Developmental Biology

Species-specific sensitivity to TGFβ signaling and changes to the Mmp13 promoter underlie avian jaw development and evolution

1. Spenser S Smith
2. Daniel Chu
3. Tiange Qu
4. Jessye A Aggleton
5. Richard A Schneider

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Smith et al. examine jaw development across three different species of birds, chick, quail and duck, all of which have jaws of different shapes and sizes. This study provides interesting new data and insights into jaw development and evolution.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Identification of putative enhancer-like elements predicts regulatory networks active in planarian adult stem cells

1. Jakke Neiro
2. Divya Sridhar
3. Anish Dattani
4. Aziz Aboobaker

Reviewed by Review Commons

Cardiac differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells using defined extracellular matrix proteins reveals essential role of fibronectin

1. Jianhua Zhang
2. Zachery R Gregorich
3. Ran Tao
4. Gina C Kim
5. Pratik A Lalit
6. Juliana L Carvalho
7. Yogananda Markandeya
8. Deane F Mosher
9. Sean P Palecek
10. Timothy J Kamp

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is an important paper describing the work to develop defined surface coatings for cardiac cell differentiation. The described experiments are convincingly supporting the critical role of fibronectin (FN) in the formation of precardiac mesoderm. The exploration of FN as necessary for pre-cardiac mesoderm formation was explored using various other ECM conditions, endogenous FN knock-out, blocking antibodies against integrin subunits, and inhibition of ILK via small molecule cdp22. In the case of the FN knock-out, experiments included rescue conditions that established a causal link between FN and the formation of precardiac mesoderm. Particularly insightful was the tracking of FN deposition over time with or without exogenously provided FN (i.e., the LN-111 case). This work is of interest to developmental biologists, stem cell biologists, and engineers as they work to optimize defined matrices for differentiation and manufacturing protocols of all cell types including cardiomyocytes.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Arnold tongue entrainment reveals dynamical principles of the embryonic segmentation clock

1. Paul Gerald Layague Sanchez
2. Victoria Mochulska
3. Christian Mauffette Denis
4. Gregor Mönke
5. Takehito Tomita
6. Nobuko Tsuchida-Straeten
7. Yvonne Petersen
8. Katharina Sonnen
9. Paul François
10. Alexander Aulehla

Reviewed by Review Commons

A single cell transcriptional roadmap of human pacemaker cell differentiation

1. Alexandra Wiesinger
2. Jiuru Li
3. Lianne Fokkert
4. Priscilla Bakker
5. Arie O Verkerk
6. Vincent M Christoffels
7. Gerard JJ Boink
8. Harsha D Devalla

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Overall, this study explores the differentiation of human pacemaker cells from human iPSCs, demonstrating different subtypes of pacemaker cells, and highlighting the role of Wnt and TGFbeta signaling in the formation of sinoatrial note cardiomyocyte subtypes.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Efficient differentiation of human primordial germ cells through geometric control reveals a key role for Nodal signaling

1. Kyoung Jo
2. Seth Teague
3. Bohan Chen
4. Hina Aftab Khan
5. Emily Freeburne
6. Hunter Li
7. Bolin Li
8. Ran Ran
9. Jason R Spence
10. Idse Heemskerk

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript uses a micropatterned cell culture system to explore the mechanism of human primordial germ cell-like cell specification from human pluripotent stem cells, and proposes a previously unrecognized role of NODAL signaling operating downstream of BMP signaling. The strength of the manuscript is the development of a simple and efficient in vitro system that is potentially suitable for exploring the mechanism of human primordial germ cell-like cell specification. With a more rigorous validation of the identity of the studied cells and more discussion relating the findings to developmental mechanisms in vivo, this study will be of interest to stem cell and developmental biologists.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. The reviewers remained anonymous to the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Zebrafish fin regeneration involves generic and regeneration-specific osteoblast injury responses

1. Ivonne Sehring
2. Hossein Falah Mohammadi
3. Melanie Haffner-Luntzer
4. Anita Ignatius
5. Markus Huber-Lang
6. Gilbert Weidinger

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This work is of interest for readers in the field of bone regeneration, and more broadly to readers in the field of tissue repair and regenerative medicine. The authors took advantage of a well-established in vivo model, live imaging, pharmacological inhibition and genetic strategies to dissect the interrelations of key cellular events in zebrafish fin regeneration. The finding of how distinct generic injury responses are differentially regulated, and are functioning independently from each other, is a valuable piece of information for the community.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Single-cell transcriptome reveals insights into the development and function of the zebrafish ovary

1. Yulong Liu
2. Michelle E Kossack
3. Matthew E McFaul
4. Lana N Christensen
5. Stefan Siebert
6. Sydney R Wyatt
7. Caramai N Kamei
8. Samuel Horst
9. Nayeli Arroyo
10. Iain A Drummond
11. Celina E Juliano
12. Bruce W Draper

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This single cell transcriptomic analysis of young adult zebrafish ovaries provides important new data to understand gene expression patterns in numerous ovarian cell types that lead to insights into how ovary development works, and most of the principles will likely apply across vertebrates. The work will interest researchers who study gonad development, sex determination, differences (or 'disorders') in sex development, and impacts of the environment (including toxic pollutants) on gonad development and function.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

VE-cadherin enables trophoblast endovascular invasion and spiral artery remodeling during placental development

1. Derek C Sung
2. Xiaowen Chen
3. Mei Chen
4. Jisheng Yang
5. Susan Schultz
6. Apoorva Babu
7. Yitian Xu
8. Siqi Gao
9. TC Stevenson Keller
10. Patricia Mericko-Ishizuka
11. Michelle Lee
12. Ying Yang
13. Joshua P Scallan
14. Mark L Kahn

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  At the very early period of pregnancy, fetal trophoblasts invade the mammalian decidua in the placenta and remodel and connect with maternal spiral arteries, which is known as an endovascular invasion. Understanding molecular and cellular pathways for endovascular invasion and pathogenesis of preeclampsia are important topics for current vascular biology and Ob/Gyn biology, making this study timely and important. This study shows for the first time a causal link for the need for VE-cadherin on trophoblasts for the invasion of these cells into the decidua and for their role in vascular remodeling. The conclusions of this paper are mostly well supported by data, but it would be sound if the authors provide the underlying molecular mechanism to support the authors' claims.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #1 and Reviewer #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Hedgehog regulation of epithelial cell state and morphogenesis in the larynx

1. Janani Ramachandran
2. Weiqiang Zhou
3. Anna E Bardenhagen
4. Talia Nasr
5. Ellen R Yates
6. Aaron M Zorn
7. Hongkai Ji
8. Steven A Vokes

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The authors present cellular and genetic data, combine mutant analysis and RNA-sequencing, that together support a functional role for Shh in repressing the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) in the developing larynx during larynx-esophageal separation. The authors report that in the absence of Shh, cells undergo EMT and are replaced with a novel epithelial cell population of unknown origin. Given the relative lack of knowledge about how this important structure develops, these results could make a potentially significant contribution to field, but the evidence for EMT needs further support.

  (This preprint has been reviewed by eLife. We include the public reviews from the reviewers here; the authors also receive private feedback with suggested changes to the manuscript. Reviewer #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife