Cellular mechanisms of facial primordium growth

腭裂和唇裂不仅是先天缺陷，还会给儿童带来严重的问题，从语言障碍到寿命缩短。管理和治疗压力大，费用高。当发育中的胚胎面部两侧凸起的部分无法融合时，就会发生面部裂。这些隆起的部分通常构成上唇和上颚。这个项目将研究制造老鼠脸的细胞（以同样的方式发育）如何在正常情况下繁殖、重新排列和改变形状，以及在发生分裂的老鼠品系中如何改变形状。单个细胞将被跟踪和监测，以建立细胞活动的三维图像。这将提供一个应该发生什么情况的地图，因此有助于查明发生分裂时哪里出了问题。了解面部是如何正常发育的，以及当唇裂发生时，面部组织中的细胞出了什么问题，将有助于未来的诊断（例如，发现有风险的母亲）和治疗（可能重新长出缺失的东西）。

Cleft palate and cleft lip are not only disfiguring birth defects, they also cause serious problems for children affected, ranging from speech difficulties to shortened lifespan. Management and treament are stressful and costly. Facial clefting happens when bulges in the sides of the developing embryo s face fail to meet or fuse. These bulges normally make the upper lip and the roof of the mouth. This project will look at how cells making the mouse face (which develops in the same way) multiply, rearrange themselves and change shape normally and in mouse strains in which clefting happens. Individual cells will be tracked and monitored to build up a three-dimensional picture of what the cells do. This will provide a map of what should happen, and therefore help pinpoint what goes wrong when clefting happens. Understanding how the face develops normally and what goes wrong with the cells in facial tissue when clefting occurs will help future diagnosis (for example, finding mothers at risk) and treatments (potentially re-growing what is missing).