• FREE ARTICLE ACCESS

Journal Home Page on Wiley InterScience

The face is one of our most defining features as individuals within a population and also clearly characterises different vertebrate species. Not surprisingly, therefore, making a head is not simple and involves several tissues and tissue interactions, some of which are unique to this part of the embryonic body. There must be precisely coordinated to produce the correct structure at the right time and place. These steps include the generation and migration of cranial neural crest, epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that control cell survival/proliferation and outgrowth and finally inductive interactions that specify cell fate and identity. Changing any of these can alter the final characteristics of a face, defining a species. Also reflecting the complexity, the head is frequently affected during prenatal development either as a consequence of a teratogenic insult or as a component of human syndromes.

Here, we are very pleased to publish a series of articles, both reviews and original papers, that encompass many aspects of craniofacial development. These papers include articles on tissue and molecular interactions during head development and how these are altered, both temporally and spatially, in different vertebrate species. Considering alternative factors, one paper covers the influence of mechanical forces during prenatal development, which are also essential for normal postnatal growth. The collection of articles also examines how the distinct structures of the face and branchial arches, including teeth, bones, the ear, muscle, and the thyroid, develop. There are two techniques papers: one reports a method for purifying neural crest cells, whereas the other establishes for the first time RNAi techniques to determine the role of genes during tooth development. Given the frequency of craniofacial abnormalities, a number of articles further our understanding of craniofacial malformations, such as clefting and craniosynostosis. We are sure that these articles will prove useful and will set the stage for further challenging insights into how we make faces.

Philippa Francis-West

Guest Editor

These articles are provided free online by Wiley-Liss, Inc., the publishers of Developmental Dynamics, and the American Association of Anatomists, as a service to the scientific community.

Page updated September 7, 2006