The mouse mutant Doublefoot (Dbf) shows preaxial polydactyly of all four limbs. We have analysed limb development in this mutant with respect to morphogenesis, gene expression patterns and ectopic polarising activity. The results reveal a gain-of-function mutation at a locus that mediates pattern formation in the developing limb. Shh expression is identical with that of wild-type embryos, i.e. ...

limb bud first appears during the third week of gestation with the upper limb buds appearing a few days before the lower limb buds. complete absence of one or more limbs, called amelia, occurs prior to the eighth week of gestation. we report a case of amelia in a twin gestation.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signalling is necessary for both the development of the tail bud and for tail regeneration in Xenopus laevis tadpoles. Using a stable transgenic line in which expression of the soluble BMP inhibitor noggin is under the control of the temperature inducible hsp70 promoter, we have investigated the timing of the requirement for BMP signalling during tail regenerati...

Development of the mouse forelimb bud depends on normal Twist1 activity. Global loss of Twist1 function before limb bud formation stops limb development and loss of Twist1 throughout the mesenchyme after limb bud initiation leads to polydactyly, the ulnarization or loss of the radius and malformations and reductions of the shoulder girdle. Here we show that conditional deletion of Twist1 by Mes...

The molecular signals driving tendon development are not fully identified. We have undertaken a transcriptome analysis of mouse limb tendon cells that were isolated at different stages of development based on scleraxis (Scx) expression. Microarray comparisons allowed us to establish a list of genes regulated in tendon cells during mouse limb development. Bioinformatics analysis of the tendon tr...

The development of many epithelial organs depends on a series of sequential and reciprocal interactions between epithelial cells and adjacent mesenchymal or stromal cells (Thesleff et al., 1995; Birchmeier and Birchmeier, 1993). The mammary gland is an example of an organ where these epithelialmesenchymal interactions play a critical role, especially during embryonic development (Sakakura, 1987...

The molecular signals driving tendon development are not fully identified. We have undertaken a transcriptome analysis of mouse limb tendon cells that were isolated at different stages of development based on scleraxis (Scx) expression. Microarray comparisons allowed us to establish a list of genes regulated in tendon cells during mouse limb development. Bioinformatics analysis of the tendon tr...

background: mesenchymal stem cells (mscs) with their potential to differentiate into mesodermal and non-mesodermal lineages have several immunomodulatory characteris-tics. these properties make them promising tools in cell and gene therapy. objective: to evaluate the potential therapeutic applications of autologous msc in improving clinical manifestations of ms patients. methods: ten patients w...

During kidney development and in response to inductive signals, the metanephric mesenchyme aggregates, becomes polarized, and generates much of the epithelia of the nephron. As such, the metanephric mesenchyme is a renal progenitor cell population that must be replenished as epithelial derivatives are continuously generated. The molecular mechanisms that maintain the undifferentiated state of t...