DevelopmentPub Date : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1242/dev.205200
{"title":"The people behind the papers - Xueqi Jia and Ryoichiro Kageyama.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205200","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.205200","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Temporal-spatial regulation of somite formation is controlled by the oscillating signals of the segmentation clock, such as Hes7, but how these signals are themselves coordinated remain unclear. In their latest study, Kageyama and colleagues identify Cdh2 as a previously unreported downstream target of Hes7 that is functionally important for the timing of somite formation by both synchronising the oscillations of Hes7 and modulating the oscillations of fellow clock component ppERK. To find out more about the researchers behind the paper and how this story developed, we spoke to first author Xueqi Jia and corresponding author Ryoichiro Kageyama, Director of the RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145063760","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-15DOI: 10.1242/dev.204743
Xueqi Jia, Akihiro Isomura, Ryoichiro Kageyama
{"title":"Cdh2, a downstream target of Hes7, regulates somitogenesis by supporting FGF signalling.","authors":"Xueqi Jia, Akihiro Isomura, Ryoichiro Kageyama","doi":"10.1242/dev.204743","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204743","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In the segmentation clock, Hes7 expression oscillates synchronously in the presomitic mesoderm (PSM), regulating periodic somite formation. Despite intensive studies, the whole regulatory gene networks of the segmentation clock remain to be analysed. To identify the direct target genes of Hes7, we performed chromatin immunoprecipitation with sequencing analysis using an anti-Hes7 antibody and knocked out the identified genes from mouse embryonic stem cells carrying a Hes7 reporter. These cells were induced to differentiate into PSM-like tissue, and live imaging of Hes7 oscillations was conducted. Among the tested genes, Cdh2 knockout resulted in downregulation of fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signalling and premature cessation of Hes7 oscillations. Conversely, Cdh2 overexpression led to upregulation of FGF signalling and prolonged Hes7 oscillations. Whereas Cdh2 mRNA showed dynamic expression through repression by Hes7 oscillations, Cdh2 protein exhibited a rather steady gradient with higher levels in the posterior PSM and lower levels in the anterior PSM. Thus, Hes7-controlled Cdh2 regulates FGF signalling, leading to the proper maintenance of Hes7 oscillations, suggesting that the interplay between Hes7 and Cdh2 governs the timing mechanism of PSM differentiation.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12516320/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145063768","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1242/dev.204725
Jaroslav Ferenc, Marylène Bonvin, Panagiotis Papasaikas, Jacqueline Ferralli, Clara Nuninger, Charisios D Tsiairis
{"title":"A transcription factor toggle switch determines differentiated epidermal cell identities in Hydra.","authors":"Jaroslav Ferenc, Marylène Bonvin, Panagiotis Papasaikas, Jacqueline Ferralli, Clara Nuninger, Charisios D Tsiairis","doi":"10.1242/dev.204725","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204725","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In Hydra, a simple cnidarian model, epithelio-muscular cells shape and maintain body architecture through continuous renewal. Undifferentiated cells from the mid-body region migrate passively toward the extremities, replacing shed cells and acquiring region-specific identities. This ongoing turnover, together with the Hydra stable axial organization, provides a powerful model to study how cell type specification is integrated with body patterning. Yet, the molecular mechanisms that govern epithelial identity remain largely unknown. Here, we identify a double-negative feedback loop between the transcription factors Zic4 and Gata3 that functions as a toggle switch to control terminal epidermal cell fates. Zic4, activated by Wnt signaling from the head organizer, induces battery cell specification in tentacles. In contrast, Gata3 promotes basal disk cell identity at the aboral end. These factors are mutually repressive: silencing one leads to expansion of the other's domain and ectopic cell fate induction. Notably, simultaneous knockdown of both restores normal patterning, suggesting that identity is dictated by their relative balance rather than absolute levels. Our study reveals how opposing transcriptional signals coordinate epithelial identity with axial patterning at Hydra poles.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144871982","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1242/dev.204968
Navin B Ramakrishna, João Pedro Alves-Lopes, Wolfram H Gruhn
