Local homeoprotein diffusion can stabilize boundaries generated by graded positional cues.

ABSTRACT: Boundary formation in the developing neuroepithelium decides on the position and size of compartments in the adult nervous system. In this study, we start from the French Flag model proposed by Lewis Wolpert, in which boundaries are formed through the combination of morphogen diffusion and of thresholds in cell responses. In contemporary terms, a response is characterized by the expression of cell-autonomous transcription factors, very often of the homeoprotein family. Theoretical studies suggest that this sole mechanism results in the formation of boundaries of imprecise shapes and positions. Alan Turing, on the other hand, proposed a model whereby two morphogens that exhibit self-activation and reciprocal inhibition, and are uniformly distributed and diffuse at different rates lead to th

SUBMITTER: Quininao C 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5207310 | biostudies-literature | 2015 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature