Articles

Electroablation: a method for neurectomy and localized tissue injury

Tissue injury has been employed to study diverse biological processes such as regeneration and inflammation. In addition to physical or surgical based methods for tissue injury, current protocols for localized...

Authors: José Moya-Díaz, Oscar A Peña, Mario Sánchez, Daniela A Ureta, Nicole G Reynaert, Consuelo Anguita-Salinas, Gonzalo Marín and Miguel L Allende

Dual roles for ubiquitination in the processing of sperm organelles after fertilization

The process of fertilization involves a cell fusion event between the sperm and oocyte. Although sperm contain mitochondria when they fuse with the oocyte, paternal mitochondrial genomes do not persist in offs...

Authors: Connie Hajjar, Katherine M Sampuda and Lynn Boyd

Metabolomic insights into system-wide coordination of vertebrate metamorphosis

After completion of embryogenesis, many organisms experience an additional obligatory developmental transition to attain a substantially different juvenile or adult form. During anuran metamorphosis, the aquat...

Authors: Taka-Aki Ichu, Jun Han, Christoph H Borchers, Mary Lesperance and Caren C Helbing

The natural insect peptide Neb-colloostatin induces ovarian atresia and apoptosis in the mealworm Tenebrio molitor

The injection of Neb-colloostatin into T. molitor females causes gonadoinhibitory effects on ovarian development. This peptide inhibits intercellular space formation (patency) in follicular epithelium and results...

Authors: Elżbieta Czarniewska, Grzegorz Rosiński, Elżbieta Gabała and Mariola Kuczer

Distinct contextual roles for Notch signalling in skeletal muscle stem cells

Notch signalling acts in virtually every tissue during the lifetime of metazoans. Recent studies have pointed to multiple roles for Notch in stem cells during quiescence, proliferation, temporal specification,...

Authors: Philippos Mourikis and Shahragim Tajbakhsh

Neural crest-specific deletion of Ldb1 leads to cleft secondary palate with impaired palatal shelf elevation

LIM domain binding protein 1 (LDB1) is a transcriptional co-factor, which interacts with multiple transcription factors and other proteins containing LIM domains. Complete inactivation of Ldb1 in mice resulted in...

Authors: Asma Almaidhan, Jeffry Cesario, Andre Landin Malt, Yangu Zhao, Neeti Sharma, Veronica Choi and Juhee Jeong

Reviewer acknowledgement 2013

The editors of BMC Developmental Biology would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 13 (2013).

Authors: Philippa K Harris

The precise timeline of transcriptional regulation reveals causation in mouse somitogenesis network

In vertebrate development, the segmental pattern of the body axis is established as somites, masses of mesoderm distributed along the two sides of the neural tube, are formed sequentially in the anterior-poste...

Authors: Bernard Fongang and Andrzej Kudlicki

Erratum to: The dermomyotome ventrolateral lip is essential for the hypaxial myotome formation

Authors: Qin Pu, Aisha Abduelmula, Maryna Masyuk, Carsten Theiss, Dieter Swandulla, Michael Hans, Ketan Patel, Beate Brand-Saberi and Ruijin Huang

The Krüppel-like factor 2 and Krüppel-like factor 4 genes interact to maintain endothelial integrity in mouse embryonic vasculogenesis

Krüppel-like Factor 2 (KLF2) plays an important role in vessel maturation during embryonic development. In adult mice, KLF2 regulates expression of the tight junction protein occludin, which may allow KLF2 to ...

Authors: Aditi R Chiplunkar, Benjamin C Curtis, Gabriel L Eades, Megan S Kane, Sean J Fox, Jack L Haar and Joyce A Lloyd

Differential requirement for Dab2 in the development of embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues

Disabled-2 (Dab2) is an endocytic adaptor protein involved in clathrin-mediated endocytosis and cargo trafficking. Since its expression is lost in several cancer types, Dab2 has been suggested to be a tumor su...

