Developmental Biology

The oocyte zinc transporter Slc39a10/Zip10 is a regulator of zinc sparks during fertilization in mice

1. Atsuko Kageyama
2. Narumi Ogonuki
3. Takuya Wakai
4. Takafumi Namiki
5. Yui Kawata
6. Manabu Ozawa
7. Yasuhiro Yamada
8. Toshiyuki Fukada
9. Atsuo Ogura
10. Rafael Fissore
11. Naomi Kashiwazaki
12. Junya Ito

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents significant and novel insights into the roles of zinc in mammalian meiosis/fertilization events. These findings are useful to our understanding of these processes. The evidence presented is solid, with experiments being well-designed, carefully described, and interpreted with appropriate rigor. The authors acknowledge the lack of mechanistic insight which represents the main limitation of the study.

Reviewed by eLife

Bidirectional translocation of actomyosin drives epithelial invagination in ascidian siphon tube morphogenesis

1. Jinghan Qiao
2. Pengyu Yu
3. Hongzhe Peng
4. Wenjie Shi
5. Bo Li
6. Bo Dong

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This useful study uses a combination of experimental and modeling approaches to investigate the role of actomyosin in epithelial invagination during Ciona siphon tube morphogenesis. Several types of solid quantitative analyses are presented, yet the evidence supporting the central claim of bidirectional translocation of actomyosin remains incomplete. Since epithelial invagination contributes to the morphogenesis of many developing organs, this work has the potential to appeal to both cell biologists and developmental biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Extracellular adenosine deamination primes tip organizer development in Dictyostelium

1. Pavani Hathi
2. Baskar Ramamurthy

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  During the development of the unicellular eukaryote Dictyostelium discoideum, cells aggregate into mounds, forming protrusions or tips, which then become the front of migrating slugs and the top of fruiting bodies. This valuable study identifies adenosine deaminase-related growth factor (ADGF) as a key regulator of tip formation and convincingly shows that ADGF catalyses the conversion of adenosine to ammonia, allowing ammonia to initiate tip formation, and then elucidates pathways upstream and downstream of ADGF. The authors discuss the intriguing possibility that mammalian ADGF may also similarly regulate development.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

HSD17B7 is required for Auditory Function by Regulating Cholesterol Synthesis in Sensory Hair Cells

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 results do show a reduction in hair cells in the lateral line neuromasts of Hsd17b7 mutant fish, the reduction was limited. The findings are considered incomplete, with additional experiments required to confirm the conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife

Dissecting Gene Regulatory Networks Governing Human Cortical Cell Fate

1. Jingwen W. Ding
2. Chang N. Kim
3. Megan S. Ostrowski
4. Yashodara Abeykoon
5. Bryan J. Pavlovic
6. Jenelle L. Wallace
7. Tomasz J. Nowakowski
8. Alex A. Pollen

Reviewed by preLights

Complementary Volume Electron Microscopy-based approaches reveal ultrastructural changes in germline intercellular bridges of D. melanogaster

1. Irina Kolotuev
2. Abigayle Williams
3. Caroline Kizilyaprak
4. Stephanie Pellegrino
5. Lindsay Lewellyn

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mouse germline cysts contain a fusome that mediates oocyte development

1. Madhulika Pathak
2. Allan C Spradling

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript provides evidence that mouse germline cysts develop an asymmetric Golgi, ER, and microtubule-associated structure, referred to as Visham, which in many ways resembles the fusome of Drosophila germline cysts. This is an important study that provides new evidence that fusome-like structures exist in germ cell cysts across species. While most of the data are solid, several instances remain in which conclusions regarding the dynamics and function of Visham should be restated, or additional experimental evidence should be provided to more fully support the authors' interpretations.

Reviewed by eLife

Eed controls craniofacial osteoblast differentiation and mesenchymal proliferation from the neural crest

1. Tim Casey-Clyde
2. S John Liu
3. Angelo Pelonero
4. Juan Antonio Camara Serrano
5. Camilla Teng
6. Yoon-Gu Jang
7. Harish N Vasudevan
8. Arun Padmanabhan
9. Jeffrey Ohmann Bush
10. David R Raleigh

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  In this valuable study, the authors used an elegant genetic approach to delete EED at the post-neural crest induction stage. The usage of the single-cell RNA-seq analysis method is extremely suitable to determine changes in the cell type-specific gene expression during development. Results backed by solid evidence demonstrate that Eed is required for craniofacial osteoblast differentiation and mesenchymal proliferation after the induction of the neural crest.

Reviewed by eLife

Getting a head start: Craniofacial heterochrony in marsupials involves dynamic changes to molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying neural crest development

1. Axel H Newton
2. Ella R Farley
3. Andrew T Major
4. Jennifer C Hutchison
5. Ben M Lawrence
6. Karen E Sears
7. Marilyn B Renfree
8. Aiden M C Couzens
9. Geoff Shaw
10. Sara Ord
11. Richard A Schneider
12. Andrew J Pask

Reviewed by preLights

Early exercise disrupts a pro-repair extracellular matrix program during zebrafish fin regeneration

1. Victor M Lewis
2. Rafael A Fernandez
3. Samuel G Horst
4. Carlos A Gonzalez
5. Kryn Stankunas

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The results in this study are useful because they begin to establish a causal link between physical activity and the cellular mechanisms of regeneration. The evidence presented is largely solid, supporting the conclusion that exercise-induced changes in the extracellular matrix disrupt regeneration; however, some claims are incomplete, requiring additional controls and a clearer distinction between the effects of mechanical loading and mechanical injury to the blastema. The work will be of interest to researchers in regenerative medicine.

Reviewed by eLife