Xenopus NIK/MSN family kinases in planar polarity and convergent extension

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Embryonic development represents the first steps of new life. During embryogenesis a single cell, the egg, reorganizes into a complex structure resembling the adult animal. By the end of embryogenesis the head, eyes, vertebral column and arms and legs of the animals are all clearly discernable. It is, then, during embryogenesis that our body plan is defined. The earliest stage of this process requires cell movements that produce three fundamental tissue layers, that giving rise to the skin, nervous system and brain, thoat giving rise to the muscles and the skeleton, and finally that giving the internal organs such as the lungs, stomach and intestines. This earliest stage of embryogenesis is precisely controlled in order to exactly position one layer of tissue over the other. To do this, each tissue layer must understand exactly what the other is doing and this is achieved by signaling molecules that pass between the layers. We are trying to understand exactly how these signaling molecules are received and how they change the movement of cells within each tissue layer. Errors in the reception of these signals lead to important malformations, often affecting closing of the neural tube (open back). Such malformations known as Spina bifida and Anencephaly are among the most common birth defects in humans, accounting for 1 birth in a 1000. The studies we are making of the early stages of embryogenesis will, therefore, have repercussions on our understanding of why such serious birth defects occur.