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The zinc finger gene Xblimp1 controls anterior endomesodermal cell fate in Spemann's organizer
F S de Souza1, V Gawantka, A P Gómez
1Division of Molecular Embryology, Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum, Im Neuenheimer Feld 280, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Abstract:
The anterior endomesoderm of the early Xenopus gastrula is a part of Spemann's organizer and is important for head induction. Here we describe Xblimp1, which encodes a zinc finger transcriptional repressor expressed in the anterior endomesoderm. Xblimp1 represses trunk mesoderm and induces anterior endomesoderm in a cooperative manner with the pan-endodermal gene Mix.1. Furthermore, Xblimp1 can cooperate with the BMP inhibitor chordin to induce ectopic heads, while a dominant-negative Xblimp1 inhibits head formation. The head inducer cerberus is positively regulated by Xblimp1 and is able to rescue microcephalic embryos caused by dominant-negative Xblimp1. Our results indicate that Xblimp1 is required for anterior endomesodermal cell fate and head induction.