Leftward fluid flow in the mouse node is generated by cilia and is critical for initiating asymmetry of the left-right axis. Coiled-coil domain containing-40 (Ccdc40) plays an evolutionarily conserved role in the assembly of motile cilia and establishment of the left-right axis. Approximately one-third of Ccdc40lnks mutant embryos display situs defects and here we investigate the underlying mec...

Bone morphogenetic protein-3 and 3b (BMP-3 and BMP-3b) together represent a unique subgroup of the BMP family. BMP-3b shares 82% amino acid identity with BMP-3 in the mature region (ligand domain), but only 37% in the pro-region (pro-domain). In osteoblasts, BMP-3 and 3b have similar antagonistic activity against BMP-2, but they are differentially regulated. In developing embryos, BMP-3 and 3b ...

The past two decades have yielded major advances in our understanding of the pathogenetic mechanisms that cause diabetic nephropathy. Of particular interest is the emerging paradigm of the recapitulation of developmental programmes within the diabetic kidney. Recently we have used the complementary techniques of suppression subtractive hybridization and Affymetrix GeneChips to assess changes in...

The amphibian embryo develops into the three germ layers in a predictable fashion, the pigmented animal pole forming the ectoderm, the yolky vegetal pole forming the endoderm and the mesoderm developing from an annulus at the equator. Mesoderm formation is believed to require a TGF-β family signal originating from vegetal cells because a truncated dominant negative activin receptor, promiscuous...

Introduction: Recent impact craters on the Moon, Mercury, and icy Galilean satellites have produced bright rays extending hundreds or thousands of kilometers from the crater rims. A large rayed crater has never previously been seen on Mars, and it has been assumed that the active aeolian environment would quickly remove the ephemeral ray material [1]. Here we report the discovery of a 10-km dia...

Paradistomoidella cerberi n.g., n.sp. and Paracanthostomum cerberi from Cerberus rhynchops, Xenopharynx pyriformis and Allopharynx mehrai from Ptyas korros, Neopronocephalus orientalis from Geoemyda spinosa, and Duthiersia expansa from Varanus salvator are all reported from the area of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Paradistomoidella cerberi most closely resembles members of Paradistomoides but is cha...