Cell and Developmental Biology Commons^™

Mechanics Of Early Retina And Lens Development In The Embryo, Alina Oltean

McKelvey School of Engineering Theses & Dissertations

Mechanical forces play an essential role in morphogenesis, the shaping of embryonic structures. This research focuses mainly on eye development, a problem that has been studied for decades using a variety of approaches. However, the mechanics of the early stages of eye formation remain incompletely understood.

The embryonic eyes begin as bilateral protrusions called optic vesicles (OVs) that grow outward from the anterior end of the brain tube. The optic vesicles contact and adhere to the overlying surface ectoderm (SE) via extracellular matrix (ECM). Then, both layers thicken in the region of contact to form the retinal and lens placodes, …

The Role Of Sox4 In Regulating Choroid Fissure Closure And Retinal Neurogenesis, Wen Wen

Theses and Dissertations--Biology

The development of the vertebrate eye is tightly controlled by precise genetic regulations. From a single ocular primordium to bilateral eyes with complex structures and cell types, it requires intensive proliferation and migration for cells in both the ectoderm and mesoderm to accomplish ocular morphogenesis, and during this process cell differentiation and interaction takes place to establish the complex composition of ocular cell types and cellular connections. Genetic defects can lead to severe abnormalities in eye morphogenesis and cell differentiation during ocular development. A tremendous amount of work has been done to identify both intrinsic and extrinsic factors that regulate …