Journal
CURRENT OPINION IN GENETICS & DEVELOPMENT
Volume 17, Issue 4, Pages 264-271Publisher
CURRENT BIOLOGY LTD
DOI: 10.1016/j.gde.2007.05.010
Keywords
-
Categories
Funding
- NIGMS NIH HHS [R01 GM077407, R01 GM030637, R01 GM030637-25, R01 GM077407-02] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Protein morphogens are instructive signals that regulate growth and patterning of tissues and organs. They form long-range, dynamic gradients by moving from regions of high concentration (producing cells) to regions of low concentration (the adjacent, nonproducing developmental field). Since morphogen activity must be limited to the adjacent target field, we want to understand both how signaling proteins move and how their dispersion is restricted. We consider the variety of settings for long-range morphogen systems in Drosophila. In the early embryo, morphogens appear to disperse by free diffusion, and impermeable membranes physically constrain them. However, at later stages, containment is achieved without physical barriers. We argue that in the absence of constraining barriers, gradient-generating dispersion of morphogens cannot be achieved by passive diffusion and that other mechanisms for distribution must be considered.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available