Top 7 in developmental biology

A snapshot of the most highly ranked articles in developmental biology, from Faculty of 1000

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linkurl:1. The hidden transcriptome;http://bit.ly/noncode
A model of RNA
Image: Wikimedia commons
Adding to the picture that long non-coding RNAs (ncRNAs) are essential to gene transcription, researchers identified a handful of ncRNAs that promote the expression of neighboring human genes that code for important regulators of cell development and differentiation.U.A. Orom et al., "Long noncoding RNAs with enhancer-like function in human cells," linkurl:__Cell__,;http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2810%2901011-1 143:46-58, 2010. Evaluated by Leonie Ringrose, Inst of Mol BiotechGmbH, Austria; Antoine Clery, Dominik Theler and Frederic Allain ETH, Switzerland; John Abrams, Univ of Texas Southwestern Med Cntr at Dallas; Herbert Steinbeisser Univ Heidelberg, Germany; Enrique Lara-Pezzi and Nadia Rosenthal, The European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Italy. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/noncode linkurl:2. iPSCs, hold the retrovirus;http://bit.ly/StemmRNAThe main drawback of reprogramming adult somatic cells into induced pluripotent stem cells is that using stably integrated retroviruses to trigger the conversion can coax the resulting stem cells into forming tumors. This problem was cleverly averted with the use of synthetic mRNA molecules that degrade rapidly, don't integrate into the host genome, and therefore carry no such risk.L. Warren et al., "Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA," linkurl:__Cell Stem Cell__,;http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abstract/S1934-5909%2810%2900434-0?switch=standard 7:618-30, 2010. Evaluated by Rudy Juliano, UNC,Chapel Hill; Beatriz Aranda-Orgilles and Iannis Aifantis HHMI/NYU School of Med; Karen Maass and Glenn Fishman, NYU Langone Med Cntr; Arnold Kriegstein, Univ of Calif. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/StemmRNA linkurl:3. Stem cells replicate Rett syndrome;http://bit.ly/StemRettFibroblasts from patients suffering from Rett syndrome, an X-linked autism spectrum neurodevelopmental disorder that leads to mental retardation in affected females, were converted into iPSCs and grown into new neurons which contained fewer glutamatergic synapses than normal neurons, providing insight into the disorder.M.C. Marchetto et al., "A model for neural development and treatment of rett syndrome using human induced pluripotent stem cells," linkurl:__Cell__,;http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2810%2901186-4?switch=standard 143:527-39, 2010. Evaluated by Kevin Huang and Guoping Fan, David Geffen Sch of Med, Univ of Calif; Eugenio Sangiorgi and Giovanni Neri, Univ Cattolica del S Cuore, Italy; Aaron DiAntonio, Wash Univ Med Sch. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/StemRett linkurl:4. Gut repair nuts and bolts;http://bit.ly/FAKWntFocal adhesion kinase (FAK) appears to be a key component of intestinal epithelium repair and tumorigenesis, owing to its role in the Wnt signaling cascade, suggesting FAK may serve as a new therapeutic target for colorectal cancer and other diseases. D.H. Ashton et al., "Focal adhesion kinase is required for intestinal regeneration and tumorigenesis downstream of Wnt/c-Myc signaling," linkurl:__Dev Cell__,;http://www.cell.com/developmental-cell/abstract/S1534-5807%2810%2900343-6 19:259-69, 2010. Evaluated by Mariann Bienz, MRC Lab of Mol Bio; David Dominguez-Sola and Jean Gautier, Columbia Univ Med Cntr; Stefan Koch and Asma Nusrat, Emory Univ. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/FAKWnt linkurl:5. Brainy worms;http://bit.ly/PalliumSurprisingly, the molecular rudiments of the cerebral cortex--commonly regarded as a unique mammalian feature--turn up in the mushroom bodies of annelid worm brains, showing that conserved molecular patterning mechanisms underlie both brain structures.R. Tomer et al., "Profiling by image registration reveals common origin of annelid mushroom bodies and vertebrate pallium," linkurl:__Cell__,;http://www.cell.com/abstract/S0092-8674%2810%2900891-3 142:800-9, 2010. Evaluated by Andy Groves, Baylor Coll of Med; Leonard Maler, Univ Ottawa; Ariel Pani and Christopher Lowe, Stanford Univ. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/Pallium linkurl:6. Moss flowers?;http://bit.ly/MossFlowersSignaling initiated by the plant hormone auxin is crucial to root, shoot, and flower development in flowering plants. For the first time, the signaling pathway was shown to function in a non-flowering (moss) species.M.J. Prigge et al., "__Physcomitrella patens__ auxin-resistant mutants affect conserved elements of an auxin-signaling pathway," linkurl:__Curr Biol__,;http://www.cell.com/current-biology/abstract/S0960-9822%2810%2901072-9 20:1907-12. Evaluated by John Bowman, Monash Univ; Bert De Rybel and Dolf Weijers, Wageningen Univ; Steffen Vanneste and Jiri Friml, Ghent Univ. linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/MossFlowers linkurl:7. A deep breath;http://bit.ly/BreatheRhythmBuried deep in the brainstem, the pre-Botzinger complex conducts the bilateral rhythm that is necessary for animals to breathe properly. For the first time, the homeobox gene __Dbx1__ is identified as crucial to this synchronization. J. Bouvier et al., "Hindbrain interneurons and axon guidance signaling critical for breathing," linkurl:__Nat Neurosci__,;http://www.nature.com/neuro/journal/v13/n9/abs/nn.2622.html 13:1066-74. Evaluated by Aguan Wei and Jan-Marino Ramirez, Univ of Washington; Jean-Fran?ois Brunet, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS). linkurl:Free F1000 Evaluation;http://bit.ly/BreatheRhythm The F1000 Top 7 is a snapshot of the highest ranked articles from a 30-day period on Faculty of 1000 Developmental Biology, as calculated on December 15, 2010. Faculty Members evaluate and rate the most important papers in their field. To see the latest rankings, search the database, and read daily evaluations, visit linkurl:http://f1000.com.;http://f1000.com
**__Related stories:__***linkurl:Top 7 papers in cell biology;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57854/
[6th December 2010]*linkurl:Top 7 immunology papers;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57819/
[23rd November 2010]*linkurl:Top 7 papers in medicine;http://www.the-scientist.com/news/display/57810/
[16th November 2010]
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Meet the Author

  • Bob Grant

    From 2017 to 2022, Bob Grant was Editor in Chief of The Scientist, where he started in 2007 as a Staff Writer.
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