Ascidian mesendoderm is a transient regulatory state upstream of mesoderm and endoderm gene regulatory networks and required for the initiation of both.

Expression of Pitx2c at the onset of gastrulation drives convergence and extension movements in the zebrafish embryo by promoting downstream pathways affecting chemokine signaling, integrin-ECM interactions, and planar cell polarity components.

Different combinations of the transcription factors Pou5f3, Nanog and Sox32 form complexes to drive dorsoventral mesendoderm patterning in zebrafish.

Nodal is assumed to be the sole inducer of mesendoderm, but the related signal Vg1 is as essential as Nodal in this process.

The requirement for WNT signaling in mesendoderm differentiation is temporally separate from that of ACTIVIN signaling and acts to switch the output of ACTIVIN/SMAD2 from pluripotency maintenance to mesendoderm patterning.

Selective activation of FZD7 signaling with an engineered WNT mimetic promotes early developmental programs, including endodermal lineage specification, in human pluripotent stem cells.

Lefty-mediated feedback inhibition of Nodal signaling mitigates signaling perturbations, but is dispensable for development.

Uniform activation of Frizzled7 signaling is required and sufficient for directional mesendoderm cell migration during zebrafish gastrulation.

Elucidation of direct and indirect roles of GPCR signaling during gastrulation.

Genomic analysis of Xenopus gastrula reveal that the transcription factor Sox17 interacts with the Wnt signaling effector ß-catenin on enhancers to regulate the transcriptional program underlying endoderm germ layer formation.