Molecular Basis of Epithelial Appendage Morphogenesis: (1 Molecular Biology Intelligence Unit)

Epithelial appendages are the derivatives of the epithelial sheet. On the body surface they include hair, feathers, scales, claws, horns, sebaceous glands, et cetera. In the oral cavity, they include teeth and salivary glands. Inside the body the surfaces of the gut are covered with epithelial derivatives that line the stomach, small intestine and colon. Lung, pancreas and liver begin as epithelial derivatives of the endodermal tube. These organs are diverse in structure and function. However, is there a common theme underlying formation? This text identifies simple principles underlying the seemingly diverse phenomena of organ formation. Data accumulated so far suggests that most of the molecular mechanisms are shared in different organogenetic processes, in body acid construction, and even have their roots in Drosophila morphogenesis.

Table of Contents:
Part 1 Overview: morphogenesis of epithelial appendages -variations on top of a common theme and implications in regeneration, Cheng-Ming Chuong; ectodermal dysplasia - a synthesis between evolutionary, developmental and molecular biology and human clinical genetics, Harold C. Slavkin et al; why study hair follicles? a personal account, Margaret Hardy Fallding. Part 2 Morphogenesis of epithelial appendages on the body surface: variations of cutaneous appendages - regional specification and cross-species signals, Danielle Dhoually et al; feather morphogenesis - a model of the formation of epithelial appendages, Cheng-Ming Chuong and Randall B. Widelitz; principles of hair follicle morphogenesis, Michael Philpott and Ralf Paus; growth of the hair follicle - a cycling and regenerating biological system, Kurt Stenn et al; development of melanocytes from neural crest progenitors, Laure Lecoin et al. Part 3 Morphogenesis of epithelial appendages within the body: the teeth as models for studies on the molecular basis of the development and evolution of organs, Irma Tesleff and Johanna Pispa; epithelial-mesenchymal interactions in gastrointestinal development, Drucilla J. Roberts; endothermal appendage formation - morphogenetic mapping of dorso-ventral patterning of the anterior foregut and development of lung and thyroid primordia, Parviz Minoo et al; lung epithelial morphogenesis - integrated functions of transcriptional factors, peptide growth factors, extracellular matrix, physiological and environmental factors, David Warburton et al. Part 4 Molecular mechanisms: early molecular events in feather morphogenesis -induction and dermal condensation, Randall B. Widelitz and Cheng-Ming Chuong; signalling loops in the reciprocal epithelial-mesenchymal interactions of mammaliam tooth development, Yi-Ping Chen and Richard Mass; topobiology of the hair follicle - adhesion molecules as morphoregulatory signals during hair follicle morphogenesis, Sven Muller-Rover and Ralf Paus; late events and the regulation of keratinocyte differentiation in hair and feather follicles, George E. Rogers et al. Part 5 Models: epithelial morphogenesis - a physico-evolutionary interpretation, Stuart A. Newman; periodic pattern formation of feathers, Han-Sung Jung and Cheng-Ming Chuong; gene networks and supernetworks -evolutionarily conserved gene interactions, Alexander Noveen et al. Part 6 Approaches: current methods in the study of avian skin appendages, Ting-Xin Jiang et al; molecular biology of anhidrotic ectodermal dysplasia, Juha Kere; systemic approach to evaluation of mouse mutations with cutaneous appendage defects, John P. Sundberg et al.