Developmental biology articles within Nature Communications

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  • Article
    | Open Access

    Organ regeneration by stem cells is required to compensate for tissue damage during aging, although how stem cells are maintained in adulthood is poorly understood. Here, the authors show in Drosophila that Shavenbaby interacts with Yorkie, a mediator of Hippo signalling, to ensure adult stem cell survival.

    • Jérôme Bohère
    • , Alexandra Mancheno-Ferris
    •  & François Payre

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Sample orientation is crucial to ensure optimal image quality in light microscopy. Here the authors enable multi-axis orientation of fixed mouse embryos and shrimp, and live zebrafish embryos and larvae by introducing magnetic beads and rotating the sample with a magnetic field in a microscope.

    • Frederic Berndt
    • , Gopi Shah
    •  & Jan Huisken

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Myoblast fusion in skeletal muscle is a complex process but how this is regulated is unclear. Here, the authors identify Ash1L, a histone methyltransferase, as modulating myoblast fusion via activation of the myogenesis gene Cdon, and observe decreased Ash1L expression in Duchenne muscular dystrophy.

    • Ilaria Castiglioni
    • , Roberta Caccia
    •  & Davide Gabellini

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During de novo establishment of apical-basal polarity, a basolateral membrane must be converted into an apical delivery zone. Here, the authors use MDCK 3D cysts to uncover that the phospholipid PI(3,4)P2 is an apical membrane determinant.

    • Álvaro Román-Fernández
    • , Julie Roignot
    •  & David M. Bryant

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The function of the Retinoblastoma (Rb) protein is regulated by its cellular environment. Here, the authors perform single cell RNA-sequencing during Drosophila eye development and identify the impact of an Rbf mutation, which sensitises specific cells to apoptosis by changing metabolism.

    • Majd M. Ariss
    • , Abul B. M. M. K. Islam
    •  & Maxim V. Frolov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The effects of mechanical forces, generated by actomyosin contractility, on E-cadherin based cell adhesion are poorly characterized in vivo. Here, the authors report that normal stress increases E-cadherin levels, whereas shear stress reduces E-Cadherin levels, in the developing Drosophila embryo.

    • Girish R. Kale
    • , Xingbo Yang
    •  & Thomas Lecuit

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Proteome and transcriptome often show poor correlation, hindering the system-wide analysis of post-transcriptional regulation. Here, the authors study proteome and transcriptome dynamics during Drosophila embryogenesis and present basic mathematical models describing the temporal regulation of most protein-RNA pairs.

    • Kolja Becker
    • , Alina Bluhm
    •  & Stefan Legewie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    During early embryogenesis, critical cardiac specification events occur. Here the authors isolate cardiac progenitor cells from early zebrafish embryos and characterize accessible chromatin regions specific to this cell population, finding that many of these regions overlap with conserved non-coding elements that are ortholgous to accessible chromatin regions in human.

    • Xuefei Yuan
    • , Mengyi Song
    •  & Michael D. Wilson

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vitro culture has detrimental effects on transcriptomes and epigenetic programming of zygotes. Here the authors use microfluidic technology to co-culture bovine oviduct epithelial cells with zygotes and show that the transcriptomes and global methylation patterns of these zygotes are more similar to in vivo zygotes than to conventionally cultured zygotes.

    • Marcia A. M. M. Ferraz
    • , Hoon Suk Rho
    •  & Bart M. Gadella

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The mammalian stomach is a complex organ with diverse roles in health and disease. Here, the authors integrate proteomics and transcriptomics to analyze the mouse stomach at 15 time points during development, providing molecular level insights into system-wide developmental changes.

    • Xianju Li
    • , Chunchao Zhang
    •  & Jun Qin

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Wnt signaling is known to regulate the formation of the blood-brain barrier. Here Hübner et al. dissect the underlying mechanisms using high resolution live imaging in zebrafish, and find that Wnt regulates anastomosis of angiogenic sprouts in the brain by counteracting sphingosine-1-phosphate receptor signaling.

