Issues

Summary: To mirror the theme of inclusion for International Women's Day 2024, we stress the need for improved inclusion of sex as a biological variable in preclinical research.

Summary: Telomere length can be considered an epigenetic trait that depends on the genetic telomerase status as well as on inherited progenitor telomere length. This can impact human disease for generations.

Summary: Conscientious analyses of weight loss and temperature readings from mammalian models of viral disease can improve translation of preclinical infection studies for public health research.

Summary: This Review examines the multiple challenges cancer cells encounter during metastasis and therapeutic interventions, with a focus on strategies adopted by cancer cells in the context of breast cancer.

Summary: MAP3K1-deficient female mice display imperforate vagina and infertility due to the failure of Müllerian duct caudal elongation and its fusion with the urogenital sinus, and defective MAPK and WNT signaling.

Editor's choice: This paper follows the wound healing process after perforation of the tympanic membrane (i.e. eardrum) in transgenic mouse models, focusing on the contribution of different germ layers and highlighting how defects might arise.

Summary: Extracellular vesicles isolated from serum from patients with Duchenne or Becker muscular dystrophies can induce pathological processes in Caenorhabditis elegans, establishing a new approach for disease modeling in simple model organisms.

Summary: Diseases exhibiting pathological tau protein constitute the majority of dementia cases. Investigation of molecular tauopathy mechanisms in Caenorhabditis elegans strains expressing photoconvertible Dendra2::tau can inform disease mechanisms.

Summary: Preclinical modelling is needed to better understand the effects of radiotherapy in pancreatic cancer. We optimised methods for and tested the efficacy of targeted irradiation in a clinically relevant autochthonous mouse model.