The vertebrate head and face, one of the defining features of vertebrates, is an evolutionary novelty that enabled the major radiation of Vertebrata. The emergence of the multipotent neural crest cells, often mentioned as ...

Chromatin plays a vital role in the implementation of gene expression programs. Several disparate groups of regulatory proteins alter chromatin state through post-translational modification of histone proteins, nucleosome ...

Nodal signaling is one of the principal players in the process of gastrulation, during which the primary germ layers (endoderm, mesoderm, and ectoderm) are formed and organized in their proper locations. During my PhD I ...

The primary goal of this thesis was to characterize the embryonic limb progenitor, a cell type that populates the early limb bud during the onset of limb morphogenesis. Two features of the limb progenitor were explored 1) ...

In all eukaryotic cells, the genetic material is organized into a complex structure composed of DNA and protein: chromatin. Organization of chromatin structure in the nucleus influences all functions of the genome including ...

Abnormal accumulation of the cytoplasmic protein α-synuclein in vulnerable neurons and glial is a pathological hallmark of Parkinson’s disease, dementia with Lewy bodies and multiple system atrophy, collectively termed ...

In nature, microbes often need to decide which of many potential nutrients to consume. This decision-making process is complex, involving both intracellular constraints and the organism’s perception of the environment. ...

In the model organism Caenorhabditis elegans, double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) capable of silencing genes can be introduced anywhere in the animal and will subsequently travel throughout the body and enter most cells, including ...

Human leukocyte antigens (HLA) are important determinants of self-nonself immune recognition. HLA-G, uniquely expressed in the placenta, is believed to be key to fetus-induced immune tolerance during pregnancy. The ...

Metabolic disorders are a leading cause of morbidity and mortality, with gestational diabetes impacting embryogenesis. Intriguingly, children born to diabetic mothers have a higher risk of developing childhood leukemia, ...