DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1242/dev.205212
{"title":"The people behind the papers - Dhaval Gandhi and Jessica Treisman.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205212","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205212","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Specialised adhesion proteins, such as the Drosophila Sidekick (Sdk), are crucial components of the tricellular adherens junctions (tAJs) that hold three cells together, but how they become localised there remains an open question. In a new study, Treisman and colleagues identify two Sdk extracellular domains that are crucial for its localisation to tAJs, as well as a previously unreported interaction with the protein kinase Mushroom bodies tiny (Mbt) that regulates Sdk localisation in multiple developing tissues in Drosophila. To learn more about this work and the people behind it, we spoke to first author Dhaval Gandhi and corresponding author Jessica Treisman, Professor at the Department of Cell Biology in NYU Grossman School of Medicine, USA.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145079861","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 : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1242/dev.205228
{"title":"The people behind the papers - Judith Pineau, Jerome Wong-Ng and Thomas Gregor.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205228","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205228","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mechanical constraint has a strong influence on development, but its exact impact on transcriptional patterning remains unclear. In a new study, Pineau et al. use gastruloids - embryonic stem cell-derived aggregates that display anteroposterior patterning as they develop - to study the impact of different mechanical environments on gene expression and morphogenesis. To find out more, we spoke to co-first authors Judith Pineau and Jerome Wong-Ng, and corresponding author Thomas Gregor, Director of Research at the Institute Pasteur, France, and Professor at Princeton University, USA.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145184937","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 : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-25DOI: 10.1242/dev.204786
Deirdre Hatton, Claire Marquilly, Caitlin Hanrahan, Tiago Ferreira, Yimiao Ou, Lauren Cinq-Mars, Will Silkworth, Hannah M Bailey, Margot E Quinlan, Donald J van Meyel
{"title":"Nascent dendrite branches initiated by a localized burst of Spire-dependent actin polymerization.","authors":"Deirdre Hatton, Claire Marquilly, Caitlin Hanrahan, Tiago Ferreira, Yimiao Ou, Lauren Cinq-Mars, Will Silkworth, Hannah M Bailey, Margot E Quinlan, Donald J van Meyel","doi":"10.1242/dev.204786","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204786","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Dendrites form arbors whose size, shape and complexity define how neurons cover their receptive territories. Actin dynamics contribute to growth and remodeling of dendrite arbors. Here, we have examined how Spire, a conserved actin nucleation factor, promotes the formation of new branches in vivo. In live imaging of Drosophila class IV dendritic arborization (c4da) neurons, Spire was observed at new sites of branch initiation, where it assembled new actin polymer in a burst immediately before filopodial outgrowth. For dendrite arborization, Spire required intact structural domains to nucleate actin and target the secretory network, and interacted with Rab11 GTPase, a key regulator of recycling endosomes. Together, these findings support a model in which Spire cooperates with Rab11 to promote new dendrite branches by linking localized actin dynamics with intracellular trafficking of endosomes that deliver lipids and cargoes to fuel protrusive outgrowth of nascent dendrites.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12516318/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145039388","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1242/dev.204711
Judith Pineau, Jerome Wong-Ng, Alexandre Mayran, Lucille Lopez-Delisle, Pierre Osteil, Armin Shoushtarizadeh, Denis Duboule, Samy Gobaa, Thomas Gregor
{"title":"Fine-tuning mechanical constraints reveals uncoupled patterning and gene expression programs in murine gastruloids.","authors":"Judith Pineau, Jerome Wong-Ng, Alexandre Mayran, Lucille Lopez-Delisle, Pierre Osteil, Armin Shoushtarizadeh, Denis Duboule, Samy Gobaa, Thomas Gregor","doi":"10.1242/dev.204711","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204711","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The interplay between mechanical forces and genetic programs is fundamental to embryonic development, yet how these factors influence morphogenesis and cell fate decisions remains unclear. Here, we fine-tune the mechanical environment of murine gastruloids, three-dimensional in vitro models of early embryogenesis, by embedding them in bioinert hydrogels with tunable stiffness and timing. This strategy reveals that external constraints can selectively influence transcriptional profiles, patterning or morphology, depending on the level and timing of mechanical modulation. Gastruloids in ultra-soft hydrogels (<30 Pa) elongate robustly, preserving anteroposterior patterning and transcriptional profiles. In contrast, embedding at higher stiffness disrupts polarization while leaving gene expression largely unaffected. Conversely, earlier embedding significantly impacts transcriptional profiles independently of polarization defects, highlighting the uncoupling of patterning and transcription. These findings suggest that distinct cellular states respond differently to external constraints. Live imaging and cell tracking further suggest that impaired cell motility underlies polarization defects, underscoring the role of mechanical forces in shaping morphogenesis independently of transcriptional changes. By precisely controlling mechanical boundaries, our approach provides a powerful platform to dissect how physical and biochemical factors interact to orchestrate embryonic development.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12516319/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145184928","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-22DOI: 10.1242/dev.204802
Theresa V Gibney, Ariel M Pani
