Developmental Biology

Single-cell RNA sequencing of the holothurian regenerating intestine reveals the pluripotency of the coelomic epithelium

1. Joshua G Medina-Feliciano
2. Griselle Valentín-Tirado
3. Kiara Luna-Martínez
4. Alejandra Beltran-Rivera
5. Yamil Miranda-Negrón
6. José E Garcia-Arraras

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This manuscript describes a resource detailing the econstitution of Holothuria glaberrima gut following self-evisceration in response to a potassium chloride injection, using scRNAseq and fluorescent RNA localization in situ. It provides some new findings about organ regeneration, as well as the origins of pluripotent cells, and places these findings in the context of regeneration across species. The paper's schematic model and HCR images are a valuable foundation for future work. The authors provide convincing RNA localization images to validate their data and to provide spatial context. These validation experiments are of good quality but remain challenging to connect to the complex spatial organization of complex tissues. This resource will be of interest to the field of regeneration, particularly in invertebrates, but also in comparative studies in other species, including evolutionary studies.

Reviewed by eLife

ANKRD5: a key component of the axoneme required for spermmotility and male fertility

1. Shuntai Yu
2. Guoliang Yin
3. Peng Jin
4. Weilin Zhang
5. Yingchao Tian
6. Xiaotong Xu
7. Tianyu Shao
8. Yushan Li
9. Fei Sun
10. Yun Zhu
11. Fengchao Wang

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable study reports on the critical role of ANKRD5 (ANKEF1) in sperm motility and male fertility. However, the supporting data remain incomplete. This work will be of interest to biomedical researchers working in sperm biology and andrologists.

Reviewed by eLife

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

PRDM16 functions as a co-repressor in the BMP pathway to suppress neural stem cell proliferation

1. Li He
2. Jiayu Wen
3. Qi Dai

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This valuable work presents how PRDM16 plays a critical role during colloid plexus development, through regulating BMP signaling. Solid evidence supports the context-dependent gene regulatory mechanisms both in vivo and in vitro. The work will be of broad interest to researchers working on growth factor signaling mechanisms and vertebrate development.

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.

Reviewed by eLife

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.

Reviewed by eLife

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