{"title":"Emerging principles and models of human primordial germ cell development.","authors":"Navin B Ramakrishna, João Pedro Alves-Lopes, Wolfram H Gruhn","doi":"10.1242/dev.204968","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204968","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In humans, primordial germ cells (hPGCs) are the earliest precursors committed to forming sperm or egg. During the first trimester of embryonic development, hPGCs undergo extensive epigenetic reprogramming and are subject to fitness selection, laying the foundation for future gametogenesis and normal embryonic development. During these processes, hPGCs interact with dynamic microenvironments that remain incompletely understood. Recent advances in transcriptomic and epigenetic profiling have revealed signalling cues and regulatory mechanisms governing hPGC development in human embryos, complemented by insights from non-human primate models. In parallel, pluripotent stem cell-based systems that model hPGC differentiation have emerged in the past decade as valuable platforms for mechanistic studies and form the basis of ongoing efforts to establish human in vitro gametogenesis. In this Review, we discuss the microenvironmental and epigenetic changes accompanying hPGC specification, migration and gonadal development up to week 10 of embryogenesis. Building on these insights, we examine current model systems for recapitulating hPGC development, and highlight the mechanistic understandings they have enabled.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145033106","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":"Rab10 regulates cortical granule translocation and ZP2 dynamics for zona pellucida function during oocyte maturation.","authors":"Hong-Hui Wang, Kun-Huan Zhang, Si-Le Wu, Meng-Hao Pan, Xiao-Han Li, Shao-Chen Sun","doi":"10.1242/dev.204665","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204665","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Successful fertilization is important for early embryo development and offspring generation. Cortical granules, which are formed in the cytoplasm, are transported to the cortex to avoid polyspermy, which prevents sperm penetration into oocytes. The underlying mechanism is still largely unknown. In this study, we have identified that GTPase Rab10-mediated vesicles play a pivotal role in actin dynamics, which regulate cortical granule transport and ZP2 function in mouse and porcine oocytes. We found that Rab10 accumulated at the mouse and porcine oocyte cortex and modulated the RhoA pathway to control actin dynamics. Disrupting the functions of Rab10 affected myosin Va expression, which impaired cortical granule movement to the cortex, causing an insufficient supply of cortical granule contents and weakened zona pellucida modification. In addition, overexpression of GDP-bound Rab10 led to ZP2 downregulation and accumulation at the cortex, which affected zona pellucida reaction. Taken together, our findings demonstrate that Rab10 regulates the RhoA pathway for actin dynamics and the myosin Va complex for the cortical granule-based cortical reaction, and the Rab10-ZP2 complex contributes to the ZP2 supply that is necessary for the zona pellucida reaction.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144820908","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1242/dev.204740
Hannah E Brown, Haik V Varderesian, Oscar Lam, Sara A Keane, Sean P Ryder
{"title":"The mex-3 3' untranslated region is essential for reproduction during temperature stress.","authors":"Hannah E Brown, Haik V Varderesian, Oscar Lam, Sara A Keane, Sean P Ryder","doi":"10.1242/dev.204740","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.204740","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Organisms must sense temperature and modify their physiology to survive environmental stress. Elevated temperature reduces fertility in most sexually reproducing organisms. Maternally supplied mRNAs are required for embryogenesis. They encode proteins that govern early embryonic patterning. RNA-binding proteins are major effectors of maternal mRNA regulation. MEX-3 is a conserved RNA-binding protein essential for anterior patterning of Caenorhabditis elegans embryos. We previously demonstrated that the mex-3 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) represses MEX-3 abundance in the germline yet is mostly dispensable for fertility. Here, we show that the 3'UTR is essential during thermal stress. Deletion of the 3'UTR causes a highly penetrant, temperature-sensitive embryonic lethality phenotype distinct from the mex-3 null phenotype. Loss of the 3'UTR decreases MEX-3 abundance specifically in maturing oocytes and early embryos during temperature stress. Dysregulation of mex-3 reprograms the thermal stress response by reducing the expression of hundreds of heat-shock genes. We propose that a major function of the mex-3 3'UTR is to buffer MEX-3 expression during fluctuating temperature, ensuring the robustness of oocyte maturation and embryogenesis.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":" ","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144815988","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-11DOI: 10.1242/dev.205195
