CONTROL OF ANIMAL MORPHOGENESIS

形态发生是指组织、器官和其他器官的逐渐成形。 胚胎中的解剖结构，是发育过程中的一个核心问题。 生物学尽管近年来在这方面取得了巨大进展， 为了阐明发育过程中的基因调控机制， 了解基因表达和胚胎形态之间的联系 不太完整。形态发生一直是研究的挑战，因为它 涉及到许多不同细胞过程的协调 大量的胚胎细胞。对形态发生的理解 将需要细胞和分子分析的整合;即，它 需要将单个细胞内的分子变化联系起来， 改变基因表达模式或翻译后调节 蛋白质活性，在细胞水平上具有动态行为， 细胞群的超细胞特性。 这一建议的重点是三个关键的形态发生过程共同的所有 多细胞动物：1）胚胎细胞的定向迁移，2） 上皮层内的细胞重排，以及3）调节 解剖结构的大小。这些问题将在 光学上透明的、可操作的海胆胚胎。四维荧光 显微镜用于分析体内细胞运动。此外，本发明还提供了一种方法， 建议在最近的生化研究的基础上进行实验 PI的实验室证明了特定细胞外基质的作用 在原肠胚形成过程中上皮细胞重排的决定因素。的 将针对骨骼的尺寸调节问题进行分析 系统，使用胚胎操作，细胞类型特异性分子标记， 和体外骨骼生成系统。

Morphogenesis, the progressive shaping of tissues, organs, and other anatomical structures in the embryo, is a central problem in developmental biology. Although recent years have seen tremendous progress in elucidating mechanisms of gene regulation during development, our understanding of the connection between gene expression and embryonic form is less complete. Morphogenesis has been challenging to study because it involves the coordination of many different cellular processes on the part of large numbers of embryonic cells. An understanding of morphogenesis will require an integration of cellular and molecular analyses; i.e., it will require relating molecular changes inside individual cells, such as changing patterns of gene expression or post-translational regulation of protein activity, with dynamic behaviors at the cellular level and even the supracellular properties of cell populations. This proposal focuses on three key morphogenetic processes common to all multicellular animals: 1) directional migration of embryonic cells, 2) cell rearrangements within epithelial sheets, and 3) regulation of the size of anatomical structures. These problems will be addressed in the optically clear, manipulable sea urchin embryo. 4-D fluorescence microscopy is to be used to analyze cell movements in vivo. In addition, experiments are proposed that build on recent biochemical studies in the PI's laboratory demonstrating a role for a specific extracellular matrix determinant in epithelial cell rearrangements during gastrulation. The problem of size regulation will be analyzed with respect to the skeletal system, using embryo manipulation, cell-type specific molecular markers, and an in vitro skeletogenesis system.