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Editor's Corner
Letter from the Editor
Jamie Davies
volume 3 | issue 1
jan/feb/march 2007We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.
Welcome to Volume 3 of Organogenesis, the journal dedicated to the development, repair and regeneration of organs in humans and in other organisms. This issue includes papers that represent all of these topics.
The accurate control of cell differentiation is an essential aspect of organogenesis of all types. The conventional view of how differentiation is controlled focuses on proteins binding at promoters and enhancers. It is clear, though, that something more is required to ensure the accuracy and all-or-none response of the genome. In this issue, Thomas Andl provides an elegant analysis of the
roles of miRNAs in controlling transcription and in ensuring that differentiated states are entered cleanly and maintained accurately.
During organ development, differentiation proceeds hand-in-hand with morphogenetic processes that give tissues their structure. In this issue, Vincent Fleury et al. use an unconventional imaging technique to reveal a striking physical Śpre-pattern‚ for vascular development in the early embryo. As well as presenting this finding, the authors present a model in which this pre-pattern arises from the forces involved in significantly earlier events in development. If true, this model would introduce hitherto unsuspected restraints on evolution of post-gastrulation body form.
Two further papers, by Liezhen Fu et al. and by Liu Yi-Wen et al. integrate the processes of differentiation and morphogenesis to describe organ development in two Ślower‚ vertebrate species, one a fish and the other a frog. In both cases, the species used, as well as being interesting in their own right, serve as potentially useful models for human development and congenital disease.
The field of organ regeneration and replacement is represented well in this issue by Gesine Pless‚ review of the clinically-critical field of artificial and bio-artificial liver support, and by the paper of Kurt Stenn et al. on bioengineering hair follicles. Both contain valuable lessons for other systems.
Finally, our Śpreview‚ article for this issue describes a new international collaborative programme aimed at training young scientists in the field of stem-cell based organ regeneration. ŚPreview‚ articles are a forum in which organizers of large-scale research programmes can make others aware of their work as it is still on-going, and when fruitful collaborations can still be made. Anyone in charge of such a programme who might want to write a preview article is encouraged to e-mail any of the Editors.
Jamie Davies, Editor
Organogenesis
Authors
Jamie Davies
University of Edinburgh Medical School; Edinburgh; UK
We now provide open access to journal articles published online for one year or more. This article may be downloaded at the following link:
Download PDF If the document does not open, please right-click on the link (control-click on a Macintosh) and select the option to save the file to disk.