Developmental Biology

In vivo transition in chromatin accessibility during differentiation of deep-layer excitatory neurons in the neocortex

1. Seishin Sakai
2. Yurie Maeda
3. Keita Kawaji
4. Yutaka Suzuki
5. Yukiko Gotoh
6. Yusuke Kishi

Reviewed by Review Commons

Lineage-specific intersection of endothelin and GDNF signaling in enteric nervous system development

1. Denise M Poltavski
2. Alexander T Cunha
3. Jaime Tan
4. Henry M Sucov
5. Takako Makita

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides valuable insights into our understanding of the development of the enteric nervous system. The authors use genetically engineered mice to study the behavior of stem cells in organizing the enteric nervous system and the secreted signals that regulate these cells. The study rests on a degree of incomplete evidence since the characterization of some of the mouse resources is not complete in the current version.

Reviewed by eLife

Identification of an early subset of cerebellar nuclei neurons in mice

1. Maryam Rahimi-Balaei
2. Shayan Amiri
3. Thomas Lamonerie
4. Sih-Rong Wu
5. Huda Y Zoghbi
6. G Giacomo Consalez
7. Daniel Goldowitz
8. Hassan Marzban

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors are interested in the developmental origin of the neurons of the cerebellar nuclei. In this study, they identify a population of neurons with a specific complement of markers that originate in a distinct location from where cerebellar nuclear precursor cells have been thought to originate that show distinct developmental properties. The discovery of a new germinal zone giving rise to a new population of neurons is an exciting finding, and it enriches our understanding of cerebellar development. The important claims, better explained in the current version, are well supported by solid evidence with the authors using a wide range of technical approaches, including transgenic mice that allow them to disentangle the influence of distinct developmental organizers

Reviewed by eLife

Maternal obesity may disrupt offspring metabolism by inducing oocyte genome hyper-methylation via increased DNMTs

1. Shuo Chao
2. Jun Lu
3. Li-Jun Li
4. Hong-Yan Guo
5. Kuipeng Xu
6. Ning Wang
7. Shu-Xian Zhao
8. Xiao-Wen Jin
9. Shao-Ge Wang
10. Shen Yin
11. Wei Shen
12. Ming-Hui Zhao
13. Gui-An Huang
14. Qing-Yuan Sun
15. Zhao-Jia Ge

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript reports important findings on the impact of maternal obesity on offspring metabolism. It presents solid evidence that maternal obesity induces genomic methylation alterations in oocytes, which can be partly transmitted to F2 in females, and that melatonin is involved in regulating the hyper-methylation of high fat diet oocytes by increasing the expression of DNMTs via the cAMP/PKA/CREB pathway. This study would be of interest to biologists in the fields of epigenetics and metabolism.

Reviewed by eLife

Endogenous FGFs drive ERK-dependent cell fate patterning in 2D human gastruloids

1. Kyoung Jo
2. Zong-Yuan Liu
3. Gauri Patel
4. Zhiyuan Yu
5. LiAng Yao
6. Seth Teague
7. Craig Johnson
8. Jason Spence
9. Idse Heemskerk

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This work is an important contribution to understanding the role of FGF signaling in the induction of primitive-like cells in a 2D system of human gastrulation. The authors provide compelling evidence showing that endogenous FGF ligands, acting through FGF receptors localized basolaterally, are determinant in the acquisition of a primitive streak cell fate. These observations will be of broad relevance to the FGF field.

Reviewed by eLife

Single Cell Transcriptomics-Informed Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Differentiation to Tenogenic Lineage

1. Angela Papalamprou
2. Victoria Yu
3. Wensen Jiang
4. Julia Sheyn
5. Tina Stefanovic
6. Angel Chen
7. Chloe Castaneda
8. Melissa Chavez
9. Dmitriy Sheyn

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors established a useful syndetome differentiation protocol from human induced pluripotent stem cells, guided by single-cell transcriptomic analysis. Their findings could significantly impact the field, particularly for patients needing tendon cell therapy. However, the evidence presented is currently incomplete, as the authors did not yet test the applicability of their protocol across multiple human induced pluripotent stem cell lines.

Reviewed by eLife

Basement membranes are crucial for proper olfactory placode shape, position and boundary with the brain, and for olfactory axon development

1. Pénélope Tignard
2. Karen Pottin
3. Audrey Geeverding
4. Mohamed Doulazmi
5. Mélody Cabrera
6. Coralie Fouquet
7. Mathilde Liffran
8. Jonathan Fouchard
9. Marion Rosello
10. Shahad Albadri
11. Filippo Del Bene
12. Alain Trembleau
13. Marie Anne Breau

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study describes the function of Laminin y1-dependent basement membranes in development of the olfactory placode, including morphogenesis of the placode, boundary formation, and olfactory axonal pathfinding. The study uses elegant live imaging approaches and extensive quantitative analyses, combined with detailed mutant analyses to provide a compelling description of the role of Laminin in olfactory placode development. In addition to the contributions this study makes to understanding olfactory placode development, it will also be of broader interest to individuals studying extracellular matrix regulation of tissue morphogenesis, and neural development including neuronal pathfinding.

Reviewed by eLife

Cardiac Fibroblasts regulate myocardium and coronary vasculature development via the collagen signaling pathway

1. Yiting Deng
2. Yuanhang He
3. Juan Xu
4. Haoting He
5. Manling Zhang
6. Guang Li

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides abundant valuable scRNA-Seq data that profiles fibroblasts involved in myocardium and coronary vasculature development. However, the evidence supporting the authors' claims is currently incomplete. The inclusion of additional citations, more in-depth discussions, and further analyses or experiments to validate the scRNA-Seq data would have significantly strengthened the study. Nonetheless, the scRNA-Seq expression data will be a resource that is of value to researchers in the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Actin-based deformations of the nucleus control multiciliated ependymal cell differentiation

1. Marianne Basso
2. Alexia Mahuzier
3. Syed Kaabir Ali
4. Anaïs Marty
5. Marion Faucourt
6. Ana-Maria Lennon-Duménil
7. Ayush Srivastava
8. Michella Khoury Damaa
9. Alexia Bankole
10. Alice Meunier
11. Ayako Yamada
12. Julie Plastino
13. Nathalie Spassky
14. Nathalie Delgehyr

Reviewed by preLights, Arcadia Science

Genetic requirement of dact1/2 to regulate noncanonical Wnt signaling and calpain 8 during embryonic convergent extension and craniofacial morphogenesis

1. Shannon H Carroll
2. Sogand Schafer
3. Kenta Kawasaki
4. Casey Tsimbal
5. Amelie M Jule
6. Shawn A Hallett
7. Edward Li
8. Eric C Liao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This in several parts valuable study confirms the roles of Dact1 and Dact2, two factors involved in Wnt signaling, during zebrafish gastrulation and demonstrates their genetic interactions with other Wnt components to modulate craniofacial morphologies. Unfortunately, there are several limitations associated with the study, making it challenging to distinguish the primary and secondary effects of each factor, and their roles in craniofacial morphogenesis. The findings of a new potential target of dact1/2-mediated Wnt signaling are potentially of value; however, experimental evidence supporting their functional significance remains incomplete due to inconsistent results and limitations inherent to the overexpression approach.

Reviewed by eLife