Syllabus
- General embryology: fertilization, cleavage of the ovum, blastogenesis, implantation, development of embryoblast, bilaminar germ disc, trilaminar germ disc, notogenesis.
- Periods of intrauterine life and changes of embryonic and fetal external appearance.
- Development of tissue systems and body cavities
- Development of skeletal and muscle systems, development of limbs. Development of coelom and diaphragm.
- Development of fetal membranes and placenta
- Development of trophoblast, fetal membranes, placenta, twin pregnancy.
- Molecular aspects of development: introduction to developmental biology. Genes in development. Gene expression during development. Developmental programs and regulation elements in DNA and RNA. Cell signalization pathways and network. Cell interaction. Basic cell mode: division, differentiation and death.
- Ontogenesis: morphogenetic processes. Mosaic and regulative embryos. Maternal and zygotic genes, homeobox genes. Ontogenesis regulation. Model organisms.
- Organogenesis of circulatory and lymphatic systems: development of the heart, arteries and veins, primitive and fetal circulation, circulatory changes at birth, development of lymphoid vessels and organs.
- Organogenesis of digestive and respiratory systems: development of the face, oral and nasal cavities and teeth, primitive gut and its development, pharyngeal gut, development of glands associated with the digestive tract, development of respiratory organs, stages of the lung development.
- Organogenesis of urinary and genital systems: development of the intermediate mesoderm, pronephros, mesonephros, metanephros - permanent kidney, development of urinary passages, development of testes and ovaries, development of male and female genital ducts, development of external genitalia.
- Organogenesis of nervous and endocrine systems: neurulation, histogenesis of the neural tube, primitive brain vesicles, development of the spinal cord and brain, development of the peripheral nerves, development of the endocrine organs.
- Organogenesis of sense organs and skin: development of the eye and ear, development of the olfactory epithelium, developmental stages of the skin.
- Embryonic cloning and stem cells: therapeutic cloning, transgenic organisms, knockout and knockin. Regulative and mosaic development. Preimplantation diagnosis.
- Teratogenesis: etiology of birth defects, prenatal extinction, development aberrations. Critical period and period of sensitivity, developmental toxicity manifestations. Relation between mutagenesis and teratogenesis. Proved human teratogens.
- Programmed cell death and its regulation: apoptosis. Neutrophins. Regulators, adaptors and effectors of apoptotic pathways. Caspases.
- Biology of aging: longevity, genetic nature of aging, genes controlling aging. Mitochondrial interaction. Diet restriction. Free radicals. Developmental biology and human diseases.
Annotation
Gametogenesis, preembryonic and embryonic periods, morphogenesis of organ systems.
Molecular aspects of development, ontogenesis, cloning, stem cells, teratogenesis, apoptosis, aging.