Developmental Biology

Regulation of multiple signaling pathways promotes the consistent expansion of human pancreatic progenitors in defined conditions

1. Luka Jarc
2. Manuj Bandral
3. Elisa Zanfrini
4. Mathias Lesche
5. Vida Kufrin
6. Raquel Sendra
7. Daniela Pezzolla
8. Ioannis Giannios
9. Shahryar Khattak
10. Katrin Neumann
11. Barbara Ludwig
12. Anthony Gavalas

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study describes a method to decouple the mechanisms supporting pancreatic progenitor self-renewal and expansion from feed-forward mechanisms promoting their differentiation allowing in vitro expansion of hPSC-derived pancreatic progenitors. The strength of evidence is convincing in that the authors use appropriate and validated methodology in line with current state-of-the-art. The work will be of interest to the field of beta cell replacement therapy in diabetes.

Reviewed by eLife

Steroidogenesis and androgen/estrogen signaling pathways are altered in in vitro matured testicular tissues of prepubertal mice

1. Laura Moutard
2. Caroline Goudin
3. Catherine Jaeger
4. Céline Duparc
5. Estelle Louiset
6. Tony Pereira
7. François Fraissinet
8. Marion Delessard
9. Justine Saulnier
10. Aurélie Rives-Feraille
11. Christelle Delalande
12. Hervé Lefebvre
13. Nathalie Rives
14. Ludovic Dumont
15. Christine Rondanino

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This study reports useful information on the limits of the organotypic culture of neonatal mouse testes, which has been regarded as an experimental strategy that can be extended to humans in the clinical setting for the conservation and subsequent re-use of testicular tissue. The evidence that the culture of testicular fragments of 6.5-day-old mouse testes does not allow optimal differentiation of steroidogenic cells is compelling and should enable further optimizations in the future.

Reviewed by eLife

Zn2+ is essential for Ca2+ oscillations in mouse eggs

1. Hiroki Akizawa
2. Emily M Lopes
3. Rafael A Fissore

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript reports an important series of results showing the relationship between oscillatory zinc and calcium fluctuations during egg activation and fertilization. Compelling evidence using several complimentary approaches provides further insight into the signals for proper egg activation that underpin successful fertilization and embryo development. The findings are significant because they may lead to improvements in assisted reproduction methods.

Reviewed by eLife

Metabolic memory of Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol exposure in pluripotent stem cells and primordial germ cells-like cells

1. Roxane Verdikt
2. Abigail A Armstrong
3. Jenny Cheng
4. Young Sun Hwang
5. Amander T Clark
6. Xia Yang
7. Patrick Allard

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  The study presents valuable findings demonstrating that physiologically relevant concentrations delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, which is found in cannabis, have metabolic effects on early mouse embryonic cell types. The evidence supporting the claims is convincing. The work will be of interest to researchers in stem cell and epigenetics fields.

Reviewed by eLife

Chromosome-specific maturation of the epigenome in the Drosophila male germline

1. James T Anderson
2. Steven Henikoff
3. Kami Ahmad

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  Using a variety of methods including mutant analyses, the authors study chromatin structure during spermatogenesis in Drosophila and transcriptional profiling in single cells/nuclei. This description of the dramatic changes in chromatin structure during spermatogenesis leads to some new observations, with convincing evidence, and it is useful for the field.

Reviewed by eLife

Vertical transmission of maternal DNA through extracellular vesicles associates with altered embryo bioenergetics during the periconception period

1. David Bolumar
2. Javier Moncayo-Arlandi
3. Javier Gonzalez-Fernandez
4. Ana Ochando
5. Inmaculada Moreno
6. Ana Monteagudo-Sanchez
7. Carlos Marin
8. Antonio Diez
9. Paula Fabra
10. Miguel Angel Checa
11. Juan Jose Espinos
12. David K Gardner
13. Carlos Simon
14. Felipe Vilella

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This manuscript reports important results on the potential influence of maternally derived extracellular vesicles on embryo metabolism. The study combines convincing techniques for isolating different subtypes of EV, DNA sequencing, embryo culture, and respiration assays performed on human endometrial samples and mouse embryos. These findings set the stage for in-depth studies to elucidate the role of EV contents in embryo energetics and further enhance our understanding on maternal-fetal communication during peri-implantation development.

Reviewed by eLife

Ulk4 promotes Shh signaling by regulating Stk36 ciliary localization and Gli2 phosphorylation

1. Mengmeng Zhou
2. Yuhong Han
3. Jin Jiang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This fundamental study substantially advances our understanding of how the pseudokinase ULK4 interacts with an active member of the same kinase subfamily (STK36) to promote GLI phosphorylation and Hedgehog pathway activation. The evidence supporting the proposed mechanism is compelling, with rigorous biochemical assays and state-of-the-art cell based imaging techniques. The work will be of broad interest to cell biologists and biochemists.

Reviewed by eLife

Ribbon boosts ribosomal protein gene expression to coordinate organ form and function

1. Rajprasad Loganathan
2. Daniel C. Levings
3. Ji Hoon Kim
4. Michael B. Wells
5. Hannah Chiu
6. Yifan Wu
7. Matthew Slattery
8. Deborah J. Andrew

Reviewed by Review Commons

Overburdened ferroptotic stress impairs tooth morphogenesis

1. Haisheng Wang
2. Xiaofeng Wang
3. Liuyan Huang
4. Chenglin Wang
5. Fanyuan Yu
6. Ling Ye

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This important study time elegantly demonstrates that ferroptotic stress may play critical roles in regulating tooth germ development. The evidence presented is compelling, based on an explant model and providing novel mechanistic insights into tooth development.

Reviewed by eLife

Specific sensory neurons and insulin-like peptides modulate food type-dependent oogenesis and fertilization in Caenorhabditis elegans

1. Shashwat Mishra
2. Mohamed Dabaja
3. Asra Akhlaq
4. Bianca Pereira
5. Kelsey Marbach
6. Mediha Rovcanin
7. Rashmi Chandra
8. Antonio Caballero
9. Diana Fernandes de Abreu
10. QueeLim Ch'ng
11. Joy Alcedo

• Curated by eLife

  eLife assessment

  This work presents useful and potentially valuable findings on how food signals may influence reproduction in the nematode C. elegans. In the current manuscript, the evidence in support of the authors' model is incomplete, and additional experimental data is needed to buttress the authors' conclusions.

Reviewed by eLife