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DMM Journal
@dmmjournal.bsky.social
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Disease Models & Mechanisms - discovery for human health. A
@biologists.bsky.social Open Access journal that publishes human disease research.
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DMM Journal @dmmjournal.bsky.social · Oct 21
Our new special issue on infectious diseases is now closed! bit.ly/4nc60U5

On the cover: 3D-volume render of tuberculosis granulomas in mice infected with E2Crimson-expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Granuloma boundary in turquoise and infecting bacteria in red.
Three-dimensional volume render of tuberculosis granulomas in C3HeB/FeJ mice infected with E2Crimson-expressing Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Turquoise outlines mark the granuloma boundary, infecting bacteria are highlighted in red. Images were captured by light-sheet fluorescence microscopy and rendered in 3D at day 42 and day 70 post infection, revealing the spatial architecture of lesions and the pathogen distribution deep within intact lung tissue. See article by Beltran et al. (dmm052185).
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Meet Camille Lacarrière-Keïta, 1st author of paper with Steve Jean & co that shows #autophagy inhibition in #Drosophila intestinal stem cells increases enteroendocrine cell differentiation

Interview & article below:
👩🏼‍🔬https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052770
📰https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052214
Photograph of Camille Lacarrière-Keïta
January 21, 2026 at 12:08 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Caiqin Zhang, Yangchao Don, Changhong Shi, & co developed a humanised STAT2 #MouseModel of Japanese #encephalitis #virus, which exhibited a phenotype resembling clinical human infections, characterised by elevated viral load and increased proinflammatory cytokines.

Read doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
Multipanel figure showing pathological changes in the brains and the peripheral organs of the investigated mouse models. Panel A: Images of the brains obtained from C57BL/6J mice not infected with JEV (Control), C57BL/6J, NCG and NCG-hSTAT2+/+ mice showing retention of Evans Blue. Panel B: Images, showing histopathological changes of the hippocampal area in the brains of mice as described in panel A. Panel C: a graph shoeing quantification of neuronal cell density in the hippocampus of the mice as described in panel B. Panel D: Images showing immunofluorescence staining of neuronal cells in the dentate gyrus region. Panel E: Histological images of liver and spleen tissues in mice, showing pathological changes in these peripheral organs.
January 21, 2026 at 8:01 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Check out this new paper from Gineste, Reiss & Laporte that shows there is no improvement in muscle phenotype observed in recessive Ryr1-linked centronuclear myopathy mice following tamoxifen administration

doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
Multi-panel figure showing effects of tamoxifen on muscle fiber nuclei and size in TA muscle of WT and Ryr1TM/indel mice. Panels A and B display representative images of succinate dehydrogenase staining (A) and Hematoxylin-Eosin staining (B) for four groups: WT+vehicle, WT+tamoxifen, Ryr1TM/indel+vehicle, and Ryr1TM/indel+tamoxifen. Arrows in B indicate mislocalized nuclei. Panel C shows a bar graph comparing percentage of fibers with abnormal nuclei positioning across groups, with statistical significance indicated (*P<0.05, **P<0.01, ***P<0.001). Panel D is a line graph of fiber size distribution (MinFeret diameter) for all groups. Panels E and F present bar graphs quantifying proportions of small fibers (≤35 μm) and large fibers (>35 μm), respectively, with individual data points and mean±s.e.m. Scale bars in A and B: 50 μm.
January 20, 2026 at 12:37 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Elizabeth Apsley, Esther Becker & co used CRISPR-based gene editing in cerebellar #organoids to model specific aspects of early human cerebellar development, with a particular focus on the role of the previously understudied FOXP2.

#cerebellum #CRISPR

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A Multipannel figure showing FOXP2 expression in developing human Purkinje cells. Panel A: Bulk RNA-sequencing data from BrainSpan showing that FOXP2 is highly expressed in the cerebellum during human brain development. Panel B: Expression of FOXP genes in the developing human cerebellum plotted across timepoints and cell types based on published single-nucleus RNA-sequencing data. Panel C: OXP genes show differential expression across Purkinje cell subtypes, with FOXP1 marking early-born Purkinje cells.
January 20, 2026 at 8:01 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
To celebrate our publisher's (@dmmjournal.bsky.social) 100-year anniversary in 2025, we looked back over our comparably short history as a journal, highlighting our support for ECRs, including Conference Travel Grants

doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
Photograph of Conference Travel Grant recipient Deeksha Prasad presenting a poster at the ‘2025 Cornea and Ocular Surface Biology, Pathology and Regeneration’ Gordon Research Conference.
January 19, 2026 at 12:10 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Robin Karge, Stefan Wolking & co used #Drosophila to model a rare form of developmental and epileptic #encephalopathy associated with genetic defects in AP2M1 and investigated the relationship between seizures and clathrin-mediated endocytosis.

