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The use of genetically-encoded fluorescent proteins has revolutionized the fields of cell and developmental biology and in doing so redefined our understanding of the dynamic morphogenetic processes that shape...
Ascidians are tunicates, the taxon recently proposed as sister group to the vertebrates. They possess a chordate-like swimming larva, which metamorphoses into a sessile adult. Several ascidian species form col...
Chondrogenesis and subsequent endochondral ossification are processes tightly regulated by the transcription factor Sox9 (SRY-related high mobility group-Box gene 9), but molecular mechanisms underlying this a...
In humans, mutations in the SEPN1 gene, encoding selenoprotein N (SelN), are involved in early onset recessive neuromuscular disorders, referred to as SEPN1-related-myopathies. The mechanisms behind these patholo...
The transcription factor Yin Yang 2 (YY2) shares a structural and functional highly homologue DNA-binding domain with the ubiquitously expressed YY1 protein, which has been implicated in regulating fundamental...
Interspecies somatic cell nuclear transfer (iSCNT) has been proposed as a tool to address basic developmental questions and to improve the feasibility of cell therapy. However, the low efficiency of iSCNT embr...
The Drosophila YA protein is required to initiate the embryonic cleavage divisions. After egg activation, YA enters nuclei and interacts with chromatin and the nuclear lamina. This study was designed to define mo...
The cattle pathogen, Anaplasma marginale, undergoes a developmental cycle in ticks that begins in gut cells. Transmission to cattle occurs from salivary glands during a second tick feeding. At each site of develo...
Macrostomum lignano is a small free-living flatworm capable of regenerating all body parts posterior of the pharynx and anterior to the brain. We quantified the cellular composition of the caudal-most body region...
The condensation of chromosomes and correct sister chromatid segregation during cell division is an essential feature of all proliferative cells. Structural maintenance of chromosomes (SMC) and non-SMC proteins f...
Creatine synthesis takes place predominately in the kidney and liver via a two-step process involving AGAT (L-arginine:glycine amidinotransferase) and GAMT (guanidinoacetate methyltransferase). Creatine is taken ...
Life-long production of spermatozoa depends on spermatogonial stem cells. Spermatogonial stem cells exist among the most primitive population of germ cells – undifferentiated spermatogonia. Transplantation exp...
Fluorescent proteins such as the green fluorescent protein (GFP) have widely been used in transgenic animals as reporter genes. Their use in transgenic Xenopus tadpoles is especially of interest, because large nu...
Partial loss of function of the transcription factor FOXL2 leads to premature ovarian failure in women. In animal models, Foxl2 is required for maintenance, and possibly induction, of female sex determination ind...
In the hermaphrodite of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans, the first germ cells differentiate as sperm. Later the germ line switches to the production of oocytes. This process requires the activity of a genetic...
Pancreatic islets are not fully developed at birth and it is not clear how they are vascularised and innervated. Nerve Growth Factor (NGF) is required to guide sympathetic neurons that innervate peripheral org...
Biological processes are regulated by complex interactions between transcription factors and signalling molecules, collectively described as Genetic Regulatory Networks (GRNs). The characterisation of these ne...
Ectodysplasin-A appears to be a critical component of branching morphogenesis. Mutations in mouse Eda or human EDA are associated with absent or hypoplastic sweat glands, sebaceous glands, lacrimal glands, saliva...
In vertebrates, the inner ear is comprised of the cochlea and vestibular system, which develop from the otic vesicle. This process is regulated via inductive interactions from surrounding tissues. Tbx1, the gene ...
The polarization of somite-derived sclerotomes into anterior and posterior halves underlies vertebral morphogenesis and spinal nerve segmentation. To characterize the full extent of molecular differences that ...
During the development of the central nervous system (CNS), patterning processes along the dorsoventral (DV) axis of the neural tube generate different neuronal subtypes. As development progresses these neuron...
The post-translational addition of the monosaccharide O-linked β-N-acetylglucosamine (O-GlcNAc) regulates the activity of a wide variety of nuclear and cytoplasmic proteins. The enzymes O-GlcNAc Transferase (Ogt)...
The H6 homeobox genes Hmx1, Hmx2, and Hmx3 (also known as Nkx5-3; Nkx5-2 and Nkx5-1, respectively), compose a family within the NKL subclass of the ANTP class of homeobox genes. Hmx gene family expression is most...
During skeletogenesis, protein levels of β-catenin in the canonical Wnt signaling pathway determine lineage commitment of skeletal precursor cells to osteoblasts and chondrocytes. Adenomatous polyposis coli (A...
