a chemical found in tissue that influences cell development during morphogenesis by forming a concentration gradient
morphogen in American English
(ˈmɔrfədʒən)
noun
a chemical substance that regulates morphogenesis
Examples of 'morphogen' in a sentence
morphogen
Morphogen gradients are established by the localized production and subsequent diffusion of signaling molecules.
Sven Bergmann, Oded Sandler, Hila Sberro, Sara Shnider, Eyal Schejter, Ben-Zion Shilo,Naama Barkai 2007, 'Pre-steady-state decoding of the Bicoid morphogen gradient.', PLoS Biologyhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1790957?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The above system and resource provide tools to study morphogen function in development.
Marcela Guzman-Ayala, Kian Leong Lee, Konstantinos J Mavrakis, Paraskevi Goggolidou,Dominic P Norris, Vasso Episkopou 2009, 'Graded Smad2/3 activation is converted directly into levels of target gene expressionin embryonic stem cells.', PLoS ONEhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC2627943?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
They are activated by maternal morphogen gradients encoded by bicoid (bcd) and caudal (cad).
Berta Verd, Anton Crombach, Johannes Jaeger 2017, 'Dynamic Maternal Gradients Control Timing and Shift-Rates for Drosophila Gap GeneExpression.', PLoS Computational Biologyhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5291410?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The high local morphogen concentration induces the growth of branching.
Hui Xu, Mingzhu Sun, Xin Zhao 2017, 'Turing mechanism underlying a branching model for lung morphogenesis.', PLoS ONEhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5380321?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Moreover, mutual repression dramatically enhances their robustness against embryo-to-embryo variations in the morphogen levels.
Thomas R Sokolowski, Thorsten Erdmann, Pieter Rein ten Wolde 2012, 'Mutual repression enhances the steepness and precision of gene expression boundaries.',PLoS Computational Biologyhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC3431325?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Yet, tools for temporally controlling morphogen signaling within the embryo are still scarce.
Keisuke Sako, Saurabh J. Pradhan, Vanessa Barone, Álvaro Inglés-Prieto, Patrick Müller,Verena Ruprecht, Daniel Čapek, Sanjeev Galande, Harald Janovjak, Carl-Philipp Heisenberg 2016, 'Optogenetic Control of Nodal Signaling Reveals a Temporal Pattern of Nodal SignalingRegulating Cell Fate Specification during Gastrulation', Cell Reportshttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124716307768. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
In this review, we will summarize the mechanisms of morphogen function during axon guidance in the vertebrate nervous system.
Evelyn Cecilia Avilés, Nicole Helen Wilson, Esther T. Stoeckli 2013, 'Sonic hedgehog and Wnt: antagonists in morphogenesis but collaborators in axon guidance',Frontiers in Cellular Neurosciencehttp://journal.frontiersin.org/Journal/10.3389/fncel.2013.00086/full. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Moreover, the essential molecular functions of them are cytokine activity, growth factor activity and morphogen activity.
Xiu-Ying He, Qi-Qin Dan, Fang Wang, Yu-Kai Li, Song-Jun Fu, Nan Zhao, Ting-Hua Wang,Ting-Hua Wang 2019, 'Protein Network Analysis of the Serum and Their Functional Implication in PatientsSubjected to Traumatic Brain Injury', Frontiers in Neurosciencehttps://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnins.2018.01049/full. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Comparison between these simulations reveals that maternal morphogen decay controls the timing and limits the rate of gap gene expression.
Berta Verd, Anton Crombach, Johannes Jaeger 2017, 'Dynamic Maternal Gradients Control Timing and Shift-Rates for Drosophila Gap GeneExpression.', PLoS Computational Biologyhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5291410?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)