DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-10-15Epub Date: 2025-03-27DOI: 10.1242/dev.204244
Andre M Xavier, Qianyu Lin, Chris J Kang, Lucas Cheadle
{"title":"A single-cell transcriptomic atlas of sensory-dependent gene expression in developing mouse visual cortex.","authors":"Andre M Xavier, Qianyu Lin, Chris J Kang, Lucas Cheadle","doi":"10.1242/dev.204244","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204244","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Sensory experience drives the maturation of neural circuits during postnatal brain development through molecular mechanisms that remain to be fully elucidated. One likely mechanism involves the sensory-dependent expression of genes that encode direct mediators of circuit remodeling within developing cells. To identify potential drivers of sensory-dependent synaptic development, we generated a single-nucleus RNA sequencing dataset describing the transcriptional responses of cells in the mouse visual cortex to sensory deprivation or to stimulation during a developmental window when visual input is necessary for circuit refinement. We sequenced 118,529 nuclei across 16 neuronal and non-neuronal cell types isolated from control, sensory deprived and sensory stimulated mice, identifying 1268 sensory-induced genes within the developing brain. While experience elicited transcriptomic changes in all cell types, excitatory neurons in layer 2/3 exhibited the most robust changes, and the sensory-induced genes in these cells are poised to strengthen synapse-to-nucleus crosstalk and to promote cell type-specific axon guidance pathways. Altogether, we expect this dataset to significantly broaden our understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which sensory experience shapes neural circuit wiring in the developing brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-10-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143523044","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-03DOI: 10.1242/dev.204346
Kamryn N Gerner-Mauro, Lisandra Vila Ellis, Guolun Wang, Richa Nayak, Peter Y Lwigale, Ross A Poché, Jichao Chen
{"title":"Morphogenic, molecular, and cellular adaptations for unidirectional airflow in the chicken lung.","authors":"Kamryn N Gerner-Mauro, Lisandra Vila Ellis, Guolun Wang, Richa Nayak, Peter Y Lwigale, Ross A Poché, Jichao Chen","doi":"10.1242/dev.204346","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204346","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Unidirectional airflow in the avian lung enables gas exchange during both inhalation and exhalation. The underlying developmental process and how it deviates from that of the bidirectional mammalian lung are poorly understood. Sampling key developmental stages with multiscale 3D imaging and single-cell transcriptomics, we delineate morphogenic, molecular, and cellular features that accommodate the unidirectional airflow in the chicken lung. Primary termini of hyper-elongated branches undergo proximal-short and distal-long fusions, forming parabronchi for air conduction. Through the parabronchial smooth muscle, neoform termini extend radially to form gas-exchanging alveoli. Supporting this radial alveologenesis, branch stalks halt their proximalization, defined by SOX9-SOX2 transition, and become SOX9low parabronchi. Primary and secondary vascular plexi interface with primary and neoform termini, respectively. Single-cell and Stereo-seq spatial transcriptomics reveal a third, chicken-specific alveolar cell type expressing KRT14, hereby named luminal cells. Luminal, alveolar type 2, and alveolar type 1 cells sequentially occupy concentric zones radiating from the parabronchial lumen. Our study explores the evolutionary space of lung diversification and lays the foundation for functional analysis of species-specific genetic determinants.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143771725","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-02DOI: 10.1242/dev.204396
Stanley M Kanai, Chloe R Garcia, MaCalia R Augustus, Shujan A Sharafeldeen, Elliott P Brooks, Juliana Sucharov, Ezra S Lencer, James T Nichols, David E Clouthier
{"title":"The Gq/11 family of Gα subunits is necessary and sufficient for lower jaw development.","authors":"Stanley M Kanai, Chloe R Garcia, MaCalia R Augustus, Shujan A Sharafeldeen, Elliott P Brooks, Juliana Sucharov, Ezra S Lencer, James T Nichols, David E Clouthier","doi":"10.1242/dev.204396","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204396","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Vertebrate jaw development is coordinated by highly conserved ligand-receptor systems such as the peptide ligand Endothelin 1 (Edn1) and Endothelin receptor type A (Ednra), which are required for patterning of lower jaw structures. The Edn1/Ednra signaling pathway establishes the identity of lower jaw progenitor cells by regulating expression of numerous patterning genes, but the intracellular signaling mechanisms linking receptor activation to gene regulation remain poorly understood. As a first step towards elucidating this mechanism, we examined the function of the Gq/11 family of Gα subunits in zebrafish using pharmacological inhibition and genetic ablation of Gq/11 activity, and transgenic induction of a constitutively active Gq protein in edn1-/- embryos. Genetic loss of Gq/11 activity fully recapitulated the edn1-/-phenotype, with genes encoding G11 being most essential. Furthermore, inducing Gq activity in edn1-/- embryos not only restored Edn1/Ednra-dependent jaw structures and gene expression signatures but also caused homeosis of the upper jaw structure into a lower jaw-like structure. These results indicate that Gq/11 is necessary and sufficient to mediate the lower jaw patterning mechanism for Ednra in zebrafish.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763134","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-01DOI: 10.1242/dev.204324
