Morphogens are molecules that travel from cell to cell in order to pattern tissues in the embryo. These molecules are important not only for the embryo during development, but also for the adult during tissue repair. However, ...
Cell & Microbiology
Aug 9, 2022
0
16
How organs develop and how they grow to the right size and shape are fundamental questions in developmental biology. The morphogen Dpp is a signaling molecule controlling the development of different organs with regard to ...
Cell & Microbiology
Nov 11, 2021
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85
For a tiny embryo to develop into an adult organism, its cells must develop in precise patterns and interact with their neighbors in carefully orchestrated ways. To create complex tissues and organs—from the pattern of ...
Molecular & Computational biology
Oct 15, 2020
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188
A study by IRB Barcelona's Development and Growth Control Laboratory, headed by ICREA researcher Marco Milán, reveals how Dpp and Wg morphogens regulate organ proportions and patterning of the fly wing through independent ...
Cell & Microbiology
Feb 21, 2020
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12
It's no surprise that using human embryos for biological and medical research comes with many ethical concerns. Correct though it is to proceed with caution in these matters, the fact is that much science would benefit from ...
Biotechnology
Jun 27, 2019
0
0
In the fairy tale "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," Goldilocks invades the bears' house, where she finds three bowls of porridge, but only one has just the right temperature. Similarly, in biological processes, there often ...
Plants & Animals
Oct 15, 2018
0
12
Researchers working in the Development and Growth Control Lab at IRB Barcelona reveal that the Dpp gene (BMP in humans) plays a double role in the structural organisation and growth of the wings of the fruit fly Drosophila ...
Cell & Microbiology
Jul 5, 2017
0
2
Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have developed a new technique using nanobodies. Employing the so-called "Morphotrap", the distribution of the morphogen Dpp, which plays an important role in wing ...
Bio & Medicine
Nov 9, 2015
0
25
What do wound healing, cancer metastasis, and bacteria colonies have in common? They all involve the collective displacement of biological cells. New research sheds some new light on the physical mechanisms provoking the ...
General Physics
Jul 29, 2013
0
0
Researchers from King's College London have provided the first experimental evidence confirming a great British mathematician's theory of how biological patterns such as tiger stripes or leopard spots are formed.
Biotechnology
Feb 19, 2012
23
1
A morphogen is a substance governing the pattern of tissue development, and the positions of the various specialized cell types within a tissue. It spreads from a localized source and forms a concentration gradient across a developing tissue[citation needed].
In developmental biology a morphogen is rigorously used to mean a signaling molecule that acts directly on cells (not through serial induction) to produce specific cellular responses dependent on morphogen concentration[citation needed].
Well-known morphogens include: Decapentaplegic / Transforming growth factor beta, Hedgehog / Sonic Hedgehog, Wingless / Wnt, Epidermal growth factor, Fibroblast growth factor, and Retinoic acid[citation needed].
Morphogens are defined conceptually, not chemically[citation needed], so simple compounds such as retinoic acid (the active metabolite of retinol or vitamin A) may also act as morphogens[citation needed].
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