Authors: Robert Moore, Kathy Qi Cai, Wensi Tao, Elizabeth R Smith and Xiang-Xi Xu

c-kit expression profile and regulatory factors during spermatogonial stem cell differentiation

It has been proven that c-kit is crucial for proliferation, migration, survival and maturation of spermatogenic cells. A periodic expression of c-kit is observed from primordial germ cells (PGCs) to spermatogenet...

Authors: Lei Zhang, Jiangjing Tang, Christopher J Haines, Huai Feng, Liangxue Lai, Xiaoming Teng and Yibing Han

The dermomyotome ventrolateral lip is essential for the hypaxial myotome formation

The myotome is the primitive skeletal muscle that forms within the embryonic metameric body wall. It can be subdivided into an epaxial and hypaxial domain. It has been shown that the formation of the epaxial m...

Authors: Qin Pu, Aisha Abduelmula, Maryna Masyuk, Carsten Theiss, Dieter Schwandulla, Michael Hans, Ketan Patel, Beate Brand-Saberi and Ruijin Huang

NumbL is essential for Xenopusprimary neurogenesis

Members of the vertebrate Numb family of cell fate determinants serve multiple functions throughout early embryogenesis, including an essential role in the development of the nervous system. The Numb proteins ...

Authors: Frank Nieber, Marie Hedderich, Olaf Jahn, Tomas Pieler and Kristine A Henningfeld

The expression of diacylglycerol kinase theta during the organogenesis of mouse embryos

Diacylglycerol kinase (DGK) is a key enzyme that regulates diacylglycerol (DG) turnover and is involved in a variety of physiological functions. The isoform DGKθ has a unique domain structure and is the sole m...

Authors: Shuji Ueda, Becky Tu-Sekine, Minoru Yamanoue, Daniel M Raben and Yasuhito Shirai

Human amniotic fluid stem cells have a potential to recover ovarian function in mice with chemotherapy-induced sterility

Human amniotic fluid cells (hAFCs) may differentiate into multiple cell lineages and thus have a great potential to become a donor cell source for regenerative medicine. The ability of hAFCs to differentiate i...

Authors: Dongmei Lai, Fangyuan Wang, Yifei Chen, Li Wang, Yanlin Wang and Weiwei Cheng

Conditional and constitutive expression of a Tbx1-GFP fusion protein in mice

Velo-cardio-facial syndrome/DiGeorge syndrome (VCFS/DGS) is caused by a 1.5-3 Mb microdeletion of chromosome 22q11.2, frequently referred to as 22q11.2 deletion syndrome (22q11DS). This region includes TBX1, a T-...

Authors: Laina Freyer, Sonja Nowotschin, Melinda K Pirity, Antonio Baldini and Bernice E Morrow

Changes in sub-cellular localisation of trophoblast and inner cell mass specific transcription factors during bovine preimplantation development

Preimplantation bovine development is emerging as an attractive experimental model, yet little is known about the mechanisms underlying trophoblast (TE)/inner cell mass (ICM) segregation in cattle. To gain an ...

Authors: Zofia E Madeja, Jaroslaw Sosnowski, Kamila Hryniewicz, Ewelina Warzych, Piotr Pawlak, Natalia Rozwadowska, Berenika Plusa and Dorota Lechniak

The role of Zic transcription factors in regulating hindbrain retinoic acid signaling

The reiterated architecture of cranial motor neurons aligns with the segmented structure of the embryonic vertebrate hindbrain. Anterior-posterior identity of cranial motor neurons depends, in part, on retinoi...

Authors: Danna L Drummond, Caroline S Cheng, Lyndsay G Selland, Jennifer C Hocking, Lisa B Prichard and Andrew J Waskiewicz

Erratum to: Histamine is a modulator of metamorphic competence in Strongylocentrotus purpuratus (Echinodermata: Echinoidea)

Authors: Josh Sutherby, Jamie-Lee Giardini, Julia Nguyen, Gary Wessel, Mariana Leguia and Andreas Heyland

Stage-specific transcription during development of Aedes aegypti

Aedes aegypti is the most important global vector of dengue virus infection in humans. Availability of the draft genome sequence of this mosquito provides unique opportunities to study different aspects of its bi...

