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Limbiting outgrowth: BMPs as negative regulators in limb development
Author(s) -
Dahn Randall D.,
Fallon John F.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199909)21:9<721::aid-bies3>3.0.co;2-#
Subject(s) - apical ectodermal ridge , limb development , bone morphogenetic protein , limb bud , biology , morphogenesis , zone of polarizing activity , vertebrate , anatomy , microbiology and biotechnology , neuroscience , genetics , embryo , ectoderm , embryogenesis , gene
Rapid progress is being made in understanding how integrated signaling pathways direct patterned outgrowth of the vertebrate limb. In contrast, the mechanisms that constrain limb outgrowth, and thus delimit adult morphology, remain poorly understood. Two recent pioneering reports have implicated bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) in negatively regulating the function of the apical ectodermal ridge (AER), an inductive structure required for continued proximodistal specification of limb elements. (1,2) These studies provide the first insights into how the termination of a limb bud signaling center is accomplished, and intriguingly suggest how distinct aspects of limb morphogenesis are regulated. BioEssays 21:721–725, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.