    • Kathleen Hübner
    • , Pauline Cabochette
    •  & Wiebke Herzog

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs) form cardiomyocytes, pericytes, smooth muscle and endothelial cells during embryonic development. Here, the authors characterize mouse CPCs marked by Nkx2.5 and Isl1 from E7.5 to E9.5 by single cell RNA-seq and ATAC-seq, showing fate transitions involve distinct open chromatin state.

    • Guangshuai Jia
    • , Jens Preussner
    •  & Thomas Braun

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear how removal of axon debris and initiation of axon regeneration following nerve injury is co-regulated. In this study, the authors show that the extracellular domain (ECD) of the engulfment receptor, CED-1, functions as an adhesion molecule to promote axonal regeneration after injury, independent of its function in phagocytosis

    • Hui Chiu
    • , Yan Zou
    •  & Chieh Chang

  • Article
    | Open Access

    It is unclear how metabolic regulation affects development of the skeleton. Here, the authors show that deletion of the glucose transporter Glut1 (Slc2a1) both prior to and following chondrogenesis in the mouse limb impairs chondrocyte proliferation and shortening of the limbs, modulated by BMP signaling.

    • Seung-Yon Lee
    • , E. Dale Abel
    •  & Fanxin Long

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Little is known about developmental set points of immune responses, especially in humans. Here the authors show that the metabolic state of monocytes isolated from prematurely born infants underlies attenuated responsiveness to fungal infection via selective control of protein translation.

    • Bernard Kan
    • , Christina Michalski
    •  & Pascal M. Lavoie

  • Article
    | Open Access

    REX1 has been shown to regulate pluripotency of ESCs, genomic imprinting and preimplantation development in mice. Here the authors provide evidence that REX1 is the prime target of RNF12 E3 ubiquitin ligase and that Rex1 removal rescues the Rnf12 knockout phenotype in imprinted X chromosome inactivation in mice.

    • Cristina Gontan
    • , Hegias Mira-Bontenbal
    •  & Joost Gribnau

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Oestrogen receptors α (ERα) are expressed in a subset of mammary epithelial cells. Here, the authors identify cells with low-ERα protein levels and show that distinct cell populations have distinct requirements for the AF1 and AF2 domains of the ERα, and ERα acts in a biphasic manner dependent on developmental stage.

    • Stéphanie Cagnet
    • , Dalya Ataca
    •  & Cathrin Brisken

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Striatal projection neurons exist as two distinct classes and are anatomically mixed in the brain. Here, Tinterri and colleagues show the developmental mechanism of this cellular mosaicism that relies on an intrinsic transcription factor for cell type specification and intermixed cellular migration.

    • Andrea Tinterri
    • , Fabien Menardy
    •  & Sonia Garel

  • Article
    | Open Access

    c-Kit receptor–Kit ligand complex signaling is known to activate c-Kit and is essential for tissue development. Here, Buono et al. show that membrane-bound KitL signaling induces proliferation via CAML-Akt-CREB pathway activation, establishing a role for bidirectional signaling in tissue expansion.

    • Mario Buono
    • , Marie-Laëtitia Thézénas
    •  & Claus Nerlov

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Potentially cancerous cells undergo live apical extrusion from normal monolayers and vSrc expression induces this in zebrafish epithelia. Here, the authors show that vSrc coordinates cytokinetic ring formation, cell cycle progression, junctional integrity, cell survival and apicobasal polarity to induce extrusion of transformed cells.

    • Katarzyna A. Anton
    • , Mihoko Kajita
    •  & Masazumi Tada

  • Article
    | Open Access

    While proinflammatory signalling is preventive to axon regrowth, activated macrophages can be beneficial, for example by limiting the inflammation. This study uses mutant zebrafish lines that lack macrophages and/or microglia to show that peripheral macrophages are necessary in axon regrowth following complete transection of spinal cord.

    • Themistoklis M. Tsarouchas
    • , Daniel Wehner
    •  & Catherina G. Becker

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Conventional human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) fail to contribute to interspecies chimaeras when injected into mouse blastocysts. Here the authors show that forced expression of BMI1 overcomes apoptosis of hPSCs in blastocysts of mouse, rabbit and pig allowing them to contribute to chimaeras.

