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14 November 2026
Spinal Zip
Shaping an embryo involves folding and sealing tissue together by a range of orchestrated processes, such as 'buttoning' and 'zippering'. This study of mouse development uncovers the vital involvement of a protein called Cfl-1 in regulating cell behaviours that 'zip-up' the developing spinal cord – thereby shedding light on cell signals underlying the birth defect spina bifida in which closure of the spine and membranes around the spinal cord is incomplete
Read the published research article here
Written by
- Image from work by Abigail R. Marshall and colleagues
- Developmental Biology and Cancer, UCL GOS Institute of Child Health, London, UK
- Image originally published with a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)
- Published in PLOS Biology, November 2026
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