Normal growth and development of organisms requires maintenance of a dynamic balance between systems that promote cell survival and those that induce apoptosis. The molecular mechanisms that regulate these pro...
Myostatin (Mstn) and growth/differentiation factor 11 (Gdf11) are highly related transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) family members that play important roles in regulating embryonic development and adult tissu...
The sperm annulus is a septin-based fibrous ring structure connecting the midpiece and the principal piece of the mammalian sperm flagellum. Although ultrastructural abnormalities and functional importance of ...
Transmembrane CAIX and CAXII are members of the alpha carbonic anhydrase (CA) family. They play a crucial role in differentiation, proliferation, and pH regulation. Expression of CAIX and CAXII proteins in tum...
Cysts of Artemia can remain in a dormant state for long periods with a very low metabolic rate, and only resume their development with the approach of favorable conditions. The post-diapause development is a very...
During vertebrate embryogenesis the initial stages of bone formation by endochondral ossification involve the aggregation and proliferation of mesenchymal cells into condensations. Continued growth of the cond...
The orthologs of eukaryotic initiation factor 5C (eIF5C) are essential to the initiation of protein translation, and their regulation during development is not well known.
Dystroglycan (Dg) is a transmembrane protein that is a part of the Dystrophin Glycoprotein Complex (DGC) which connects the extracellular matrix to the actin cytoskeleton. The C-terminal end of Dg contains a n...
While the body axis is largely patterned along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis during gastrulation, the central nervous system (CNS) shows dynamic changes in the expression pattern of Hox genes during neurulati...
During formation of the vertebrate central nervous system, the hindbrain is organized into segmental units, called rhombomeres (r). These cell-lineage restricted segments are separated by a subpopulation of ce...
During apoptosis cells become profoundly restructured through concerted cleavage of cellular proteins by caspases. In epithelial tissues, apoptotic cells loose their apical/basal polarity and are extruded from...
How epithelial cells adopt their particular polarised forms is poorly understood. In a screen for genes regulating epithelial morphology in Drosophila, we identified sds22, a conserved gene previously characteris...
Skeletal muscle differentiation requires assembly of contractile proteins into organized myofibrils. The Drosophila ladybird homeobox gene (lad) functions in founder cells of the segmental border muscle to promot...
Neuroblastic tumors (NBT) derive from neural crest stem cells (NCSC). Histologically, NBT are composed by neuroblasts and Schwannian cells. In culture, neuroblastic (N-), substrate-adherent (S-) and intermedia...
Genome reprogramming in early mouse embryos is associated with nuclear reorganization and particular features such as the peculiar distribution of centromeric and pericentric heterochromatin during the first d...
Members of the calcium-activated chloride channel (CLCA) gene family have been suggested to possess a variety of functions including cell adhesion and tumor suppression. Expression of CLCA family members has m...
Embryo in vitro manipulations during early development are thought to increase mortality by altering the epigenetic regulation of some imprinted genes. Using a bovine interspecies model with a single nucleotide p...
Mammalian oocytes acquire competence to be fertilized during meiotic maturation. The protein kinase CDC2 plays a pivotal role in several key maturation events, in part through controlled changes in CDC2 locali...
Vertebrate development relies on the regulated translation of stored maternal mRNAs, but how these regulatory mechanisms may have evolved to control translational efficiency of individual mRNAs is poorly under...
The evolutionarily conserved Notch signalling pathway regulates multiple developmental processes in a wide variety of organisms. One critical posttranslational modification of Notch for its function in vivo is...
Understanding the mechanisms controlling stem cell differentiation is the key to future advances in tissue and organ regeneration. Embryonic stem (ES) cell differentiation can be triggered by embryoid body (EB...
The mouse corneal epithelium is a continuously renewing 5–6 cell thick protective layer covering the corneal surface, which regenerates rapidly when injured. It is maintained by peripherally located limbal ste...
Regeneration of neurons and fibers in the mammalian spinal cord has not been plausible, even though extensive studies have been made to understand the restrictive factors involved. New experimental models and ...
Pancreatic islets of Langerhans originate from endocrine progenitors within the pancreatic ductal epithelium. Concomitant with differentiation of these progenitors into hormone-producing cells such cells delam...
Fibronectin 1 (FN1), a glycoprotein component of the extracellular matrix, exerts different functions during reproductive processes such as fertilisation, gastrulation and implantation. FN1 expression has been...
Primordial germ cells (PGCs) are the embryonic precursors of the sperm and eggs. Environmental or genetic defects that alter PGC development can impair fertility or cause formation of germ cell tumors.
