Overview
The series of events that pattern the vertebrate embryo may be considered proliferative, almost cancerous-like growth governed by strict developmental guidelines. These events rely on cell-cell communication and the transduction of signals across the plasma membrane of the receiving cell. Disrupting this signaling has dramatic and disastrous effects on many aspects of cell physiology including, but not limited to, cell-cell and cell-substrate interactions, cell polarity, endo- and exocytosis, migration, proliferation, and differentiation. The models that we use vary from mouse F9 embryonal carcinoma line, mouse embryonic stem cells to the zebrafish (Danio rerio) embryo. The biological phenomenon that piques my interest is the epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition, which is involved in normal embryonic development including Extraembryonic Endoderm formation, gastrulation and heart formation, as well in human disease conditions such as fibrosis and metastatic cancer.
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