introduction: depending on mode, intensity and length of application, and stage of development, the low-frequency electromagnetic fields (lfes) can induce a wide variety of biological effects in organisms. the chick limb bud is a powerful experimental system for study pattern formation in vertebrate embryo. the aim of this study was to examine the effects of an application lfes (50hz, 50g) on c...

In the developing axial skeleton, sequential sonic hedgehog (SHH) and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) signals are required for specification of a chondrogenic fate in presomitic tissue. A similar paradigm is thought to operate in the limb, but the signals involved are unclear. To investigate the nature of these signals, we examined BMP action in mesenchymal populations derived from the early m...

Secondary lens formation from the cornea of larval Xenopus laevis has been used as a measure of the lens-inducing capacities of various larval Xenopus tissues. The experimental design employed involved implantation of selected body tissues between the inner and outer cornea of stage-50 tadpole eyes, in such a way that the integrity of the inner cornea and eye cup was not disrupted. Implantation...

Cytochrome P450 oxidoreductase (POR) is the obligate electron donor for all microsomal cytochrome P450 enzymes, which catalyze the metabolism of a wide spectrum of xenobiotic and endobiotic compounds. Point mutations in POR have been found recently in patients with Antley-Bixler-like syndrome, which includes limb skeletal defects. In order to study P450 function during limb and skeletal develop...

Conservationwithin intergenicDNAoftenhighlights regulatoryelements that control geneexpression froma long range.Howconservationwithin a single element relates to regulatory information and how internal composition relates to function is unknown. Here, we examine the structural featuresof thehighly conservedZRS (also calledMFCS1) cisregulator responsible for the spatiotemporal control of Shh in ...

Similar in body size, locomotor behaviour and morphology to the last common ancestor of Primates, living small quadrupedal primates provide a convenient model for investigating the evolution of primate locomotion. In this study, the hind limb kinematics of quadrupedal walking in mouse lemurs, brown lemurs, cotton-top tamarins and squirrel monkeys are analysed using cineradiography. The scaling ...

introduction: oxidative stress has been implicated in the pathogenesis of various diseases affecting chondrogenesis or the function of articular cartilage. the purpose of the present study was to find the effect of soybean extract on reduction of detoriation effects of oxidativestress in embryonic chondrogenesis in vitro. methods: in order to separate ectoderm from mesenchyme, the limb buds of ...

Most quadrupedal mammals support a larger amount of body weight on their forelimbs compared with their hind limbs during locomotion, whereas most primates support more of their body weight on their hind limbs. Increased hind limb weight support is generally interpreted as an adaptation that reduces stress on primates' highly mobile forelimb joints. Thus, increased hind limb weight support was l...

Scatter factor/hepatocyte growth factor (SF/HGF) is known to be involved in the detachment of myogenic precursor cells from the lateral dermomyotomes and their subsequent migration into the newly formed limb buds. As yet, however, nothing has been known about the role of the persistent expression of SF/HGF in the limb bud mesenchyme during later stages of limb bud development. To test for a pot...