Head Morphogenesis and WNT Signalling Function

胚胎发育中最关键的步骤之一是将不同的组织成分组装成三维结构，以构建胎儿的主要身体部分。在头部的发育过程中，由不同细胞群进行的这种形状塑造过程由细胞接收到的信号触发的遗传活动协调。我们研究的目的是了解许多信号机制之一，WNT信号，如何在胚胎的头部和面部中发挥作用。我们将研究小鼠胚胎的发育，在这些小鼠胚胎中，已经通过实验在编码WNT信号通路因子的基因中引入了突变。了解组织相互作用的复杂性和胚胎中头部形成的分子机制的相互作用是一个重大挑战。然而，在动物模型中的过程的知识将有助于更好地描绘信号在正常头部发育中的作用。它还将有助于将未来临床调查的重点导向与头部和面部出生缺陷最相关的遗传决定因素，在澳大利亚，每10 000名新生儿中约有8名存在这种缺陷。

One of the most critical steps in embryonic development is the assembly of the different tissue components into a three-dimensional structure in order to build a major body part of the foetus. In the development of the head, this form-shaping process undertaken by different cell populations is coordinated by genetic activity that is triggered by signals received by cells. The objective of our research is to understand how one of the many signalling mechanisms, WNT signalling, works in making the head and face of the embryo. We will study the development of embryos of mice in which mutations have been introduced experimentally in genes that code for factors of the WNT signalling pathway. Understanding the complexity of tissue interactions and the interplay of molecular mechanisms of head formation in the embryo is a major challenge. However, knowledge of the processes in animal models will contribute to a better delineation of the role of signalling in normal head development. It will also help to direct the focus of future clinical investigations to the most relevant genetic determinants of birth defects of the head and face, which is present in about 8 per 10,000 births in Australia.