New insights from zebrafish: the molecular and cellular base of thyroid development

Burkhard Alt; Dejan Adzic; Osama Elsalini; Klaus Rohr

S7.1

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Endocrine Abstracts (2007) 14 S7.1

ECE2007 Symposia Thyroid cell biology (4 abstracts)

New insights from zebrafish: the molecular and cellular base of thyroid development

Burkhard Alt , Dejan Adzic , Osama Elsalini & Klaus Rohr

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University of Köln, Institute for Developmental Biology, Köln, Germany.

Due to experimental advantages such as its rapid development, transparent embryos, and accessibility for genetic analysis as well as embryonic manipulation, the zebrafish is a useful model organism for research on organogenesis. My lab has established that the basic mechanisms of thyroid development are essentially conserved on the morphological as well as on the molecular level between fish and mammals. We use zebrafish to identify as yet unknown factors involved in thyroid development. In this talk, I will give an overview about new, unique approaches to understand thyroid development in zebrafish. I will touch different aspects such as genetics of early induction, the molecular base of cellular behaviour in primordial relocalisation, and morphogenesis of the gland. Concentrating on selected molecules, I will exemplify how research on zebrafish contributes to a general understanding of thyroid development that sheds new light on the causes of congenital hypothyroidism.