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Many different biochemical and mechanical signals control morphogenesis. Now it is shown that the geometry of the fertilized egg helps orchestrate spatial and temporal patterning during embryogenesis.

The mechanisms underlying cell fate decisions often remain unclear. Here, the authors develop a 3D vertex-based model of complex fate choices in skin epidermis and propose a theoretical framework to link mechanical forces, quantitative cellular morphologies and cellular fate outcomes.

The lymphatic system is a transport network that controls immune response and tissue fluid circulation in the body. Here the authors combine experiment and theory to reveal that developing lymphatic capillary networks exploit complementary branching strategies to optimize tissue coverage.

Haptotaxis was traditionally seen as migration up protein gradients. It is now shown that cells can also oscillate or migrate down the gradient.

Many organs and cells have complex tree-like morphologies, but how these patterns emerge during development from global guidance cues and local self-organization remains unclear. Here, the authors develop a theory for the influence of both factors and test it on neuronal branching data.

How forces are temporally coordinated during embryo development is unclear. Now two types of morphology are possible in a developing organoid and the final morphology depends on the system history.

Andersen, Hannezo, Ulyanchenko et al. map cell behaviour and spatiotemporal dynamics of the sebaceous gland during homeostasis and oncogene-induced gland expansion, and show that all basal cells contribute to long-term gland maintenance.

Spatiotemporal waves appear during collective cell migration and are affected by mechanical forces and biochemical signalling. Here the authors develop a biophysical model that can quantitatively account for complex mechanochemical patterns, and predict how they can be used for optimal collective migration.

Yang, Xue et al. demonstrate in intestinal organoids that region-specific cell fates drive actomyosin patterns and modulate luminal osmotic forces to coordinate morphogenesis.

Filaments of the FtsZ protein can form chiral assemblies. Now, active matter tools link the microscopic structure of active filaments to the large-scale collective phase of these assemblies.

The collective migration of cell clusters is modulated by substrate geometry through a combination of velocity and polarity alignment.

Small intestinal crypts contain twice as many effective stem cells as large intestinal crypts, and this difference is determined by the degree of Wnt-driven retrograde cell movement—which is largely absent in the large intestine—counteracting conveyor-belt-like upward movement.

Embryo patterning relies on morphogen gradients. Now, a morphogen gradient also encodes an unjamming transition, enabling collective cellular flows that re-shape embryos while preserving patterning.

The cellular basis of islet morphogenesis and fate allocation remain unclear. Here, the authors use a R26-CreER-R26R-Confetti mouse line to follow quantitatively the clonal dynamics of islet formation showing how, during the secondary transition, islet progenitors amplify through rounds of stochastic cell division before becoming restricted to α and β cell sublineages.

Skin stem cells, but not their progenitors, are able to form tumours owing to the ability of oncogene-targeted stem cells to increase symmetric self-renewing division and a higher p53-dependent resistance to apoptosis.

The formation of the branched epithelial network of the mouse mammary gland during puberty is driven by a heterogeneous population of stem cells at the terminal end buds of the epithelium.

The actomyosin cytoskeleton is known to spontaneously oscillate in many systems but the mechanism of this behavior is not clear. Here Qin et al. define a signaling network involving a ROCK-dependent self-activation loop and recruitment of myosin II to the cortex, followed by a local accumulation of myosin phosphatase that shuts off the signal.

Experiments on cell monolayers on corrugated hydrogels reveal the effects of local curvature on the shape of cells and nuclei. A vertex model lends support to the idea that the modulation of tissue thickness may enable curvature sensing.

Lineage tracing, biophysical modelling and intestinal transplantation approaches are used to demonstrate that, in the mouse fetal intestinal epithelium, cells are highly plastic with respect to cellular identity and, independent of LGR5 expression and cell position, can contribute to the adult stem cell compartment.

Colloidal aggregates are conventionally formed by particle aggregation under thermal fluctuation. Now the structure and mechanical properties of aggregates can be controlled by an active bath of swimming Escherichia coli.

Sixt and colleagues show that different fibroblast populations in the lymph node mechanically control its swelling in a multitier fashion.

Developing tissues undergo rheology transitions that are often linked to cell–cell adhesion. Now, tissue fluidity is linked to interkinetic nuclear movements and tissue growth.

Under physiological forces, resulting from cytokinesis, the mechanosensitivity of adherens junction arises from a local decrease in E-cadherin concentration and results in actomyosin flows.

Lilja et al. report that multipotent mouse embryonic mammary cells become lineage restricted as early as embryonic day 12.5 during development in a potency switch regulated by Notch1 signalling.

Studying blastoderm spreading in zebrafish, Petridou et al. discover that this process is facilitated by tissue fluidization, mediated by a local loss of cell–cell adhesion during mitotic rounding and spatially restricted by Wnt.