Project description:The head represents the most complex part of the body and a distinctive feature of the vertebrate body plan. This intricate structure is assembled during embryonic development in the four-dimensional process of morphogenesis. The head integrates components of the central and peripheral nervous system, sensory organs, muscles, joints, glands, and other specialized tissues in the framework of a complexly shaped skull. The anterior part of the head is referred to as the face, and a broad spectrum of facial shapes across vertebrate species enables different feeding strategies, communication styles, and diverse specialized functions. The face formation starts early during embryonic development and is an enormously complex, multi-step process regulated on a genomic, molecular, and cellular level. In this review, we will discuss recent discoveries that revealed new aspects of facial morphogenesis from the time of the neural crest cell emergence till the formation of the chondrocranium, the primary design of the individual facial shape. We will focus on molecular mechanisms of cell fate specification, the role of individual and collective cell migration, the importance of dynamic and continuous cellular interactions, responses of cells and tissues to generated physical forces, and their morphogenetic outcomes. In the end, we will examine the spatiotemporal activity of signaling centers tightly regulating the release of signals inducing the formation of craniofacial skeletal elements. The existence of these centers and their regulation by enhancers represent one of the core morphogenetic mechanisms and might lay the foundations for intra- and inter-species facial variability.
Project description:Development of the human skull and face is a highly orchestrated and complex three-dimensional morphogenetic process, involving hundreds of genes controlling the coordinated patterning, proliferation and differentiation of tissues having multiple embryological origins. Craniofacial malformations that occur because of abnormal development (including cleft lip and/or palate, craniosynostosis and facial dysostoses), comprise over one-third of all congenital birth defects. High-throughput sequencing has recently led to the identification of many new causative disease genes and functional studies have clarified their mechanisms of action. We present recent findings in craniofacial genetics and discuss how this information together with developmental studies in animal models is helping to increase understanding of normal craniofacial development.
Project description:We introduce the Ontology of Craniofacial Development and Malformation (OCDM) as a mechanism for representing knowledge about craniofacial development and malformation, and for using that knowledge to facilitate integrating craniofacial data obtained via multiple techniques from multiple labs and at multiple levels of granularity. The OCDM is a project of the NIDCR-sponsored FaceBase Consortium, whose goal is to promote and enable research into the genetic and epigenetic causes of specific craniofacial abnormalities through the provision of publicly accessible, integrated craniofacial data. However, the OCDM should be usable for integrating any web-accessible craniofacial data, not just those data available through FaceBase. The OCDM is based on the Foundational Model of Anatomy (FMA), our comprehensive ontology of canonical human adult anatomy, and includes modules to represent adult and developmental craniofacial anatomy in both human and mouse, mappings between homologous structures in human and mouse, and associated malformations. We describe these modules, as well as prototype uses of the OCDM for integrating craniofacial data. By using the terms from the OCDM to annotate data, and by combining queries over the ontology with those over annotated data, it becomes possible to create "intelligent" queries that can, for example, find gene expression data obtained from mouse structures that are precursors to homologous human structures involved in malformations such as cleft lip. We suggest that the OCDM can be useful not only for integrating craniofacial data, but also for expressing new knowledge gained from analyzing the integrated data.
Project description:The eyes absent 1 protein (Eya1) plays an essential role in the development of various organs in both invertebrates and vertebrates. Mutations in the human EYA1 gene are linked to BOR (branchio-oto-renal) syndrome, characterized by kidney defects, hearing loss, and branchial arch anomalies. For a better understanding of Eya1's function, we have set out to identify new Eya1-interacting proteins. Here we report the identification of the related proteins Sipl1 (Shank-interacting protein-like 1) and Rbck1 (RBCC protein interacting with PKC1) as novel interaction partners of Eya1. We confirmed the interactions by glutathione S-transferase (GST) pulldown analysis and coimmunoprecipitation. A first mechanistic insight is provided by the demonstration that Sipl1 and Rbck1 enhance the function of Eya proteins to act as coactivators for the Six transcription factors. Using reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) and in situ hybridization, we show that Sipl1 and Rbck1 are coexpressed with Eya1 in several organs during embryogenesis of both the mouse and zebrafish. By morpholino-mediated knockdown, we demonstrate that the Sipl1 and Rbck1 orthologs are involved in different aspects of zebrafish development. In particular, knockdown of one Sipl1 ortholog as well as one Rbck1 ortholog led to a BOR syndrome-like phenotype, with characteristic defects in ear and branchial arch formation.
