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Nature 393, 737-739 (25 June 1998) | doi:10.1038/31593

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Developmental biology:  SMAD proteins and mammalian anatomy

Rik Derynck1

How does the mammalian body plan, with its different anatomical structures and varied tissues, arise during development? The patterns and anatomical changes that occur have been well described, but the cell-made factors and signalling mechanisms that drive these changes have been more elusive.

  1. Rik Derynck is in the Departments of Growth and Development, and of Anatomy, Programs in Cell Biology and Developmental Biology, University of California at San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0640, USA.
    e-mail: Email: derynck@itsa.ucsf.edu