Morphogens 2 Flashcards
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - What model organism was used in this paper?
Zebrafish.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - What made zebrafish a good model organism to use in this study?
Short generation time. Transparency during development was also essential for visualization of neural cell migration.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - How did the authors image the zebrafish during development (name of method)?
In-toto live imaging of the transparent developing zebrafish.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - What was the underlying hypothesis of the paper?
Neural progenitor cells are specified independently of Shh signalling and then arranged into a functional pattern via cell sorting.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - Describe the main message of the paper.
Interspersed progenitor cells specified early in neural tube development slowly resolve into distinct regions over time.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - What molecular mechanism did the authors propose mediated progenitor cell sorting?
Cell-cell adhesion, likely mediated by several adhesion molecules (ex: Cdh2 or Mnx2a).
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - How did the authors accomplish loss of function in their experiments?
They knocked down genes with antisense morpholinos as dominant-negative versions of the target gene.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - What is cyclopamine? How was it used in the paper?
It is an Shh inhibitor. The authors used it to determine at which stages Shh signalling is required for cell specification.
Xiong et al. (2013): Neural progenitor sorting - Using cyclopamine to inhibit Shh, what did the authors infer about the timing of Shh signalling?
Shh is required early on to specify motor neuron fate, but later inhibition only has a mild effect.
