Cells & Development最新文献

{"title":"Organizer activity in the mouse embryo.","authors":"Jenny Kretzschmar, Katharine Goodwin, Katie McDole","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.204001","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.204001","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The discovery of the embryonic organizer by Hilde Mangold and Hans Spemann in 1924 was one of the most ground-breaking achievements in the 1900 century for developmental biologists and beyond. Ever since the organizer was first described in newts, developmental biologists have been trying to uncover similar structures in other organisms. While the Spemann-Mangold organizer as an axis-inducing centre is evolutionary conserved in vertebrates, similar organizing centres have yet to be observed in mammals. In this review, we will provide a brief historical overview of the discovery of the mouse gastrula organizer and discuss its potential as an organizer throughout early post-implantation mouse development. We discuss cell migrations through the mouse organizer region and morphogenesis of organizer cells and tissues. Finally, we examine the evidence arguing for and against the existence of a head organizer in mice, and the role of the anterior visceral endoderm and the prechordal plate in organizing head structures.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"204001"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143374745","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tempting fate: Neural crest induction along the body axis.","authors":"Jan Stundl, Marianne E Bronner","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.204000","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.204000","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Neural crest induction begins at the neural plate border and involves the intricate interplay of signaling and transcriptional events. In this review, we examine the literature on neural crest induction, focusing primarily on the chick model due to the extended time during which the induction process occurs. While it is well-established that induction initiates during mid-gastrulation, evidence from tissue recombination and transcriptomic analyses suggests that the process continues until neural tube closure. Along the body axis, distinct neural crest populations with varying developmental potentials emerge in a rostral to caudal progression. Testing axial level differences has revealed axial level specific subcircuits that influence region-specific neural crest cell fate decision, though what leads to axial level specification remains unknown.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"204000"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-02-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143081038","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Functional attributes of the anterior mesendoderm in patterning the anterior neural structures during head formation in the mouse.","authors":"Patrick P L Tam, Pragathi Masamsetti","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203999","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203999","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Induction of the neural ectoderm and the patterning of embryonic brain are the requisite organizing activity for head formation. Studies of loss-of-function mouse mutants that displayed a head truncation phenotype pointed to a key functional role of the anterior mesendoderm in anterior neural patterning. In this overview, we highlight the learning of the molecular attributes underpinning the formation of the anterior mesendoderm, the acquisition of ectoderm competence in the epiblast and the patterning of the embryonic brain during gastrulation and neurulation.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203999"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143068259","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"A tale of two tissues: Patterning of the epidermis through morphogens and their role in establishing tracheal system organization.","authors":"L E Sánchez-Cisneros, M F Frutis-Osorio, L D Ríos-Barrera","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203998","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203998","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Throughout embryonic development, cells respond to a diverse set of signals and forces, making individual or collective decisions that drive the formation of specialized tissues. The development of these structures is tightly regulated in space and time. In recent years, the possibility that neighboring tissues influence one another's morphogenesis has been explored, as some of them develop simultaneously. We study this issue by reviewing the interactions between Drosophila epidermal and tracheal tissues in early and late stages of embryogenesis. Early in development, the epidermis emerges from the ectodermal layer. During its differentiation, epidermal cells produce morphogen gradients that influence the fundamental organization of the embryo. In this work, we analyze how molecules produced by the epidermis guide tracheal system development. Since both tissues emerge from the same germ layer and lie in close proximity all along their development, they are an excellent model for studying induction processes and tissue interactions.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203998"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-28","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143068252","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Self-organization from organs to embryoids by activin in early amphibian development.","authors":"Makoto Asashima, Yumeko Satou-Kobayashi, Yoshikazu Haramoto, Takashi Ariizumi","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203996","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2025.203996","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Embryonic development is a complex self-organizing process orchestrated by a series of regulatory events at the molecular and cellular levels, resulting in the formation of a fully functional organism. This review focuses on activin protein as a mesoderm-inducing factor and the self-organizing properties it confers. Activin has been detected in both unfertilized eggs and embryos, suggesting its involvement in early developmental processes. To explore its effects, animal cap cells-pluripotent cells from the animal pole of amphibian blastula-stage embryos-were treated with varying concentrations of activin. The results showed that activin induced mesodermal tissues, including blood, muscle, and notochord, in a dose-dependent manner. Co-treatment with activin and retinoic acid further promoted the development of kidney and pancreatic tissues, while activin alone stimulated the formation of beating cardiac tissue. In subsequent experiments, high concentrations of activin conferred an organizer-like activity on animal cap cells. The pretreatment duration affected outcomes: longer exposure induced anterior structures, such as eyes, while shorter exposure resulted in posterior structures, like tails. These findings reflect moderate self-assembly, where cells become increasingly organized. In another experiment, activin was used to create an artificial gradient. Explants cultured on this gradient developed into embryoids with well-defined anteroposterior, dorsoventral, and left-right axes, exemplifying higher-order self-organization. These results demonstrate that controlled activin gradients can drive the formation of nearly complete tadpole-like larvae, effectively recapitulating the processes of early embryogenesis. This system offers valuable insights into the mechanisms underlying axis formation and organogenesis, providing a promising platform for future research in developmental biology.