Epithelial tubes are a fundamental tissue across the metazoan phyla and provide an
essential functional component of many of the major organs. Recent work in flies and …

Convergent extension is a fundamental morphogenetic process that underlies not only the
generation of the elongated vertebrate body plan from the initially radially symmetrical …

It is fundamentally important that signaling gradients provide positional information to govern
morphogenesis of multicellular organisms. Morphogen gradients can generate different cell …

In mammals, motile cilia cover many organs, such as fallopian tubes, respiratory tracts and
brain ventricles. The development and function of these organs critically depend on efficient …

Planar-cell-polarity (PCP) signalling is necessary for initiation of neural tube closure in
higher vertebrates. In mice with PCP gene mutations, a broad embryonic midline prevents …

Although a growing body of evidence supports that Wnt-Frizzled signaling controls axon
guidance from vertebrates to worms, whether and how this is mediated by planar cell …

Craniorachischisis is a rare but severe birth defect that results in a completely open neural
tube. Mouse mutants in planar cell polarity (PCP) signalling components have deficits in the …

The lungs are generated by branching morphogenesis as a result of reciprocal signalling
interactions between the epithelium and mesenchyme during development. Mutations that …

Neural tube defects (NTDs) are very frequent congenital abnormalities in humans. Recently,
we have documented independent association of Vangl1 and Vangl2 gene mutations with …

Experiments utilizing the Looptail mutant mouse, which harbors a missense mutation in the
vangl2 gene, have been essential for studies of planar polarity and linking the function of the …