The caudal genes in vertebrates as in invertebrates assume a posterior position along the anterior-posterior axis and they appear to regulate the expression of the Hox genes. The third chicken caudal gene, Cdx-C, was cloned. Extensive comparisons of the sequence of this protein to the other known members of this homeobox family has lead to the suggestion that vertebrate genomes contain three me...

Noteworthy heterogeneity exists in the rare diseases associated with childhood glaucoma. Primary congenital glaucoma is mostly sporadic; however, 10% to 40% of cases are familial. CYP1B1 gene mutations seem to account for 87% of familial cases and 27% of sporadic cases. Childhood glaucoma is classified in primary and secondary congenital glaucoma, further divided as glaucoma arising in dysgenes...

The development of a vagina as a separate outlet of the birth canal evolves at the transition of egg laying species to eutherian mammals. The derivation of the vagina from the Wolffian and Müllerian ducts and the contribution of the urogenital sinus are still open questions. Here experiments with the complete androgen receptor defect in the testicular feminisation (Tfm) mouse are reported which...

Gasperini syndrome is a rare crossed brainstem syndrome characterized by ipsilateral impairment of the VI, VII, and occasionally VIII cranial nerves and contralateral sensory loss. The syndrome, initially described by Ubaldo Gasperini in 1912, results from a lesion of the caudal pons tegmentum (figure e-1, links.lww.com/WNL/A47). The most frequent cause is the occlusion of the long circumferent...

From the Department of Neurology, Arizona Health Sciences Center, University of Arizona. It seems remarkable that multiple sclerosis does not commonly cause a Horner's syndrome for this syndrome is a manifestation of many different disease processes which affect the caudal brainstem and cervical spinal cord, as does multiple sclerosis. Yet, a careful review of the literature detailing the clini...

During vertebrate embryonic development, the spinal cord is formed by the neural derivatives of a neuromesodermal population that is specified at early stages of development and which develops in concert with the caudal regression of the primitive streak. Several processes related to spinal cord specification and maturation are coupled to this caudal extension including neurogenesis, ventral pa...