{"title":"The people behind the papers - Hannah Brown and Sean Ryder.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205195","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205195","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>MEX-3 is a conserved RNA-binding protein that is required for oocyte maturation and anterior cell fate specification during early embryogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans. In their work, Sean Ryder and colleagues show that the 3' untranslated region (3'UTR) of mex-3 is essential for oocyte maturation and embryonic morphogenesis in worms under thermal stress. To find out more about their work, we spoke to the first author, Hannah Brown, and the corresponding author, Sean Ryder, Professor and Vice Chair for Outreach, Biochemistry and Molecular Biotechnology, University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School, USA.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145033076","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 : 2025-09-01Epub Date: 2025-09-10DOI: 10.1242/dev.205193
{"title":"The people behind the papers - Charisios Tsiairis, Jaroslav Ferenc and Marylène Bonvin.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205193","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.205193","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Hydra, a freshwater polyp, comprises a simple oral-aboral body plan, wherein multipotent epithelial cells differentiate into tentacle cells at the oral/mouth end and into basal disc cells at the aboral/foot end. In their study, Charisios Tsiairis and colleagues show that a double negative mutually repressive regulatory module determines oral/aboral cell fate specification in Hydra. To know more about their work, we spoke to the first authors, Jaroslav Ferenc and Marylène Bonvin, and the corresponding author, Charisios Tsiairis, Group Leader at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel, Switzerland.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 17","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-09-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145033082","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 : 2025-08-15Epub Date: 2025-08-21DOI: 10.1242/dev.204958
Robert W Fernandez, Angelo J Digirolamo, Giulio Valperga, G Robert Aguilar, Laura Molina-García, Rinn M Kersh, Chen Wang, Karinna Pe, Yasmin H Ramadan, Curtis Loer, Arantza Barrios, Oliver Hobert
{"title":"Pervasive homeobox gene function in the male-specific nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans.","authors":"Robert W Fernandez, Angelo J Digirolamo, Giulio Valperga, G Robert Aguilar, Laura Molina-García, Rinn M Kersh, Chen Wang, Karinna Pe, Yasmin H Ramadan, Curtis Loer, Arantza Barrios, Oliver Hobert","doi":"10.1242/dev.204958","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.204958","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We explore here how neuronal cell type diversity is genetically delineated in the context of the large, but poorly studied, male-specific nervous system of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Mostly during postembryonic development, the C. elegans male adds 93 male-specific neurons, falling into 25 cardinal classes, to the predominantly embryonically generated, sex-shared nervous system, comprising 294 neurons (116 cardinal classes). Using engineered reporter alleles, we investigate here the expression pattern of 40 of the 80 phylogenetically conserved C. elegans homeodomain proteins within the male-specific nervous system. Our analysis indicates that each individual neuron class is defined by unique combinations of homeodomain proteins and that the male-specific nervous system can be subdivided along the anterior/posterior axis in HOX cluster expression domains. Using a collection of newly available terminal fate markers, we undertake a mutant analysis of five homeobox genes (unc-30/Pitx, unc-42/Prop, lim-6/Lmx, lin-11/Lhx, ttx-1/Otx) and identify defects in cell fate specification and/or male copulatory defects in each of these mutant strains. Our analysis expands our understanding of the importance of homeobox genes in nervous system development and function.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144947015","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 : 2025-08-15DOI: 10.1242/dev.205056
{"title":"Pathway to Independence - an interview with Marlies Oomen.","authors":"","doi":"10.1242/dev.205056","DOIUrl":"10.1242/dev.205056","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Marlies Oomen is a Postdoctoral Fellow at Helmholtz Munich, Germany, in the laboratory of Maria-Elena Torres-Padilla. She is interested in how transposable elements are involved in gene regulation across different mammalian species. Marlies is one of the 2025 fellows on Development's Pathway to Independence programme, which aims to support postdocs in the transition towards establishing their own research groups. We met Marlies online to discuss her plans for her future lab and her hopes for the programme.</p>","PeriodicalId":11375,"journal":{"name":"Development","volume":"152 16","pages":""},"PeriodicalIF":3.6,"publicationDate":"2025-08-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144854863","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}