I. DYNAMIC SCALING OF MORPHOGEN GRADIENTS
We are interested in the mechanism that allows morphogen gradients to expand proportionally to the size of the embryonic domain. This is important to maintain patterning proportions in differently sized embryos.
References
We are interested in the mechanism that allows morphogen gradients to expand proportionally to the size of the embryonic domain. This is important to maintain patterning proportions in differently sized embryos.
References
- Fried P and Iber D, Dynamic Scaling of Morphogen Gradients on growing domains, Nature Communications, in press
II. EVOLUTION OF PATTERNING
Dorso-ventral patterning is a good system to understand pattern formation as a result of network dynamics.
Dorso-ventral patterning is a good system to understand pattern formation as a result of network dynamics.
Within the first few hours of development the anterior-posterior and dorsal-ventral (DV) axes of the basic body plan are defined. Decades of experimental analyses have provided detailed insights into the mechanisms and the corresponding proteins underlying these processes. Comparison of the molecular circuits that control dorso-ventral patterning in Drosophila, Xenopus and Zebrafish shows that the basic mechanism is conserved between invertebrates and vertebrates.
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Much has been learned about dorso-ventral patterning from studies in Drosophila. Mizutani and co-workers proposed a mechanistic model that relies upon diffusion, receptor-dependent degradation of the morphogen, and a protease-mediated cleavage of a morphogen antagonist. The combination of theses processes leads to the sudden formation of a sharp morphogen activity peak in the dorsal midline of the developing Drosophila embryo. The mechanism for this sudden gradient formation is based on the sudden inversion of the direction of ligand transport.
References
References
- Iber D and Gaglia G, The mechanism of sudden stripe formation during dorso-ventral patterning in Drosophila, J Math Biol, 54, 179-198