Authors: Brent W Harker, Susanta K Behura, Becky S deBruyn, Diane D Lovin, Akio Mori, Jeanne Romero-Severson and David W Severson

The Ecdysone receptor constrains wingless expression to pattern cell cycle across the Drosophilawing margin in a cyclin B-dependent manner

Ecdysone triggers transcriptional changes via the ecdysone receptor (EcR) to coordinate developmental programs of apoptosis, cell cycle and differentiation. Data suggests EcR affects cell cycle gene expression...

Authors: Naomi C Mitchell, Jane I Lin, Olga Zaytseva, Nicola Cranna, Amanda Lee and Leonie M Quinn

An ancient process in a modern mollusc: early development of the shell in Lymnaea stagnalis

The morphological variety displayed by the molluscan shell underlies much of the evolutionary success of this phylum. However, the broad diversity of shell forms, sizes, ornamentations and functions contrasts ...

Authors: Jennifer Hohagen and Daniel J Jackson

Evolution of Hoxgene clusters in deuterostomes

Hox genes, with their similar roles in animals as evolutionarily distant as humans and flies, have fascinated biologists since their discovery nearly 30 years ago. During the last two decades, reports on Hox gene...

Authors: Juan Pascual-Anaya, Salvatore D’Aniello, Shigeru Kuratani and Jordi Garcia-Fernàndez

Tc-knirps plays different roles in the specification of antennal and mandibular parasegment boundaries and is regulated by a pair-rule gene in the beetle Tribolium castaneum

The Drosophila larval head is evolutionarily derived at the genetic and morphological level. In the beetle Tribolium castaneum, development of the larval head more closely resembles the ancestral arthropod condit...

Authors: Andrew D Peel, Julia Schanda, Daniela Grossmann, Frank Ruge, Georg Oberhofer, Anna F Gilles, Johannes B Schinko, Martin Klingler and Gregor Bucher

Live imaging and analysis of postnatal mouse retinal development

The explanted, developing rodent retina provides an efficient and accessible preparation for use in gene transfer and pharmacological experimentation. Many of the features of normal development are retained in...

Authors: Philip EB Nickerson, Kara M Ronellenfitch, Nicklaus F Csuzdi, Jamie D Boyd, Perry L Howard, Kerry R Delaney and Robert L Chow

FishFace: interactive atlas of zebrafish craniofacial development at cellular resolution

The vertebrate craniofacial skeleton may exhibit anatomical complexity and diversity, but its genesis and evolution can be understood through careful dissection of developmental programs at cellular resolution...

Authors: B Frank Eames, April DeLaurier, Bonnie Ullmann, Tyler R Huycke, James T Nichols, John Dowd, Marcie McFadden, Mark M Sasaki and Charles B Kimmel

External and internal shell formation in the ramshorn snail Marisa cornuarietisare extremes in a continuum of gradual variation in development

Toxic substances like heavy metals can inhibit and disrupt the normal embryonic development of organisms. Exposure to platinum during embryogenesis has been shown to lead to a “one fell swoop” internalization ...

Authors: Leonie Marschner, Julian Staniek, Silke Schuster, Rita Triebskorn and Heinz-R Köhler

The C. elegans gene pan-1encodes novel transmembrane and cytoplasmic leucine-rich repeat proteins and promotes molting and the larva to adult transition

Extracellular leucine-rich repeat (eLRR) proteins are a highly diverse superfamily of membrane-associated or secreted proteins. In the membrane-associated eLRR proteins, the leucine-rich repeat motifs interact...

