Publication: Fetal ocular movements and retinal cell differentiation: analysis employing DNA microarrays
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Date
2006
Authors
Baguma-Nibasheka, M. ; Reddy, T. ; Abbas-Butt, A. ; Kablar, B.
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Publisher
Murcia : F. Hernández
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DOI
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info:eu-repo/semantics/article
Description
Abstract
As developmental biologists we study the
role of fetal movements in providing continuity between
prenatal and postnatal life. There are two major
categories of fetal motility. The first category consists of
movements that have an obvious effect on the survival or
development of the fetus (e.g., changes of position,
sucking and swallowing). The second category consists
of fetal movements that anticipate postnatal functions.
For example, fetal ocular movements (FOMs) predict
postnatal eye function (e.g., motion vision) of the
newborn and therefore represent an important indicator
of fetal health. However, while the clinical significance
of fetal motility is obvious, its biological significance is
elusive. We propose to use retina of genetically modified
mouse embryos to study the biological role of FOMs in
the genesis of cell diversity and organ functional
maturation. Our results have already demonstrated the
importance of fetal eye motility in the differentiation of
cholinergic amacrine cells (CACs) in the retina (Kablar,
2003). Apparently, these cells are sensitive to motion
and also responsible for motion vision. In the current
report, we suggest employing the unique opportunity
provided by the mouse Myf5-/-:MyoD-/- knock-outs that
lack skeletal musculature and FOMs, microarray analysis and the follow-up experiments to identify a
group of candidate genes that are essential for the
molecular regulation of CAC differentiation and in turn
for the functional maturation of the visual system
towards its ability to perform motion vision. Finally, the
molecules identified via this approach may be important
in the mechanochemical signal transduction pathways
employed during the process of conversion of a
mechanical stimulus into an instruction understandable
by the developing retinal neurons and glia cells.
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