Signaling pathways regulating ectodermal cell fate choices.
Although embryonic patterning and early development of the nervous system have been studied for decades, our understanding of how signals instruct ectodermal derivatives to acquire specific identities has only recently started to form a coherent picture. In this mini-review, we summarize recent findings and models of how a handful of well-known secreted signals influence progenitor cells in successive binary decisions to adopt various cell type specific differentiation programs.
Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, Oxford OX1 3PS, United Kingdom.
Cédric
C
Patthey
Umeå Centre for Molecular Medicine, Building 6M, 4th floor, Umeå University, S-901 87 Umeå, Sweden. Electronic address: lena.gunhaga@umu.se.
Lena
L
Gunhaga
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D019070:Cell Lineage; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D015398:Signal Transduction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*
BMP; Cell specification; Ectoderm; FGF; Neural crest; Placodes; Shh; Wnt