Developmental biology最新文献

{"title":"The Neural Tube CURE: Engaging undergraduate students in a relevant developmental biology research course.","authors":"Anneke Dixie Kakebeen, Joshua Y Fandel, Lee A Niswander","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.07.010","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.07.010","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Research experience is necessary for undergraduate students who aim to become professional scientists; however, gaining research experience is a daunting task fraught with challenges often beyond a student's control. To create an opportunity for more undergraduate students to engage in relevant developmental biology research with meaningful societal impact, we devised a new course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) focused on identifying candidate genes that may be required for human neural tube closure. In the CURE outlined here, students used molecular biology and cloning techniques to generate CRISPR knockouts of specific genes in chick embryos and measured subsequent neural tube defect frequency. Pre- and post-surveys from students provide evidence that after participating in the course, students made gains in self-confidence and science identity, met learning goals, and felt that all lectures and assignments were valuable. Students also reported that the course led them to realize the impact and importance of developmental biology research. To solidify the connection between the work that students do in the course and the world around them, we also propose a future activity to help students to engage more deeply with the societal context of neural tube defects. In this resource article, we present the Neural Tube CURE as a valuable course to engage students in novel developmental biology research.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":"41-54"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144752586","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Centriolar protein PIBF1 is required for craniofacial and forebrain development.","authors":"Lylyan Pimentel, Seungshin Ha, Yanfen Yang, Kim Cochran, Ching-Fang Chang, Scott Houghtaling, Sean K Gombart, David R Beier, Samantha A Brugmann","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.08.001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.08.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Primary cilia are microtubule based extensions on the surface of most cells that play a crucial role in cellular signaling during development, tissue homeostasis, and organ function. Defective cilia result in a wide variety of clinical manifestations affecting multiple organ systems, collectively termed ciliopathies. Ciliopathies are rare, exhibit tremendous genetic diversity and an overlap of clinical features, making diagnosis and treatment challenging. Identifying and characterizing novel ciliary variants is critical to gain an improved understanding of ciliopathic pathologies. To address this need, we performed a forward genetic screen using N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis and subsequent complementation analysis. We found a novel variant in Pibf1, a gene essential for ciliogenesis and previously linked to the ciliopathy, Joubert syndrome. Pibf1^m1Bei/Null embryos exhibited a collection of craniofacial anomalies associated with ciliopathies including midline defects, maxillary hyperplasia, micrognathia, and high arched palate. Interestingly, Pibf1^m1Bei/Null embryos also presented with semilobar holoprosencephaly, a phenotype not typically associated with ciliopathies. Molecular analysis revealed aberrant Shh expression and GLI3 processing concomitant with an expansion of Fgf8 and Lhx6 expression across structures in the face, brain, and oral cavity. In summary, these data suggest a role for PIBF1 and cilia in establishing proper SHH/FGF8 signaling axes across the embryo and suggest that holoprosencephaly is a part of the ciliopathic phenotypic spectrum associated with Joubert syndrome.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":"55-64"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-11-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144798384","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Outside Back Cover - Graphical abstract TOC/TOC in double column/Cover image legend if applicable, Bar code, Abstracting and Indexing information","authors":"","doi":"10.1016/S0012-1606(25)00290-8","DOIUrl":"10.1016/S0012-1606(25)00290-8","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"528 ","pages":"Page OBC"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145263006","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The Munich screen for Arabidopsis embryo patterning genes.","authors":"Stewart Gillmor","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.007","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.007","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The capacity of the zygote to generate an embryo containing many differentiated tissues has fascinated biologists for centuries. Initially, most experimental embryology involved transplantation