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Updated: Sep 30, 2026
Light-mediated Reversible Modulation of the Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Pathway during Cell Differentiation and Xenopus Embryonic Development
Published on: June 15, 2017
Interaction of the IP(3)-Ca(2+) and the FGF-MAPK signaling pathways in the Xenopus laevis embryo: a qualitative
José Díaz1, Gerold Baier, Gustavo Martínez-Mekler
1Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos, Av. Universidad 1001, Col. Chamilpa, Cuernavaca, Morelos, Mexico C.P. 62210. jdiaz@fis.unam.mx
Abstract:
In this work we propose that the animal-vegetal gradient spatial distribution of the IP(3) receptors observed in the Xenopus embryo can effect a uniform FGF inducting input signal, allowing for different modes of transcription of the Xbra gene, producing the differentiation of the cells of the marginal zone. We analyze this hypothesis with a model for the interaction of the calcium signaling system with the MAPK cascade during the FGF mesodermal induction process, consisting of five non-linear coupled differential equations. A numerical treatment of a one- and two-cell system shows that the calcium flux between cells enhances the Raf activity levels, leading to oscillatory behavior. This qualitative result may be of consequence for the expression of the ventralizing characteristics of the FGF inducting signal.
