The 16th FASEB Science Research Conference on Ca2+ and Cell Function took place in Lisbon, Portugal, on June 12–17, 2016. Chaired by Stefan Feske (New York University, organizer) and Murali Prakriya (Northwestern University, co-organizer), it brought together over 130 scientists from North America, Europe, and Asia.

The neuroectoderm arises during gastrulation as a population of undifferentiated proliferating neuroepithelial cells. As development continues, neuroepithelial cells leave the cell cycle and differentiate into neurons and glia of the functioning central nervous system. What processes establish the spatial distribution of proliferating neuroepithelial cells? To investigate this question, zic2a w...

During gastrulation, diffusible "organizer" signals, including members of the TGFbeta Nodal subfamily, pattern dorsal mesoderm and the embryonic axes. Simultaneously, negative regulators of these signals, including the Nodal inhibitor Lefty, an atypical TGFbeta factor, are induced by Nodal. This suggests that Lefty-dependent modulation of organizer signaling might regulate dorsal mesoderm patte...

The organizer is established at the blastula stage of development, under the influence of a special region of cells known as the Nieuwkoop center in amphibians, where Vg1/activin-like signals overlap with activity of the Wnt-pathway. Despite differences in their mode of early development, a similar region can be identified in other vertebrates. It has widely been assumed that once the organizer...

The molecular nature of Spemann's organizer phenomenon has long attracted the attention of embryologists. goosecoid is a homeobox gene with a DNA-binding specificity similar to that of Drosophila bicoid. Xenopus goosecoid is expressed on the dorsal side of the embryo before the dorsal lip is formed. Cells expressing goosecoid are fated to become pharyngeal endoderm, head mesoderm and notochord....

Rehovot 76100 ganizer, positioned on the future dorsal side of the em-Israel bryo, can be viewed as an array of distinct secreted inhibitors that pattern the embryo by antagonizing the activity of ventralizing factors (BMPs and Wnts). Studies In 1924 Hans Spemann and Hilde Mangold carried out in Xenopus have uncovered an amazing diversity of in-an experiment that revolutionized the field of dev...

The organization of the vertebrate brain and its differentiation into functionally and anatomically distinct areas is based on early patterning and regional specification of the neural plate during embryonic development. Both vertical signals that emanate from the mesendoderm and planar signals travelling within the plain of the neuroectoderm itself are thought to be involved in neural plate pa...

OBJECTIVES To determine whether a home-based care coordination program focused on medication self-management would affect the cost of care to the Medicare program and whether the addition of technology, a medication-dispensing machine, would further reduce cost. DESIGN Randomized, controlled, three-arm longitudinal study. SETTING Participant homes in a large Midwestern urban area. PARTICI...

In the zebrafish, amphibian and avian gastrulae, the establishment of the body plan is influenced by the activity of a group of specialized cells known as the organizer (Gilbert and Saxen, 1993; Harland and Gerhart, 1997; Shih and Fraser, 1996; Schier and Talbot, 1998; Smith and Schoenwolf, 1998). Two unique functional attributes of the organizer are its ability to exert an inductive influence ...