Direct reprogramming of non-limb fibroblasts to cells with properties of limb progenitors.

The early limb bud consists of mesenchymal limb progenitors derived from the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM). The LPM also gives rise to the mesodermal components of the flank and neck. However, the cells at these other levels cannot produce the variety of cell types found in the limb.

Sweat gland development requires an eccrine dermal niche and couples two epidermal programs.

Eccrine sweat glands are indispensable for human thermoregulation and, similar to other mammalian skin appendages, form from multipotent epidermal progenitors. Limited understanding of how epidermal progenitors specialize to form these vital organs has precluded therapeutic efforts toward their regeneration. Herein, we applied single-nucleus transcriptomics to compare the expression content of wild-type, eccrine-forming mouse skin to that of mice harboring a skin-specific disruption of Engrailed 1 (En1), a transcription factor that promotes eccrine gland formation in humans and mice.

Ectodysplasin Signaling through XEDAR Is Required for Mammary Gland Morphogenesis.

XEDAR is a member of the TNF receptor subfamily and a mediator of the ectodysplasin (EDA) pathway. EDA signaling plays evolutionarily conserved roles in the development of the ectodermal appendage organ class, which includes hair, eccrine sweat glands, and mammary glands. Loss-of-function sequence variants of EDA, which encodes the two major ligand isoforms, EDA-A1 and EDA-A2, result in X-linked hypohidrotic ectodermal dysplasia characterized by defects in two or more types of ectodermal appendages.

In ovo electroporation of chicken limb bud ectoderm: Electroporation to chick limb ectoderm: Electroporation to chick limb ectoderm.

Background: Deciphering how ectodermal tissues form, and how they maintain their integrity, is crucial for understanding epidermal development and pathogenesis. However, lack of simple and rapid gene manipulation techniques limits genetic studies to elucidate mechanisms underlying these events.

Results: Here we describe an easy method for electroporation of chick limb bud ectoderm enabling gene manipulation during ectoderm development and wound healing.

L-type voltage-gated Ca channel Ca1.2 regulates chondrogenesis during limb development.

All cells, including nonexcitable cells, maintain a discrete transmembrane potential (), and have the capacity to modulate and respond to their own and neighbors' changes in Spatiotemporal variations have been described in developing embryonic tissues and in some cases have been implicated in influencing developmental processes. Yet, how such changes in are converted into intracellular inputs that in turn regulate developmental gene expression and coordinate patterned tissue formation, has remained elusive. Here we document that the of limb mesenchyme switches from a hyperpolarized to depolarized state during early chondrocyte differentiation.