The Vertebrate Embryo Clock: Common Players Dancing to a Different Beat

Overview

Journal Front Cell Dev Biol

Specialty Cell Biology

Date 2022 Aug 29

PMID 36036002

Authors

Gil Carraco

Ana P Martins-Jesus

Raquel P Andrade

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Vertebrate embryo somitogenesis is the earliest morphological manifestation of the characteristic patterned structure of the adult axial skeleton. Pairs of somites flanking the neural tube are formed periodically during early development, and the molecular mechanisms in temporal control of this early patterning event have been thoroughly studied. The discovery of a molecular Embryo Clock (EC) underlying the periodicity of somite formation shed light on the importance of gene expression dynamics for pattern formation. The EC is now known to be present in all vertebrate organisms studied and this mechanism was also described in limb development and stem cell differentiation. An outstanding question, however, remains unanswered: what sets the different EC paces observed in different organisms and tissues? This review aims to summarize the available knowledge regarding the pace of the EC, its regulation and experimental manipulation and to expose new questions that might help shed light on what is still to unveil.

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