Morphogenesis

Morphogenesis (from the Greek morphê shape and genesis creation) is one of three fundamental aspects of developmental biology along with the control of cell growth and cellular differentiation. Morphogenesis is concerned with the shapes of tissues, organs and entire organisms and the positions of the various specialized cell types. Cell growth and differentiation can take place in cell culture or inside of tumor cell masses without the normal morphogenesis that is seen in an intact organism. The study of morphogenesis involves an attempt to understand the processes that control the organized spatial distribution of cells that arises during the embryonic development of an organism and which give rise to the characteristic forms of tissues, organs and overall body anatomy. In the human embryo, the change from a cluster of nearly identical cells at the blastula stage to a post-gastrulation embryo with structured tissues and organs is controlled by the genetic "program" and can be modified by environmental factors.

Related Topics:
Greek - Developmental biology - Cell growth - Cellular differentiation - Organism - Tissue - Organ - Anatomy - Cell - Blastula - Gastrulation

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Some of the earliest ideas on how physical and mathematical processes and constraints affect biological growth were written by D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson and Alan Turing. These works postulated the presence of chemical signals and physico-chemical processes such as diffusion, activation and deactivation in cellular and organismic growth. The fuller understanding of the mechanisms involved in actual organisms required the discovery of DNA and the development of molecular biology and biochemistry.

Related Topics:
D'Arcy Wentworth Thompson - Alan Turing - DNA - Molecular biology - Biochemistry

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Several types of molecules are particularly important during morphogenesis. Morphogens are soluble molecules that can diffuse and carry signals that control cell differentiation decisions in a concentration-dependent fashion. Morphogens typically act through binding to specific protein receptors. An important class of molecules involved in morphogenesis are transcription factor proteins that determine the fate of cells by interacting with DNA. These can be coded for by master regulatory genes and either activate or deactivate the transcription of other genes and, in turn, these secondary gene products can regulate the expression of still other genes in a regulatory cascade. Another class of molecules involved in morphogenesis are molecules that control cell adhesion. For example, during gastrulation clumps of stem cells switch off their cell-to-cell adhesion, become migratory, and take up new positions with an embryo where they again activate specific cell adhesion proteins and form new tissues and organs. Several examples that illustrate the roles of morphogens, transcription factors and cell adhesion molecules in morphogenesis are discussed below.

Related Topics:
Morphogen - Receptor - DNA - Gene - Transcription - Cell adhesion - Stem cell - Transcription factor

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