Developmental Biology

Mechanical fracturing of the extracellular matrix patterns the vertebrate heart

1. Christopher Chan Jin Jie
2. Daniel Santos-Oliván
3. Marie-Christine Ramel
4. Juliana Sánchez-Posada
5. Toby G R Andrews
6. Priscilla Paizakis
7. Emily S Noël
8. Alejandro Torres-Sánchez
9. Rashmi Priya

Reviewed by preLights

Identification and characterization of early human photoreceptor states and cell-state-specific retinoblastoma-related features

1. Dominic WH Shayler
2. Kevin Stachelek
3. Linda Cambier
4. Sunhye Lee
5. Jinlun Bai
6. Bhavana Bhat
7. Mark W Reid
8. Daniel J Weisenberger
9. Jennifer G Aparicio
10. Yeha Kim
11. Mitali Singh
12. Maxwell Bay
13. Matthew E Thornton
14. Eamon K Doyle
15. Zachary Fouladian
16. Stephan G Erberich
17. Brendan H Grubbs
18. Michael A Bonaguidi
19. Cheryl Mae Craft
20. Hardeep P Singh
21. David Cobrinik

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important paper, the authors use single-cell RNA sequencing to understand post-mitotic cone and rod developmental states and identify cone-specific features that contribute to retinoblastoma genesis. The authors report findings that have practical implications for retinal development, gene expression, and cell fate specification. The evidence is compelling as the experimental design and analysis are exceptionally rigorous.

Reviewed by eLife

Pu.1/Spi1 dosage controls the turnover and maintenance of microglia in zebrafish and mammals

1. Yi Wu
2. Weilin Guo
3. Haoyue Kuang
4. Xiaohai Wu
5. Thi Huong Trinh
6. Yuexin Wang
7. Shizheng Zhao
8. Zilong Wen
9. Tao Yu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable findings on the regulation of survival and maintenance of brain-resident immune cells called microglia. Using compelling and sophisticated genetic tools, the authors demonstrate a gene dosage-dependent mechanism using which microglia are eliminated. This research on cell competition and survival will be of broad interest to the cell biology community.

Reviewed by eLife

Microtubule networks in zebrafish hair cells facilitate presynapse transport and fusion during development

1. Saman Hussain
2. Katherine Pinter
3. Mara Uhl
4. Hiu-Tung Wong
5. Katie S Kindt

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This fundamental study provides new insights into the maturation of ribbon synapses in zebrafish neuromast hair cells. Live-cell imaging and pharmacological and genetic manipulations together provide compelling evidence that the formation of this synaptic organelle is a dynamic process involving the fusion of presynaptic elements and microtubule transport, though the evidence that ribbon precursors move in a directed motion toward the active zone is less persuasive. These findings will be of interest to neuroscientists studying synapse formation and function and should inspire further research into the molecular basis for synaptic ribbon maturation.

Reviewed by eLife

Linage 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 valuable study investigates how stochastic and deterministic factors are integrated during cellular decision-making, particularly in situations where cells differentiate into distinct fates despite being exposed to the same environmental conditions. The authors present convincing evidence that gene expression variability contributes to the robustness of cell fate decisions in D. discoideum, which sheds light into the role of stochasticity during cell differentiation.

Reviewed by eLife

SVEP1 enables efficient binding of Angiopoietin-2 to the TIE1 receptor, allowing receptor phosphorylation and downstream signaling

1. Katharina Uphoff
2. Melina Hußmann
3. Dörte Schulte-Ostermann
4. Yvonne Huisman
5. Matthias Mörgelin
6. Fabian Metzen
7. J Fernando Bazan
8. Manuel Koch
9. Stefan Schulte-Merker

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript focuses on developing a structural model of how the multidomain ECM protein SVEP1 enables Angiopoietin (ANG) binding to the orphan receptor TIE1, resulting in downstream receptor phosphorylation and signaling. This is a potentially important study, however, it currently lacks key controls and is therefore incomplete. The data will be of interest to scientists working in vascular biology and RTK signaling.

Reviewed by eLife

An increase in reactive oxygen species underlies neonatal cerebellum repair

1. Anna Pakula
2. Salsabiel El Nagar
3. N Sumru Bayin
4. Jens Bager Christensen
5. Daniel Stephen
6. Adam James Reid
7. Richard P Koche
8. Alexandra L Joyner

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work substantially advances our understanding of reactive oxygen species (ROS) as a regenerative signal during postnatal cerebellum repair by activating adaptive progenitor reprogramming. The evidence supporting the conclusions is compelling, with rigorous genomic assays and in vivo analyses. This work will be of broad interest to biologists working on stem cells, neurodevelopment and regenerative medicine.

Reviewed by eLife

Integrated transcriptomic analysis of human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived osteogenic differentiation reveals a regulatory role of KLF16

1. Ying Ru
2. Meng Ma
3. Xianxiao Zhou
4. Divya Kriti
5. Ninette Cohen
6. Sunita D’Souza
7. Christoph Schaniel
8. Susan M Motch Perrine
9. Sharon Kuo
10. Oksana Pichurin
11. Dalila Pinto
12. Genevieve Housman
13. Greg Holmes
14. Eric Schadt
15. Harm van Bakel
16. Bin Zhang
17. Ethylin Wang Jabs
18. Meng Wu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors investigated KLF Transcription Factor 16 (KLF16) as an inhibitor of osteogenic differentiation, which plays a critical role in bone development, metabolism and repair. The results of the study are valuable as they could help to facilitate future research on the regulation of osteogenesis in vitro and in vivo. However, the evidence overall is incomplete, as validation by knockout mouse models would help to strengthen the conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

Progressive mural cell deficiencies across the lifespan in a foxf2 model of Cerebral Small Vessel Disease

1. Merry Faye E Graff
2. Emma EM Heeg
3. Sarah J Childs

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents valuable findings that advance our understanding of mural cell dynamics and vascular pathology in a zebrafish model of cerebral small vessel disease. The authors provide compelling evidence that partial loss of foxf2 function leads to progressive, cell-intrinsic defects in pericytes and associated endothelial abnormalities across the lifespan, leveraging powerful in vivo imaging and genetic tools. The strength of evidence could be further improved by additional mechanistic insight and quantitative or lineage-tracing analyses to clarify how pericyte number and identity are affected in the mutant model.

Reviewed by eLife

BCAS2 promotes primitive hematopoiesis by sequestering β-catenin within the nucleus

1. Guozhu Ning
2. Yu Lin
3. Haixia Ma
4. Jiaqi Zhang
5. Liping Yang
6. Zhengyu Liu
7. Lei Li
8. Xinyu He
9. Qiang Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important work supports the role of breast carcinoma amplified sequence 2 (Bcas2) in positively regulating primitive wave hematopoiesis through amplification of beta-catenin-dependent (canonical) Wnt signaling. The study is convincing: it uses appropriate and validated methodology in line with the current state-of-the-art, and there is a first-rate analysis of a strong phenotype with highly supportive mechanistic data. The findings shed light on the controversial question of whether, when, and how canonical Wnt signaling may be involved in hematopoietic development. The work will be of interest to hematologists and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife