The paper identifies nurse cells in mouse oocyte cysts that support oocyte development through cytoplasmic transfer and conserved mechanisms across species.

Cell · May 26, 2022Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

Differentiating Drosophila female germ cells initiate Polycomb silencing by altering PRC2 sampling

Steven Z. DeLuca, Megha Ghildiyal, Wanbao Niu, Liang-Yu Pang, Allan C. Spradling

The paper shows that Drosophila female germline stem cells initiate Polycomb silencing during differentiation by altering PRC2 sampling through Pcl and Scm interactions.

eLife · Aug 10, 2020Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology

Escort-like somatic cells mediate early mouse fetal ovarian development but surface-derived Lgr5+ cells support primordial follicles

Wanbao Niu, Allan C. Spradling

The paper identifies two distinct somatic cell populations in mouse fetal ovaries that support different follicle development stages through single-cell RNA sequencing.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences · Aug 5, 2020Peer-reviewedDevelopmental Biology