Developmental Biology

Deep learning pipeline reveals key moments in human embryonic development predictive of live birth in IVF

1. Camilla Mapstone
2. Helen Hunter
3. Daniel Brison
4. Julia Handl
5. Berenika Plusa

Reviewed by Arcadia Science

Par3 cooperates with Sanpodo for the assembly of Notch clusters following asymmetric division of Drosophila sensory organ precursor cells

1. Elise Houssin
2. Mathieu Pinot
3. Karen Bellec
4. Roland Le Borgne

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This study reveals the existence of a novel Notch-containing signaling hub, organized by Sanpodo and Par3, that operates in Notch receptor signaling during cell fate decisions in the peripheral nervous system of Drosophila. These Notch clusters are modulated by components of the Notch signaling pathway, and are proposed to reinforce Notch signaling by concentrating ligands and receptors. These findings are highly relevant to different areas of biology including membrane biology, cytokinesis, PAR polarity, Notch signaling and cell fate decisions making.

  (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

An adhesion G protein-coupled receptor is required in cartilaginous and dense connective tissues to maintain spine alignment

1. Zhaoyang Liu
2. Amro A Hussien
3. Yunjia Wang
4. Terry Heckmann
5. Roberto Gonzalez
6. Courtney M Karner
7. Jess G Snedeker
8. Ryan S Gray

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This is an interesting and thorough study of the developmental roles of the G-coupled protein receptor Adgr6 in spine development that contributes both to the understanding of spine morphogenesis and the etiology of common types of scoliosis that are of unknown origin. Using conditional mouse knockouts, the authors dissect the contributions of Adgr6 in each spine-associated tissue. In addition to the use of state-of-the-art genetic tools, the authors show beautiful histological and tomography data illustrating developmental processes and phenotypes with great detail. Their results also implicate cAMP signaling and CREB activity in the regulation of mechanical properties of dense spine tissues.

  (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 names with the authors.)

Reviewed by eLife

Maternal diet-induced obesity during pregnancy alters lipid supply to mouse E18.5 fetuses and changes the cardiac tissue lipidome in a sex-dependent manner

1. Lucas C Pantaleão
2. Isabella Inzani
3. Samuel Furse
4. Elena Loche
5. Antonia Hufnagel
6. Thomas Ashmore
7. Heather L Blackmore
8. Benjamin Jenkins
9. Asha A M Carpenter
10. Ania Wilczynska
11. Martin Bushell
12. Albert Koulman
13. Denise S Fernandez-Twinn
14. Susan E Ozanne

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript describes the effects of maternal diet-induced obesity on lipid composition in maternal and fetal serum and the fetal heart, and in the fetal heart transcriptome. This study revealed sex-specific effects of obesity during pregnancy. The results presented provide insight into the still poorly understood processes influencing the long-term health of the fetus.

  (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

Improving the understanding of cytoneme-mediated morphogen gradients by in silico modeling

1. Adrián Aguirre-Tamaral
2. Isabel Guerrero

Reviewed by Review Commons

Cell-cell communication through FGF4 generates and maintains robust proportions of differentiated cell types in embryonic stem cells

1. Dhruv Raina
2. Azra Bahadori
3. Angel Stanoev
4. Michelle Protzek
5. Aneta Koseska
6. Christian Schröter

Reviewed by Review Commons

Mechanical competition alters the cellular interpretation of an endogenous genetic program

1. Sourabh Bhide
2. Denisa Gombalova
3. Gregor Mönke
4. Johannes Stegmaier
5. Valentyna Zinchenko
6. Anna Kreshuk
7. Julio M. Belmonte
8. Maria Leptin

Reviewed by Review Commons

An exon junction complex‐independent function of Barentsz in neuromuscular synapse growth

1. Cheuk Hei Ho
2. Chiara Paolantoni
3. Praveen Bawankar
4. Zuojian Tang
5. Stuart Brown
6. Jean‐Yves Roignant
7. Jessica E Treisman

Reviewed by Review Commons

Live imaging and biophysical modeling support a button-based mechanism of somatic homolog pairing in Drosophila

1. Myron Barber Child
2. Jack R Bateman
3. Amir Jahangiri
4. Armando Reimer
5. Nicholas C Lammers
6. Nica Sabouni
7. Diego Villamarin
8. Grace C McKenzie-Smith
9. Justine E Johnson
10. Daniel Jost
11. Hernan G Garcia

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  This manuscript considers an important open problem in molecular biology, that is how distal chromosomes can recognise each other at a distance and become paired, as happens for example in homolog paring in Drosophila. To address this question, the authors combine theoretical models and experiments, which return valuable insights. However, a final proof of the envisaged mechanisms remains to be determined.

  (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

Relish plays a dynamic role in the niche to modulate Drosophila blood progenitor homeostasis in development and infection

1. Parvathy Ramesh
2. Nidhi Sharma Dey
3. Aditya Kanwal
4. Sudip Mandal
5. Lolitika Mandal

• Curated by eLife

  Evaluation Summary:

  Mandal and colleagues identified novel functions of the Imd pathway transcription factor Relish in the hematopoietic niche development. The authors found that Relish is required for the maintenance of hematopoietic progenitors downstream of hormonal control. This is the first study showing critical roles of Relish in blood development, and therefore, this study will draw broad attention and contribute to understanding of insect hematopoiesis and immunity.

  (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