Cellular mechanisms of facial primordium growth

腭裂和唇裂不仅是畸形的出生缺陷，它们也会给受影响的儿童带来严重的问题，从语言困难到寿命缩短。管理和治疗是紧张和昂贵的。当发育中的胚胎面部两侧的凸起无法相遇或融合时，面部裂开就会发生。这些凸起通常形成上唇和上颚。这个项目将研究细胞如何使老鼠的脸（以同样的方式发展）繁殖，重新排列自己，并改变形状正常和小鼠品系中发生分裂。单个细胞将被跟踪和监测，以建立一个三维图像的细胞做什么。这将提供一个应该发生什么的地图，因此有助于查明当裂缝发生时出现了什么问题。了解面部如何正常发育，以及当裂缝发生时面部组织中的细胞出现了什么问题，将有助于未来的诊断（例如，找到有风险的母亲）和治疗（可能重新生长缺失的细胞）。

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).