Morphogen signalling articles from across Nature Portfolio

The liver is segregated into spatially organized areas that serve distinct functions, though how these zones are patterned remains unclear. Here they show that mTORC1 controls spatial segregation of liver metabolic functions via modulation of Wnt signaling, and find that impaired zonation is also observed in pigs given total parenteral nutrition.

Various carriers are involved in extracellular Wnt transport. Here, the authors show that Wnt heterodimerization with its carrier protein, sFRP2, enhances Wnt accumulation on the cell surface, leading to exosome-mediated Wnt re-secretion.

Identical twins from a single embryo are formed in multiple species, albeit rarely. It is not clear how such twinning is suppressed during early development. Here they show that calcium signalling activity is propagated through the extraembryonic tissue to prevent ectopic primitive streak formation during gastrulation.

Cilia are microtubule-based cell projections that provide a unique environment with precise protein, lipid and second messenger concentrations, thereby creating specialized signalling hubs. This Review discusses recent multidisciplinary, mechanistic insights into cilia-based signalling pathways during development and homeostasis.

The activity of Drosophila male germline stem cells is tightly regulated by a cluster of somatic niche cells. Here they find that Dpp induces opposed cellular responses in stem cells versus in differentiating descendants, thereby ensuring spatial control of the niche with a single factor.

On the 70th anniversary of Alan Turing’s seminal paper on morphogenesis, we look back at the history of the paper and its many applications.

Although cardiac cell therapy has been intensely studied, the high expectations are still an unmet goal. A study now characterizes the translational potential and mode of action of human ventricular progenitors (HVPs) derived from embryonic stem cells, as a source for cardiac cell therapy.

A new study demonstrates that glypicans shield the palmitoleate on WNTs to enable their distribution in tissues.

During embryo development, concentration gradients of signalling molecules instruct formation of different cell types. How these gradients adapt to variable embryo sizes to form a properly scaled individual remains elusive. A simple system of an activator and an inhibitor, with different diffusion properties, may give an answer.

Anti-apoptotic BCL-2 proteins can drive their own expression and promote cell survival by regulating Hedgehog signalling transcription activator GLI.

Wnt morphogens are notoriously elusive proteins. Thanks to a recent study published in Nature, Clevers and colleagues give us a first glimpse of a mammalian Wnt in action in the gut epithelium.