Wnt, Ptk7, and FGFRL expression gradients control trunk positional identity in planarian regeneration.

Mechanisms enabling positional identity re-establishment are likely critical for tissue regeneration. Planarians use Wnt/beta-catenin signaling to polarize the termini of their anteroposterior axis, but little is known about how regeneration signaling restores regionalization along body or organ axes. We identify three genes expressed constitutively in overlapping body-wide transcriptional gradients that control trunk-tail positional identity in regeneration.

Interactions between Twist and other core epithelial-mesenchymal transition factors are controlled by GSK3-mediated phosphorylation.

A subset of transcription factors classified as neural crest 'specifiers' are also core epithelial-mesenchymal transition regulatory factors, both in the neural crest and in tumour progression. The bHLH factor Twist is among the least well studied of these factors. Here we demonstrate that Twist is required for cranial neural crest formation and fate determination in Xenopus.

SUMOylated SoxE factors recruit Grg4 and function as transcriptional repressors in the neural crest.

A growing number of transcriptional regulatory proteins are known to be modified by the small ubiquitin-like protein, SUMO. Posttranslational modification by SUMO may be one means by which transcriptional regulatory factors that play context-dependent roles in multiple processes can be regulated such that they direct the appropriate cellular and developmental outcomes. In early vertebrate embryos, SUMOylation of SoxE transcription factors profoundly affects their function, inhibiting their neural crest-inducing activity and promoting ear formation.

The F-box protein Ppa is a common regulator of core EMT factors Twist, Snail, Slug, and Sip1.

A small group of core transcription factors, including Twist, Snail, Slug, and Sip1, control epithelial-mesenchymal transitions (EMTs) during both embryonic development and tumor metastasis. However, little is known about how these factors are coordinately regulated to mediate the requisite behavioral and fate changes. It was recently shown that a key mechanism for regulating Snail proteins is by modulating their stability.