{"title":"FGF diffusion is required for directed migration of postembryonic muscle progenitors in C. elegans.","authors":"Theresa V Gibney, Ariel M Pani","doi":"10.1242/dev.204802","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204802","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Extracellular signaling molecules mediate crucial aspects of cell-cell communication and play essential roles in development and homeostasis. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) are a family of secreted signaling proteins that can disperse long distances between cells and are often thought to form concentration gradients that encode spatial information. However, we know relatively little about the spatial distribution of FGFs in vivo, and endogenously tagged FGFs move between cells using different mechanisms in zebrafish and flies. We used FGF-dependent migration of C. elegans muscle progenitors called sex myoblasts (SMs) to elucidate FGF dispersal mechanisms and dissect how FGF guides migrating cells. Live imaging of cell dynamics and endogenously tagged FGF combined with membrane tethering and extracellular trapping approaches revealed that endogenous FGF is diffusible in vivo and extracellular dispersal is required for SM migration. Misexpression demonstrated that FGF is a bona fide chemoattractant that orients SMs during a critical window, while an unidentified, short-range signal acts in concert to position SMs precisely. Our finding that an invertebrate FGF is endogenously diffusible suggests that this may be the ancestral mode for FGF dispersal.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12516322/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144947029","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1242/dev.205181
Katherine Brown
{"title":"From stem cells to human development: supporting a growing field.","authors":"Katherine Brown","doi":"10.1242/dev.205181","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205181","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145063700","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 : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-29DOI: 10.1242/dev.204841
Nozomu Takahashi, Motomu Endo
{"title":"Circadian clock genes perform dual roles as systemic oscillators and context-dependent regulators.","authors":"Nozomu Takahashi, Motomu Endo","doi":"10.1242/dev.204841","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204841","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The plant circadian clock aligns developmental processes with environmental cycles, a function traditionally attributed to a unified, systemic oscillator. However, this view is challenged by observations that mutations in specific clock genes can cause major developmental phenotypes without a proportional disruption to systemic rhythms. This Hypothesis proposes that clock genes perform dual roles: they act not only as components of the systemic oscillator that generates rhythmicity, but also as specific, context-dependent regulators that control the timing of key developmental events. We argue that this gene-centric perspective extends and refines the classical oscillator model, positing that the pleiotropic nature of clock genes reflects their evolutionary history, whereby transcription factors with pre-existing developmental roles were co-opted for timekeeping. Understanding this functional duality - how individual clock components are deployed in specific tissues and conditions - offers a new perspective for dissecting the complex interplay between timekeeping and development.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145184942","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 : 2025-09-15Epub Date: 2025-09-18DOI: 10.1242/dev.204348
Jordy Dekker, Wendy Lam, Herma C van der Linde, Floris Ophorst, Charlotte de Konink, Rachel Schot, Gert-Jan Kremers, Leslie E Sanderson, Woutje M Berdowski, Geeske M van Woerden, Grazia M S Mancini, Tjakko J van Ham
{"title":"The non-canonical thioreductase Tmx2b is essential for neuronal survival during zebrafish embryonic brain development.","authors":"Jordy Dekker, Wendy Lam, Herma C van der Linde, Floris Ophorst, Charlotte de Konink, Rachel Schot, Gert-Jan Kremers, Leslie E Sanderson, Woutje M Berdowski, Geeske M van Woerden, Grazia M S Mancini, Tjakko J van Ham","doi":"10.1242/dev.204348","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204348","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Biallelic variants in thioredoxin-related transmembrane 2 protein (TMX2) can cause a malformation of brain cortical development characterized by microcephaly, polymicrogyria and pachygyria by an unknown mechanism. To investigate and visualize how TMX2 loss disrupts brain development in vivo, we generated zebrafish deficient for TMX2 ortholog tmx2b, which during the first two developmental days showed normal brain developmental hallmarks. From 3 days onwards, however, tmx2b mutants had no locomotor activity; this was accompanied by cell death in the brain, but not in other organs or in the spinal cord. Strikingly, cell death in tmx2b mutants occurred specifically in post-mitotic neurons within a ∼1.5-h timeframe, whereas neuronal progenitor and radial glial cells were preserved, and could be suppressed by inhibiting neuronal activity. In vivo calcium imaging showed a persistent ∼2-fold increase in calcium in neurons after the onset of cell death. This suggests that calcium homeostasis underlies the tmx2b mutant brain phenotype. Our results indicate that TMX2 is an evolutionarily conserved, protective regulator essential specifically for post-mitotic neurons after their differentiation in the vertebrate embryonic brain.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12516324/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144947040","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":2,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1242/dev.205185
{"title":"Transitions in Development - an interview with Mijo Šimunović.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205185","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.205185","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Mijo Šimunović is an Assistant Professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, USA. With two PhDs - one in Chemistry and the other in Physics - and postdoctoral experience in Stem Cell and Developmental Biology, Mijo's research group now generates quantitative models of embryogenesis using human pluripotent stem cells to study the molecular mechanisms and the biomechanics of embryo implantation, gastrulation and organ formation. We spoke to Mijo over Teams to learn more about Mijo's transition to becoming a group leader and Mijo's insights on the growing need for cross-disciplinary research.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 18","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145063786","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}