Issues
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Cover image
Cover Image
Cover: Craniofacial skeleton preparation after Alcian Blue staining of a 4-day-old Xenopus tadpole. Craniofacial structures are mainly derived from migratory neural crest cells. The migration of neural crest cells is dependent on dermatan sulfate. A failure in proper neural crest cell migration might explain the craniofacial anomalies and other congenital malformations in musculocontractural Danlos–Ehlos syndrome, which results from a defect in dermatan sulfate biosynthesis. See article by Gouignard et al. on page 607. ‘Dermatan sulfate in neural crest cell migration’ by N. Gouignard is licenced under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International licence.
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EDITORIAL
Modeling human diseases: an education in interactions and interdisciplinary approaches
Summary: Animal models have greatly facilitated the process of drug discovery. Len Zon draws on his own experiences to highlight how a cross-model, interdisciplinary approach can bring basic findings to the clinic.
SPECIAL ARTICLE
Show and tell: disclosure and data sharing in experimental pathology
Summary: Reproducibility of findings in experiments using model organisms has recently become a source of concern, particularly for translational science. We discuss factors affecting the interpretation and reliability of experimental pathology findings in the mouse, and how disclosure and transparent reporting are crucial for replicability.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
Musculocontractural Ehlers–Danlos syndrome and neurocristopathies: dermatan sulfate is required for Xenopus neural crest cells to migrate and adhere to fibronectin
Editors' choice: In the Xenopus neural crest, dermatan sulfate is essential for cell migration in vivo and cell adhesion to fibronectin, which might have implications for musculocontractural Ehlers–Danlos syndrome and cancer.
Identification of benzopyrone as a common structural feature in compounds with anti-inflammatory activity in a zebrafish phenotypic screen
Summary: Zebrafish inflammation screen identifies a new series of structurally related compounds with combined anti-inflammatory and pro-resolution activity, and reveals a previously unknown mechanism of action of clinical cromones.
Histone lysine crotonylation during acute kidney injury in mice
Summary: We have assessed the effect of the epigenetic post-translational modification histone crotonylation during kidney injury in vivo and in cell culture, and the involvement of PGC-1α and SIRT3 in the process.
Two different pathogenic mechanisms, dying-back axonal neuropathy and pancreatic senescence, are present in the YG8R mouse model of Friedreich’s ataxia
Summary: Frataxin deficiency induces different pathogenic mechanisms in the nervous system and pancreas in a YG8R mouse model of Friedreich's ataxia (FRDA). Thus, the degenerative process in FRDA is determined by the cell type.
A novel Drosophila model of TDP-43 proteinopathies: N-terminal sequences combined with the Q/N domain induce protein functional loss and locomotion defects
Summary: An engineered TDP-43 construct can be used to induce TDP-43 aggregation in Drosophila, providing a model that could be useful for characterization of pathogenetic mechanisms and drug screening.
Cellular dynamics of regeneration reveals role of two distinct Pax7 stem cell populations in larval zebrafish muscle repair
Summary: Tracking muscle precursor cells during wound repair with confocal time-lapse microscopy reveals that two myoblast populations fuse and contribute differentially to regeneration, one initiating and the other growing fibres.
High-throughput screening for modulators of ACVR1 transcription: discovery of potential therapeutics for fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva
Summary: We describe the identification of dipyridamole as a potential therapeutic tool for FOP, through a series of in vitro and in vivo assays to screen and validate FDA-approved compounds.
Muscles provide protection during microbial infection by activating innate immune response pathways in Drosophila and zebrafish
Summary: Using fruit fly and zebrafish models, we show that skeletal muscles are immune responsive tissues; they mount innate immune responses during bacterial infection – an evolutionarily conserved defense mechanism.
TLR-mediated albuminuria needs TNFα-mediated cooperativity between TLRs present in hematopoietic tissues and CD80 present on non-hematopoietic tissues in mice
Summary: Systemic TNFα mediates myeloid cell and podocyte cross-talk to cause LPS-induced mouse microalbuminuria, a partial model of human nephrotic syndrome, pointing to potential adjunct therapeutic approaches.
Valuing peer review at Disease Models & Mechanisms
We would like to thank our peer reviewers who contributed their time and expertise in 2023. In her latest Editorial, Editor-in-Chief Liz Patton has outlined why we continue to value our peer reviewers dedication.
Subject collection: Building advocacy into research
DMM’s new series - Building advocacy into research - features interviews, ‘The Patient’s Voice’, with patients and advocates for a range of disease types, with the aim of supporting the highest quality research for the benefit of all patients affected by disease.
Travelling Fellowships for early-career researchers
DMM and its sister journals offer Travelling Fellowships of up to £3,000 to graduate students and post-doctoral researchers wishing to make collaborative visits to other laboratories. Find out more about our Travelling Fellowships and read stories from previous grant recipients.
Read & Publish Open Access publishing: what authors say
We have had great feedback from authors who have benefitted from our Read & Publish agreement with their institution and have been able to publish Open Access with us without paying an APC. Read what they had to say.
The Forest of Biologists
Our Publisher Claire Moulton recently visited the two Woodland Trust UK sites where we are planting new native trees for published Research and Review papers and protecting ancient woodland on behalf of our peer reviewers.