Background: In most vertebrates, the segmentation of the paraxial mesoderm involves the formation of metameric unitscalled somites through a mesenchymal-epithelial transition. However, this process is different in Xenopus ...

Introduction: Neural crest (NC) is a transient embryonic cell population induced by paraxial mesoderm during gastrula stage. Previously, we have showed that Ric-8A, a guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) for multiple ...

The myogenic precursors responsible for muscle growth in amniotes develop from thedermomyotome, an epithelium at the external surface of the somite. In teleosts, themyogenic precursors responsible for growth have not been ...

Gangliosides are a subfamily of complex glycosphingolipids (GSLs) with important roles in many biological processes. In this study, we report the cDNA cloning, functional characterization, and the spatial and temporal ...

In vertebrates, the embryonic dorsal midline is a crucial signalling centre that patterns the surrounding tissues during development. Members of the FoxA subfamily of transcription factors are expressed in the structures ...

Segmentation of the axial skeleton in amniotes depends on the segmentation clock, which patterns the paraxial mesoderm and the sclerotome. While the segmentation clock clearly operates in teleosts, the role of the sclerotome ...