Developmental Biology

A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of inner ear morphogenesis in zebrafish

1. Akankshi Munjal
2. Kalki Kukreja
3. Samara Williams
4. Toru Kawanishi
5. Natasha M O’Brown
6. Kana Ishimatsu
7. Allon Klein
8. Sean G Tsung-Megason
9. Ian A Swinburne

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a valuable study on single-cell transcriptomic analyses, focused on morphogenesis of the zebrafish inner ear in wildtype and lmx1bb mutants. The supporting evidence is mostly convincing, but incomplete in parts.

Reviewed by eLife

Tumors mimic the niche to inhibit neighboring stem cell differentiation

1. Yang Zhang
2. Yuejia Wang
3. Jinqiao Song
4. Lizhong Yan
5. Ziguang Wang
6. Dongze Song
7. Haojun Wang
8. Sining Yang
9. Liyuan Niu
10. Chang Sun
11. Hanning Zhang
12. Yudi Zhao
13. Shaowei Zhao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides important insights into how tumorous germline stem cells (GSCs) in the Drosophila melanogaster ovary can mimic niche function and suppress the differentiation of neighboring cells. The findings that GSC tumors can incorporate non-mutant cells and inhibit their differentiation are compelling and extend current understanding of stem cell-niche interactions. However, the evidence supporting the conclusion that GSC tumors produce BMP ligands to mediate this effect remains incomplete, due to concerns regarding the quality and interpretation of the HCR-FISH data.

Reviewed by eLife

HSD17B7 is required for the function of sensory hair cells by regulating cholesterol synthesis

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 study presents convincing evidence, the effect sizes observed across several experiments, including functional readouts such as the acoustic startle response, are modest, which raises questions about the biological significance of the proposed mechanism.

Reviewed by eLife

A spatiotemporal transcriptomic atlas of the mouse placenta reveals glycogen cell-mediated metabolic support essential for fetal viability

1. Yuting Fu
2. Xiaoqi Zeng
3. Yifang Liu
4. Shikai Jia
5. Yujia Jiang
6. Jia Ping Tan
7. Yue Yuan
8. Tianchang Xia
9. Yun Mei
10. Shan Wen
11. Xiaojing Liu
12. Yue You
13. Weike Pei
14. Chengshuo Yang
15. Sida Shao
16. Junhua Shen
17. Liangshan Mu
18. Xiaoxue Ma
19. Matthew Paul McCormack
20. Saifeng Cheng
21. Luyi Tian
22. Longqi Liu
23. Xiaoyu Wei
24. Xiaodong Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reports a spatiotemporal atlas of mouse placental development and explores the role of glycogen trophoblast cells in fetal viability. Solid data are presented to support the main conclusion. This work will be of great interest to developmental DNA reproductive biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Arrayed single-gene perturbations identify drivers of human anterior neural tube closure

1. Roya E Huang
2. Giridhar M Anand
3. Heitor C Megale
4. Jason Chen
5. Chudi Abraham-Igwe
6. Sharad Ramanathan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This landmark study investigates how patterned human gastruloids can provide insights into neural tube closure. Using a screen, they identified positive and negative regulators and defines the epistasis among them using optimization of micro-pattern based gastruloid protocol and CRISPRi. This technical tour de force is exceptional and one of the first studies to reveal new knowledge on human development through embryo models.

Reviewed by eLife

Label-free assessment of pre-implantation embryo quality by the Fluorescence Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM)-phasor approach

1. Ning Ma
2. Nabora Reyes de Mochel
3. Paula Duyen Pham
4. Tae Yeon Yoo
5. Ken W. Y. Cho
6. Michelle A. Digman

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Drosophila ryanodine receptor gene triggers functional and developmental muscle properties and could be used to assess the impact of human RYR1 mutations

1. Monika Zmojdzian
2. Teresa Jagla
3. Florian Cherik
4. Magda Dubinska-Magiera
5. Marta Migocka-Patrzalek
6. Malgorzata Daczewska
7. John Rendu
8. Krzysztof Jagla
9. Catherine Sarret

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important paper provides novel information on the function of the Drosophila ryanodine receptor (RyR) during muscle development. The authors analyze the effects of a rare human mutation that causes myopathy that affects a conserved region of the gene. They present compelling evidence that this variant affects muscle function in flies. These results suggest that Drosophila can be used as a tool for screening additional variants.

  [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

Reviewed by eLife

A cell atlas of the developing human outflow tract of the heart and its adult aortic valve derivatives

1. Rotem Leshem
2. Syed Murtuza Baker
3. Joshua Mallen
4. Lu Wang
5. John Dark
6. Andrew D Sharrocks
7. Karen Piper Hanley
8. Neil A Hanley
9. Magnus Rattray
10. Simon D Bamforth
11. Nicoletta Bobola

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This is a valuable study that presents human single nuclei RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomics data of the developing outflow tract and adult aortic valves that will facilitate research in this area. Data presented are solid, with bioinformatics analyses showing cell lineage and trajectory relationships, intriguingly suggesting persistence of embryonic signature in adult aortic valve cells. The latter results would be strengthened by experimental validation.

Reviewed by eLife

Inverted Assembly of the Lens Within Ocular Organoids Reveals Alternate Paths to Ocular Morphogenesis

1. Elin Stahl
2. Miguel Angel Delgado-Toscano
3. Ishwariya Saravanan
4. Anastasija Paneva
5. Joachim Wittbrodt
6. Lucie Zilova

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study demonstrates that ocular organoids can generate both retina and lens through a non-canonical, "inside-out" morphogenetic route. The work is supported by convincing data, with well-designed experiments combining imaging, molecular analysis, and transcriptomics to establish that lens formation in organoids follows conserved molecular programs despite an alternative morphogenesis. These findings expand our understanding of self-organization and developmental plasticity, and will be of broad interest to researchers working on eye development, organoids, and tissue engineering.

  [Editors' note: this paper was reviewed by Review Commons.]

Reviewed by eLife, Review Commons

Lineage priming and cell type proportioning depends on the interplay between stochastic and deterministic factors

1. William M Salvidge
2. Chris Brimson
3. Nicole Gruenheit
4. Li-Yao Huang
5. Catherine J Pears
6. Jason B Wolf
7. Christopher RL Thompson

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study shows how stochastic and deterministic factors are integrated in Dictyostelium discoideum to reliably drive determination of distinct cell types despite exposure to nearly identical environmental conditions. The authors present convincing evidence that gene expression variability contributes to the robustness of cell fate decisions, which reveals an unexpected role of stochasticity during cell differentiation.

Reviewed by eLife