Our research:

Our research focuses on the molecular genetics of antero-posterior (A-P) patterning during early development and axial elongation in the mouse embryo. We are particularly interested in the way positional information is acquired by nascent embryonic tissues during embryogenesis. We investigate how key players in A-P patterning, the homeobox-containing Hox genes and their regulator Cdx, relate to other major effectors of embryonic processes, from gastrulation on to late developmental stages. One of our research lines aims at understanding how the acquisition of A-P identity is coupled to the process of tissue generation itself, and to the mesoderm patterning event of segmentation. Several questions within this research program are integral parts of three Work Packages in this Network of Excellence “Cells into Organs”. They concern the responsiveness of 3’ to 5’ Hox genes to signaling influences exerted on the embryo during gastrulation, the link between Hox and Cdx gene expression and mesoderm generation and patterning (collaboration with F. Beck, Leicester and with M. Kmita and D. Duboule, Geneva), the molecular mechanisms and cellular behaviour driving caudal morphogenesis, and the role of putative posterior axial stem cells in this process (collaboration with V. Wilson, Edinburgh). An important question regarding the role of Cdx gene products in contributing to posterior axial extension, is whether or not these transcription factors exert their action via the Hox genes. This question is the subject of a collaborative project between Marie Kmita and Denis Duboule, and our group within this network.

For more details on the background of these research projects, go to: www.niob.knaw.nl/Deschamps.

 

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