title: Developmental tumours, early differentiation and the transforming growth factor beta superfamily.
abstract: Embryonal carcinoma and embryonic stem cells have been very useful models for identifying some of the factors that regulate differentiation in early mammalian development. Here, we present a brief history of their original isolation and characterization and of their later introduction into the Hubrecht Laboratory. We illustrate in a review their contribution to our current understanding of the function of transforming growth factor beta and ligands binding to the receptors of a related factor, activin, in development with some of our own work.
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Laboratory, Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology, Utrecht. christin@niob.knaw.nl
authors.forename: C L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Mummery
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: van den Eijnden-van Raaij
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D010064:Embryo Implantation / Q000502:physiology; D005260:Female; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006801:Humans; D051379:Mice; D005810:Multigene Family; D009373:Neoplasms, Germ Cell and Embryonal; D011247:Pregnancy; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism*; D014407:Tumor Cells, Cultured
chemical_list: D016212:Transforming Growth Factor beta