| | Axis Elongation (Site not responding. Last check: 2007-11-03) |
 | | During early development, several morphogenetic motors have been shown to contribute to axial elongation in Xenopus, including epiboly by radial intercalation, convergent exttension by mediolateral intercalation, and autonomous elongation of ventral tissues. |
 | | We have recently used targeted injections, tissue explants, and grafting experiments to demonstrate a role for non-canonical Wnt signals in coordinating mediolateral intercalations in both mesoderm and ectoderm. |
 | | A serendiptious finding from these experiments was that neural and mesodermal convergent extension are cooperative in nature, such that a failure of neural elongation secondarily inhibits the elongation of the mesoderm. |
| www.bio.utexas.edu /faculty/wallingford/Pages/axelo.html (148 words) |