    • Ke Huang
    • , Yanling Zhu
    •  & Guangjin Pan

  • Article
    | Open Access

    In vertebrate multiciliated cells, most centrioles are synthesized and released by poorly characterized structures called deuterosomes. Here, the authors report that the previously-uncharacterized Cdc20b in mouse and Xenopus associates with deuterosomes and contributes to centriole release.

    • Diego R. Revinski
    • , Laure-Emmanuelle Zaragosi
    •  & Pascal Barbry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epithelial folding has mainly been linked to forces acting in the apical actomyosin network of cells. Here, the authors show using live imaging that two distinct mechanisms, changes in basal surface tension and changes in lateral surface tension, drive the formation of two folds in the Drosophila wing disc.

    • Liyuan Sui
    • , Silvanus Alt
    •  & Christian Dahmann

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Abnormal alveolar development and homeostasis are common features of pulmonary disease. Here the authors show that Myh10 expression is reduced in emphysema patients, and that Myh10 loss of function impairs alveolar formation and lung morphogenesis via upregulation of matrix metalloproteinase activity and altered matrix remodeling.

    • Hyun-Taek Kim
    • , Wenguang Yin
    •  & Didier Y. R. Stainier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The NuRD complex plays an important role in regulating lineage commitment and cell fate during early embryonic development. Here the authors present an integrative analysis of MBD3/NuRD composition and binding in mouse embryonic stem cells and neural progenitor cells, providing a molecular basis for genome-wide NuRD localization

    • Susan L. Kloet
    • , Ino D. Karemaker
    •  & Michiel Vermeulen

  • Article
    | Open Access

    A small percentage of cardiomyocytes (CM) are of neural crest origin but the function of such cells in the adult zebrafish is unclear. Here, the authors identify this CM subpopulation as expressing the Notch ligand jag2b and if deleted in the embryo, cause severe hypertrophic cardiomyopathy in adulthood.

    • Sarah Abdul-Wajid
    • , Bradley L. Demarest
    •  & H. Joseph Yost

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Inflammation can promote cartilage degradation by inducing matrix-degrading enzymes via NF-κB. Here the authors uncover reciprocal inhibition of Yap/Taz and NF-κB signaling though TAK1, and identify Yap activity as critical for maintenance of cartilage integrity in a mouse model of osteoarthritis.

    • Yujie Deng
    • , Jinqiu Lu
    •  & Kinglun Kingston Mak

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Leydig cells are steroidogenic cells in the testes and produce the androgens required for male development and spermatogenesis. Here the authors show that a multipotent progenitor population producing Leydig cells, pericytes and smooth muscle cells is maintained in a perivascular niche within the mouse fetal testis.

    • Deepti L. Kumar
    •  & Tony DeFalco

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Myoblast fusion is an essential step in muscle growth and regeneration, and is regulated by the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) BAI3. Here Hamoud et al. show that the GPCR activity of BAI3 is spatiotemporally regulated during myoblast fusion, and identify C1qL4 and Stabilin-2 as, respectively, negative and positive regulators of its activity.

    • Noumeira Hamoud
    • , Viviane Tran
    •  & Jean-François Côté

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The transcription factor SOX17 is important for uterine gland formation, fertility, and embryo implantation in mouse. Here the authors show that SOX17 is upstream of Indian hedgehog to regulate mouse uterine receptivity, and their analysis of uterine tissue from endometriosis patients suggests the same function in humans.

    • Xiaoqiu Wang
    • , Xilong Li
    •  & Francesco J. DeMayo

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Paternal contributions to epigenetic inheritance via nucleosomes are poorly understood, as sperm in many organisms replace the majority of nucleosomes with protamines. Here the authors provide evidence that Caenorhabditis elegans sperm retain histone packaging of the genome and provide a histone-based epigenetic memory that is important for germ cell development in offspring.

