Developmental Biology

E‐cadherin mediates apical membrane initiation site localisation during de novo polarisation of epithelial cavities

1. Xuan Liang
2. Antonia Weberling
3. Chun Yuan Hii
4. Magdalena Zernicka‐Goetz
5. Clare E Buckley

Reviewed by Review Commons

SLC38A2 provides proline to fulfill unique synthetic demands arising during osteoblast differentiation and bone formation

1. Leyao Shen
2. Yilin Yu
3. Yunji Zhou
4. Shondra M Pruett-Miller
5. Guo-Fang Zhang
6. Courtney M Karner

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The paper unequivocally proves that the key function of proline during bone formation is being incorporated into proline-enriched proteins rather than contributing to other metabolic processes.

  (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

Tension-driven multi-scale self-organisation in human iPSC-derived muscle fibers

1. Qiyan Mao
2. Achyuth Acharya
3. Alejandra Rodríguez-delaRosa
4. Fabio Marchiano
5. Benoit Dehapiot
6. Ziad Al Tanoury
7. Jyoti Rao
8. Margarete Díaz-Cuadros
9. Arian Mansur
10. Erica Wagner
11. Claire Chardes
12. Vandana Gupta
13. Pierre-François Lenne
14. Bianca H Habermann
15. Olivier Theodoly
16. Olivier Pourquié
17. Frank Schnorrer

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript describes pioneering work providing detailed description of iPS-derived muscle fiber differentiation in culture. It demonstrates that muscle fibers show self-organising capacities in vitro and form bundles with identified attachment points; this self-organisation generates internal tension within myofibers. Overall, this study suggests that tension drives sarcomerogenesis in multi fibrillar vertebrate muscles and will be of interest to researchers in the muscle field and also biophysicists interested in collective cell behaviour.

  (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

Apelin signaling dependent endocardial protrusions promote cardiac trabeculation in zebrafish

1. Jialing Qi
2. Annegret Rittershaus
3. Rashmi Priya
4. Shivani Mansingh
5. Didier YR Stainier
6. Christian SM Helker

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  The manuscript describes the presence and genetic control of endocardial cell protrusions in zebrafish hearts that resemble endocardial sprouts recently described in the mouse heart, and which appear necessary for the process of trabeculation, whereby chamber cardiomyocytes undergo staged morphogenesis to form a spongy inner layer. This manuscript is of broad interest to readers who study cardiogenesis and developmental biology. This first formal dissection of endocardial protrusions in zebrafish hearts describes how they anchor to cardiomyocytes, and how they participate in signaling pathways involved in trabeculation. The work combines elegant zebrafish reporters and high-quality imaging, as well as mutant lines and pathway inhibitors to provide key findings of how mutual regulation between the myocardium and the endocardium contribute to understanding of mechanisms underlying organ development.

  (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

Nucleoporin107 mediates female sexual differentiation via Dsx

1. Tikva Shore
2. Tgst Levi
3. Rachel Kalifa
4. Amatzia Dreifuss
5. Dina Rekler
6. Ariella Weinberg-Shukron
7. Yuval Nevo
8. Tzofia Bialistoky
9. Victoria Moyal
10. Merav Yaffa Gold
11. Shira Leebhoff
12. David Zangen
13. Girish Deshpande
14. Offer Gerlitz

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript focuses on a missense mutation of Nucleoporin107 (Nup107) gene, which encodes a nuclear pore complex protein. Phenotypic analyses demonstrate similar phenotypes compared to syndromes identified in human XX-ovarian-dysgenesis patients. Further RNA-seq analyses revealed potential targets of Nup107, through which the authors identified the doublesex (dsx) gene as a critical target with functional readouts. Both Nup107 and Dsx act in the somatic gonadal cells to regulate germ cell function, and have connections with the BMP signaling pathway. This study provides a great example to use Drosophila as a model organism to study the molecular and cellular mechanisms of a known human disease and should be of general interest.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Ecdysone coordinates plastic growth with robust pattern in the developing wing

1. André Nogueira Alves
2. Marisa Mateus Oliveira
3. Takashi Koyama
4. Alexander Shingleton
5. Christen Kerry Mirth

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript will be of broad interest for biologists, in particular developmental biologists and ecologists, as it addresses essential questions on the interaction between organisms and their environment. How organisms manage to maintain a stable phenotype (robustness) or how they adjust their phenotype (plasticity) in response to environmental variations is a major issue. In this article, the authors show that the hormone ecdysone is involved in Drosophila in the plasticity of wing size and the robustness of wing pattern.

  (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

The single-cell chromatin accessibility landscape in mouse perinatal testis development

1. Hoi Ching Suen
2. Shitao Rao
3. Alfred Chun Shui Luk
4. Ruoyu Zhang
5. Lele Yang
6. Huayu Qi
7. Hon Cheong So
8. Robin M Hobbs
9. Tin-lap Lee
10. Jinyue Liao

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Liao et al. aim to improve our understanding of the genetic networks that underlie mouse male gonadogenesis and germ cell maturation during the fetal to neonatal transition. This goal was pursued by performing scATACseq on multiple timepoints, followed by definition of cell types and identification of potential transcription factors that could control the progress of differentiation. This is an exciting paper that may have far-reaching implications in the field of reproductive biology and male infertility, but additional validation is needed to confirm the newly identified cell populations.

  (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

Completion of neural crest cell production and emigration is regulated by retinoic-acid-dependent inhibition of BMP signaling

1. Dina Rekler
2. Chaya Kalcheim

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript examines how retinoid acid signaling controls the timing of neural crest production in avian embryos. The authors propose that local production of retinoid acid signaling activates the expression of BMP inhibitors in the dorsal neural tube. Disruption of BMP signaling results in the termination of neural crest migration and the establishment of the definite neural plate.

  (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

Retinoic acid signaling mediates peripheral cone photoreceptor survival in a mouse model of retina degeneration

1. Ryoji Amamoto
2. Grace K Wallick
3. Constance L Cepko

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is a heterogeneous condition that leads to photoreceptor cell death and thus to different degree of blindness. The degeneration is often caused by mutations in genes expressed in rods but cones end up degenerating as well, although cones positioned in the periphery of the mouse retina appears to be most resistant. This study investigates the possible reasons of this resilience. Using a number of genetic approaches, the authors show that retinoic acid signaling derived from Muller glial cells located in the periphery of the mouse retina is implicated in local survival of cone photoreceptors in mouse models of RP. They further show that RA signaling is also present in the human peripheral retina and suggests that this may be relevant for future therapeutic strategies. The experimental design is excellent involving both loss- and gain-of-function genetic tools to prove the hypothesis that retinoic acid signaling is crucial for cone photoreceptor survival during Retinitis Pigmentosa in mice. Clinical significance remains to be tested, but otherwise the conclusions drawn from the data are well justified.

  (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 #3 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

A neural progenitor mitotic wave is required for asynchronous axon outgrowth and morphology

1. Jérôme Lacoste
2. Hédi Soula
3. Angélique Burg
4. Agnès Audibert
5. Pénélope Darnat
6. Michel Gho
7. Sophie Louvet-Vallée

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study investigates development of the mechanosensory organ on Drosophila notum using various genetic techniques. They combine live imaging, mathematical modelling, genetics and behavioural analysis to show that in the peripheral nervous system of Drosophila, entry of progenitor cells into mitosis is spatially and temporally controlled. This, the authors suggest ensures proper targeting of sensory neurons within the ventral nerve cord. The study will be of broad interest to those who work on developmental processes, and particularly to those interested in sense organ development.

  (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 #2 agreed to share their name with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife