Multiscale computational analysis of Xenopus laevis morphogenesis reveals key insights of systems-level behavior.

Background: Tissue morphogenesis is a complex process whereby tissue structures self-assemble by the aggregate behaviors of independently acting cells responding to both intracellular and extracellular cues in their environment. During embryonic development, morphogenesis is particularly important for organizing cells into tissues, and although key regulatory events of this process are well studied in isolation, a number of important systems-level questions remain unanswered. This is due, in part, to a lack of integrative tools that enable the coupling of biological phenomena across spatial and temporal scales.

Campylobacter jejuni-induced cytokine responses in avian cells.

Campylobacter jejuni is a major cause of human inflammatory enteritis. During the course of human disease numerous proinflammatory cytokines are produced. Little is known, however, about the cytokine responses produced during the interaction of this bacterium with the avian host.