The Vertebrate Organizer [Hardcover]

The organizer area plays a central role in the formation of the embryonic axis and the central nervous system of all vertebrates including the human fetus. In The Vertebrate Organizer, outstanding molecular development biologists and embryologists report their latest approaches in this fascinating research area using different vertebrate model organisms. The presented data is of central importance for the understanding of early human embryogenesis.

Part I: EARLY STEPS LEADING TO THE FORMATION OF THE ORGANIZER. Maternal VegT and b catenin: Patterning the Xenopus Blastula.- Short VS. Long range effcts of Spemanns Organizer.- Formation of the Endoderm in Xenopus.- Role of Fox genes during Xenopus embryogenesis. Part II: THE ROLE OF THE ORGANIZER. The Molecular Nature of Spemanns Organizer.- The community effect in Xenopus development.- Regulation of Spemanns organizer formation.- Transcriptional Repression in the Spemann Organizer and the Formation of Dorsal Mesoderm.- Wnt signals and antagonists: The molecular nature of Spemann's head organizer.- Basic helix-loop-helix proneural genes and neurogenesis in Xenopus embryos.- Organizer activities mediated by retinoic acid signaling.- Wnt signalling and regulation of gastrulation movements. Part III: THE ORGANIZER AND PATTERN FORMATION How Cell - Cell Adhesion Contributes To Early Embryonic Development.- Patterning Non-neural Ectoderm by Organizer-modulated Homeodomain Factors. Part IV: AXIS FORMATION AND ORGANOGENESIS. Embryonic body formation and organogenesis in amphibian development.- Organizing the eye.- A critical role for retinoid receptors in axial patterning and neuronal differentiation.- Molecular patterning of the embryonic brain.- Epidermal, neuronal and glial cell fate choice in the embryo.- Downstream of the Organizer: The Xenopus cement gland as a model for organ positioning and differentiation. Part V: ORGANIZER FORMATION IN DIFFERENT VERTEBRATES The organizlƒ/