Developmental Biology

FGF8-mediated gene regulation affects regional identity in human cerebral organoids

1. Michele Bertacchi
2. Gwendoline Maharaux
3. Agnès Loubat
4. Matthieu Jung
5. Michèle Studer

Reviewed by Review Commons

Learning a conserved mechanism for early neuroectoderm morphogenesis

1. Matthew Lefebvre
2. Jonathan Colen
3. Nikolas Claussen
4. Fridtjof Brauns
5. Marion Raich
6. Noah Mitchell
7. Michel Fruchart
8. Vincenzo Vitelli
9. Sebastian J Streichan

Reviewed by preLights

The embryonic role of juvenile hormone in the firebrat, Thermobia domestica, reveals its function before its involvement in metamorphosis

1. James W Truman
2. Lynn M Riddiford
3. Barbora Konopova
4. Marcela Nouzova
5. Fernando G Noriega
6. Michelle Herko

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study presents findings regarding the role of Juvenile Hormone in development and cell differentiation in the ametabolous insect Thermobia domestica, providing an in-depth analysis of JH's roles in a member of this basally branching group. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is convincing, drawing on a broad range of approaches and variety of experimental techniques. While the interpretation of this work in the wider context - its relevance for the evolution of metamorphosis - is in some places somewhat speculative, the work will be of interest to evolutionary developmental biologists studying the evolution of metamorphosis, and the evolution of insects in general.

Reviewed by eLife, Arcadia Science

Asymmetric cell division-specific phosphorylation of PAR-3 regulates neuroblasts polarisation and sensory organ formation in Drosophila

1. Nicolas Loyer
2. Elizabeth K. J. Hogg
3. Hayley Shaw
4. David H. Murray
5. Greg M. Findlay
6. Jens Januschke

Reviewed by Review Commons

Perirenal adipose tissue contains a subpopulation of cold-inducible adipocytes derived from brown-to-white conversion

1. Houyu Zhang
2. Yan Li
3. Carlos F Ibáñez
4. Meng Xie

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents a valuable finding on the process of brown to white adipogenic transdifferentiation within the perirenal adipose depot. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing, although limited sequencing depth of single nuclei and lack of regulatory insights somewhat lessens the impact of these findings. The work will be of interested to adipose tissue biologists.

Reviewed by eLife

Deciphering the genetic interactions between Pou4f3, Gfi1, and Rbm24 in maintaining mouse cochlear hair cell survival

1. Guangqin Wang
2. Yunpeng Gu
3. Zhiyong Liu

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  In this valuable study, the authors explore regulatory cascades governing mammalian cochlear hair cell development and survival. They confirm previous studies that the transcription factors Pou4f3 and Gfi1 are necessary for hair cell survival, and use compelling evidence to demonstrate that the RNA binding protein gene RBM24 is regulated by Pou4f3, but not Gfi1. These findings will be of interest to those working on hearing loss, and hold significance for viral gene delivery methods aiming to manipulate gene expression.

Reviewed by eLife

Fetal liver macrophages contribute to the hematopoietic stem cell niche by controlling granulopoiesis

1. Amir Hossein Kayvanjoo
2. Iva Splichalova
3. David Alejandro Bejarano
4. Hao Huang
5. Katharina Mauel
6. Nikola Makdissi
7. David Heider
8. Hui Ming Tew
9. Nora Reka Balzer
10. Eric Greto
11. Collins Osei-Sarpong
12. Kevin Baßler
13. Joachim L Schultze
14. Stefan Uderhardt
15. Eva Kiermaier
16. Marc Beyer
17. Andreas Schlitzer
18. Elvira Mass

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Using single-cell sequencing, high-resolution imaging, and inducible genetic deletion of yolk-sac (YS) derived macrophages, the authors present a useful map of fetal liver macrophage subpopulations and provide important data demonstrating that heterogeneous fetal liver macrophages regulate erythrocyte enucleation, interact physically with fetal HSCs, and may regulate neutrophil accumulation in the fetal liver. These novel findings, although yet incomplete, might provide a solid foundation for further investigating the effects of macrophages on HSC function during fetal hematopoiesis and into adulthood and will be useful for the field of macrophage biology and developmental hematopoiesis.

Reviewed by eLife

Temporal transcriptomic dynamics in developing macaque neocortex

1. Longjiang Xu
2. Zan Yuan
3. Jiafeng Zhou
4. Yuan Zhao
5. Wei Liu
6. Shuaiyao Lu
7. Zhanlong He
8. Boqin Qiang
9. Pengcheng Shu
10. Yang Chen
11. Xiaozhong Peng

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study presents a useful resource for the gene expression profiles of different cell types in the parietal lobe of the cerebral cortex of prenatal macaques. The evidence supporting the claims of the authors is solid, and revision has clarified some of the cell isolation and cell classification issues flagged by reviewers. This dataset will be of interest to developmental neurobiologists and could potentially be used for future comparative studies on early brain development.

Reviewed by eLife

Determining the effects of paternal obesity on sperm chromatin at histone H3 lysine 4 tri-methylation in relation to the placental transcriptome and cellular composition

1. Anne-Sophie Pepin
2. Patrycja A Jazwiec
3. Vanessa Dumeaux
4. Deborah M Sloboda
5. Sarah Kimmins

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study presents data suggesting that HFD-induced histone epimutations in sperm may impact the transcriptome of the placenta, thereby contributing to the paternal transmission of paternal metabolic disorders to offspring. Although the hypothesis is interesting and the evidence presented is compelling, more careful statistical analyses and functional validation experiments are needed to further strengthen the conclusion.

Reviewed by eLife

A common cis-regulatory variant impacts normal-range and disease-associated human facial shape through regulation of PKDCC during chondrogenesis

1. Jaaved Mohammed
2. Neha Arora
3. Harold S Matthews
4. Karissa Hansen
5. Maram Bader
6. Susan Walsh
7. John R Shaffer
8. Seth M Weinberg
9. Tomek Swigut
10. Peter Claes
11. Licia Selleri
12. Joanna Wysocka

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The findings are important and would potentially have theoretical and practical implications outside the field. However the strength of evidence presented was assessed as being incomplete in several respects. Major strengths are (1) genetic factors in facial appearance are of broad interest, and the potential influence of possibly identical factors in a serious congenital disorder (cleft lip/palate) heightens that interest further; (2) proving which single nucleotide variants influence phenotypes, and by what mechanisms, is a major challenge for the field as a whole. The weakness, as assessed, was that in its present form the experimental approach was not sufficiently rigorous to support the conclusions unambiguously.

Reviewed by eLife