Inducing presomitic mesoderm (PSM)-fated ES cells clarified that Ripply2 directly interacts with Tbx6 and degrades Tbx6 in proteasome-ubiquitin pathway by recruiting the 26S proteasome, which is a PSM-specific event to define the segment border during mouse somitogenesis.
In contrast to amniotes, zebrafish (ray-finned fish, teleost) centra are formed from specialised notochord sheath cells, and the segmental patterning of these cells is independent of the segmentation clock.
Computational modelling together with experimental manipulation indicate that the stability and turnover of activated Notch is inextricably linked to the regulation of the pace of segmentation clock gene expression in the presomitic mesoderm.
Propagation, speed and shapes of genetic waves of expression during development can be modeled by a simple interplay between two transcriptional modules (dynamic/static), which explains robustness and precision of patterning.
Time-lapse recording and theoretical analysis of individual cells isolated from the zebrafish segmentation clock reveal that they behave as self-sustained, autonomous oscillators with distinctive noisy dynamics.
Analysis of a double mutant in the Hippo pathway transcription factors Yap1 and Wwtr1 reveals novel roles for these factors in posterior body formation and epidermal morphogenesis in the vertebrate embryo.
The collinear activation of a subset of posterior Hox genes is responsible for establishing a Wnt/T activity gradient that is required to generate the complete body axis, and hence the full set of segments within a vertebrate embryo.
Regions outside the major receptor binding interface of DLL1 and DLL4 contribute to context-dependent divergence of ligand function in vivo and differential Notch1 and Notch2 activation in vitro.