Nature Research, Nature Genetics, 4(25), p. 368-369, 2000
DOI: 10.1038/78026
Full text: Unavailable
Each somite of the vertebrate embryonic body axis is subdivided into a rostral and a caudal half. Using elegantly designed mouse genetic experiments, a recent paper provides insight into the mechanisms that select between these two fates. Remarkably, both states require Notch activity, but the signal is transduced by a different pathway in each half.