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We review our recent studies on material designs based on element-blocks, which are defined as a minimum functional unit composed of heteroatoms, and particularly focus on the roles of element-blocks in these materials. To start, the development of ‘designable hybrids’ by employing polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane is illustrated. The following topics include solid-state luminescent materials containing o-carborane and group 13 element-blocks. Their highly efficient emission in the solid state and their photochemistry are explained. Furthermore, we mention chiral element-blocks containing optically active phosphine atoms. The unique properties of this series of element-block materials are illustrated.

Using a conditional multicolour tracing approach, the contributions of individual cardiomyocytes to zebrafish heart morphogenesis are defined, revealing clonal dominance as a key mechanism.

Pronobis et al. show that Ddx61 localizes to P-bodies and regulates heart muscle proliferation during cardiac regeneration in zebrafish. Ddx61 is required is required to restrain expression of Chordin, a secreted BMP inhibitor that impedes regeneration if present at high levels.

Using a genetic approach in zebrafish, the mesothelial covering of the heart—the epicardium—is shown to have a high regenerative ability after injury, a process that is driven by Hedgehog signalling originating from the outflow tract.

An injury-dependent enhancer element is identified that activates gene expression in regenerating zebrafish tissues and can be engineered into DNA constructs that increase tissue regenerative capacity; the element is also active in injured mouse tissue.

The extent to which transformer-based language models provide a good model of human brain activity during natural language comprehension is unclear. Here, the authors show that the internal transformations performed by the network predict brain activity in cortical language network as measured by fMRI.

Sun et al. report that a steroid-responsive enhancer is preferentially required for expression and function of cebpd in remote tissues during heart regeneration.

The rate of scale regeneration in zebrafish is controlled by the frequency of rhythmic travelling waves of Erk activity, which are broadcast from a central source to induce ring-like patterns of osteoblast tissue growth.

Zebrafish can regenerate after paralyzing spine injuries and regain locomotor ability, unlike mammals. Here authors show that the neurogenic factor Hb-egf promotes spinal cord regeneration in zebrafish and is regulated by an enhancer that can similarly direct expression in the pro-regenerative setting of neonatal mice.

The ability to track single cells in vivo, combined with insights into chromatin structure, immune–tissue crosstalk, bioelectric and metabolic cues and quantitative modelling, is changing our understanding of how tissues are repaired and renewed. This Review discusses how signals are regulated during regeneration and future directions for a more quantitative understanding of regenerative biology.

A study of zebrafish identifies an innate mechanism of blood vessel formation through the transdifferentiation of lymphatic endothelial cells, and provides in vivo evidence for a link between cell ontogeny and functionality in endothelial cells.

Two conditional transgenic mouse lines based on CRISPRa and CRISPRi enable epigenome editing in vivo.

Zebrafish are able to replace lost heart muscle efficiently, and are used as a model to understand why natural heart regeneration — after a heart attack, for instance — is blocked in mammals. Here, and in an accompanying paper, genetic fate-mapping approaches reveal which cell population contributes prominently to cardiac muscle regeneration after an injury approximating myocardial infarction. The results show that cardiac muscle regenerates through activation and expansion of existing cardiomyocytes, without involving a stem-cell population.

The capacity to regenerate tissue varies across different species and tissue types. The poor regenerative capacity of organs such as the heart and nervous system contributes to the aetiology of a number of serious diseases, including heart failure and Alzheimer disease. In this Review, Goldman and Poss discuss how genetic programmes of regeneration are regulated and how the control mechanisms might be adapted to treat human disease.

What determines whether a tissue or organism can regenerate? What are the cellular sources of regeneration? How are regenerative signals initiated and targeted, and what controls proliferation and patterning during regeneration? Studies in a range of model systems are addressing these key questions.

This protocol describes how to establish explant cultures of intact zebrafish hearts. The explants can be used to study the regeneration of cardiac tissues such as the epicardium, can be maintained for up to 30 d and are amenable to live imaging.

The epicardium is a multipotent cardiac progenitor tissue that serves as a crucial signalling centre for heart development and repair. This Review describes recent advances in our understanding of the biology of the epicardium and discusses the potential to harness the properties of the epicardium to develop therapeutic strategies for heart repair and regeneration.