experiments or biochemical assays using animal species with large eggs. Starting in the 1980s, large scale genetic screens were used to understand embryogenesis of the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. Subsequently, David Meinke demonstrated the utility of the plant Arabidopsis thaliana for studies of embryo and seed development and initiated an extensive collection of embryo defective mutants. Inspired by the success of saturation mutagenesis screens in the Drosophila embryo and by the ease of genetic analysis in Arabidopsis, Gerd Jürgens and colleagues performed a large-scale genetic screen to identify genes that pattern the Arabidopsis embryo (Mayer et al., Nature, 1991). These brute force genetic screens had a profound effect on the field, illustrating the power of genetics for the study of plant embryology and emphasizing differences between plant and animal embryogenesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-10","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145279151","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Optogenetics as a useful tool to control excitable and non-excitable tissues during chicken embryogenesis","authors":"Masafumi Inaba,&nbsp;Yuuki Shikaya ,&nbsp;Yoshiko Takahashi","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.004","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.004","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Optogenetics, a modern tool to control cellular excitability in a non-invasive way, has widely been used in neuroscience. Recently, optogenetic approaches begin to be applied to studies of other biological phenomena including muscle functions. For these analyses, chicken embryos serve as an excellent model animal since they are highly amenable to site-specific manipulations with genes of optogenetics such as Channelrhodopsins, and its following targeted light irradiation. We here overview recent progresses in optogenetics using chicken embryos with a highlight on the studies of axon pathfinding, gut peristalsis, and feather morphogenesis.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"529 ","pages":"Pages 81-87"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145257639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Changes in histone abundance and post-translational modifications in Rana [Lithobates] catesbeiana tissues during thyroid hormone-dependent metamorphosis.","authors":"Haley Kuecks-Winger, Yassene Mohammed, Caren C Helbing, Anita A Thambirajah","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.005","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.005","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Amphibian metamorphosis is thyroid hormone (TH)-dependent and involves extensive gene expression changes in differentiated tissues that result in organismal remodeling. This is likely to involve changes in the epigenome that are poorly understood. We used tandem mass spectrometry (MS/MS) to investigate global variations in histone abundance and histone post-translational modifications (PTMs) during natural metamorphosis to identify putative epigenomic mediators of TH-mediated postembryonic development. Blood, liver, and tailfin from five Rana (Lithobates) catesbeiana (American bullfrog) individuals were collected from functionally athyroid premetamorphic tadpoles and from tadpoles at metamorphic climax (maximal TH levels). Only blood and liver were collected from five individual R. catesbeiana frogs (suprabasal TH levels), as the tailfin is resorbed by this stage. Nuclei were acid extracted to enrich for basic proteins, including histones and other chromatin-associated proteins. MS/MS data were queried against the R. catesbeiana proteome using open search parameters to capture modified histone peptides and stringent statistical evaluation was performed. The abundance of multiple histone variants and isoforms changed throughout metamorphosis. In particular, histone H1.0 increased over the metamorphic stages in all three tissue with a concurrent decrease in H1.3 in blood and liver. Further, H2A variants H2A.X and macroH2A.1 decreased over metamorphosis in blood while H2A type 2-C, H2A.Z-2 and macroH2A.2 increased in liver. We identified putative changes in histone PTMs by analyzing the abundance of peptides carrying mass shifts corresponding to methylation, acetylation and phosphorylation. Our findings include an increase in H1.3 mono- and dimethylation in blood and liver over metamorphosis and suggest a temporary increase of H3.2 phosphorylation at metamorphic climax in liver. To our knowledge, this is the first non-targeted analysis of histone isoform and variant abundance and PTMs during TH-mediated amphibian metamorphosis. Due to the conserved nature of TH signaling, our findings broaden our understanding of the coordinated variations in histone abundance and PTMs that occur across all histone families to direct the tissue-specific transitions that are critical for TH-driven development in amphibians and other vertebrate species.