Hedgehog family of signaling proteins are pivotal for growth, patterning, and morphogenesis during embryonic development of vertebrates and many invertebrates. The hedgehog signaling pathway is one of the key regulators of animal development conserved from flies to humans. The Drosophila hedgehog gene was identified as one of several genes important for creating the differences between the anterior and posterior parts of individual body segments in the famous genetic screen of Nusslein-Volhard and Eric Wieschaus during late 70’s. It was named Hedgehog because a larva which lacked this protein completely …

Last issue of current biology reports an exciting find from the lab of Konrad Basler in Zurich ,where they demonstrate Transcription in the Absence of Histone H3.3. Normally methylation of histone H3 lysine 4 (H3K4me2 and H3K4me3) are indications of chromatin at active genes.Martina Hödl and Konrad Basler looked into this aspect into more details by by replacing wild-type H3.3 with a mutant form (H3.3K4A) that cannot be methylated. Studying the effects of mutant form of H3.3K4A in Drosophila ,authors looked into the transcription output in response to different signaling …

Signaling pathways play crucial role in pattern formation and cross talk between different pathways forms an important aspect of developmental biology. During early embryogenesis ,cells are exposed to various multitude of growth factors,which will be put together to generate a particular cell differentiation decision. Wingless/wnt and dpp/BMP pathways are widely studied for their roles in various aspects of developmental biology.Dpp is the Drosophila homolog of the vertebrate bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), which are members of the TGF-β superfamily.

Researchers have always puzzled for ages over how some animals can regenerate their lost or damaged body parts. It all began way back in 1740 when Swiss researcher Abraham Trembley observed that hydra-when chopped into two pieces could remarkably grow back into two complete, new organisms. However not all animals have same capacity of regeneration , for instance the planarians (flat worms) can be cut into 50 pieces and you will end up with 50 smaller worms and same can be said about beautiful star fishes, If an arm …

In their ongoing study of the processes involved in embryonic development in fruit flies, researchers at WPI’s Life Sciences and Bioengineering Center at Gateway Park have identified the function of a protein that sticks out of the embryonic cell membrane like an antenna and processes signals needed for the flies’ wings to develop properly.
After fertilization, cells must send and receive signals that instruct them how and when to specialize and build all the tissues that comprise the adult organism. This requires a complex system of communication, both within each cell …

Signal transduction pathways play a pivotal role in growth and patterning various tissues in animals and some of these pathways are very much conserved in evolution from Sponges to Humans. Wnt/Wingless (Wg) and TGFβ/BMP/dpp are perfect examples of highly conserved signaling pathways in evolution and any aberrant functioning of these vital pathways will lead to various cancers.To get more insights into aberrant development and cancers that results when regulation of signalling is disrupted, Esther M. Verheyen’s group studied the mechanism of interaction between Drosophila Wg and BMP signaling in which …

Pioneering work by Spemann and Mangold in early 1920’s on Salamanders ,where they transplanted a specific piece of embryonic tissue into another embryo resulting in a two headed Salamander.