October 24, 2010

Overview of gland

Dr. Jeff Chi-feng Hsu of the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research devised a method to watch the movement of epithelial cells in the developing gland labeled with green fluorescent protein. Using a red dye to identify spaces between cells, he could directly follow how the clefts formed. Here is a time lapse video of the cleft process in the salivary gland and the branching of new tissue.