AOP 460: Antagonism of Smoothened receptor leading to orofacial clefting.

Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is a major intercellular signaling pathway involved in the orchestration of embryogenesis, including orofacial morphogenesis. The SHH pathway is sensitive to disruption, including both genetic predisposition and chemical-induced disruption at multiple molecular targets including antagonism of the SHH signal transducer Smoothened (SMO). Here we report the adverse outcome pathway (AOP) 460 describing the linkage between antagonism of the SMO receptor, a key intermediate in the hedgehog signaling, and orofacial clefts (OFCs).

Crowdsourcing AOP development: Leveraging the thesis literature review to identify knowledge gaps and facilitate research translation.

Chemical risk assessment still primarily relies on extrapolation of data from high-confidence studies. Emerging 21st Century Toxicology tools and approaches have potential to figure more prominently in chemical risk assessment, but many challenges in translating this research into assessments remain. One of these tools, the Adverse Outcome Pathway (AOP) Wiki provides a framework to map and evaluate adverse chemical dynamics, that is the biochemical and physiological effects that occur after chemical exposure.

The Asymmetry Within: A Renewed Look at Cupids Bow in Unilateral Cleft Lip.

The purpose of this study is to analyze the angular variations within Cupid's bow in patients with unoperated unilateral cleft lip (UCL). Angular features of Cupid's bow were quantified in standardized presurgical photographs of children with UCL by 5 medical professionals specializing in craniofacial anomalies. The peaks and valley of Cupid's bow were identified.

Engineering Epithelial-Mesenchymal Microtissues to Study Cell-Cell Interactions in Development.

Intercellular signaling drives human development, but there is a paucity of in vitro models that recapitulate important tissue architecture while remaining operationally simple and scalable. As an example, formation of the upper lip and palate requires the orchestrated proliferation and fusion of embryonic facial growth centers and is dependent on paracrine epithelial-mesenchymal signaling through multiple pathways including the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH), transforming growth factor-beta (Tgf-β), bone morphogenic protein (BMP), and epidermal growth factor (EGF) pathways. We have developed a robust, throughput-compatible microphysiological system to model intercellular signaling including epithelial-mesenchymal interactions that is useful for studying both normal and abnormal orofacial development.