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203996"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-23","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143042591","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Butterfly pupal wing tissue with an eyespot organizer.","authors":"Joji M Otaki, Atsuko Tanaka, Euichi Hirose","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203992","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203992","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Butterfly wing eyespots are developmentally determined at the early pupal stage, when prospective eyespot focal cells underneath the pupal cuticle focal spot function as eyespot organizers in the pupal wing tissue. Here, we performed light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to describe cellular structures of pupal wing tissue with an eyespot organizer immediately after pupation using the Blue Pansy butterfly Junonia orithya. The pupal forewing dorsal epidermis was a pseudostratified monolayer of vertically elongated epidermal cells. The apical portion of the cells adhered laterally to one another, but their medial and basal portions were thinner than the apical portion and were tilted to enclose cells at the center, forming a cellular cluster. The cellular cluster at the organizer was relatively large laterally and vertically. The apical portion of the cells and its corresponding cuticle at the organizer were thicker than those in the surroundings. The innermost cuticle layer was being synthesized, indicating high cuticle synthesis and secretion activity of the cells. At the medial and basal portions of the dorsal epidermis, there were many intracellular and extracellular vacuole-like globules, most likely containing extracellular matrix molecules. Some of the basal processes from epidermal cells extended to form protrusions of the basement membrane, which was often attended by hemocytes. These results suggest that the butterfly eyespot organizer is composed of a single or a few cellular clusters that secrete more cuticle than surrounding clusters, supporting the pupal cuticle hypothesis that cuticle formation is critical for eyespot color pattern determination in butterflies.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203992"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2025-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142928199","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Comments on the Hox timer and related issues.","authors":"Denis Duboule, Hocine Rekaik","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203991","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203991","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>2024 not only marked the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the organizer by Hilde Pröscholdt-Mangold and Hans Spemann, but also the 40th anniversary of the discovery of the homeobox, a DNA region encoding a DNA binding peptide present in several transcription factors of critical importance for the gastrulating embryo. In particular, this sequence is found in the 39 members of the amniote Hox gene family, a series of genes activated in mid-gastrulation and involved in organizing morphologies along the extending anterior to posterior (AP) body axis. Over the past 30 years, the study of their coordinated regulation in various contexts has progressively revealed their surprising regulatory strategies, based on mechanisms acting in-cis, which can translate a linear distribution of series of genes along the chromatin fiber into the proper sequences of morphologies observed along our various body axes. The first regulatory layer is controlled by the Hox timer, a mechanism implementing a time-sequenced activation of these genes following their chromosomal order. Here, we discuss various aspects of this mechanism, emphasizing some of its singularities.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203991"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-27","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142903646","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"The evolutionary origin and mechanism of chordate tail regeneration. An ancient tale?","authors":"Wouter Masselink, Prayag Murawala","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203988","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203988","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Chordate tail regeneration represents the remarkable ability of some chordates to partially or completely regenerate a significant portion of their primary body axis. In this review we will discuss the chordate regenerative ability, what is known about the cellular sources which contribute to the regenerating tail, how various structures such as the spinal cord and vertebral column are re-established, and how scaling of the regenerating tail is regulated. Finally, we propose that tail regeneration is evolutionarily conserved and is fundamentally different from tail development however the origin and mechanism of this process remain elusive.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203988"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12174470/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142872630","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Homeotic transformation of tail to limbs: A novel morphogenesis in the framework of self-organization and reprogramming of cell fate during appendage regeneration.","authors":"Jutshina Hota, Swetamudra Pattnaik, Gunanidhi Sahoo, Priyambada Mohanty-Hejmadi, Pravati Kumari Mahapatra","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203987","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203987","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Homeotic transformation of tail to hindlimbs in anuran tadpoles is a manifestation of the reprogramming of positional information in the event of tail regeneration. Such discovery of homeosis is of particular interest considering its occurrence in a vertebrate under the influence of a morphogen which represents a self-organizing system in the context of developmental and regenerative studies. This article reviews homeotic transformation of tail to hindlimbs including pelvic girdles induced by retinoic acid (RA) /vitamin A palmitate during tail regeneration under the scope of self-organization and the role of blastema as an organizer. Next, we present a timeline of various findings in this context.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203987"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-18","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142872228","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}

{"title":"Tissue mechanics modulate morphogen signalling to induce the head organiser.","authors":"Matyas Bubna-Litic, Guillaume Charras, Roberto Mayor","doi":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203984","DOIUrl":"10.1016/j.cdev.2024.203984","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Morphogenetic movements and specification of germ layers during gastrulation are key processes that establish the vertebrate body plan. Despite substantial research into the role of tissue mechanics during gastrulation and detailed characterisation of the molecular signalling networks controlling fate determination, the interplay of mechanical cues and biochemical signals during fate specification is poorly understood. Morphogens that activate Activin/Nodal/Smad2 signalling play a key role in mesoderm induction and axial patterning. We investigate the interplay between a single molecular input and a mechanical input using the well-established ex vivo system of Activin-induced explants of the mid-blastula X. laevis animal cap ectoderm. Activin alone induces mesoderm to form a complex elongating tissue with axial patterning, making this system similar to gastruloids generated in other model organisms. We observed an increase in the expression of dorsal mesoderm markers, such as chordin and goosecoid, and loss of elongation, in Activin-induced explants that were mechanically stimulated through uniaxial compression during the induction period. In addition, head mesoderm specific markers, including cerberus 1, were also increased. We show that mechanical stimulation leads to an increase in nuclear β-catenin activity. Activation of β-catenin signalling is sufficient to induce head Organiser gene expression. Furthermore, inhibition of β-catenin is sufficient to rescue the effect of compression on an early Wnt-signalling response gene siamois. Taken together these observations support the role of mechanical stimulation in modulating Activin-dependent mesoderm induction in favour of head Organiser formation. Given the conserved role of β-catenin in the dorsal specification and the dynamic morphogenetic movements of dorsal gastrula regions, mechanics-dependent Organiser induction may be found in other vertebrate species. Finally, the finding that mechanical cues affect β-catenin-dependent axial specification can be applied in the future development of more biologically relevant and robust synthetic organoid systems.</p>","PeriodicalId":29860,"journal":{"name":"Cells & Development","volume":" ","pages":"203984"},"PeriodicalIF":2.1,"publicationDate":"2024-12-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142781203","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"生物学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}