Molecular regulation of visual system development: more than meets the eye

  1. Takayuki Harada1,2,
  2. Chikako Harada1,2, and
  3. Luis F. Parada1,3
  1. 1 Department of Developmental Biology and Kent Waldrep Foundation Center for Basic Neuroscience Research on Nerve Growth and Regeneration, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas 75235, USA;
  2. 2 Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Tokyo Metropolitan Institute for Neuroscience, Fuchu, Tokyo 183-8526, Japan

Abstract

Vertebrate eye development has been an excellent model system to investigate basic concepts of developmental biology ranging from mechanisms of tissue induction to the complex patterning and bidimensional orientation of the highly specialized retina. Recent advances have shed light on the interplay between numerous transcriptional networks and growth factors that are involved in the specific stages of retinogenesis, optic nerve formation, and topographic mapping. In this review, we summarize this recent progress on the molecular mechanisms underlying the development of the eye, visual system, and embryonic tumors that arise in the optic system.

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