Mechanisms of neural crest specification

这一建议涉及导致早期发展的分子机制， 脊椎动物神经系统，包括神经嵴细胞。神经嵴是一群- 细胞样细胞，形成于脊椎动物胚胎的神经板边缘，并迁移到 在身体的不同位置产生不同的细胞类型，如外周神经 系统神经嵴的形成是神经外胚层、表皮 外胚层和下面的中胚层。这些实验旨在连接 细胞骨架重组到神经嵴特化。一些基因的功能， 控制肌动球蛋白动力学将被扰动，以了解调控网络， 参与神经嵴的形成这些实验将在非洲爪蟾胚胎中进行， 其代表了用于基因功能的快速体内系统， 生化实验通过连接上游调节因子，如Wnt信号，肌动蛋白- 在颅面发育的初始阶段， 实验将有助于理解这两个基本的发展机制， 并且与疾病有关。大量的人类疾病，如颅缝早闭， Waardenburg和Hirschsprung综合征以及癌症与神经系统疾病有关。 嵴异常研究神经嵴发育的机制 细胞应该提供与干细胞疾病相关的人类疾病的见解， 癌

This proposal concerns molecular mechanisms leading to the early development of the vertebrate nervous system, including neural crest cells. The neural crest is a population of stem- cell-like cells, which form in vertebrate embryos at the neural plate border and migrate to diverse locations in the body to give rise to diverse cell types, such as the peripheral nervous system. Neural crest forms as a result of inductive interactions of neuroectoderm, epidermal ectoderm and the underlying mesoderm. The proposed experiments aim to connect cytoskeleton reorganization to neural crest specification. The function of several genes that control actomyosin dynamics will be perturbed to understand the regulatory network that is involved in neural crest formation. These experiments will be carried out in Xenopus embryos, which represent a rapid in vivo system for gene function and allow classical cell biological and biochemical experiments. By connecting upstream regulators, such as Wnt signals, to actin- dependent processes during the initial stages of craniofacial development, the proposed experiments will contribute to the understanding of both the basic developmental mechanisms and are relevant to the disease. A large number of human diseases, such as craniosynostosis, Waardenburg and Hirschsprung's syndromes, and cancer, have been associated with neural crest abnormalities. Studying the mechanisms underlying the development of the neural crest cell should provide insights into human diseases associated with stem cell disorders and cancer.