RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Innovative approaches to establish and characterize primary cultures: an ex vivo 3D system and the zebrafish model
Summary: Patient-derived primary cells maintain their original phenotype when cultured on 3D scaffolds, and their in vivo behavior can be effectively studied with innovative zebrafish models.
- Enhancing NAD+ salvage metabolism is neuroprotective in a PINK1 model of Parkinson's disease
Summary: Dietary supplementation with an NAD+ salvage metabolite or decreasing Parp activity suppress mitochondrial dysfunction and is neuroprotective in a PINK1 model of Parkinson's disease.
- Meningeal retinoic acid contributes to neocortical lamination and radial migration during mouse brain development
Summary: Involvement of the signalling molecule retinoic acid in neurogenesis of the developing cerebral cortex is shown through targeted deletion of its synthesizing enzyme.
- Protein kinase C is involved with upstream signaling of methyl farnesoate for photoperiod-dependent sex determination in the water flea Daphnia pulex
Summary: This study is the first experimental evidence that PKC is involved in the male sex determination process associated with methyl farnesoate signaling in daphnid species.
- The Crumbs_C isoform of Drosophila shows tissue- and stage-specific expression and prevents light-dependent retinal degeneration
Summary: Loss of Crb_C, one protein isoform encoded by Drosophila crumbs, results in light-dependent retinal degeneration, but does not affect any of the other crumbs-specific functions.
- A feedback mechanism between PLD and deadenylase PARN for the shortening of eukaryotic poly(A) mRNA tails that is deregulated in cancer cells
Summary: Cell signaling enzyme phospholipase D2 (PLD2) and its reaction product, phospholipid phosphatidic acid (PA), are involved in mediating PARN-induced eukaryotic mRNA decay.
- A developmental transcriptomic analysis of Pax1 and Pax9 in embryonic intervertebral disc development
Summary: In this study, we show the essential molecular roles of Pax1/Pax9 in early IVD development and their connection with other chrondrogenic players – Sox trio, BMP and TGF B pathways.
- A polycystin-type transient receptor potential (Trp) channel that is activated by ATP
Summary: We show that a Trp channel related to the mammalian polycystin channel, rather than a P2X receptor, is responsible for the purinergic stimulation of cytosolic calcium levels in Dictyostelium cells.
- Diet quality determines lipase gene expression and lipase/esterase activity in Daphnia pulex
Summary: We show for the first time that the waterflea Daphnia pulex has the ability to finely tune its lipolytic machinery to changes in the nutritional quality of its diet.
- Lipid droplet dynamics during Schizosaccharomyces pombe sporulation and their role in spore survival
Summary: Lipid droplets of yeast mother cells are shown to redistribute to their nascent spores by live-cell imaging analysis, suggesting that the lipid droplets are important for yeast spore survival.
- Analysis of the Fgfr2C342Y mouse model shows condensation defects due to misregulation of Sox9 expression in prechondrocytic mesenchyme
Summary: Mutation of FGFR2 causes a misregulation of Sox9, leading to disrupted mesenchymal condensation, and thus skeletal and craniofacial birth defects in mice, with implications for human Crouzon syndrome.
- Dynamic analysis of the mesenchymal-epithelial transition of blood-brain barrier forming glia in Drosophila
Summary: This study examines the major steps and underlying mechanisms of mesenchymal-epithelial transition of the blood-brain-barrier forming glia in Drosophila, including the role of basal lamina, septate junctions and of trimeric G protein signaling.
- Establishment and maintenance of sexual preferences that cause a reproductive isolation between medaka strains in close association
Summary: Two laboratory strains of medaka assortatively mate in complete sympatry, and their sexual preferences are gradually developed during growth and firmly maintained after sexual maturation.
- MiR-142 modulates human pancreatic cancer proliferation and invasion by targeting hypoxia-inducible factor 1 (HIF-1α) in the tumor microenvironments
Summary: Our findings provide insights to the functional mechanism of miR-142, suggesting that the miR-142/HIF-1α axis may interfere with the proliferative and invasive property of pancreatic cancer cells.
- Trehalose 6-phosphate signal is closely related to sorbitol in apple (Malus domestica Borkh. cv. Gala)
Summary: Metabolite analysis of the Tre6P pathway in apple fruit, Malus domestica, reveals that Tre6P levels were highly and positively correlated with sorbitol content, but not with sucrose content.
- The effect of foot posture on capacity to apply free moments to the ground: implications for fighting performance in great apes
Summary: We tested the capacity of the heel-down foot posture of great apes to apply free moments to the ground because this could influence performance when fighting from a bipedal stance.
- Identification of SSR markers closely linked to the yellow seed coat color gene in heading Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa L. ssp. pekinensis)
Summary: Genetic mapping of the yellow seed coat gene Brsc-ye to a 40.2 kb region of the Chinese cabbage (Brassica rapa ssp. pekinensis) genome will allow marker-assisted selection and breeding of yellow-seeded lines.
- Vasotocin receptor blockade disrupts maternal care of offspring in a viviparous snake, Sistrurus miliarius
Summary: In a squamate reptile, post-birth maternal effort is related to maternal energetic status, and vasotocin receptors may play a role in mediating maternal care.
- Oocyte shuttle, a recombinant protein transporting donor DNA into the Xenopus oocyte in situ
Summary: A newly developed oocyte shuttle protein, binding donor DNA and carrying it from the bloodstream to the oocyte nucleus within the ovary, should greatly facilitate production of transgenic Xenopus embryos.
METHODS & TECHNIQUES
- A genetically encoded biosensor for visualising hypoxia responses in vivo
Summary: This study describes a biosensor for visualising the hypoxic state of cells in vivo. They demonstrate that the Drosophila larval brain contains distinct hypoxic microenvironments that correlate with local airway supply.
CORRESPONDENCE
- On the importance of understanding physiology when estimating energetics in cetaceans
Summary: Fahlman and associates (2016) have emphasized the importance of proper physiological insight when modelling energy expenditure in large cetaceans. Here we argue that they have themselves failed in this endeavour.
- Response to ‘On the importance of understanding physiology when estimating energetics in cetaceans’
Summary: Our paper highlights how temporal changes in tidal volume and the oxygen exchange ratio significantly affect the accuracy of models that use only breathing frequency to estimate metabolic rate.
This issue
Other journals from The Company of Biologists
Biology Open and COVID-19
We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is having an unprecedented impact on researchers worldwide. The Editors of all The Company of Biologists’ journals have been considering ways in which we can alleviate concerns that members of our community may have around publishing activities during this time. Read about the actions we are taking at this time.
Please don’t hesitate to contact the Editorial Office if you have any questions or concerns.
Interview – Savant Thakur
Savant Thakur was a Ph.D. student in Professor Gordon S. Lynch’s lab (The University of Melbourne) working towards understanding the mechanisms of defective muscle repair in muscle diseases and wasting disorders. Sadly, Savant passed away on June 16, 2019 and so one of his supervisors, Professor Lynch, spoke to BiO about Savant's work and character.
A day in the life of a returning spider lab
Back in 2016, two PhD students in Alistair McGregor’s lab at Oxford Brookes shared a day in the life of a spider lab on the Node. Four years and one pandemic later, we caught up with Alistair to find out how his lab has responded to the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.