Developmental stalling
11 Jan 2012 by Evoluted New Media
A whole host of things can go wrong during embryogenesis, but a team of researchers believe a novel mechanism might stall the development of human embryos to allow birth defect to be corrected naturally.
The team – from King’s College London’s Dental Institute – have termed this mechanism developmental stalling. They demonstrated that the BMP pathway – a key developmental pathway – is responsible for ensuring organs correct themselves when growing abnormally in the womb.
They looked at different shaped teeth in developing mice embryos, generating a mutation in a gene called Barx1 which is expressed during the development of molar teeth. The loss of Barx1 function didn’t result in any abnormal molars as expected, but it did stall development by 24 hours during embryogenesis.
“Developmental stalling may turn out to be a universal mechanism that allows developing tissues and organs to self-correct for any small errors in the complex signalling interactions that drive all developmental processes,” said Professor Paul Sharpe from the department of Craniofacial Development.
The BMP pathway is well-established as central to the developing embryo, and reduction in its activity caused the stalling. The activity then steadily rose during stalling to reach levels above the normal threshold, with molar development accelerating to catch up with the rest of the embryo.
The researcher believe this autonomous stalling might be a way for the embryo to correct errors in cell signalling that might otherwise lead to abnormal development and birth defects – which occur in 3-5% of human births.
“We now want to explore and understand the molecular mechanisms behind this process to enable us to see if this happens in the development of other organs,” Sharpe said. “If we can understand how it works, it will give us vital insights into the development of birth defects in humans.”
