Content (Syllabus outline)
- Developmental biology and anatomical tradition. Evolutionary embryology. Medical embryology and teratology.
- Life cycle and evolution of developmental patterns. Developmental patterns of metazoans. Protostomes and Deuterostomes.
- Principles of experimental embryology. Developmental dynamics and cell specifications.
- Paradigm of the differential gene expression. Differential gene activity and control of development.
- Communication between cells in the developmental process. Induction and competence. Paracrine factors. Cell’ death in early development.
- Early embryo development. Primordial germinal cells. Oogenesis and Spermatogenesis in certain types of Invertebrates and Vertebrates.
- Fertilization - the emergence of a new organism. Recognition of sperm and egg. Binding of gametes and prevention of polispermy. Activation of the egg metabolism.
- The formation of the body axis. Origin and specification of germinal layers. Neural induction and formation of the organizer. Insects’ body plan - Drosophila melanogaster, the specification of body axes. Cleavage, gastrulation in sea-urchins, nematodes, insects and tunicates.
- Cleavage in Vertebrates. Cleavages and embryonic mechanisms in fishes, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals.
- Gastrulation in Vertebrates. Cell movement. Recognition and connection of embryonic cells. Patterns of gastrulation. Modes of cell’s migration through the early embryo.
- Neurulation and differentiation of ectoderm. Primary embryonic induction. Morphogenesis and tissue architecture of the central nervous system. The mechanism of neural tube formation.
- Embryonic development of the eye and the inner ear. Inductive interactions in the early development of sensory organs.
- Differentiation of sensory epithelia of the inner ear. Differentiation of the retina, lens and cornea.
- Neural crest and its derivatives. Migration routes of neural crest cells.
- Development of mesoderm. Mesoderm differentiation and development of gonads, excretory organs, circulatory system, heart, somites and lateral plates.
- Growth and postembryonic development.
- The influence of environment on early development. Environment as part of normal development.
- Modification of the development in evolution. Evolution of the HOX complex. Diversification of body plans
- Model organisms: fruit flies - Drosophilla melanogaster, nematodes - Caenorhabditis elegans, zebrafish – Danio reiro, amphibians - Xenopus laevis, birds - chicken, mammals - mouse.
Prerequisites
Prerequisites for inclusion in the work:
· enrolment in the appropriate academic year