#epilepsy

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Multipannel figure showing electrophysiological characterization of neuronal conductivity and seizure susceptibility of AP-2µ-RNAi and AP-2µR168W flies. Panel A: Electrophysiological setup including two tungsten stimulation electrodes in the brain, a saline-filled glass recording electrode in the DLM, and an abdominal tungsten electrode as reference. Panel B: Representative giant fiber response measurements at the DLM in response to a single pulse with 0.1 ms duration and 10 V amplitude at the brain with a latency of ∼1.4 ms. No differences were observed between AP-2µ deficiency, eas2f or control flies. Panel C: Representative electrophysiological recording from the DLM (blue trace, top) during stimulus application (orange trace, bottom) in a male Canton-S fly. A 2 s long HFS with 0.1 ms stimulus duration at 200 Hz induces seizure-like activity at the DLM. This is characterized by an initial seizure, a period of unresponsiveness of the GFS termed synaptic failure, and a recovery seizure, after which the GFS is responsive to 0.1 ms SPs again. Panel D: Incremental seizure induction protocol starting at 5 V HFS and increasing in 5 V steps every 5 min up to 30 V. Pie charts show the proportion of seizing flies at any time during the stimulation protocol. AP-2µ-RNAi and the AP-2µR168W flies exhibited significantly less seizures. Fisher's exact test (*P<0.05, **P<0.01). Panel E: During the protocol starting at 20 V, no significant differences in seizure occurrence were observed.
January 19, 2026 at 8:00 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In this interview with Margaret (Peggy) Goodell @goodell-lab.bsky.social we discussed her impressive career, the parallels between ageing and cancer in the blood, and the lessons we can learn from stem cell biology to understand and mitigate disease.

doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
Photograph of Peggy Goodell
January 16, 2026 at 12:18 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In this new paper, Pair, Yacoubian & co show that phosphorylation of 14-3-3θ protein disrupts its interactome in mouse brain and causes dysregulation of axonal trafficking, which may impair clearance of aggregated proteins in neurodegenerative disorders

doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
A figure illustrating the identification of novel 14-3-3θ cortical interactors. Panel A shows a pipeline diagram for affinity-purification mass spectrometry of mouse cortical samples, including protein extraction, digestion, and peptide identification. Panel B is a funnel chart summarizing protein filtering steps, starting from 1465 identified proteins down to 175 high-confidence interactors. Panel C displays a western blot confirming efficient 14-3-3θ pulldown versus IgG controls. Panel D lists the top 15 interactors by spectral count in a table. Panel E is a Venn diagram comparing known and novel interactors, highlighting 62 novel ones. Panel F shows western blots of co-immunoprecipitation for dynamin and β-spectrin with 14-3-3θ. Panel G presents fluorescence microscopy images of proximity ligation assay signals for 14-3-3θ interactions; scale bars are 20 μm. Panels H–J feature pie charts depicting enrichment of proteins with phase separation characteristics from PhaSePred database.
January 15, 2026 at 12:29 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Our latest editorial from sergemostowylab.bsky.social & @kateduncan.bsky.social discusses the global problem of antimicrobial resistance & emerging solutions. This is in our collection of articles celebrating the 100-year anniversary of @biologists.bsky.social
doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
A collection of images from the ‘Interdisciplinary approaches to combatting antimicrobial resistance’ symposium, part of the 100-year anniversary conference organized by The Company of Biologists.
January 14, 2026 at 12:29 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
We are pleased to be a media partner for the @embo.org Workshop: Brain (epi)genome, 21 - 24 Apr 2026, EMBL Heidelberg and Virtual. Abstract deadline today!
Abstract submission: 13 Jan 2026
Registration (On-site): 10 Mar 2026
Registration (Virtual): 14 Apr 2026
t.co/sWwIh4rQZT
January 13, 2026 at 4:44 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Meet Astrid Baattrup, 1st author of paper with @kimbakjensen.bsky.social & co showing that transcription factor ETV1 regulates emergence of hormone-producing subtypes of enteroendocrine cells

Interview & article below:
👩🏼‍🔬https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052698
📰https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052610
Photograph of Astrid Baattrup
January 13, 2026 at 4:37 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
New paper from Minzi Mao, Jianjun Ren & co reveals distinct immune dynamics in orthotopic vs subcutaneous HPV-positive oropharyngeal cancer models, helping refine preclinical cancer immunology studies

doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
Figure showing immune cell heterogeneity during HPV-positive OPSCC progression using scRNA-seq. Panels A and C: line graphs of tumor growth in subcutaneous (SC) and orthotopic (BOT) murine models with schematic illustrations of implantation sites. Panels B and D: survival curves for SC and BOT models. Panel E: UMAP plots identifying five immune cell clusters (B cells, dendritic cells, macrophages, neutrophils, T cells) and their distribution at early (day 15) and late (day 25) stages, with a bar chart comparing cluster proportions. Panels F–J: immunofluorescence images of tumors stained for B cells, DCs, macrophages, neutrophils, and T cells, showing panoramic and magnified views. Panels K–O: bar graphs quantifying immune cell density per mm² tumor area. Panel P: UMAP plots and bar chart showing immune cell clusters (B cells, macrophages, NK cells, T cells) in human HPV-positive OPSCC across clinical stages.
January 12, 2026 at 12:26 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In their paper, Sarah Gerstner, Hanna Berger-Santangelo, Silke Pauli, Annette Borchers & co used the #Xenopus model to study a rare syndrome with #Craniofacial malformations caused by truncating variants in fibrosin-like 1, which they identified in 2020.

#RareDisease

Read doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
January 12, 2026 at 8:01 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Meet Ronan Smith and Nicole Reyne, 1st authors of new paper from Martin Donnelley & co tracking lung tumor burden by assessing changes to ventilation with Xray velocimetry imaging

Interview & article below:
👨🏻‍🔬👩🏼‍🔬https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052735
📰https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052559
Picture of Nicole Reyne (left) and Ronan Smith (right)
January 9, 2026 at 12:12 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In 2025, we celebrated the 100-year anniversary of our not-for-profit publisher @biologists.bsky.social 🥳 In this article we look back on our year of celebrations and look forward to the next 100 years! journals.biologists.com/dmm/article/...
A photograph of (from left to right) Claire Moulton (Chief Executive Officer), Sarah Bray (Chair of the Board of Directors) and Katie Ward (Chief Financial Officer and Charity Director).
January 8, 2026 at 12:10 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Sankalpa Chakraborty, Viswanathan Rajagopalan & co used the ZSF1 #RatModel to investigate early and severe age-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction and showed novel noncoding and coding markers in early- and/or late-ageing-related hypothyroid #HFpEF.

Read doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
January 8, 2026 at 8:00 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
John Hellicar, Dominic Lenz, Martin Lowe & co used #fibroblasts from individuals with #CALFAN syndrome, which affects the nervous system and liver, and revealed an accumulation of the secretory cargo procollagen type I in the #EndoplasmicReticulum

#RareDisease

Read doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
January 7, 2026 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Abigail Poff, Nicole Moss & @debbysilver.bsky.social generated a #MouseModel of the #DDX3XSyndrome and demonstrated that missense and loss-of-function variants have similar effects on #corticogenesis but act through distinct molecular targets.

#RareDisease

Read doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
January 6, 2026 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
DMM is supporting the Developmental origins of #PaediatricCancer symposium. Discover the latest cutting-edge research on the modelling, biology and treatment in the field.

Abstract submission until 28 Feb 2026

Info www.cclg.org.uk/information-...
Registration www.tickettailor.com/events/cclg/...
Developmental origins of paediatric cancer symposium
A one-day event showcasing the latest cutting-edge research on the modelling, biology and treatment of paediatric cancers in the context of their developmental origins.
www.cclg.org.uk
January 5, 2026 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Biqin Zhang, Hrvoje Augustin & co used #Drosophila model of PLA2G6-associated #neurodegeneration and showed that treatment with decanoic acid significantly extends the lifespan, reduces bang sensitivity and improves resistance to heat shock stress.
#RareDisease

More details doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
January 2, 2026 at 12:00 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In December's #EditorsChoice, Nayeli Reyes-Nava, @edwardmarcotte.bsky.social, @jbwallingford.bsky.social & co use #Xenopus model to study #Cilia motility disturbances in primary ciliary dyskinesia #PCD

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📰 doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
December 30, 2025 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In November's #EditorsChoice, Katerina Yamamoto, @cswormlab.bsky.social & co investigate the connection between #InnateImmunity and #LipidMetabolism, using the worm model #Celegans

⚡ doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
📰https://doi.org/10.1242/dmm.052357
December 29, 2025 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
Anam Naseer, Pranoy Toppo, Mahmood Akbar, Aamir Nazir investigate the mechanistic aspect of mitochondrial #sirtuins in modulating age-associated #neurodegeneration, specifically #ParkinsonsDisease, using #Celegans

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December 29, 2025 at 8:01 AM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In October's #EditorsChoice, Kenneth Katschke, Marion Jeanne & co investigate the role of #HTRA1 in age-related retinal degeneration #AMD.

⚡ doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
📰 doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
December 26, 2025 at 12:01 PM
dmmjournal.bsky.social
In September's #EditorsChoice, Victor Tapia, Catherine Lawrence, Paul Kasher & co investigate #cholesterol homeostasis connection to #COVID19 in #zebrafish and #CellCulture models.

⚡ doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
📰 doi.org/10.1242/dmm....
December 25, 2025 at 12:00 PM