The people behind the papers – Keiji Itoh and Sergei Sokol

Morphogenetic processes during gastrulation and neurulation require tight coordination of the actin cytoskeleton; however, the gene regulatory mechanisms that influence this process remain unclear. In a new study, Itoh and colleagues investigated the function of the transcription factor Mrtfa in the developing ectoderm of Xenopus embryos, uncovering a role for Mrtfa in apical constriction and the regulation of actomyosin. To find out more, we spoke to first author Keiji Itoh and corresponding author Sergei Sokol, Professor at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, USA.