The definitive endoderm (DE) was first defined as the innermost germ layer found in all metazoan embryos. During development, it gives rise to a vast array of specialized epithelial cell types lining the respiratory and digestive systems, and contributes t ...
Polarity establishment, asymmetric division, and acquisition of cell fates are critical steps during earlydevelopment. In this review, we discuss processes that set up the embryonic axes, with an emphasis onpolarity establishment and asymmetric division. W ...
Inducing organogenesis in 3D culture is an important aspect of stem cell research. Anterior neural structures have been produced from large embryonic stem cell (ESC) aggregates, but the steps involved in patterning such complex structures have been ill def ...
Oriented mitosis is essential during tissue morphogenesis. The Wnt/planar cell polarity (Wnt/PCP) pathway orients mitosis in a number of developmental systems, including dorsal epiblast cell divisions along the animal-vegetal (A-V) axis during zebrafish ga ...
excitatory synapses with multiple active zones ensure reliable and fast information transfer at specific points in neuronal circuits. However, the mechanisms that determine synapse size in CNS circuits are largely unknown. Here we use the calyx of Held syn ...
Correct positioning of the spindle governs placement of the cytokinesis furrow and thus plays a crucial role in the partitioning of fate determinants and the disposition of daughter cells in a tissue. Converging evidence indicates that spindle positioning ...
Anterior-posterior polarity in the Caenorhabditis elegans zygote depends on two groups of PAR proteins, as well as on cortical flow. Recent work now demonstrates that this polarization results from a transition in a bistable reaction-diffusion system of PA ...
Pygopus has been discovered as a fundamental Wnt signaling component in Drosophila. The mouse genome encodes two Pygopus homologs, Pygo1 and Pygo2. They serve as context-dependent beta-catenin coactivators, with Pygo2 playing the more important role. All P ...
Background: Patent ductus arteriosus is a life-threatening condition frequent in premature newborns but also present in some term infants. Current mouse models of this malformation generally lead to perinatal death, not reproducing the full phenotypic spec ...
An asymmetric cell division (ACD) is defined as a division that gives rise to two daughter cells with different fates. It is the most common type of division during development. Analogous to Drosophila neuroblasts, proteins involved in ACD such as Insc and ...
