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Development ePress online publication date 28 Feb 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.000786
Primer
The Hes gene family: repressors and oscillators that orchestrate embryogenesis
Ryoichiro Kageyama*,
Toshiyuki Ohtsuka,
and
Taeko Kobayashi
* Author for correspondence (e-mail: rkageyam{at}virus.kyoto-u.ac.jp)
Embryogenesis involves orchestrated processes of cell proliferation and differentiation. The mammalian Hes basic helix-loop-helix repressor genes play central roles in these processes by maintaining progenitor cells in an undifferentiated state and by regulating binary cell fate decisions. Hes genes also display an oscillatory expression pattern and control the timing of biological events, such as somite segmentation. Many aspects of Hes expression are regulated by Notch signaling, which mediates cell-cell communication. This primer describes these pleiotropic roles of Hes genes in some developmental processes and aims to clarify the basic mechanism of how gene networks operate in vertebrate embryogenesis.
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© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007