Skin is the largest organ in the body that protects the organism from environmental, chemical and physical traumas of each passing day. The protective skin epidermal permeability barrier (EPB) is formed within the exterior layers of the epidermis, which are regularly sloughed off and repopulated by movement of inner cells....
Background: Heart morphogenesis involves chamber formation followed by septation. Septation is the remodeling of the heart from a single channel peristaltic pump to a two channel pump with one-way valves. Several transcription factors have been implicated in the development of congenital cardiac defects. The paired-like homeodomain transcription factor Pitx2 has...
Homeodomain transcription factors control developmental processes. They pattern body formation, specify cell lineages and switch the onset of gene regulatory cascades. Pitx2, a bicoid-related homeodomain transcription factor, is asymmetrically expressed in the left lateral plate mesoderm and mesoderm-derived tissues. Pitx2 null mice are characterized by failure of body wall closure,...