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145273904","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Decoding preterm birth: Non-Invasive biomarkers and personalized multi-omics strategies.","authors":"Neda Farzizadeh, Zahra Najmi, Alan J Rosenbaum, Morteza Amoozgar, Amirali Hariri, Mona Aminbeidokhti, Arezoo Khosravi, Ali Zarrabi","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.006","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.006","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>A birth that occurs prior to 37 weeks of gestation is referred to as preterm birth (PTB). PTB is a health concern globally with significant outcomes including neonatal morbidity and mortality. Advancements in multi-omics have revolutionized the understanding of PTB pathogenesis, offering new opportunities for early prediction and risk categorization. This review highlights emerging liquid biomarkers derived from proteomic, metabolomic, genomic, transcriptomic, and epigenomic studies, emphasizing the integrative power of multi-omics approaches. Proteomic analyses have revealed key proteins in maternal and fetal compartments associated with inflammatory and extracellular matrix pathways, while metabolomics have identified lipid and metabolite profiles linked to energy metabolism and fetal development. Genomic and epigenomic studies have uncovered genetic variations and microRNAs involved in uterine contractility and immune modulation, providing novel insights into PTB's molecular underpinnings. Transcriptomic research further underscores the act of long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) in regulating gene expression and inflammatory responses. Multi-omics integration, coupled with machine learning models, has demonstrated superior predictive accuracy by synthesizing data across these domains, revealing intricate molecular interactions underlying PTB. Future research should prioritize longitudinal multi-omics studies to capture dynamic biological changes during pregnancy, expanding diverse population cohorts to enhance generalizability. Translating multi-omics insights into clinical practice necessitates collaborative efforts to develop cost-effective, accessible biomarker panels and establish standardized guidelines for implementation. These advancements hold the potential to transform prenatal care through personalized risk assessment and targeted preventive strategies, reducing the global burden of PTB.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":"88-105"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-08","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145273932","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Metabolites produced by agat+ cells support regeneration in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea.","authors":"Aubrey M Kent, Carlos Guerrero-Hernández, Carolyn Brewster, Sean McKinney, Jason A Morrison, Mary C McKinney, Eric J Ross, Frederick G Mann, Blair W Benham-Pyle, Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.001","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Planarians exhibit extraordinary regenerative abilities driven by pluripotent neoblasts, yet the roles of post-mitotic progenitor and differentiated cells in this process remain incompletely understood. Here, we investigate the function of agat⁺ cells, epidermal progenitors expressing members of the arginine:glycine amidinotransferase (agat) gene family, in the regeneration of Schmidtea mediterranea. Comprehensive analysis of all five planarian agat paralogs revealed that agat-1, -2, -3, and -4 are co-expressed in subepidermal populations enriched at wound sites, while agat-5 is minimally expressed. RNAi-mediated knockdown of agat-1 and agat-2 resulted in severe defects: agat-1 primarily disrupted tissue homeostasis, whereas agat-2 specifically impaired blastema formation and stem cell maintenance during regeneration. Transcriptional profiling of isolated agat⁺ cells demonstrated enrichment for metabolic and transport-related genes, including those involved in creatine and ornithine metabolism, as well as secretory pathway components. Functional assays showed that creatine supplementation partially rescued regeneration defects following agat-2 knockdown, implicating creatine and related metabolites as critical factors for regenerative success. These findings redefine agat⁺ cells as a heterogeneous, metabolically active, and potentially secretory population that supports regeneration beyond their canonical role as transitional progenitors. Our results highlight the importance of differentiated support cells and their metabolic outputs in tissue regeneration, providing new insight into the coordination between progenitor populations and stem cells during whole-body regeneration in planarians.