Authors: Chris R Gissendanner and Tram Do Kelley

Functional modelling of planar cell polarity: an approach for identifying molecular function

Cells in some tissues acquire a polarisation in the plane of the tissue in addition to apical-basal polarity. This polarisation is commonly known as planar cell polarity and has been found to be important in d...

Authors: Lee D Hazelwood and John M Hancock

Development of human hip joint in the second and the third trimester of pregnancy; a cadaveric study

The purpose of the study was an evaluation of fetal hip joint morphology during the second and the third trimester of pregnancy. Serial sections were performed on 23 cadaver infants.

Authors: Adrian Masłoń, Marcin Sibiński, Mirosław Topol, Karol Krajewski and Andrzej Grzegorzewski

Expression of phosphatase of regenerating liver family genes during embryogenesis: an evolutionary developmental analysis among Drosophila, amphioxus, and zebrafish

Phosphatase of regenerating liver (PRL) family is classified as class IVa of protein tyrosine phosphatase (PTP4A) that removes phosphate groups from phosphorylated tyrosine residues on proteins. PRL phosphatas...

Authors: Ming-Der Lin, Hsun-Tzu Lee, Szu-Chieh Wang, Han-Ru Li, Hsin-Lun Hsien, Kai-Wen Cheng, Yu-Di Chang, Min-Lang Huang, Jr-Kai Yu and Yau-Hung Chen

Foamy virus for efficient gene transfer in regeneration studies

Molecular studies of appendage regeneration have been hindered by the lack of a stable and efficient means of transferring exogenous genes. We therefore sought an efficient integrating virus system that could ...

Authors: Shahryar Khattak, Tatiana Sandoval-Guzmán, Nicole Stanke, Stephanie Protze, Elly M Tanaka and Dirk Lindemann

Expression pattern of Protein Kinase C ε during mouse embryogenesis

Protein kinase C epsilon (PKCϵ) belongs to the novel PKC subfamily, which consists of diacylglycerol dependent- and calcium independent-PKCs. Previous studies have shown that PKCϵ is important in different con...

Authors: Sergio Carracedo, Ursula Braun and Michael Leitges

A bright single-cell resolution live imaging reporter of Notch signaling in the mouse

Live imaging provides an essential methodology for understanding complex and dynamic cell behaviors and their underlying molecular mechanisms. Genetically-encoded reporter expressing mouse strains are an impor...

Authors: Sonja Nowotschin, Panagiotis Xenopoulos, Nadine Schrode and Anna-Katerina Hadjantonakis

Development, organization, and remodeling of phoronid muscles from embryo to metamorphosis (Lophotrochozoa: Phoronida)

The phoronid larva, which is called the actinotrocha, is one of the most remarkable planktotrophic larval types among marine invertebrates. Actinotrochs live in plankton for relatively long periods and undergo...

Authors: Elena N Temereva and Eugeni B Tsitrin

miRNA regulated pathways in late stage murine lung development

MicroRNAs play important roles in regulating biological processes, including organ morphogenesis and maturation. However, little is known about specific pathways regulated by miRNA during lung development. Bet...

Authors: Sana Mujahid, Tanya Logvinenko, MaryAnn V Volpe and Heber C Nielsen

Mef2A, a homologue of animal Mef2 transcription factors, regulates cell differentiation in Dictyostelium discoideum

Transcription factors from the MADS-box family play a relevant role in cell differentiation and development and include the animal SRF (serum response factor) and MEF2 (myocyte enhancer factor 2) proteins. The...

Authors: María Galardi-Castilla, Irene Fernandez-Aguado, Teresa Suarez and Leandro Sastre

Expression of SHH signaling molecules in the developing human primary dentition

Our current knowledge on tooth development derives primarily from studies in mice. Very little is known about gene expression and function during human odontogenesis. Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) signaling has been de...

