Sculpting the Embryo: Programmed Cell Death as a Driver of Normal Development

Programmed cell death is a fundamental tool of development, not only a response to damage or disease. From the elimination of interdigital tissue that separates the digits, to the pruning of surplus neurons that refines neural circuitry, to the regression of the Müllerian and Wolffian ducts that shapes the reproductive tract, cell death is deployed with precision to sculpt tissues and pattern organs across the animal kingdom. Advances in genetic and imaging approaches have revealed that these death programs are as tightly regulated and evolutionarily conserved as any process of division or differentiation. However, the molecular pathways that trigger, execute, and coordinate cell death with the surrounding tissue during normal morphogenesis remain only partly understood, and are often overshadowed by disease-focused cell death research.This Research Topic aims to gather experimental studies and reviews that advance our understanding of programmed cell death as a mechanism of normal embryonic and postnatal development, across diverse model systems-including invertebrates, fish, amphibians, and mammals. We welcome multidisciplinary contributions using genetic, molecular, imaging, and biochemical approaches to dissect how cell death is triggered, executed, and coordinated with surrounding tissue during morphogenesis. Studies linking developmental cell death mechanisms to their dysregulation in disease are particularly encouraged.Areas to be covered may include, but are not limited to:• Mechanisms of interdigital and limb cell death during morphogenesis• Cell death during organogenesis and development of nervous system• Programmed cell death in reproductive tract and organ morphogenesis• The role of phagocytes in cell death during development• Comparative and evolutionary studies of developmental cell death across model organisms• Crosstalk between apoptosis, autophagy, and other death modalities in shaping tissues• Molecular and imaging approaches to dissecting developmental cell death mechanisms Topic editors: José Luis Marín-Teva, Stefan Washausen, Wolfgang Knabe Source: https://www.frontiersin.org/research-topics/85548/sculpting-the-embryo-programmed-cell-death-as-a-driver-of-normal-development