the community site for and by developmental biologists
the community site for and by developmental biologists
Posted by the Node Interviews on January 13th, 2020
This interview, the 73rd in our series, was recently published in Development. Animal cytokinesis is driven by an actomyosin ring that assembles at the cell equator and constricts to physically separate the two daughters. Although myosin is known to be essential for cytokinesis in multiple systems, whether this requirement reflects its motor or actin crosslinking activities has[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on November 29th, 2019
This interview, the 72nd in our series, was recently published in Development. Heart development in mammals is a beautifully complex process. Patterning, proliferation and differentiation are all coordinated with cell movements and tissue morphogenesis (for instance elongation, fusion, folding, looping). However, our knowledge of the molecular regulators of heart development currently outstrips what we know about the[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on November 15th, 2019
This interview, the 71st in our series, was recently published in Development. Our understanding of many fundamental aspects of early human development is still in its infancy, but a promising avenue for research uses advanced in vitro culturing techniques. For instance, confining human embryonic stem cells to micropatterned substrates and directing differentiation with signalling molecules has proved a powerful[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on November 7th, 2019
This interview, the 70th in our series, was recently published in Development. Drosophila wing discs are epithelial sac-like organs and a powerful model for investigating the link between proliferation and patterning. Of particular interest is the question of how single cells in the disc integrate information regarding position and growth control, as morphogens that pattern an axis can[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on October 10th, 2019
This interview, the 69th in our series, was recently published in Development. The apical hook is a transient structure that functions to protect the vulnerable apical meristem from damage when the seedling penetrates the soil. Although some of the molecular players regulating its development have been identified, many aspects have remained opaque, including how an early auxin[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on September 12th, 2019
This interview, the 68th in our series, was recently published in Development. See also the Press Release associated with the paper and also Brazilian newspaper Folha’s piece on the work Retinal ganglion cells connect the retina to the brain, and their degeneration underlies glaucoma, which is the leading cause of irreversible blindness in humans and currently untreatable.[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on August 13th, 2019
This interview, the 67th in our series, was recently published in Development Most bones in the vertebrate skeleton are made in the same way – endochondrial ossification – yet they display a variety of shapes and sizes. The question of how these unique bone morphologies, including the superstructures that protrude from their surfaces, arise during development is[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on July 9th, 2019
This interview, the 66th in our series, was recently published in Development Transcriptional autoregulation occurs when transcription factors bind their own cis-regulatory sequences, ensuring their own continuous expression along with expression of other targets. During development, continued expression of identity-specifying transcription factors can be achieved by autoregulation, but until now formal evidence for a developmental requirement of autoregulation[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on June 24th, 2019
This interview, the 65th in our series, was recently published in Development During development, mechanical forces sculpt tissues into myriad forms. Actomyosin contractility generated within the cell has an increasingly appreciated role in this process, but how tissue forces relate to the physical properties of the extracellular matrix is still poorly understood, particularly at longer time scales[…]
Posted by the Node Interviews on June 19th, 2019
This interview, the 64th in our series, was recently published in Development One of the most obvious examples of left-right asymmetry in animal bodies comes from snails: in most species or strains, the shells coil dextrally, but some coil sinistrally. The control of coiling is genetic and begins in the early embryo. Previous work has implicated the[…]
