Tendeng Christian
Vertebrate Development Laboratory, London Research Institute, Cancer Research UK, London WC2A 3PX, UK.
Birth Defects Res C Embryo Today. 2012 Jun;96(2):121-31. doi: 10.1002/bdrc.21008.
Good progress has been made in identifying key signaling molecules and explaining how they are used to generate spatial patterns during embryonic development. In contrast, little is known about the control of timing or how cells use time signals in the developing embryo. In this review, I describe how direct measurements from the embryo combined with mathematical modeling could bring new insights. To illustrate this point, I discuss three examples: the Dpp gradient during growth of the Drosophila wing imaginal disc; the Polycomb-based epigenetic silencing during vernalization in plants; and the Notch-dependent somite segmentation clock.
在识别关键信号分子以及解释它们如何在胚胎发育过程中用于生成空间模式方面已经取得了良好进展。相比之下，对于时间控制或细胞如何在发育中的胚胎中利用时间信号却知之甚少。在这篇综述中，我描述了胚胎的直接测量与数学建模相结合如何能带来新的见解。为说明这一点，我讨论三个例子：果蝇翅成虫盘生长过程中的Dpp梯度；植物春化过程中基于多梳蛋白的表观遗传沉默；以及Notch依赖的体节分割时钟。
