A diagnostic defect of Bptf embryos is an inability to form the DVE. In the absence of the DVE, the AVE cannot form preventing the necessary signals for the specification of the primitive streak. To further investigate the functions of NURF in the early embryo we focused on Smad mediated signaling pathways. Smad mediated signaling pathways are essential for the formation of the DVE in the embryo and the induction of mesoderm in differentiating ES cells, two prominent phenotypes of our in vivo and in vitro studies on Bptf [49],[50].
