Cellular mechanisms of facial primordium growth

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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).