Generation and Interpretation of Morphogen Gradients

About this book

Signaling by diffusible morphogens, such as Hedgehog, Wingless, TGF-beta, and various growth factors, is essential during embryogenesis. The establishment of concentration gradients of these morphogens is vital for developmental patterning, ensuring that distinct differentiated cell types appear in the right place and at the right time in forming tissues.

Written and edited by experts in the field, this volume explores how morphogen gradients are generated and interpreted during development. The contributors examine the regulation of morphogen synthesis, trafficking, and diffusion, as well as the complex webs of signaling mechanisms and transcriptional responses in recipient cells--whose fates are dictated by these morphogens. Including discussion of the roles of morphogen gradients in various tissues in organisms from yeast to humans, the volume is a vital reference for developmental biologists and cell biologists wishing to know how cell fate is determined during embryogenesis.

Contents

Preface

- Morphogen Gradient Formation
- Models for the Generation and Interpretation of Gradients
- Robust Generation and Decoding of Morphogen Gradients
- The Measure of Success: Constraints, Objectives, and Tradeoffs in Morphogen-mediated Patterning
- Shaping Morphogen Gradients by Proteoglycans
- Forming and Interpreting Gradients in the Early Xenopus Embryo
- Systems Biology of the Self-regulating Morphogenetic Gradient of the Xenopus Gastrula
- Nodal Morphogens
- Gradients in Planarian Regeneration and Homeostasis
- Axial Patterning in Hydra
- Regulation of Organ Growth by Morphogen Gradients
- Signaling Gradients during Paraxial Mesoderm Development
- Vertebrate Limb Development: Moving from Classical Morphogen Gradients to an Integrated 4-Dimensional Patterning System
- Establishing and Interpreting Graded Sonic Hedgehog Signaling during Vertebrate Neural Tube Patterning: The Role of Negative Feedback
- Gradients in the Brain: The Control of the Development of Form and Function in the Cerebral Cortex
- Graded Dorsal and Differential Gene Regulation in the Drosophila Embryo
- Gradients and the Specification of Planar Polarity in the Insect Cuticle
- Chemical Gradients and Chemotropism in Yeast
- Forming Patterns in Development without Morphogen Gradients: Scattered Differentiation and Sorting Out

Index

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