Morphogen gradients

Morphogens are molecules who form concentration or activity gradients in embryos and developing tissues and affect gene expression in a concentration or activity-dependent manner. We are interested in the morphogens found in the very early fly embryo, which are proteins acting as transcription factors.

What are morphogens?

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How are morphogen gradients formed?

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How can we image morphogens?

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What kind of questions are addressed in the lab?

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Publications

Abu-Arish, A., Porcher, A., Czerwonka, A., Dostatni, N., Fradin, C. (2010). Fast mobility of Bicoid captured by fluorescence correlation spectroscopy: Implication for the rapid establishment of its gradient. Biophysical Journal, 99(4), L3-L4. doi:10.1016/j.bpj.2010.05.031 [Read]
Porcher, A., Abu-Arish, A., Huart, S., Roelens, B., Fradin C., Dostatni, N. (2010). The time to measure positional information: maternal Hunchback is required for the synchrony of the Bicoid transcriptional response at the onset of zygotic transcription. Development, 137(16), 2795-2804. doi:10.1242/dev.051300 [Read]