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Blassberg et al. report that SOX2 levels determine the chromatin occupancy of TCF/β-catenin, thus orchestrating the WNT response and epiblast progenitor fate.

Through analysis of developing chick embryos and in vitro differentiation of embryonic stem cells, a study develops a method to generate a model of the human trunk with a notochord.

The single-cell gene expression changes during spinal cord formation and neurogenesis in mice are unclear. Here, the authors use a HES5 reporter to live image, then mathematically model, oscillations in single cells in presumed progenitors and neurons of the developing spinal cord.

Seder and colleagues show that mucosal adenoviral-vectored vaccine boosting durably prevents infection in nonhuman primates of the highly transmissible, heterologous XBB.1.16 strain of SARS-CoV-2.

The density of commercially important fish and invertebrate species is influenced by the geomorphic mangrove type, salinity, temperature, and length of mangrove forest edge, according to an analysis of fish and invertebrate density data from published field studies.

Understanding morphogen activity is one of the longest standing problems in developmental biology. Both the duration of exposure to the secreted morphogen Sonic hedgehog (Shh) and the concentration of Shh are important in determining the fate of cells in the neural tube and in the limb bud. This paper clarifies the relationship between time and concentration in Shh signalling during patterning of the neural tube.

Hedgehog signaling has important and pleiotropic roles in embryonic and adult tissues. A small-molecule agonist of this pathway has been shown to act by targeting the transmembrane protein Smoothened.

Experiments in mouse pluripotent embryonic and epiblast stem cells show that TRF2 is dispensable for telomere protection specifically specifically in the pluripotent cells that form during early embryonic development, when cells form T-loops independently of this protein.

Gene expression dysregulation domains (GEDDs) have been reported in Down syndrome (DS) cells, where changes in gene expression are clustered. Here the authors find that, while GEDDs are present in DS cells and in the Dp1Tyb mouse model of DS, GEDDs do not depend on the DS genotype and occur whenever gene expression changes, suggesting they result from the clustering of co-regulated genes as a function of mammalian genome organisation.

Differences in the arrangement of cells is a fundamental precursor to the establishment of different organs. In this study, network theory is applied at the level of individual cells to map patterns in cell-to-cell contacts, creating a new approach to objectively characterise epithelia.

Chemical experiments on californium are stymied by isotope availability and radioactivity considerations, but are advanced here with synthesis and characterization of an organometallic complex.

The transcription factor c-Maf controls IL-10 production in T cells. O’Garra and colleagues use systems and in vivo functional analysis of T cell subsets to reveal distinct context-specific roles for c-Maf.

In this Resource, the authors integrate multiomics data to show the effect of the transcription factors Blimp-1 and c-Maf on IL-10 and type 1 and 17 responses, which together protect against pathobiont-induced colitis.

Gradients of the secreted morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) pattern the neural tube in vertebrates. Cohen et al.quantify Shh signalling in developing mice, and by constructing a computational model of the process, identify mechanisms by which the dynamics of Shh signalling are regulated.

Deep clinical phenotyping at 28–60 days post-discharge of patients who had been hospitalized with COVID-19 and subsequent long-term follow-up with electronic health records reveal evidence of persistent cardio-renal involvement.

Measurements of the proton’s spin structure in experiments scattering a polarized electron beam off polarized protons in regions of low momentum transfer squared test predictions from chiral effective field theory of the strong interaction.

The role of the transcriptional effector SMAD4 in vertebrate embryo development remains unresolved. Here the authors show that in the absence of Smad4, dorsal/ventral embryo patterning is disrupted due to the loss of BMP signaling, while Nodal signaling is maintained, but insufficient for optimal endoderm specification.

In vivo time-lapse imaging and functional tests bring fresh evidence that the morphogen Hedgehog is conveyed to target cells via long filopodia extensions, dubbed cytonemes. This study provides the tools and conceptual framework to understand how cytonemes form and carry morphogens.

The founding member of the Hedgehog (HH) family of secreted proteins was cloned two decades ago. The mechanism of HH signalling is incomplete, but insight has been gained into the function of lipidation in ligand secretion and transport, as well as into key components of the signalling pathway.

Scott and colleagues show that expression of the transcription factor Sox9 is closely correlated with the transition from neuroepithelial cell to neural stem cell (NSC) during embryogenesis. Expression of Sox9 in early neuroepithelium elicited premature generation of NSCs. In the adult brain, Sox9 was necessary for the maintenance of NSCs and ependymal cells.

Sequencing of the genome of the butterfly Heliconius melpomene shows that closely related Heliconius species exchange protective colour-pattern genes promiscuously.

Electron scattering measurements are shown to reproduce only qualitatively state-of-the-art lepton–nucleus energy reconstruction models, indicating that improvements to these particle-interaction models are required to ensure the accuracy of future high-precision neutrino oscillation experiments.

High-energy electron scattering that can isolate pairs of nucleons in high-momentum configurations reveals a transition to spin-independent scalar forces at small separation distances, supporting the use of point-like nucleon models to describe dense nuclear systems.

Michael Levin and colleagues discuss the need to rethink how the causes of cell biological processes are being identified.

A brachydactyly type A1 (BDA1) mutation in indian hedgehog (IHH) impairs the interaction between IHH and its receptor. In a mouse model that recapitulates this particular E95K mutation there is a change in the potency and range of IHH signalling, and the mice show digit abnormalities consistent with the human disorder.

Electron-scattering experiments reveal that the fraction of high-momentum protons in medium-to-heavy nuclei increases considerably with neutron excess, whereas that of high-momentum neutrons decreases slightly, in contrast to shell-model predictions.

Stem-cell systems all raise similar kinds of issues concerning the nature of the niche and the differentiation process. Genetic studies of the intestinal stem-cell system have made strides in providing generally applicable answers to such questions.