</p>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-06","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145250260","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Ribosomal biogenesis defects trigger subunit specific developmental checkpoints via TOR signaling and gap junction in C. elegans","authors":"Agustian Surya ,&nbsp;Qiuxia Zhao ,&nbsp;Brittney Voigt ,&nbsp;Rekha Rangan ,&nbsp;Elif Sarinay Cenik","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.003","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.003","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Ribosome biogenesis is critical for postembryonic development progression in <em>Caenorhabditis elegans</em>. Although maternally supplied ribosomes allow null mutants of ribosomal protein genes to complete embryogenesis, subsequent larval stages arrest if de novo ribosome production is compromised. Here, we compared null mutants in large <em>(rpl-5, rpl-33</em>) and small (<em>rps-10, rps-23</em>) ribosomal subunit genes with mutants defective in rRNA synthesis (<em>rpoa-2</em> and <em>rDNA loci</em>). By tracking divisions of the mesoblast (M) cell, we discovered that large subunit mutations cause a stringent arrest in M cell proliferation, distinctly more severe than the partial arrests observed in small subunit and rRNA synthesis mutants. Unlike nutrient-deprived (starvation) L1 diapause, this arrest does not activate the cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor CKI-1, suggesting a CKI-1-independent checkpoint. Gene expression analyses revealed that <em>rpl-5(0)</em> and <em>rDNA(0)</em> mutants share overexpression of genes involved in ribosomal RNA processing and ribosome assembly, whereas larvae depleted of the RNA polymerase I subunit RPOA-2 uniquely overexpress lipid metabolism genes. Tissue-specific manipulations previously confirmed that ribosomal insufficiency in a single tissue can impose a whole-organism developmental block. Genetic analyses further implicated the gap junction protein INX-14 and the TORC2 component SINH-1 as partial suppressors of the M cell arrest in small ribosomal subunit mutants (<em>rps-23(0)</em>), but not in large ribosomal subunit mutants (<em>rpl-5(0)</em>). Introducing null mutations in downstream TORC1/TORC2 kinases to a tissue-specific RPOA-2 depletion background similarly modulated growth arrest, suggesting that gap junction communication and TOR pathways converge upon a ribosomal stress checkpoint. Collectively, our findings highlight a unique, CKI-1-independent arrest driven by large ribosomal subunit gene loss and reveal how distinct signaling pathways coordinate postembryonic development in response to ribosome biogenesis defects.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"529 ","pages":"Pages 46-55"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145231639","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Botryllus humilis: A promising new ascidian model for aging, stem cell dynamics, and whole-body regeneration","authors":"Arzu Karahan","doi":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.002","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.ydbio.2025.10.002","url":null,"abstract":"<div><div>Model organisms are essential in science as they provide systems for studying conserved biological processes. In addition to widely used multicellular and unicellular models, tunicates have emerged as valuable model organisms in various biological fields due to their distinctive characteristics. As chordates with both sexual and asexual reproductive strategies and the capacity for whole-body regeneration (WBR), tunicates provide a unique system for regeneration studies. Although the majority of organisms display varying levels of regenerative ability, only a few can perform WBR; notably, botryllid ascidians (Stolidobranchia) are the sole documented group of chordates with WBR. Tunicates, a subphylum of over 3000 identified marine invertebrate species, are the closest living relatives of vertebrates. Botryllids comprise approximately 160 colonial tunicate species within the genera <em>Botryllus</em> and <em>Botrylloides</em>, less than ten of which have been shown to undergo WBR from vascular tissue. However, it remains unknown whether all botryllids are capable of WBR or not. <em>Botryllus humilis</em> was first observed in New Caledonia and has recently been identified in the Mediterranean Sea. In the present study, the blastogenic cycle and WBR capacity of <em>B. humilis</em> were monitored for the first time following the ablation of all zooids and buds. Two temperature conditions and two staging systems were used to record the blastogenetic cycle. Colonies completed their blastogenic cycle in 7 days at 21 °C and 38 ppt salinity, while this duration shortened to 4 days at 26 °C under the same salinity. Colony age appeared to influence the number of budded zooids during the blastogenic cycle. I also assessed the WBR capacity in <em>B. humilis</em> for the first time by inducing WBR at different stages of the blastogenic cycle. Regeneration was completed within 120–138 h post-surgery, and the first post-regeneration blastogenic cycle was completed within 2 days. This study provides valuable insights into <em>B. humilis</em> as a highly valuable model species for aging, stem cell dynamics, and WBR studies.</div></div>","PeriodicalId":11070,"journal":{"name":"Developmental biology","volume":"529 ","pages":"Pages 56-65"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-10-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145231655","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}