Abstract
Morphogens are signalling molecules that act directly on cells to produce specific cellular responses. This term was originally put forward by Turing (1952) who also described its chemical basis. Most of these secreted proteins signal between the cells. Wolpert (1969) first reported a role of morphogen in cell signalling. The roles of several morphogens (e.g., Transforming Growth Factor- (TGF- ), Hedgehog/ Sonic Hedgehog, Wingless (Wnt) signalling, Epidermal Growth Factor (EGF), Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF), and Retinoic Acid (RA) in signal transduction have been studied by scientists in several cell lineages. Assoian et al. (1983) identified major storage sites of TGF- in human platelets. Xie et al. (2003) showed expression of TGF- regulated gene in a mouse mammary gland epithelial cell line. Iwasaki et al. (2000) reported that EGF stimulates growth of vascular smooth muscles that may be involved in genesis of human vascular disease. RA acts as a ligand and diffusible morphogen, the distribution and levels of which are well controlled in embryonic tissues by its regulated synthesis and breakdown. The occurrence of RA signalling in
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