Development of the digestive system Development of the digestive system The development of the digestive system concerns the epithelium of the digestive system and the parenchyma of its derivatives, which originate from the endoderm. Connective tissue, muscular components, and peritoneal components originate in the mesoderm. Different regions of the gut tube such as the esophagus, stomach, duodenum, etc. are specified by a retinoic acid gradient that causes transcription factors unique to each region to be expressed. Differentiation of the gut and its derivatives depends upon reciprocal interactions between the gut endoderm and its surrounding mesoderm. Hox genes in the mesoderm are induced by a Hedgehog
Whey Acidic Protein Whey Acidic Protein In molecular biology, the protein domain Whey acidic protein (WAP) has been identified as a major whey protein in milk and is important in regulating the proliferation of mammary epithelial cells. Additionally, its physiological function is thought to be similar to a protease inhibitor. It has been concluded, therefore, that WAP regulates the proliferation of mammary epithelial cells by preventing elastase-type serine proteases from carrying out laminin degradation and by suppressing the MAP kinase signal pathway in the cell cycle. Whey Acidic Protein(WAP) is the major milk protein in certain mammals. There are exceptions in some mammalian