editorial by Daniel Gorelick, or visit the Fast & Fair peer review page.
A new perspective on disease research
DMM publishes perspectives - peer-reviewed articles that provide expert analysis of a topic important to the disease research community. Read our collection from authors presenting new or potentially controversial ideas or hypotheses, to help address future challenges and forge new directions.