Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Electroporation of Cre mRNA into mouse neural stem cells leads to the appearance of neurons expressing a transgenic reporter (red) in the olfactory bulb 21 days later, indicating the efficiency of cell targeting by this new procedure. Interneuron subtypes are labelled by calretinin (green), tyrosine hydroxylase (blue) or TBR2 (violet). Image courtesy of Alexandra Angelova. See Research article by Bugeon et al. on p. 3968.
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IN THIS ISSUE
SPOTLIGHT
An interview with Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard
Summary: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard discusses her groundbreaking genetic screens in flies and fish, the impact of winning the 1995 Nobel Prize, and the challenges of being a ‘woman in science’.
REVIEWS
Transcriptional precision and accuracy in development: from measurements to models and mechanisms
Summary: This Review highlights how high-resolution quantitative tools and theoretical models have formed our current view of the mechanisms determining precision and accuracy in the timing, location and level of transcription in the Drosophila embryo.
Cortical interneuron development: a tale of time and space
Summary: This Review examines new insights into cortical GABAergic interneuron subtype specification, focussing on spatial, temporal and genetic mechanisms regulating cell fate decisions in the mouse medial ganglionic eminence.
HUMAN DEVELOPMENT
Pluripotent stem cell differentiation reveals distinct developmental pathways regulating lung- versus thyroid-lineage specification
Summary: Delineation of the minimal evolutionarily conserved signaling pathways required for generating lung or thyroid progenitors from pluripotent stem cells aids the provision of an inexhaustible source of progenitors for further investigations.
STEM CELLS AND REGENERATION
Anteroposterior polarity and elongation in the absence of extra-embryonic tissues and of spatially localised signalling in gastruloids: mammalian embryonic organoids
Highlighted Article: Early gastruloid patterning involves the development of the embryonic axes in the absence of extra-embryonic tissues, a process that relies on the interactions of Nodal and Wnt, but not BMP.
Macrophages are required to coordinate mouse digit tip regeneration
Summary: Cell depletion studies show that macrophages regulate multiple key aspects of a mammalian epimorphic regenerative response, including wound closure, bone histolysis, blastema formation and redifferentiation.
The E2A splice variant E47 regulates the differentiation of projection neurons via p57(KIP2) during cortical development
Summary: The bHLH TF E2A splice variant E47 regulates the expression of the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57(KIP2) via a distant regulatory cis-element to specify the identity of neural subtypes during mid-neurogenesis.
The splicing co-factor Barricade/Tat-SF1 is required for cell cycle and lineage progression in Drosophila neural stem cells
Summary: Barricade associates with the U2 snRNP complex, prevents intron retention, and is required for neural progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in the Drosophila larval brain.
Distinct regenerative potential of trunk and appendages of Drosophila mediated by JNK signalling
Summary: Despite being derived from a common lineage, Drosophila trunk and appendages possess different regenerative potential and cannot be reprogrammed to regenerate each other.
Rho differentially regulates the Hippo pathway by modulating the interaction between Amot and Nf2 in the blastocyst
Summary: A novel mechanism by which Rho can regulate Hippo signaling is described, in contrast to the prevailing view that Rho represses Hippo signaling by modulating the actin cytoskeleton.
Direct and efficient transfection of mouse neural stem cells and mature neurons by in vivo mRNA electroporation
Summary: mRNA electroporation is a powerful new method for functional studies in neonatal and adult neural stem cells as well as postmitotic neurons.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
A tectorin-based matrix and planar cell polarity genes are required for normal collagen-fibril orientation in the developing tectorial membrane
Highlighted Article: Analysis of mouse mutants reveals for the first time that a combination of planar cell polarity genes and molecular crowding determines the patterning of collagen-fibril bundles in an extracellular matrix.
Drosophila Atg16 promotes enteroendocrine cell differentiation via regulation of intestinal Slit/Robo signaling
Highlighted Article: The WD40 domain of Atg16 plays a crucial role in stress resistance and gut homeostasis, and its loss impairs Slit/Robo-dependent differentiation of pre-enteroendocrine cells into mature secretory cells and triggers inflammation.
Neural-specific deletion of the focal adhesion adaptor protein paxillin slows migration speed and delays cortical layer formation
Summary: Conditional deletion of paxillin in the developing mouse brain circumvents embryonic lethality and demonstrates a role for this focal adhesion adaptor protein in controlling the speed of neuronal migration and the timing of cortical layer formation.
Nuclear movement regulated by non-Smad Nodal signaling via JNK is associated with Smad signaling during zebrafish endoderm specification
Summary: The movement of lateral marginal cell nuclei toward the yolk syncytial layer during endoderm specification involves the Nodal-regulated reorientation of microtubule-organizing centers, phospho-Smad2 nuclear translocation and sox32 induction.
Dysregulated PDGFRα signaling alters coronal suture morphogenesis and leads to craniosynostosis through endochondral ossification
Summary: PDGFRα-PI3K/AKT signaling plays an essential role in the developing calvarial tissues of mouse by regulating endochondral ossification in cartilage anlagen underlying coronal sutures derived from neural crest and mesoderm.
The Dlx5-FGF10 signaling cascade controls cranial neural crest and myoblast interaction during oropharyngeal patterning and development
Summary: Dlx5-mediated FGF10 signaling plays a crucial role in oropharyngeal patterning and the development of muscles derived from the 4th pharyngeal arch, an important finding for understanding soft palate muscle development defects.
The Forest of Biologists

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Propose a new Workshop for 2025

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Development presents… Outstanding Paper Prize Finalists

On Wednesday 19 April, Development hosted a webinar celebrating the finalists for Development’s Inaugural Outstanding Paper Prize. The talks and Q&As were hosted by our Deputy Editor, Steve Wilson (UCL).
Development Journal Meeting 2023

The Abstract deadline for our 2023 Journal Meeting ‘Unconventional and Emerging Experimental Organisms in Cell and Developmental Biology’ is 23 June 2023. Find out more and apply here
Keeping up with the Node

Thirteen years on from its launch, the Node continues to be a place to share research stories, opinions, job adverts and event listings. Development have published a recent Editorial reviewing some of our most popular features, as well as introducing some new initiatives.