Project description:The RSK2 gene is responsible for Coffin-Lowry syndrome, an X-linked monogenic disease associating severe learning deficit andassociated to typical facial and digital abnormalities and skeletal changes. Craniofacial and dental anomalies encountered in this rare disease have been poorly characterized. In this study we explore, through X-Ray microtomographic analysis, the variable craniofacial dysmorphism and dental anomalies present in Rsk2 knockout mice, an animal model of Coffin-Lowry syndrome, as well as in triple Rsk1,2,3 knockout mutants. We report in these mutants the occurrence of a surpernumerary tooth mesial to the first molar. This highly penetrant phenotype is considered as a remnant of evolutionary lost teeth. This possibly leads to the significant reduction of the maxillary diastema. Abnormalities of molar shape were almost restricted to the mesial part of both upper and lower first molars (M1). We also report an expression analysis of the four Rsk genes (Rsk1, 2, 3 and 4) at various stages of odontogenesis in wild-type (WT) mice. Rsk2 was mainly expressed in the mesenchymal, neural crest derived compartment, correlating with proliferative areas of the developing teeth and consistent with a biological function of RSK2 in cell cycle control and cell growth, which when invalidated could be responsible for the dental phenotype. In an attempt to unravel the molecular pathways involved in the genesis of these dental defects, we performed a comparative transcriptomic (DNA microarray) analysis of mandibular wild-type versus Rsk2-/Y molars, and further demonstrated a misregulation of selected genes, using a Rsk2 shRNA knock-down strategy in molar tooth germs cultured in vitro.
Project description:As cone-beam computed tomography (CBCT) scans become increasingly common, it is vital to have reliable 3-dimensional (3D) landmarks for quantitative analysis of craniofacial skeletal morphology. While some studies have developed and used 3D landmarks, these landmark sets are generally small and derived primarily from previous 2-dimensional (2D) cephalometric landmarks. These derived landmarks lack information in parts of the skull such as the cranial base, which is an important feature for cranial growth and development. The authors see a real need for development and validation of 3D landmarks, particularly bilateral landmarks, across the skull for improved cephalometric analysis. The primary objective of this study is to develop and validate a set of 61 3D anatomical landmarks on the face, cranial base, mandible, and teeth for use in clinical and research studies involving CBCT imaging. Each landmark was placed 3 times by 3 separate trained observers on a set of 10 anonymized CBCT patient scans. Intra-rater and inter-rater estimates of consistency and agreement were calculated using the intraclass correlation coefficient. Measurement error was calculated per landmark and per X, Y, and Z landmark coordinate. The authors had high ICC estimates within rates, indicating high consistency, and high ICC estimates among raters, indicate good agreement across raters. Overall measurement error for each landmark and each X, Y, and Z coordinate was low. Our results confirm the accuracy of novel 3D landmarks including several on the cranial base that will serve researchers and clinicians for use in future studies involving 3D CBCT imaging and craniofacial development.
Project description:Cytokinins have been implicated in normal plant growth and development. These bioactive molecules are essential for cell production and expansion in higher plants. Carrot is an Apiaceae vegetable with great value and undergoes significant size changes over the process of plant growth. However, cytokinin accumulation and its potential roles in carrot growth have not been elucidated. To address this problem, carrot plants at five stages were collected, and morphological and anatomical characteristics and expression profiles of cytokinin-related genes were determined. During carrot growth and development, cytokinin levels were the highest at the second stage in the roots, whereas relatively stable levels were observed in the petioles and leaves. DcCYP735A2 showed high expression at stage 2 in the roots, which may contribute largely to the higher cytokinin level at this stage. However, expression of most metabolic genes did not follow a pattern similar to that of cytokinin accumulation, indicating that cytokinin biosynthesis was regulated through a complex network. Genes involved in cytokinin signal perception and transduction were also integrated to normal plant growth and development. The results from the present work suggested that cytokinins may regulate plant growth in a stage-dependent manner. Our work would shed novel insights into cytokinin accumulation and its potential roles during carrot growth. Further studies regarding carrot cytokinins may be achieved by modification of the genes involved in cytokinin biosynthesis, inactivation, and perception.