Research reveals clues to the formation of hearts, intestines and other key organs
August 9, 2011 in Medical research
How do the intestines in tiny birds or large mammals form intricate looping patterns? How do hearts and vascular systems form? Why do some large dog breeds succumb to gastric torsion while others don't? Newly released research co-authored by a Cornell University assistant professor provides some key clues to these natural phenomena.
"This research gives us hints to looping morphogenesis, how organs form from a single tube to the rotating structure of intestines," said Natasza Kurpios, assistant professor of Molecular Medicine at the College of Veterinary Medicine at Cornell. Kurpios co-authored the study, "On the growth and form of the gut" in the current issue of Nature. Her co-authors are Thierry Savin, Amy E. Shyer, Patricial Florescu, Haiyi Liang, L. Mahadevan and Clifford J. Tabin, all of Harvard Medical School and Harvard University.
Kurpios and her co-authors developed a model that mimics how developing intestines in vertebrates form the characteristic looped pattern in the body cavity. That model not only provides a template for organ asymmetry; it also could lead to better diagnosis of veterinary and human maladies such as malrotation of the intestines in babies and gastric torsion in large-breed dogs such as Labrador retrievers. "By understanding the patterns of loops, we could better identify and more accurately diagnose these conditions," Kurpios said. "This also gives us hints to the formation of other organs, such as the heart and the vascular system."
Provided by
Cornell University
-
Blood vessel cells are instructed to form tube-like structures
Aug 29, 2008 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Landmark study reveals breed-specific causes of death in dogs
Apr 19, 2011 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Researchers Genetically Link Lou Gehrig's Disease in Humans to Dog Disease
Jan 22, 2009 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Researcher to Study Dog Genome for Clues to Lymphoma in Humans
Nov 20, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Cornell scientists link E. coli bacteria to Crohn's disease
Aug 08, 2007 |
not rated yet |
0
-
Motion perception revisited: High Phi effect challenges established motion perception assumptions
Apr 23, 2013 |
3 / 5 (2) |
2
-
Anything you can do I can do better: Neuromolecular foundations of the superiority illusion (Update)
Apr 02, 2013 |
4.5 / 5 (11) |
5
-
The visual system as economist: Neural resource allocation in visual adaptation
Mar 30, 2013 |
5 / 5 (2) |
9
-
Separate lives: Neuronal and organismal lifespans decoupled
Mar 27, 2013 |
4.9 / 5 (8) |
0
-
Sizing things up: The evolutionary neurobiology of scale invariance
Feb 28, 2013 |
4.8 / 5 (10) |
14
-
Pressure-volume curve: Elastic Recoil Pressure don't make sense
May 18, 2013
-
If you became brain-dead, would you want them to pull the plug?
May 17, 2013
-
MRI bill question
May 15, 2013
-
Ratio of Hydrogen of Oxygen in Dessicated Animal Protein
May 13, 2013
-
Alcohol and acetaminophen
May 13, 2013
-
Marie Curie's leukemia
May 13, 2013
- More from Physics Forums - Medical Sciences
More news stories
New study finds blind people have the potential to use their 'inner bat' to locate objects
New research from the University of Southampton has shown that blind and visually impaired people have the potential to use echolocation, similar to that used by bats and dolphins, to determine the location of an object.
Medical research
15 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Germ-fighting vaccine system makes great strides in delivery
A novel vaccine study from South Dakota State University (SDSU) will headline the groundbreaking research that will be unveiled at the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists' (AAPS) National Biotechnology Conference ...
Medical research
37 minutes ago |
not rated yet |
0
Discovery of novel medicine for treatment of chronic wounds
Every 20 seconds, a limb is lost as a consequence of diabetic foot ulcer that does not heal. To date, medical solutions that can change this situation are very limited. In his doctoral thesis Yue Shen from the Industrial ...
Medical research
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
Lymphatic fluid takes detour
When tumours metastasise, they can block lymphatic vessels, as researchers from ETH Zurich have discovered using a new method. The lymphatic fluid subsequently has to find a new path through the tissue. Such ...
Medical research
5 hours ago |
not rated yet |
0
|
Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images
In their quest to learn more about the variability of cells between and within tissues, biomedical scientists have devised tools capable of simultaneously measuring dozens of characteristics of individual ...
Medical research
23 hours ago |
5 / 5 (3) |
0
|
First long-term study reveals link between childhood ADHD and obesity
A new study conducted by researchers at the Child Study Center at NYU Langone Medical Center found men diagnosed as children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) were twice as likely to be obese in a 33-year ...
Breakup of physician, drug company relationship could improve health care, cut cost
A new report suggests that improved health care and significant reductions in drug costs might be attained by breaking up the age-old relationship between physicians and drug company representatives who promote the newest, ...
Diabetes drug tested in Parkinson's disease patients
Parkinson's disease (PD) is a degenerative neurological disorder marked by a progressive loss of motor control. Despite intensive research, there are currently no approved therapies that have been demonstrated to alter the ...
Which women should be screened for high cholesterol?
National guidelines recommend that at-risk women be screened for elevated cholesterol levels to reduce their chances of developing cardiovascular disease. But who is 'at risk?' The results of a study by investigators ...
Women with severe injuries are less likely than men to be treated in a trauma center
Women are less likely than men to receive care in a trauma center after severe injury, according to a new study of almost 100,000 Canadian patients.
Neurons that can multitask greatly enhance the brain's computational power, study finds
Over the past few decades, neuroscientists have made much progress in mapping the brain by deciphering the functions of individual neurons that perform very specific tasks, such as recognizing the location ...