Main contributions
The study of the genetic control of embryogenesis in Vertebrates began to flourish in the eighties with the isolation of the first Hox gene in the amphibian Xenopus laevis (Carrasco et al., 1984). With the frog embryo as the main model, we have been dedicated to delve into the relationship between retinoids and Hox genes in the morphogenesis of the anterior-posterior axis (López et al., 1992, 1995). More recently, we extended our studies to Sonic Hedgehog and Notch signalling in relation to early neurogenesis and the development of the embryonic dorsal midline (Franco et al., 1999; Paganelli et al., 2001; López et al., 2003, 2005).

Lab Interest
Development is a complex process that integrates multiple cellular mechanisms such as differentiation, proliferation, programmed cell death and cell movements, which must be finely coordinated in space and time to achieve the proper array of cells, tissues and organs. We are particularly interested in how these processes are orchestrated and modulated by molecular signals to pattern and configure the shape and size of the central nervous system and the mesoderm during early development in Xenopus.