title: Craniosynostosis: genes and mechanisms.
abstract: Enlargement of the skull vault occurs by appositional growth at the fibrous joints between the bones, termed cranial sutures. Relatively little is known about the developmental biology of this process, but genetically determined disorders of premature cranial suture fusion (craniosynostosis) provide one route to the identification of some of the key molecules involved. Mutations of the MSX2, FGFR1, FGFR2, FGFR3 and TWIST genes yield new insights, both into normal and abnormal cranial suture biogenesis and into problems of broad interest, such as the conservation of molecular pathways in development, and mechanisms of mutation and dominance.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Molecular Medicine, John Radcliffe Hospital, Oxford, UK. awilkie@worf.molbiol.ox.ac.uk
authors.forename: A O
authors.initials: AO
authors.lastname: Wilkie
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D003398:Craniosynostoses / Q000235:genetics* / Q000503:physiopathology; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D006801:Humans; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009154:Mutation; D009687:Nuclear Proteins / Q000235:genetics; D017354:Point Mutation; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1; D051497:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 2; D051498:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 3; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor / Q000235:genetics; D016415:Sequence Alignment; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C084119:MSX2 protein; D009687:Nuclear Proteins; D017468:Receptors, Fibroblast Growth Factor; C103173:TWIST1 protein, human; D014157:Transcription Factors; D051879:Twist-Related Protein 1; C496348:FGFR1 protein, human; C496353:FGFR2 protein, human; C496365:FGFR3 protein, human; D011505:Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases; D051496:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 1; D051497:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 2; D051498:Receptor, Fibroblast Growth Factor, Type 3