Devlopmental Flashcards
(385 cards)
What are the two opposing theories for development?
Epigenesis: Progressive process where new structures are added slowly leading to the development of the whole organism.
Preformationism: organisms develop from miniature versions of themselves.
What is the germ plasm determinants theory?
Weismann: theory that ‘determinants’ get split up into cells unevenly as they divide. it is only the germ cels that contain all of the genome, and these self differentiate and give rise to somatic cells.
Roux experiment initially supported this mosaic determining of cell fate at cleavage, when ablate one of the two cells of the xenopus with a hot needle and still developed into a well formed half larva.
What is the induction theory?
One cell or tissue directs the development of another. Dreisch if divide blastomas at the two cell stage, and even 4 both will form a full sea urchin, just smaller.
Also Spemann and Mangold, grafting the dorsal lip of blastopore and inducing a second axis=organiser.
When cells are close vs when far apart?
Condensed vs dispersed
What does factor x do?
Negative feedback to inhibit proliferation.
Balance of stem cells is important why?
Too few: ageing and degeneration
Too much uncontrolled growth=cancer
Cell changes that cause morphogenesis?
Cell adhesion
Cell migration
Cell death e.g digits
Cell shape
Steps (single words) from Egg/stem cell to its final fate?
- Specification- early comittment, if transplant will likely change fate.
- Determination-more stable comittment, now if transplant will likely keep same fate.
- Differentiation
- Maturation- e.g. muscle fibres fast or slow depends on level of innervation they recieve.
Two opposing theories for embryo development between animals?
Haeckel’s Funnel theory: wrong- early all develop very simialrly then gives variety.
Von Baer’s hourglass model: Early v different e.g. gastrulation, then similar in middle section, before differentiating a lot more.
Instructive vs permissive?
Instructive: Instructs the fate e.g. tells the cell what action to do.
Permissive: Allows something to happen, e.g. already had some info e.g. a HOX gene, that is turned on to alter fate. (gives permission)
What is a morphogen?
Soluble secreted molecule acting at long distances to specify the fates of cells. Can form a concentration gradient.
Is a morphogen instructive or permissive?
Instructive.
How can test if the signal is a morphogen or not by working out if its instructive or permissive? (2)
Ectopic expression: Provide a second source of signal. If permissive the same patterning, if morphogen different fate, creating a mirror image for example.
e.g. Shh in chick wing, mirror digits.
Or make expression uniformly high, see if changes fates.
How can test if the signal is a morphogen or not by working out if it acts directly at distance? (2)
- Genetically engineer the signal to ahve a TMD so can only work juxtacrine signalling to the next cell. If put the morphogen in the first cell in a line, if bucket brigade this will work as normal, however if morphogen cant diffuse to other cells, no patterning of further down cells.
- Make one cell in the centre lack a receptor for the signal. If morphogen this one cell will not be patterned, if bucket brigade then won’t matter.
What is meant by a morphogen working directly at distance?
A gradient is created away from the source, which impacts the cells. If not may work in a Bucket brigade (chinese whispers) like way, signalling to the next cell.
As well as passive diffusion what else helps to establish the gradient of morphogens?
Binding to molecules in the ECM e.g. heparin sulfate proteoglycan, and if want a steep gradient, degradation over distance, and high conc of receptors to amplify the signal.
How can heparin sulfate proteoglycan regulate morphogen diffusion? (2)
Binds many ligands e.g. Sequestering and slowing BMP, or facillitating the diffusion of Hedgehog.
How can morphogens travel through cells?
Planar transcytosis.
Cell can endocytose into a pit coated vesicle
Evidence that morphogens travel through cells?
If block vesicle formation caused Dpp to ask juxtacrinely.
How does timing play a part in morphogen induction?
Poorly understood, but likely the receptors respond to the signal when it gets to a steady state.
Transcriptional read out model?
Higher conc of morphogen, leads to higher conc of activated transcription factor (moving it into the nucleus).
How else is the expression of genes controlled as well as concentration of morphogen (transcriptional read out model) lead to differential differentiation intrinsically and autonomously?
Affinity of enhancers
e.g. if receptors see only low levels of transcription factors and the enhancers have a low affinity definitely no transcription will happen, whereas if both high lots of transcription will occur. So two cells could see the same concentration of transcription factor but one could have the genes expressed if high affinity, whereas other not if has low affinity enhancers.
Name an example of a signal that is both a morphogen and a transcription factor?
Bicoid mRNA is localised at the anterior of the egg and is translated into protein during early embryogenesis. Bicoid protein then diffuses through the cytoplasm and accumulates in nuclei of the syncytial blastoderm generating a concentration gradient.
How else is the expression of genes controlled as well as concentration of morphogen (transcriptional read out model) lead to differential differentiation non-autonomously?
Negative feedback crosstalk
if one cells genes are activated, it can also code for a repressor and repress neighbouring cells, to create differences.