    • Tomoko M. Tabuchi
    • , Andreas Rechtsteiner
    •  & Susan Strome

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Primordial Germ Cell-Like Cells (PGCLCs) are an in vitro model for primordial germ cell development. Here, the authors couple a novel compound reporter with CRISPR screening to identify key genes for exit from pluripotency and acquisition of PGCLC fate; specifically identifying Nr5a2 and Zfp296.

    • Jamie A. Hackett
    • , Yun Huang
    •  & M. Azim Surani

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Reactive oxygen species (ROS) and hypoxia-inducible factors (HIF) mediate regeneration but how is unclear. Here, the authors use an optic-based probe (‘optrode’) to monitor oxygen (O2) during Xenopus tail regeneration, identifying crosstalk between O2 influx, ROS production, and HIF-1α stabilization.

    • Fernando Ferreira
    • , VijayKrishna Raghunathan
    •  & Min Zhao

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Loss of the transcription factor Myogenin in mice reduces skeletal myogenesis and leads to perinatal death but how Myogenin regulates muscle formation is unclear. Here, the authors show that zebrafish Myogenin enhances Myomaker expression, muscle cell fusion and myotome size, yet decreases fast muscle fibre number.

    • Massimo Ganassi
    • , Sara Badodi
    •  & Simon M. Hughes

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Due to the limited proliferation capacity of adult mammalian cardiomyocytes, the human heart has negligible regenerative capacity after injury. Here the authors show that a Hedgehog-Gli1-Mycn signaling cascade regulates cardiomyocyte proliferation and cardiac regeneration from amphibians to mammals.

    • Bhairab N. Singh
    • , Naoko Koyano-Nakagawa
    •  & Daniel J. Garry

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Functional salivary glands have not been generated from embryonic stem cells (mESCs) to date. Here the authors demonstrate directed in vitro differentiation of mESCs to oral ectoderm and salivary gland rudiments that form mature, functional salivary glands after orthotopic transplantation.

    • Junichi Tanaka
    • , Miho Ogawa
    •  & Kenji Mishima

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Brain organoid models reported to date lack cells of mesodermal origin, such as microglia. Here, the authors demonstrate that mature microglia-like cells are generated within their cerebral organoid model, providing new avenues for studying human microglia in a three-dimensional brain environment.

    • Paul R. Ormel
    • , Renata Vieira de Sá
    •  & R. Jeroen Pasterkamp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Epigenetic regulation is critical for the maintenance of germ cell identity. Here the authors show that H3K9me3-mediated gene silencing is critical for repression of testis-specific transcription in Drosophila female germ cells, indicating H3K9me3 maintains female germ cell sexual identity.

    • Anne E. Smolko
    • , Laura Shapiro-Kulnane
    •  & Helen K. Salz

  • Article
    | Open Access

    Group 3 medulloblastoma is an aggressive pediatric brain tumour that disseminates through the leptomeningeal cerebral spinal fluid. Here, the authors show that in Group 3 medulloblastoma NOTCH1 activates BMI1 through the activation of TWIST1, driving metastasis and self-renewal, and in mouse models a NOTCH1 blocking antibody decreased spinal metastases.

    • Suzana A. Kahn
    • , Xin Wang
    •  & Samuel H. Cheshier

  • Article
    | Open Access

    How heterogeneities arise in stem cell populations remains unclear. Here, Glen et al. find that in ESC colonies cell cycle asynchronies modulate gap junctions, causing variation in intracellular signalling molecule diffusion between cells, and ultimately in spatial heterogeneity in differentiation.

    • Chad M. Glen
    • , Todd C. McDevitt
    •  & Melissa L. Kemp

  • Article
    | Open Access

    The RNA-binding protein MARF1 is required for post-transcriptional regulation of mRNAs during mouse oogenesis. Here, by analyzing a Drosophila MARF1 mutant, the authors show that MARF1 recruits CCR4-NOT deadenylase to shorten the poly-A tails of target mRNAs such as cyclin A and suppress their translation during Drosophila oogenesis.

    • Li Zhu
    • , Suresh K. Kandasamy
    •  & Ryuya Fukunaga

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