Cell time: How cells control developmental timetables
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Biological timing is critical for development, involving the timing of initiation, duration, and rate/tempo of processes. Differences in timing across species are called heterochronies.
Cells contain intrinsic mechanisms that regulate developmental timing, even when isolated from embryonic cues and cell-cell interactions. Comparing timing in isolated cells from different species can reveal mechanisms behind heterochronies. The tempo of processes like somitogenesis and neurogenesis are 2-3x slower in human cells compared to mouse. This matches the slower overall gestation periods.
Differences in timing can arise from protein stability and degradation rates. Slower development associates with more stable proteins. Metabolic rate correlates with developmental tempo. Faster oscillations of segmentation genes occur in mouse cells with higher metabolic rates than human cells. Accelerating metabolism speeds up neuron maturation. Epigenetic regulation of gene expression can delay transitions in progenitor states during corticogenesis. Inhibiting repressive chromatin regulators accelerates neural differentiation.
While a few mechanisms have been identified, more work is needed to understand their relationships, conservation across tissues/species, and contributions to developmental heterochronies.
https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.adh1849
