Developmental Biology

Stochastic cell-intrinsic stem cell decisions control colony growth in planarians

1. Tamar Frankovits
2. Prakash Varkey Cherian
3. Yarden Yesharim
4. Simon Dobler
5. Omri Wurtzel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript establishes a mathematical model to estimate the key parameters that control the repopulation of planarian stem cells after sublethal irradiation as they undergo fate-switching as part of their differentiation and self-renewal process. The findings are important for future investigation of stem cell division in planarians and have implications for analyzing stem cell biology in other systems. The methods are convincing, integrating modeling with perturbations of key transcription factors known to be critical for cell fate decisions, but the authors have only shown that this is the case for a small number of stem cell types.

Reviewed by eLife

Vascular mural cells protect the adult brain from haemorrhage but do not control the blood-brain barrier in developing zebrafish

1. Oguzhan F Baltaci
2. Andrea Usseglio Gaudi
3. Stefanie Dudczig
4. Weili Wang
5. Maria Cristina Rondon-Galeano
6. Ye-Wheen Lim
7. James Rae
8. Anne Lagendijk
9. Robert G Parton
10. Alison Farley
11. Benjamin M Hogan

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study examines the role of pericytes in patterning the zebrafish blood-brain barrier (BBB) and controlling its permeability. Using pdgfrb mutant zebrafish models lacking brain pericytes, the authors report that pericyte-deficient cerebrovasculatures are ill-patterned, yet display unaltered restrictive BBB permeability properties at larval and juvenile stages. More severe phenotypes are detected in adults, with focal leakage sites associated with hemorrhages and aneurysms. Using solid and beautifully documented imaging, the authors suggest that, contrary to the situation described in rodent models, pdgfrb-dependent pericytes are not required to maintain the BBB in the zebrafish brain; these unexpected and intriguing findings reshape our understanding of BBB permeability regulation in vertebrates.

Reviewed by eLife

Genetic inactivation of the β1 adrenergic receptor prevents cerebral cavernous malformations in zebrafish

1. Wenqing Li
2. Sara McCurdy
3. Miguel A Lopez-Ramirez
4. Ho-Sup Lee
5. Mark H Ginsberg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this important study, the authors test the model that a type of vascular lesion caused by the inactivation of one gene in the cells that line blood vessels requires the activity of a second gene for the lesions to form. The evidence supporting the conclusions is solid.

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A single-cell atlas of spatial and temporal gene expression in the mouse cranial neural plate

1. Eric R Brooks
2. Andrew R Moorman
3. Bhaswati Bhattacharya
4. Ian S Prudhomme
5. Max Land
6. Heather L Alcorn
7. Roshan Sharma
8. Dana Pe'er
9. Jennifer A Zallen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This comprehensive scRNAseq atlas of the cranial region during neural induction, patterning, and morphogenesis provides a fundamental demonstration of how different cell fates are organized in specific spatial patterns along the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes within the developing neural tissue. The compelling data are analyzed with a rigorous computational approach, and the data revealed both known and novel genes differentially expressed along rostro-caudal and medio-lateral axes. This will be a helpful resource for researchers studying brain development.

Reviewed by eLife

A wave of minor de novo DNA methylation initiates in mouse 8-cell embryos and co-regulates imprinted X- chromosome inactivation with H3K27me3

1. Yuan Yue
2. Wei Fu
3. Qianying Yang
4. Chao Zhang
5. Wenjuan Wang
6. Meiqiang Chu
7. Qingji Lyu
8. Yawen Tang
9. Jian Cui
10. Xiaodong Wang
11. Zhenni Zhang
12. Jianhui Tian
13. Lei An

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors present an valuable and intriguing observation challenging current views on DNA methylation dynamics, revealing earlier-than-expected de novo methylation with significant implications for gene regulation in early embryonic development. However, the study's significance is difficult to ascertain due to incomplete evidence supporting the conclusions. Moreover, the observed changes in DNA methylation across promoter regions is modest, leaving its relevance open to alternative interpretations.

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A transcription factor toggle switch determines differentiated epidermal cell identities in Hydra

1. Jaroslav Ferenc
2. Marylène Bonvin
3. Panagiotis Papasaikas
4. Jacqueline Ferralli
5. Clara Nuninger
6. Charisios D. Tsiairis

Reviewed by Review Commons

Rediscovering the rete ovarii, a secreting auxiliary structure to the ovary

1. Dilara N Anbarci
2. Jennifer McKey
3. Daniel S Levic
4. Michel Bagnat
5. Blanche Capel

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reports the developmental dynamics and molecular markers of the rete ovarii during ovarian development. The data supporting the main conclusions are convincing. This study will be of interest to developmental and reproductive biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

SOX2 and NR2F1 coordinate the gene expression program of the early postnatal visual thalamus

1. Linda Serra
2. Anna Nordin
3. Mattias Jonasson
4. Carolina Marenco
5. Guido Rovelli
6. Annika Diebels
7. Francesca Gullo
8. Sergio Ottolenghi
9. Federico Zambelli
10. Michèle Studer
11. Giulio Pavesi
12. Claudio Cantù
13. Silvia K. Nicolis
14. Sara Mercurio

Reviewed by Review Commons

GATA6 regulates WNT and BMP programs to pattern precardiac mesoderm during the earliest stages of human cardiogenesis

1. Joseph A Bisson
2. Miriam Gordillo
3. Ritu Kumar
4. Neranjan de Silva
5. Ellen Yang
6. Kelly M Banks
7. Zhong-Dong Shi
8. Kihyun Lee
9. Dapeng Yang
10. Wendy K Chung
11. Danwei Huangfu
12. Todd Evans

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study investigates the function of a critical regulator of human early cardiac development. The convincing examination of GATA6 function is thorough and well-executed. The study will be of interest to scientists working on how the human heart acquires its identity.

Reviewed by eLife

SMARCAD1 and TOPBP1 contribute to heterochromatin maintenance at the transition from the 2C-like to the pluripotent state

1. Ruben Sebastian-Perez
2. Shoma Nakagawa
3. Xiaochuan Tu
4. Sergi Aranda
5. Martina Pesaresi
6. Pablo Aurelio Gomez-Garcia
7. Marc Alcoverro-Bertran
8. Jose Luis Gomez-Vazquez
9. Davide Carnevali
10. Eva Borràs
11. Eduard Sabidó
12. Laura Martin
13. Malka Nissim-Rafinia
14. Eran Meshorer
15. Maria Victoria Neguembor
16. Luciano Di Croce
17. Maria Pia Cosma

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study examines heterochromatin domain dynamics using a model system that allows reversible transition from an embryonic stem cell to a 2-cell-like state. The authors present a solid resource to the research community that will further the understanding of changes in the chromatin-bound proteome during the 2C-to-ESC transition. However, conclusions related to the functional roles of the interaction between the SWI/SNF complex component SMARCAD1 and the DNA Topoisomerase II Binding protein (TOPBP1) remain incomplete.

Reviewed by eLife