Developmental Biology

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

Endosomal-lysosomal organellar assembly (ELYSA) structures coordinate lysosomal degradation systems through mammalian oocyte-to-embryo transition

1. Yuhkoh Satouh
2. Takaki Tatebe
3. Isei Tanida
4. Junji Yamaguchi
5. Yasuo Uchiyama
6. Ken Sato

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This paper reports important findings on giant organelle complexes containing endosomes and lysosomes (termed endosomal-lysosomal organelles form assembly structures [ELYSAs]) present in mouse oocytes and 1- to 2-cell embryos. The data showing the localization and dynamics of ELYSAs during oocyte/embryo maturation are convincing. This work will be of interest to general cell biologists and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Combined forces of hydrostatic pressure and actin polymerization drive endothelial tip cell migration and sprouting angiogenesis

1. Igor Kondrychyn
2. Liqun He
3. Haymar Wint
4. Christer Betsholtz
5. Li-Kun Phng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study convincingly shows that aquaporin-mediated cell migration plays a key role in blood vessel formation during zebrafish development. In particular, the paper implicates hydrostatic pressure and water flow as mechanisms controlling endothelial cell migration during angiogenic sprouting. This fundamental study is highly novel and significantly advances our understanding of cell migration during morphogenesis. As such, this work will be of great interest to developmental and cell biologists working on organogenesis, angiogenesis, and cell migration.

Reviewed by eLife

Impaired yolk sac NAD metabolism disrupts murine embryogenesis with relevance to human birth defects

1. Kayleigh Bozon
2. Hartmut Cuny
3. Delicia Z Sheng
4. Ella MMA Martin
5. Alena Sipka
6. Paul Young
7. David T Humphreys
8. Sally L Dunwoodie

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  NAD deficiency perturbs embryonic development resulting in multiple congenital malformations, collectively termed Congenital NAD Deficiency Disorder (CNDD). The authors report fundamental findings demonstrating that extra-embryonic visceral yolk sac endoderm is critical for NAD de novo synthesis during early organogenesis and perturbations of this pathway may underlie CNDD. The authors combine gene expression with metabolic assays to provide solid evidence of an essential role of the extra-embryonic visceral yolk sac in both mouse and human embryos.

Reviewed by eLife

Single-nucleus multiomics reveals the gene regulatory networks underlying sex determination of murine primordial germ cells

1. Adriana K Alexander
2. Karina F Rodriguez
3. Yu-Ying Chen
4. Ciro Amato
5. Martin A Estermann
6. Barbara Nicol
7. Xin Xu
8. Humphrey HC Yao

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study reports single-nucleus multiomics-based profiling of transcriptome and chromatin accessibility of mouse XX and XY primordial germ cells (PGCs). The main conclusions of this study, which will be of interest to developmental and reproductive biologists, as well as andrologists, are supported by convincing data.

Reviewed by eLife

Early coordination of cell migration and cardiac fate determination during mammalian gastrulation

1. Shayma Abukar
2. Peter A Embacher
3. Alessandro Ciccarelli
4. Sunita Varsani-Brown
5. Isabel G W North
6. Jamie A Dean
7. James Briscoe
8. Kenzo Ivanovitch

Reviewed by Review Commons

UNC-6/Netrin promotes both adhesion and directed growth within a single axon

1. Ev L Nichols
2. Joo Lee
3. Kang Shen

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  These studies make a fundamental contribution to our understanding of axon-guidance mechanisms, focusing on the role of UNC-6/Netrin in the long-range growth and targeting of axons. Using state-of-the-art genetics and in vivo imaging, the authors provide compelling support for the finding that UNC-6/Netrin can act via both chemotaxis and haptotaxis. This work will be of interest to a wide variety of cell and developmental biologists and neuroscientists.

Reviewed by eLife

In vivo modeling of lethal congenital contracture syndrome 1 suggests pathomechanisms in cellular stress responses

1. Tomáš Zárybnický
2. Sonja Lindfors
3. Saana Metso
4. Julia Koivula
5. Zoltan Szabo
6. Rasmus Valtonen
7. Mikko Tulppo
8. Johanna Magga
9. Samu Saarimäki
10. Sonja Bläuer
11. Ilkka Miinalainen
12. Risto Kerkelä
13. Petteri. T. Piepponen
14. Vootele Voikar
15. Juho Väänänen
16. Riikka Kivelä
17. Bhagwan Yadav
18. Hanna Lindgren
19. Pirkko Mattila
20. Fu‐Ping Zhang
21. Petra Sipilä
22. Reetta Hinttala
23. Satu Kuure

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mechanical forces pattern endocardial Notch activation via mTORC2-PKC pathway

1. Yunfei Mu
2. Shijia Hu
3. Xiangyang Liu
4. Xin Tang
5. Jiayi Lin
6. Hongjun Shi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  Notch1 is expressed uniformly throughout the mouse endocardium during the initial stages of heart valve formation, yet it remains unclear how Notch signaling is activated specifically in the AVC region to induce valve formation. To answer this question, the authors used a combination of in vivo and ex vivo experiments in mice to demonstrate ligand-independent activation of Notch1 by circulation induced-mechanical stress and provide evidence for stimulation of a novel mechanotransduction pathway involving post-translational modification of mTORC2 and Protein Kinase C (PKC) upstream of Notch1. These findings represent an important advance in our understanding of valve formation and the conclusions are supported by convincing data.

Reviewed by eLife