Guest Editors
Shifaan Thowfeequ
University of Oxford
Dr. Shifaan Thowfeequ is a developmental biologist in the University of Oxford’s Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics. His research broadly focuses on uncovering the molecular, cellular, and mechanical mechanisms that drive the emergence of form and function during early embryogenesis. His recent work has centred on early post-implantation development in mammals, with particular emphasis on how molecular heterogeneities, dynamic cell behaviours, and tissue mechanics interact to shape the embryo, from axis specification and gastrulation to the formation of the first functional organ, the heart. Dr. Thowfeequ is also interested in comparative embryology, exploring how and when specific developmental mechanisms first evolved. He completed his PhD at the University of Bath, where he investigated the molecular basis of endodermal transdifferentiations. He subsequently undertook postdoctoral research at Columbia University in New York, focusing on the mechanisms underlying branching morphogenesis in the mammalian kidney.
Matthew Stower
University of Oxford
Dr. Matthew Stower is a postdoctoral researcher based at the Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine at Oxford University, working on epithelial tissue morphogenesis and the regulation of fundamental cellular processes, including the cellular mechanisms controlling cell migration, regulation of cytoskeletal elements, and mechanisms controlling cell polarity and fate. He is currently working on a Wellcome Trust-funded project on heart formation during early development with a focus on the tissues that form the interventricular septum and the causes of congenital heart defects in this structure. He obtained a PhD in cell and developmental biology from University College London, working on the mechanism of neural fate acquisition in the early embryo. He also studied at the University of Exeter (BSc Biological Sciences) and the University of Bath (MRes Regenerative Medicine).
Collection Overview
Morphogenesis is the suite of processes that sculpt an embryo into a structured organism. All multicellular life begins as a single cell, yet the staggering complexity of the body plan, where tissues are organised relative to the major anatomical axes, and the precise three-dimensional forms organs adopt, must be generated de novo. This emerges through coordinated cell behaviours and fate specification, tightly coupled to directed cell movements, cell rearrangements, shape changes, differential proliferation, and regulated interactions with the extracellular matrix. Patterning signals provide positional information, but morphogenesis is the physical execution of that information in space and time. Due to their fundamental importance, defects in these processes underlie a wide spectrum of congenital abnormalities. Investigating morphogenesis is therefore important to reveal how patterning information is translated into tissue- and organism-level architecture.
Recent advances in imaging technology, alongside robust genetic reporters, now make long-term, high-resolution, and live visualisation of dynamic morphogenetic processes feasible. Single-cell multiomics allows us to interrogate the molecular programs accompanying cell movement and shape changes, while CRISPR-based perturbations enable relatively rapid generation of targeted mutants to test causality. In addition, emerging methods to map forces and material properties of tissues are beginning to chart the embryo’s mechanical landscape to inform more precise theoretical modelling of morphogenic processes. The goal of this collection is to highlight accessible, state-of-the-art protocols that can help researchers dissect morphogenetic processes at different scales, to better understand their contribution to various aspects of embryonic development.
Articles
Abstracts
A Versatile Tissue Explant Culture Assay for Investigating Chick Embryo Morphogenesis
Nisia Borralho-Martins1,
AC Maia-Fernandes1,
Isabel Palmeirim2,
Raquel P Andrade*1
1ABC-RI, Algarve Biomedical Center Research Institute, Faro, Portugal; Faculdade de Medicina e Ciências Biomédicas (FMCB), Universidade Do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal,
2ABC-RI, Algarve Biomedical Center Research Institute, Faro, Portugal; Faculdade de Medicina e Ciências Biomédicas (FMCB), Universidade Do Algarve, Campus de Gambelas, 8005-139, Faro, Portugal; Champalimaud Research Program, Champalimaud Center for the Unknown, Lisbon, Portugal
Visualizing epithelial cell dynamics during branching morphogenesis by combining Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers (MADM) and time-lapse imaging
Paul Riccio*1
1Fairfield University
Generating pescoids to examine the yolk's role in generating phenotypic diversity across the Lake Malawi cichlid fishes
Jack Pitman-Wallace1,
Berta Verd*1
1Department of Biology, University of Oxford
Mesoderm explant assay for time-lapse imaging and quantitative analysis of cell migration in gastrulating mouse embryos
Konstantinos Miti1,
Shifaan Thowfeequ1,
Shankar Srinivas*1
1DPAG, Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
Mosaic cell targetting for visualisation and functional characterisation of single-cell dynamics during zebrafish organogenesis
Toby Andrews*1,
Swanee Douglas2
1Institute of Developmental and Regenerative Medicine, Department of Paediatrics, University of Oxford, UK,
2Department of Biology, University of Oxford, UK
Customised Light-Sheet Microscopy for long term Live Imaging of Chick Embryo Gastrulation
Shirooza Mubarak*1,
Cornelis J Weijer*1
1University of Dundee
Slice culture for subcellular live imaging and biomechanical perturbation of morphogenesis and organogenesis in chick and mouse embryos
Rui Yan*1,
Clifford Tabin*1
1Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School