The world's first wiki where authorship really matters (Nature Genetics, 2008). Due credit and reputation for authors. Imagine a global collaborative knowledge base for original thoughts. Search thousands of articles and collaborate with scientists around the globe.

wikigene or wiki gene protein drug chemical gene disease author authorship tracking collaborative publishing evolutionary knowledge reputation system wiki2.0 global collaboration genes proteins drugs chemicals diseases compound
Hoffmann, R. A wiki for the life sciences where authorship matters. Nature Genetics (2008)
 
 
 
 
 

Brachyury is required for elongation and vasculogenesis in the murine allantois.

Mouse conceptuses homozygous for mutations in brachyury (T) exhibit a short, misshapen allantois that fails to fuse with the chorion. Ultimately, mutant embryos die during mid-gestation. In the 60 years since this discovery, the role of T in allantoic development has remained obscure. T protein was recently identified in several new sites during mouse gastrulation, including the core of the allantois, where its function is not known. Here, using molecular, genetic and classical techniques of embryology, we have investigated the role of T in allantoic development. Conceptuses homozygous for the T(Curtailed) (T(C)) mutation (T(C)/T(C)) exhibited allantoic dysmorphogenesis shortly after the allantoic bud formed. Diminution in allantoic cell number and proliferation was followed by cell death within the core. Fetal liver kinase (Flk1)-positive angioblasts were significantly decreased in T(C)/T(C) allantoises and did not coalesce into endothelial tubules, possibly as a result of the absence of platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule 1 ( Pecam1), whose spatiotemporal relationship to Flk1 suggested a role in patterning the umbilical vasculature. Remarkably, microsurgical perturbation of the wild-type allantoic core phenocopied the T(C)/T(C) vascularization defect, providing further support that an intact core is essential for vascularization. Last, abnormalities were observed in the T(C)/T(C) heart and yolk sac, recently reported sites of T localization. Our findings reveal that T is required to maintain the allantoic core, which is essential for allantoic elongation and vascular patterning. In addition, morphological defects in other extraembryonic and embryonic vascular organs suggest a global role for T in vascularization of the conceptus.[1]

References

 
WikiGenes - Universities