User:Boothra/Ectoderm Project Proposal

General Information
Group Members- Rachel Booth, Michael Hegarty, Tyler Popp

While the wikipage on ectoderm has provided a general definition of what the ectoderm is, our group hopes to enhance and add information to the article in order to present a much broader and more detailed explanation of the subject. Thus far, editors have characterized the ectoderm as a tissue residing in the early vertebrate embryo. They have described it as the most exterior layer of three primary germ layers and have included what the ectoderm further differentiates into as development continues.

The following topics reflect initial research on the ectoderm, and are the general categories the article will cover. We plan to include more information on how the ectoderm forms and differentiates, its role in embryonic development, the history of its research, current research, and diseases related to erratic ectoderm development.

Anticipated Division of Article
Each section has a primary writer who is most responsible for it. However, in order to ensure a cohesive article, we are all going to work on each section so that it does not appear quickly pasted together. The primary editors of each section are listed below.

-History of Research

-Ectoderm Differentiation- Michael

-Stages of Development

-Current Research

-Related Diseases-Michael

Preliminary References
Bessodes N, Haillot E, Duboc V, Röttinger E, Lahaye F, Lepage T. Reciprocal Signaling between the Ectoderm and a Mesendodermal Left-Right Organizer Directs Left-Right Determination in the Sea Urchin Embryo. PLoS Genet. 2012 Dec;8(12)

Gilbert, Scott F. Developmental Biology. 9th ed. Sunderland, MA: Sinauer Associates, 2010. Print.

Guerrini L, Costanzo A, Merlo GR (2011) A symphony of regulations centered on p63 to control development of ectoderm-derived structures. J Biomed Biotechnol 2011.

Lopez-Escobar B, De Felipe B, Sanchez-Alcazar JA, Sasaki T, Copp AJ, Ybot-Gonzalez P. Laminin and integrin expression in the ventral ectodermal ridge of the mouse embryo: implications for regulation of BMP signalling. Dev Dyn. 2012 Nov;241(11)

Surmacz B, Fox H, Gutteridge A, Lubitz S, Whiting P. Directing differentiation of human embryonic stem cells toward anterior neural ectoderm using small molecules. Stem Cells. 2012 Sep;30(9):1875-84.

Tripathi VB, Ishii Y, Abu-Elmagd MM, Scotting PJ. The surface ectoderm of the chick embryo exhibits dynamic variation in its response to neurogenic signals. Int. J. Dev. Biol. 2009;53:1023–33.

Yardley N, García-Castro MI. FGF signaling transforms non-neural ectoderm into neural crest. Dev Biol. 2012 Dec 15;372(2):166-77.