Authors: Xuefeng Hu, Shuo Zhang, Guimiao Chen, Chensheng Lin, Zhen Huang, YiPing Chen and Yanding Zhang

Evidence for the requirement of 14-3-3eta (YWHAH) in meiotic spindle assembly during mouse oocyte maturation

The 14-3-3 (YWHA) proteins are central mediators in various cellular signaling pathways regulating development and growth, including cell cycle regulation. We previously reported that all seven mammalian 14-3-...

Authors: Santanu De and Douglas Kline

Mouse Tenm4 is required for mesoderm induction

Tenm4 is a mouse homolog of the Drosophila gene Tenascin-m (Ten-m (Odd oz)), which functions in motor neuron routing. Recently, a genome-wide association analysis for bipolar disorder identified a new susceptibil...

Authors: Hisashi Nakamura, Rita N Cook and Monica J Justice

In situ hybridization protocol for enhanced detection of gene expression in the planarian Schmidtea mediterranea

The freshwater planarian Schmidtea mediterranea has emerged as a powerful model for studies of regenerative, stem cell, and germ cell biology. Whole-mount in situ hybridization (WISH) and whole-mount fluorescent

Authors: Ryan S King and Phillip A Newmark

Histone modifications in the male germ line of Drosophila^a

In the male germ line of Drosophila chromatin remains decondensed and highly transcribed during meiotic prophase until it is rapidly compacted. A large proportion of the cell cycle-regulated histone H3.1 is repla...

Authors: Wolfgang Hennig and Alexandra Weyrich

Reviewer acknowledgement 2012

The editors of BMC Developmental Biology would like to thank all our reviewers who have contributed to the journal in Volume 12 (2012).

Authors: Philippa K Harris

Thyroid hormone increases fibroblast growth factor receptor expression and disrupts cell mechanics in the developing organ of corti

Thyroid hormones regulate growth and development. However, the molecular mechanisms by which thyroid hormone regulates cell structural development are not fully understood. The mammalian cochlea is an intrigui...

Authors: Katherine B Szarama, Núria Gavara, Ronald S Petralia, Richard S Chadwick and Matthew W Kelley

SOX11 contributes to the regulation of GDF5 in joint maintenance

Individual skeletal elements of the vertebrate limbs arise through a segmentation process introducing joints in specific locations. However, the molecular pathways controlling joint formation and subsequent jo...

Authors: Akinori Kan, Toshiyuki Ikeda, Atsushi Fukai, Takumi Nakagawa, Kozo Nakamura, Ung-il Chung, Hiroshi Kawaguchi and Clifford J Tabin

Plasma membrane events associated with the meiotic divisions in the amphibian oocyte: insights into the evolution of insulin transduction systems and cell signaling

Insulin and its plasma membrane receptor constitute an ancient response system critical to cell growth and differentiation. Studies using intact Rana pipiens oocytes have shown that insulin can act at receptors o...

Authors: Gene A Morrill, Adele B Kostellow, Richard D Moore and Raj K Gupta

Expression pattern of protein kinase C δ during mouse embryogenesis

The members of the protein kinase C (PKC) family consist of serine/threonine kinases classified according to their regulatory domain. Those that belong to the novel PKC subfamily, such as PKCδ, are dependent o...

Authors: Sergio Carracedo, Ursula Braun and Michael Leitges

Identifying targets of the Sox domain protein Dichaete in the Drosophila CNS via targeted expression of dominant negative proteins

Group B Sox domain transcription factors play important roles in metazoan central nervous system development. They are, however, difficult to study as mutations often have pleiotropic effects and other Sox fam...

Authors: Shih Pei Shen, Jelena Aleksic and Steven Russell

Standardised classification of pre-release development in male-brooding pipefish, seahorses, and seadragons (Family Syngnathidae)

Members of the family Syngnathidae share a unique reproductive mode termed male pregnancy. Males carry eggs in specialised brooding structures for several weeks and release free-swimming offspring. Here we des...

Authors: Stefan Sommer, Camilla M Whittington and Anthony B Wilson