REVIEW
- Gap junctions: historical discoveries and new findings in the Caenorhabditis elegans nervous system
Summary: Studies from C. elegans have illustrated many roles of gap junctions in neural connectivity and circuit regulation, during normal conditions and under stress.
RESEARCH ARTICLES
- Effect of serotonin modulation on dystrophin-deficient zebrafish
Summary: Phenotypic screening of serotonin pathway modulators has been performed in DMD zebrafish in order to identify small-molecules that limit the dystrophic muscle phenotype and lengthen the lifespan as potential therapeutics.
- Functionally distinct roles for T and Tbx6 during mouse development
Summary: Mouse Tbx6 fails to compensate for heterozygous loss of T; instead ectopic Tbx6 in the T expression-domain in knockin embryos generates T null-like phenotypes suggestive of competition.
- Vps54 regulates Drosophila neuromuscular junction development and interacts genetically with Rab7 to control composition of the postsynaptic density
Summary: The retrograde vesicle tethering factor, Vps54, regulates development of the Drosophila larval NMJ. Moreover, presynaptic Vps54 interacts genetically with the small GTPase, Rab7, to control NMJ growth and postsynaptic density composition.
- Vardenafil increases intracellular accumulation of the most prevalent mutant cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (CTFR) in human bronchial epithelial cells
Summary: Our findings support the view that vardenafil, a phosphodiesterase type 5 inhibitor, partially rescues F508del protein through cGMP/PKG-independent mechanisms in cystic fibrosis cell line.
- Compartment and cell-type specific hypoxia responses in the developing Drosophila brain
Summary: A fluorescent biosensor reveals cell type specific hypoxia levels in the Drosophila brain in unprecedented detail. It paves the way for further functional studies addressing the role of oxygen in neural stem cell maintenance and differentiation.
- Water transport mediated by murine urea transporters: implications for urine concentration mechanisms
Summary: Renal urea transporters can transport both urea and water, which could have direct effects on renal function, especially the production of concentrated urine.
- The protective effects of human milk-derived peptides on the pancreatic islet biology
Summary: Human mild contains bioactive peptides – β-casomorphins (BCM) – that influence β-cell biology. Specifically human BCM increased the insulin domain of expression in zebrafish embryos and did not interfere with β-cell regeneration. This may have relevance for breastfeeding practices.
- Comparative interactomics analysis reveals potential regulators of α6β4 distribution in keratinocytes
Summary: Comparative interactomics analysis reveals close proximity of HDs, FAs and CMSCs, and a role of CD151 in linking α3β1 and α6β4 together in an alternative type II HD-like adhesion complex.
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.
Sustainable Conferencing with The Company of Biologists
A new initiative spearheaded by Directors Sally Lowell, Kate Storey, Alastair Downey and Holly Shiels will provide information, technology and grants to help the community run conferences in a more sustainable way.
Publishing ethics in the era of paper mills
In a new Editorial, Managing Editor Rachel Hackett and Editor-in-Chief Steven Kelly write about misconduct in publishing scientific research and highlight BiO’s practices to ensure that the profits from the hard work of scientists continues to inspire the next generation of researchers.
Shifting away from the business-as-usual approach to research conferences
Chelsie Counsell, Franziska Elmer and Judith Lang discuss their experience of organising a global, virtual coral reef conference, including the key steps, with a timeline, required to organise it.
Interview – Evgeniya Karpova and Evgenii Komyshev
In an interview, co-first authors Evgeniya Karpova and Evgenii Komyshev discuss the implications of their new method of counting Drosophila offspring using the SeedCounter mobile app.
Open science saves lives: lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic
Over on preLights, Jonny Coates and Gautam Dey discuss a preprint by Besançon et al., which identifies some of the challenges with how the COVID-19 literature has been created and shared.