While Xenopus is a well‐known model system for early vertebrate development, in recent
years, it has also emerged as a leading model for regeneration research. As an anuran …

Phagocytic myeloid cells provide the principle line of immune defence during early
embryogenesis in lower vertebrates. They may also have important functions during normal …

Misfolding and aggregation are associated with cytotoxicity in several protein folding
diseases. A large network of molecular chaperones ensures protein quality control. Here, we …

In the XX/XY sex-determining system, the Y-linked SRY genes of most mammals and the
DMY/Dmrt1bY genes of the teleost fish medaka have been characterized as sex …

Multiciliate cells function prominently in the respiratory system, brain ependyma and female
reproductive tract to produce vigorous fluid flow along epithelial surfaces. These specialized …

Stem cells are a central feature of metazoan biology. Haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs)
represent the best‐characterized example of this phenomenon, but the molecular …

Recent studies of the genome architecture of vertebrates have uncovered two unforeseen
aspects of its organization. First, large regions of the genome, called gene deserts, are …

Somites, the segmented building blocks of the vertebrate embryo, arise one by one in a
patterning process that passes wavelike along the anteroposterior axis of the presomitic …

The homeobox gene hhex is one of the earliest markers of the anterior endoderm, which
gives rise to foregut organs such as the liver, ventral pancreas, thyroid, and lungs. The …

Cells with motile cilia cover the skin of Xenopus tadpoles in a characteristic spacing pattern.
This pattern arises during early development when cells within the inner layer of ectoderm …