Tissue architecture is shaped by a variety of biomechanical and biochemical mechanisms, including morphogen patterning, differential growth, and spatial variations in cellular contractility. These mec...

This article discusses the preprinted work of Tardivo et al. (2026, preprint). As a preprint, this work has not yet undergone peer review.

During collective cell invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and morphogen signalling-mediated cell fate specification are traditionally viewed as a linear cascade: morphogens drive cel...

This article discusses the preprinted work of Tardivo et al. (2026, preprint). As a preprint, this work has not yet undergone peer review.

The transcription factor Bicoid (Bcd) protein guides early Drosophila patterning and is the best-characterised morphogen. The source of the morphogen, bcd mRNA, is maternally deposited during oogenesi...

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A central question in developmental biology is how embryonic patterning remains robust when developmental tempo changes. In ectotherms, temperature strongly alters developmental speed and biochemical reaction rates, whereas diffusion is expected to change only weakly. How morphogen gradients required for patterning remain correctly scaled under these conditions is unclear. We addressed this problem in medaka embryos by quantifying developmental speed, morphogen clearance, diffusion, and endogenous Nodal dynamics across a broad temperature range. Developmental tempo, morphogen production, clearance, and tissue movement increased approximately two- to threefold per 10°C, whereas effective morphogen diffusion remained largely unchanged. Despite this mismatch, germ-layer proportions and morphogen patterning remained robust. Our mathematical simulations suggest that this robustness arises because the system operates in a reaction-dominated regime, in which changes in reaction and growth kinetics - rather than diffusion - are sufficient to rescale morphogen gradients. Together, our experiments and simulations provide new insights into how morphogen gradients adjust to maintain accurate tissue patterning across changes in developmental time and tempo. ### Competing Interest Statement The authors have declared no competing interest. European Research Council, https://ror.org/0472cxd90, 637840, 863952 Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, EXC 2117 – 422037984, SFB1756 – 550938463 FWF Austrian Science Fund, J 4507-B

During collective cell invasion, epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) and morphogen signalling-mediated cell fate specification are traditionally viewed as a linear cascade: morphogens drive cel...

Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a pivotal morphogen in spinal cord development, orchestrating both ventral neural patterning and progenitor proliferation. How…

p53 shuts down the spatial signaling of a morphogen and prevents clonal cell expansion

Read the full paper: HMGA2 links opposing morphogen signaling to long-term low-frequency auditory function in the cochlea

Morphogen gradients require ligands to disperse across tissues from their sites of production, yet receptor engagement can consume ligand before it reaches distant cells. This poses a particular chall...