Developmental Biology

Direct lineage conversion of postnatal mouse cortical astrocytes to oligodendrocyte lineage cells

1. Justine Bajohr
2. Erica Y Scott
3. Arman Olfat
4. Mehrshad Sadria
5. Kevin Lee
6. Maria Fahim
7. Hiba T Taha
8. Daniela Lozano Casasbuenas
9. Ann Derham
10. Scott A Yuzwa
11. Gary D Bader
12. Maryam Faiz

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study provides a useful advance in generating mouse oligodendrocytes by direct lineage conversion from cortical astrocytes. The authors demonstrate that Sox10 converts astrocytes to MBP+ oligodendrocytes, whereas Olig2 expression converts astrocytes to PDFRalpha+ oligodendrocyte progenitor cells. The data supporting the conclusions are solid, but there are concerns regarding select figures and the absence of functional validation.

Reviewed by eLife

Brachyury expression levels predict lineage potential and axis-forming ability of in vitro derived neuromesodermal progenitors

1. Anahí Binagui-Casas
2. Anna Granés
3. Alberto Ceccarelli
4. Filip J. Wymeersch
5. Matthew French
6. Rosa Portero
7. Jen Annoh
8. Yali Huang
9. Eleni Karagianni
10. Frederick C.K. Wong
11. A. Sophie Brumm
12. Daniel Lopez Ramajo
13. Minoru Takasato
14. Sally Lowell
15. Osvaldo Chara
16. Valerie Wilson

Reviewed by Review Commons

Endothelial Slit2 guides the Robo1-positive sympathetic innervation during heart development

1. Juanjuan Zhao
2. Susann Bruche
3. Konstantinos Lekkos
4. Carolyn Carr
5. Joaquim Miguel Vieira
6. John Parnavelas
7. William D Andrews
8. Mathilda Mommersteeg

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This study presents important findings on the role of Slit-Robo signaling in cardiac innervation. The evidence supporting the main claims of the authors is convincing. The use of several mouse models including constitutive and cell type specific knockout models make the findings more robust. The scope of the presented studies is fitting, as they primarily focus on evaluating the phenotypic changes in cardiac innervation following the loss of various Slit or Robo genes

Reviewed by eLife

Identification of optimal fluorophores for use in the Drosophila embryo

1. Bernardo Chapa-y-Lazo
2. Thamarailingam Athilingam
3. Prabhat Tiwari
4. Prachi Pathak
5. Shaobo Zhang
6. Sophie Theis
7. Timothy E Saunders

Reviewed by Review Commons

Post-translational Tuning of Human Cortical Progenitor Neuronal Output

1. Julien Pigeon
2. Tamina Dietl
3. Myriame Abou Mrad
4. Ludovico Rizzuti
5. Miguel V. Silva
6. Natasha Danda
7. Corentine Marie
8. Clarisse Brunet Avalos
9. Hayat Mokrani
10. Laila El Khattabi
11. Alexandre D. Baffet
12. Diogo S. Castro
13. Carlos Parras
14. Boyan Bonev
15. Bassem A. Hassan

Reviewed by preLights

SoxB1-mediated chromatin remodeling promotes sensory neuron differentiation in planarians

1. Mallory L Cathell
2. Mohamad A Auwal
3. Sarai Alvarez Zepeda
4. Kelly G Ross
5. Ricardo M Zayas

Reviewed by Review Commons

E(spl)m4 Directly Antagonizes Traf4 to Inhibit JNK Signaling in Drosophila

1. Katrin Strobel
2. Jennifer Falconi
3. Cédric Leyrat
4. Rémi Logeay
5. Sarah J Bray
6. Alexandre Djiane

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  The authors identify the Bearded-type small protein E(spl)m4 as a physical and genetic interactor of TRAF4 in the Drosophila wing disc. These valuable findings with potential biomedical relevance are, however, supported by incomplete evidence based largely on overexpression studies that lack quantification, limited molecular support for their model, and issues with Bearded family protein specificity. The work could be of interest to researchers in the fields of cell signaling and developmental biology.

Reviewed by eLife

Mac-/Lactosylceramide regulates intestinal homeostasis and secretory cell fate commitment by facilitating Notch signaling

1. Kebei Tang
2. Xuewen Li
3. Jiulong Hu
4. Jingyuan Shi
5. Yumei Li
6. Yansu Chen
7. Chang Yin
8. Fengchao Wang
9. Rongwen Xi

• Curated by eLife

  eLife Assessment

  This important study provides convincing evidence that glucosylceramide synthase (GlcT), a rate-limiting enzyme for glycosphingolipid (GSL) production, plays a role in the differentiation of intestinal cells. Mutations in GlcT compromise Notch signaling in the Drosophila intestinal stem cell lineage, resulting in the formation of enteroendocrine tumors. Further data suggest that a homolog of glucosylceramide synthase also influences Notch signaling in the mammalian intestine. While the outstanding strengths of the initial genetic and downstream pathway analyses are noted, there are minor weaknesses in the data regarding the potential role of this pathway in Delta trafficking. Nevertheless, this study opens the way for future mechanistic studies addressing how specific lipids modulate Notch signalling activity.

Reviewed by eLife

Genome-wide association study shows developmental robustness control by intestinal maltase via internal environment in Drosophila

1. Soshiro Kashio
2. Izumi Enoki
3. Yuto Yoshinari
4. Takashi Nishimura
5. Masayuki Miura

Reviewed by Review Commons

VANGL2 shapes the mouse heart tube from adjacent epithelia and without planar polarity

1. Paul Palmquist-Gomes
2. Gaëlle Letort
3. Ayushi U. Hegde
4. José María Pérez-Pomares
5. Sigolène M. Meilhac

Reviewed by preLights