Carsten Rudat, Philipp Straube, Jan Hegermann, Mark-Oliver Trowe, Hauke Thiesler, Herbert Hildebrandt, Lisa Witt, Andreas Kispert
{"title":"PPARG contributes to urothelial integrity in the murine ureter by activating the expression of Shh and of superficial-cell specific genes.","authors":"Carsten Rudat, Philipp Straube, Jan Hegermann, Mark-Oliver Trowe, Hauke Thiesler, Herbert Hildebrandt, Lisa Witt, Andreas Kispert","doi":"10.1242/dev.204324","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204324","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The urothelium is a stratified epithelium with an important barrier function in the urinary drainage system. The differentiation and maintenance of the three major urothelial cell types (basal, intermediate and superficial cells) is incompletely understood. Here, we show that mice with a conditional deletion of the transcription factor gene peroxisome proliferator activated receptor gamma (Pparg) in the ureteric epithelium have a dilated ureter at postnatal stages with a urothelium consisting of a layer of undifferentiated luminal cells and a layer of proliferating basal cells. Molecular analysis of fetal stages revealed that the expression of a large number of genes is not activated in superficial cells and a few genes, including Shh, in intermediate and basal cells. Pharmacological activation of SHH signaling in explant cultures of perinatal Pparg-deficient ureters reduced ureteral width and urothelial cell number to normal, increased the number of intermediate cells and slightly reduced basal cell proliferation. Our data suggest that PPARG independently activates the expression of structural genes in superficial cells and of Shh in basal and intermediate cells, and that both functions contribute to urothelial integrity.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143750965","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Characterization of shell field populations in gastropods and their autonomous specification mechanism independent of inter-quartet interactions.","authors":"Supanat Phuangphong, Hiroki Yoshikawa, Yune Kojima, Hiroshi Wada, Yoshiaki Morino","doi":"10.1242/dev.204538","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204538","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The embryonic shell field of mollusks appears during gastrulation on the dorsal ectoderm and later develops into the adult shell-secreting mantle. Although several lines of evidence have revealed that the shell field is exclusively derived from the second quartet (2q) of 16-cell embryos, it is generally believed that its fate is established only after receiving inductive signals from cells derived from other quartets, such as the invaginated endoderm. However, the induction hypothesis remains questionable due to limited experimental evidence and contradictory results. Here, we re-investigated the induction hypothesis for shell field specification in the limpet. We identified three cell populations within the developing shell field using two-color in situ hybridization and single-cell transcriptome analysis, each characterized by distinct effector and transcription factor genes. The specification of each population was examined in 2q blastomeres isolated from 16-cell embryos. Even without inter-quartet interactions, marker gene expression for each shell field population was detected in the 2q-derived partial embryos. We conclude that the early specification of shell field in 2q-derived cells occurs largely independently of interactions with other quartets.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143656455","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"Deletion of hepcidin disrupts iron homeostasis and hematopoiesis in zebrafish embryogenesis.","authors":"Wenyi Yang, Mingjian Peng, Youquan Wang, Xiaowen Zhang, Wei Li, Xue Zhai, Zhichao Wu, Peng Hu, Liangbiao Chen","doi":"10.1242/dev.204307","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204307","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Iron is essential for cell growth and hematopoiesis, which is regulated by hepcidin (hamp). However, the role of hamp in zebrafish hematopoiesis remains unclear. Here, we have created a stable hamp knockout zebrafish model using the clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR)/CRISPR-associated nuclease 9 system (CRISPR/Cas9 system). Our study revealed that hamp deletion led to maternal iron overload in embryos, significantly downregulating hemoglobin genes and reducing hemoglobin content. Single-cell RNA sequencing identified abnormal expression patterns in blood progenitor cells, with a specific progenitor subtype showing increased ferroptosis and delayed development. By crossing hamp knockout zebrafish with a gata1+ line (blood cells labeled fish line), we confirmed ferroptosis in blood progenitor cells. These findings underscore the crucial role of hamp in iron regulation and hematopoiesis, offering novel insights into developmental biology and potential therapeutic targets for blood disorders.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143662536","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-04-07DOI: 10.1242/dev.204708
Saanjbati Adhikari
{"title":"The Company of Biologists' Workshops: supporting our community and inspiring new science.","authors":"Saanjbati Adhikari","doi":"10.1242/dev.204708","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204708","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143794928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-04-08DOI: 10.1242/dev.204618
