ABSTRACT
In this chapter we cover developmental biology of murine development from the fertilized egg to lineage commitment and specifi cation of the three germ layers. Post-fertilization processes including pluripotency, pre-and post-implantation development and axis specifi cation are discussed in detail. We go on to discuss the role of the Tgf-β, Nodal, Activin, Bmp, Fgf and
1Stanford University School of Medicine, Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, 265 Campus Drive, Room G1105, Stanford, CA 94305-5454. 2National Institutes of Health, National Institute on Aging, Molecular Cardiology and Stem Cell Unit, 5600 Nathan Shock Drive, Baltimore, MD 21224. 3Stem Cell & Regenerative Medicine Consortium (SCRMC), LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam, Hong Kong, China. *Corresponding author: bohelerk@grc.nia.nih.gov
List of abbreviations after the text.
