Embryonic cells grow in environments that provide a plethora of physical cues, including
mechanical forces that shape the development of the entire embryo. Despite their …

Little is known about the ancient chordates that gave rise to the first vertebrates, but the
descendants of other invertebrate chordates extant at the time still flourish in the ocean …

Background Epithelial invagination is a fundamental morphogenetic behavior that
transforms a flat cell sheet into a pit or groove. Previous studies of invagination have focused …

Unidirectional zippering is a key step in neural tube closure that remains poorly understood.
Here, we combine experimental and computational approaches to identify the mechanism …

The vertebral column or spine assembles around the notochord rod which contains a core
made of large vacuolated cells. Each vacuolated cell possesses a single fluid-filled vacuole …

Significant new insights have emerged from the analysis of a gene regulatory network
(GRN) that underlies the development of the endoskeleton of the sea urchin embryo …

For more than a century, studies on tunicate muscle formation have revealed many
principles of cell fate specification, gene regulation, morphogenesis, and evolution. Here, we …

Although cell intercalation driven by non-canonical Wnt/planar cell polarity (PCP) pathway-
dependent mediolateral cell polarity is important for notochord morphogenesis, it is likely …

Cells must make appropriate fate decisions within a complex and dynamic environment. In
vitro studies indicate that the cytoskeleton acts as an integrative platform for this …

A central challenge of developmental and evolutionary biology is to explain how anatomy is
encoded in the genome. Anatomy emerges progressively during embryonic development …