During gastrulation, Hox genes are activated in a timesequence that follows the order of the genes along their clusters. This property, which is observed in all animals that develop following a progressive rostral-to-caudal morphogenesis, is associated wit ...
The spinal cord is an elongated nervous structure that together with the brain forms the central nervous system. It relays sensory and motor information between the brain and the body, thus controlling most somatic and autonomic body functions. In recent y ...
BackgroundIt is generally accepted that most evolutionary transformations at the phenotype level are associated either with rearrangements of genomic regulatory elements, which control the activity of gene networks, or with changes in the amino acid conten ...
In vertebrate embryos, the elongating body axis is patterned via the sequential and rhyth-mic production of segments from a posterior unsegmented tissue called the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). This process is controlled by a population of cellular oscillator ...
Temporal activation of Hox genes in mouse pseudo-embryos in vitro initiates at the anterior part of the cluster and is accompanied by asymmetric loading of cohesin. Posterior CTCF sites then successively act as transient insulators, regulating the timed tr ...
Understanding how biological matter takes its shape is instrumental to biology, bioengineering, medicine, and bioinspired engineering. Gaining information on the principles of morphogenesis could enable clinicians to correct developmental abnormalities, ev ...
Planning and execution of voluntary movement depend on the contribution of distinct classes of neurons in primary motor and premotor areas. However, timing and pattern of activation of GABAergic cells during specific motor behaviors remain only partly unde ...
Locomotion is an essential evolutive innovation of living beings that allows them to colonize and dominate the planet. As diverse as animal morphologies are (living) and were (extinct), their locomotion modalities are also diverse. In particular, animal mo ...
The vertebrate axis is segmented into repetitive structures, the vertebrae. In fish, these segmented structures are thought to form from the paraxial mesoderm and the adjacent notochord. Recent work revealed an autonomous patterning mechanism in the zebraf ...
Despite a long history of research in motor control, the exact mechanism of how the brain communicates with the the invertebrate ventral nerve cord (VNC) and the vertebrate spinal cord on a single neuron basis remains largely elusive.
Drosophila melanogast ...
Somitogenesis is the rhythmic and sequential formation of somites, which are tissue blocks that give rise to segmented adult body structures including the vertebrae and associated muscle. Somite formation is controlled by the segmentation clock, a populati ...
The epileptic brain is the result of a sequence of events transforming normal neuronal populations into hyperexcitable networks supporting recurrent seizure generation. These modifications are known to induce fundamental alterations of circuit function and ...
Neurological disorders such as spinal cord injury (SCI) massively reduce independence and quality of life. Most often, the majority of the nervous system is still fully or partially spared, but dysfunctional due to aberrant or absent descending input from ...
Spinal cord injury (SCI) is a devastating condition characterized by loss of function, secondary to damaged spinal neurons, disrupted axonal connections, and myelin loss. Spontaneous recovery is limited, and there are no approved pharmaceutical treatments ...
Hox genes encode transcription factors (TFs) that establish morphological diversity in the developing embryo. The similar DNA-binding motifs of the various HOX TFs contrast with the wide-range of HOX-dependent genetic programs. The influence of the chromat ...
After spinal cord injury (SCI), the communication between the brain and spinal neural circuits below the lesion is disrupted, leading to paralysis. Epidural electrical stimulation (EES) of the lumbosacral spinal cord has been shown to restore locomotion an ...
The body axis of vertebrates is subdivided into repetitive compartments called somites, which give rise primarily to the segmented architecture of the musculoskeletal system in the adult body. Somites form in a sequential and rhythmic manner in embryos and ...
In humans, a severe spinal cord contusion interrupts the vast majority of supraspinal projections to the spinal cord below the lesion. Permanent paralysis results from the chronic failure of these spared projections to engage lumbar circuits producing leg ...
Spinal cord injury (SCI) disrupts communication within central nervous system and lead to range of neurological disorders including paralysis. Current rehabilitation strategies to restore locomotion are poorly effective in people with severe SCI. Epidural ...
Neuro-rehabilitative research is developing novel strategies to enhance the effectiveness of therapies after stroke by using a combination of physical and plasticizing treatments 1-3. Previous studies have shown that repeated optogenetics stimulation of ne ...