Developmental Biology

Extracellular adenosine deamination primes tip organizer development in Dictyostelium

1. Pavani Hathi
2. Baskar Ramamurthy

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  During the development of the unicellular eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum, cells aggregate into mounds, forming protrusions or tips, which then become the front of migrating slugs and the top of fruiting bodies. This valuable study identifies adenosine deaminase-related growth factor (ADGF) as a key regulator of tip formation and convincingly shows that ADGF catalyses the conversion of adenosine to ammonia, allowing ammonia to initiate tip formation, and then elucidates pathways upstream and downstream of ADGF. The authors discuss the intriguing possibility that mammalian ADGF may also similarly regulate development.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

HSD17B7 is required for Auditory Function by Regulating Cholesterol Synthesis in Sensory Hair Cells

1. Yuqian Shen
2. Ziyang Wang
3. Xun Wang
4. Fuping Qian
5. Mingjun Zhong
6. Xin Wang
7. Jing Cheng
8. Dong Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable data on the role of Hsd17b7, a gene involved in cholesterol biosynthesis, as a potential regulator of mechanosensory hair cell function. The authors used both zebrafish and the HEI cell line to examine the effects of deletion of Hsd17b7 on hair cell function and survival. While the results do show a reduction in hair cells in the lateral line neuromasts of Hsd17b7 mutant fish, the reduction was limited. The findings are considered incomplete, with additional experiments required to confirm the conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

Dissecting Gene Regulatory Networks Governing Human Cortical Cell Fate

1. Jingwen W. Ding
2. Chang N. Kim
3. Megan S. Ostrowski
4. Yashodara Abeykoon
5. Bryan J. Pavlovic
6. Jenelle L. Wallace
7. Tomasz J. Nowakowski
8. Alex A. Pollen

Reviewed by preLights

Complementary Volume Electron Microscopy-based approaches reveal ultrastructural changes in germline intercellular bridges of D. melanogaster

1. Irina Kolotuev
2. Abigayle Williams
3. Caroline Kizilyaprak
4. Stephanie Pellegrino
5. Lindsay Lewellyn

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mouse germline cysts contain a fusome that mediates oocyte development

1. Madhulika Pathak
2. Allan C Spradling

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript provides evidence that mouse germline cysts develop an asymmetric Golgi, ER, and microtubule-associated structure, referred to as Visham, which in many ways resembles the fusome of Drosophila germline cysts. This is an important study that provides new evidence that fusome-like structures exist in germ cell cysts across species. While most of the data are solid, several instances remain in which conclusions regarding the dynamics and function of Visham should be restated, or additional experimental evidence should be provided to more fully support the authors' interpretations.

Reviewed by eLife

Eed controls craniofacial osteoblast differentiation and mesenchymal proliferation from the neural crest

1. Tim Casey-Clyde
2. S John Liu
3. Angelo Pelonero
4. Juan Antonio Camara Serrano
5. Camilla Teng
6. Yoon-Gu Jang
7. Harish N Vasudevan
8. Arun Padmanabhan
9. Jeffrey O Bush
10. David R Raleigh

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study, the authors used an elegant genetic approach to delete EED at the post-neural crest induction stage. The usage of the single-cell RNA-seq analysis method is extremely suitable to determine changes in the cell type-specific gene expression during development. Results backed by solid evidence demonstrate that Eed is required for craniofacial osteoblast differentiation and mesenchymal proliferation after the induction of the neural crest.

Reviewed by eLife

Getting a head start: Craniofacial heterochrony in marsupials involves dynamic changes to molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural crest development

1. Axel H Newton
2. Ella R Farley
3. Andrew T Major
4. Jennifer C Hutchison
5. Ben M Lawrence
6. Karen E Sears
7. Marilyn B Renfree
8. Aiden M C Couzens
9. Geoff Shaw
10. Sara Ord
11. Richard A Schneider
12. Andrew J Pask

Reviewed by preLights

Early exercise disrupts a pro-repair extracellular matrix program during zebrafish fin regeneration

1. Victor M Lewis
2. Rafael A Fernandez
3. Samuel G Horst
4. Carlos A Gonzalez
5. Kryn Stankunas

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The results in this study are useful because they begin to establish a causal link between physical activity and the cellular mechanisms of regeneration. The evidence presented is largely solid, supporting the conclusion that exercise-induced changes in the extracellular matrix disrupt regeneration; however, some claims are incomplete, requiring additional controls and a clearer distinction between the effects of mechanical loading and mechanical injury to the blastema. The work will be of interest to researchers in regenerative medicine.

Reviewed by eLife

Rejuvenation-Responsive and Senolytic-Sensitive Muscle Stem Cells Unveiled by CD200 and CD63 in Geriatric Muscle

1. Ye Lynne Kim
2. Young-Woo Jo
3. Takwon Yoo
4. Kyusang Yoo
5. Ji-Hoon Kim
6. Myungsun Park
7. In-Wook Song
8. Hyun Kim
9. Yea-Eun Kim
10. Sang-Hyeon Hann
11. Jong-Eun Park
12. Daehyun Baek
13. Young-Yun Kong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study is useful because it challenges the widely accepted notion that muscle stem cell numbers decline with aging, providing novel insights into population heterogeneity and the identification of new surface markers for geriatric MuSCs. However, the evidence is considered incomplete due to insufficient quantitative comparisons of absolute cell numbers, limited analysis of age groups (particularly the lack of "aged" mice as opposed to geriatric), and the need for further functional and mechanistic validation of key subpopulations. Additional concerns that require clarification include the lack of statistical rigor in some experiments, the presentation of supporting data not being complete, and the overextension of claims relating to senescence and new marker validation. Overall, while the findings advance understanding of MuSC aging, the conclusions drawn by the authors should be strengthened with expanded experiments and more rigorous data analysis.

Reviewed by eLife

Characterisation of cell-scale signalling by the core planar polarity pathway during Drosophila wing development

1. Alexandre Carayon
2. Helen Strutt
3. David Strutt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful paper examined the mechanism of planar cell polarity (PCP) using Drosophila pupal wing, investigating how 'cellular level', 'molecular level' and 'tissue level' mechanisms intersect to establish PCP. This represents progress for the field and the conclusions are mostly backed up by solid data. Whereas the manuscript is sound overall, remaining concerns could be addressed by textual clarification of the concepts used in the manuscript.

  [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons and revised by the authors.]

Reviewed by eLife