Zhenzi Zuo, Yibing Bao, Lin Lin, Hengxing Li, Tengteng Wang, Guoliang Xia, Chao Wang
{"title":"Inhibition of HDAC4 in granulosa cells improves co-cultured porcine oocyte maturation in vitro independently of LH.","authors":"Zhenzi Zuo, Yibing Bao, Lin Lin, Hengxing Li, Tengteng Wang, Guoliang Xia, Chao Wang","doi":"10.1242/dev.204618","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204618","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In domestic animals, the mechanisms by which the luteinizing hormone (LH) surge induces oocyte meiosis resumption and maturation through follicular somatic cells remain unclear. Given the pivotal roles of histone deacetylases in regulating gametogenesis, this study investigated the roles of histone deacetylases in follicular granulosa cells in mediating LH action during oocyte maturation in pigs. The results showed that histone deacetylase 4 (HDAC4) levels in cultured granulosa cells increased in a time-dependent manner with follicle-stimulating hormone stimulation but significantly decreased with LH treatment. The LH-induced reduction of HDAC4 was mediated by the accumulation of extracellular signal-regulated kinase 1/2 (ERK1/2), which subsequently increased H3K18 acetylation and promoted the recruitment of SMAD family member 3 (SMAD3) to the promoter of the EGF-like growth factor amphiregulin (AREG). Notably, specific inhibition of HDAC4 promoted oocyte maturation independently of LH in vitro, and the developmental potential of these matured oocytes was comparable to those induced by LH in vitro. In conclusion, HDAC4 in follicular somatic cells serves as a gonadotrophin-responsive epigenetic modification factor that negatively regulates oocyte meiosis resumption in pigs.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143596575","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-04-08DOI: 10.1242/dev.204449
Jaime Alaniz-Fabián, Daoquan Xiang, Gerardo Del Toro-De León, Peng Gao, Cei Abreu-Goodger, Raju Datla, C Stewart Gillmor
{"title":"A maternal transcriptome bias in early Arabidopsis embryogenesis.","authors":"Jaime Alaniz-Fabián, Daoquan Xiang, Gerardo Del Toro-De León, Peng Gao, Cei Abreu-Goodger, Raju Datla, C Stewart Gillmor","doi":"10.1242/dev.204449","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204449","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>After fertilization in animals, maternal mRNAs and proteins regulate development until the onset of zygotic transcription. In plants, the extent of maternal regulation of early embryo development has been less clear: two hybrid combinations of rice zygotes have a strong maternal transcript bias, zygotes of a third rice hybrid produced by gamete fusion show a small percentage of maternally biased genes, while Arabidopsis Col/Cvi and Col/Ler hybrid embryos display symmetric and asymmetric parental genome activation, respectively. Here, we explore parent-of-origin transcriptome behavior in the Arabidopsis Col/Tsu hybrid, which was previously shown to display maternal effects for embryo defective mutants indistinguishable from those of the reference ecotype, Col. Analysis of Col/Tsu transcriptomes revealed a reciprocal maternal bias in thousands of genes in zygotes and octant stage embryos. Several lines of evidence suggest that this transient maternal bias is due to preferential transcription of maternal alleles in the zygote, rather than inheritance of transcripts from the egg. Our results extend previous observations that parent-of-origin contributions to early embryogenesis differ between hybrids of Arabidopsis, show that the maternal genome plays a predominant role in early embryos of Col/Tsu, and point to a maternal transcriptome bias in early embryos of the Arabidopsis reference ecotype Columbia.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143604212","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-04-01Epub Date: 2025-04-02DOI: 10.1242/dev.204565
Berna Sozen, Patrick P L Tam, Martin F Pera
{"title":"Pluripotent cell states and fates in human embryo models.","authors":"Berna Sozen, Patrick P L Tam, Martin F Pera","doi":"10.1242/dev.204565","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204565","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Pluripotency, the capacity to generate all cells of the body, is a defining property of a transient population of epiblast cells found in pre-, peri- and post-implantation mammalian embryos. As development progresses, the epiblast cells undergo dynamic transitions in pluripotency states, concurrent with the specification of extra-embryonic and embryonic lineages. Recently, stem cell-based models of pre- and post-implantation human embryonic development have been developed using stem cells that capture key properties of the epiblast at different developmental stages. Here, we review early primate development, comparing pluripotency states of the epiblast in vivo with cultured pluripotent cells representative of these states. We consider how the pluripotency status of the starting cells influences the development of human embryo models and, in turn, what we can learn about the human pluripotent epiblast. Finally, we discuss the limitations of these models and questions arising from the pioneering studies in this emerging field.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 7","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.7,"publicationDate":"2025-04-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143763139","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}