Ectoderm - Latest research and news

Latest Research and Reviews

Role of UPF1-LIN28A interaction during early differentiation of pluripotent stem cells

UPF1 and LIN28A are RNA-binding proteins involved in post-transcriptional regulation and cell differentiation. Here, authors report that they interact with each other via specific domains and regulate ectodermal specialization of human pluripotent stem cells.
- Seungwon Jung
- Seung Hwan Ko
- Jungwook Hwang
ResearchOpen Access02 Jan 2024 Nature Communications
Volume: 15, P: 158
Generation of iPSC-derived human forebrain organoids assembling bilateral eye primordia

This protocol enables the generation of human forebrain organoids from induced pluripotent stem cells with the intrinsic ability to assemble functionally integrated bilateral optic vesicles.
- Elke Gabriel
- Walid Albanna
- Jay Gopalakrishnan
Protocols17 May 2023 Nature Protocols
Volume: 18, P: 1893-1929
Collagen XVII deficiency alters epidermal patterning

Mammals exhibit epidermal patterning, as seen in mouse tail scales and human skin microtopography. In this article, the authors demonstrate that type XVII collagen (COL17), a niche for epidermal stem cells, modulate epidermal patterning in mice and humans. COL17 further prevents wound-induced epidermal deformation. This study paves the way for elucidating the role of the stem cell niche in tissue pattern formation.
- Yunan Wang
- Hiroyuki Kitahata
- Ken Natsuga
Research10 Feb 2022 Laboratory Investigation
Volume: 102, P: 581-588
Tissue fluidity mediated by adherens junction dynamics promotes planar cell polarity-driven ommatidial rotation

Ommatidial rotation in the Drosophila eye is a regulated process and a Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) cell motility model. Here, the authors show that tissue fluidity via junctional remodeling, as regulated by the PCP effector kinase Nemo, is critical for this cell motility process.
- Nabila Founounou
- Reza Farhadifar
- Marek Mlodzik
ResearchOpen Access30 Nov 2021 Nature Communications
Volume: 12, P: 6974
Actuation enhances patterning in human neural tube organoids

Mechanical forces, along with gene regulatory networks and cell-cell signalling, play an important role in the complex organization of tissues. Here the authors describe devices that actively apply mechanical force to developing neural tube, demonstrating that mechanical forces increase growth and enhance patterning.
- Abdel Rahman Abdel Fattah
- Brian Daza
- Adrian Ranga
ResearchOpen Access27 May 2021 Nature Communications
Volume: 12, P: 3192
Glypicans shield the Wnt lipid moiety to enable signalling at a distance

Genetic studies in Drosophila combined with structural analyses show that glypicans bind palmitoylate moieties in Wnt ligands, and thus shield Wnt ligands from their aqueous environments to enable them to signal to their distant receptors.
- Ian J. McGough
- Luca Vecchia
- Jean-Paul Vincent
Research22 Jul 2020 Nature
Volume: 585, P: 85-90