Roberto Mayor and colleagues' work is represented on cover of Nature Cell Biology

24 April 2024

Roberto Mayor and co-authors publish new information on embryonic competence. Competence is the capacity of a tissue to respond to inductive signals during development, which has wide implications in the development of organs and tissue.

Cover of Nature Cell Biology - March 2024 - Roberto Mayor et al

Roberto Mayor

Cell migration and differentation during development

A paper on which 麻豆传媒视频网站 CDB's Roberto Mayor is co-author has recently been selected for representation on the cover of Nature Cell Biology. The image represents the 'Waddington landscape', where the neural crest (bead at the top) is competent to respond to听inductive signals when they are exposed to lower hydrostatic pressure听(soft blue liquid), but not when pressure is high (or stiffens, rough rocks).

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This paper identifies for the first time the mechanism that controls听embryonic competence. Competence is the capacity of a tissue to respond to inductive signals during development, and it has wide implications in the development of organs and tissue.

The research described in this publication听explores the relationship between the Wnt and YAP proteins, and hydrostatic pressure.听 The name Wnt is a portmanteau of int and Wg, and stands for 'wingless-related integration site'. Wnts are secreted factors that regulate cell growth, motility, and di铿€erentiation during embryonic development.听YAP protein signalling regulates Wnt activities, and YAP听plays a key role during embryogenesis, as听master regulators of growth, cell specification听and survival.听 This paper听shows that, during development, an increase in hydrostatic pressure leads to the exclusion of YAP from the nucleus, which is necessary for the activity of Wnt signalling.

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Wnt is essential for neural crest induction, so the data in this paper show that the competence to induce neural crest cells by Wnt is controlled by hydrostatic pressure.

The full reference for this paper is: Alasaadi DN, Alvizi L, Hartmann J, Stillman N, Moghe P, Hiiragi T, Mayor R. (2024). Competence for neural crest induction is controlled by hydrostatic pressure through Yap. Nature Cell Biology. 26, 530-541, which is available at:听

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