From our sister journals- August 2015

Here is some developmental biology related content from other journals published by The Company of Biologists.

Deducing the stage of origin of Wilms tumours from a developmental series of Wt1 mutants

Wilms’ tumours, paediatric kidney cancers, are the archetypal example of tumours caused through the disruption of normal development. In this study, Hohenstein and colleagues compare different nephron-specific Wt1-knockout mouse models, identifying the stage of origin of human WT1-mutant Wilms’ tumours. Read the paper here [OPEN ACCESS].

Enolase 1 and PDIA3 regulate Wnt/β-catenin-driven trans-differentiation of murine alveolar epithelial cells

The alveolar epithelium represents a major site of tissue destruction during lung injury. Königshoff and colleagues conducted proteomics, expression analysis and functional studies in primary murine ATII cells and identified proteins involved in Wnt/β-catenin-driven alveolar epithelial plasticity in lung injury and repair. Read the paper here [OPEN ACCESS].

Ciliary adenylyl cyclases control the Hedgehog pathway

Protein kinase A (PKA) accumulates at the base of the cilium where it negatively regulates the Hedgehog pathway. Although PKA activity is essentially controlled by the cAMP produced by adenylyl cyclases, the influence of these enzymes on the Hh pathway remains unclear. Pons and colleagues show that ciliary adenylyl cyclases AC5 and AC6 respond to stimulatory and inhibitory GPCRs to control PKA and, hence, transduce the Hedgehog signal. Read the paper here.

Stk40 represses adipogenesis through translational control of CCAAT/enhancer-binding proteins

Stk40 is a putative serine/threonine kinase originally identified as an activator of the Erk1/2 signaling required for primitive endoderm differentiation from mouse ESCs, and later found to be important for mouse fetal lung maturation. Jin and colleagues now show that Stk40 also plays a role in repressing adipogenesis through inhibition of C/EBP protein translation. Read the paper here.

Multiple-stressor interactions influence embryo development rate in the American horseshoe crab

Fertilized eggs of the American horseshoe crab are buried in shallow nests above the high tide line, where they are exposed to variations in abiotic conditions during early development. Using a multiple-stressors approach, Julian and colleagues examined whether the rate of embryonic development in these animals is affected by exposure to temperature, salinity and oxygen. Their results show that multiple abiotic stressors can interact to affect the development rate in ways that cannot be predicted from the effects of the stressors in isolation. Read the paper here.

Cold adaptation overrides developmental regulation of sarcolipin expression in mice skeletal muscle

Sarcolipin plays an important role in muscle-based thermogenesis. Periasamy and colleagues show that it is abundantly expressed in neonatal mouse muscles and cold challenge prevents its developmental downregulation, indicating higher recruitment of muscle-based thermogenesis in neonates. Read the paper here.

Gender-bending alligators use ESR1

In crocodilian as well as several turtle species, the gender of offspring is determined by the temperature at which the eggs are exposed during a critical developmental window called the thermo-sensitive period. Hormones also contribute to this process, since exposure to estrogens feminizes alligators developing at a male-producing temperature, but the mechanisms behind this phenomenon remain elusive. Sarah Alderman highlights a recent paper by the lab of Louis Guillette Jr in Endocrinology, examining which of the two known estrogen receptos (ESCR1 and ESCR2) is responsible for this hormone-mediated switch from male to female alligators. Read this Outside JEB feature here.

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