x
Loading
+ -

Nanobodies from Camels Enable the Study of Organ Growth

Researchers at the Biozentrum of the University of Basel have developed a new technique using nanobodies. Employing the so-called “Morphotrap”, the distribution of the morphogen Dpp, which plays an important role in wing development, could be selectively manipulated and analyzed for the first time in the fruit fly. In the future, this tool may be applied for many further investigations of organ growth. The results of the study have been published in the current issue of “Nature”.

09 November 2015

Morphogenes

Morphogens are signaling molecules that ensure a correct growth in size and the right pattern of organs and body parts. The tissue concentration of these molecules is not uniform, but forms a gradient; the concentration becomes progressively lower as it diffuses from the location at which the morphogen is produced, outward, to the surrounding tissue. Depending on its concentration, the morphogen activates various genes that control the development of shape and size of a given tissue.

Further information

To top