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Generation of Dispersed Presomitic Mesoderm Cell Cultures for Imaging of the Zebrafish Segmentation Clock in Single Cells
Published on: July 24, 2014
Clock regulatory elements control cyclic expression of Lunatic fringe during somitogenesis
Susan E Cole1, John M Levorse, Shirley M Tilghman
1Department of Molecular Biology and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08544, USA.
Developmental Cell
|July 12, 2002
Summary
This study identifies specific regulatory elements controlling Lunatic fringe (Lfng) gene expression during somitogenesis. These elements ensure cyclic expression in the presomitic mesoderm and refined expression in developing somites, crucial for segmentation.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Molecular genetics
- Gene regulation
Background:
- Somitogenesis, the process of forming somites, relies on a segmentation clock and Notch signaling.
- Lunatic fringe (Lfng) gene expression patterns are critical for proper somite segmentation.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify and characterize cis-acting regulatory elements governing Lfng expression during somitogenesis.
- To elucidate the molecular mechanisms controlling cyclic Lfng expression in the posterior presomitic mesoderm (PSM) and its refined expression in segmenting somites.
Main Methods:
- Identification of distinct cis-acting regulatory elements for Lfng.
- Mutational analysis of E boxes within the Fringe clock element 1 (FCE1).
- Analysis of Lfng regulatory regions directing expression in the developing somite.
Main Results:
- A conserved 110 bp region, FCE1, is essential for cyclic Lfng RNA expression in the posterior PSM.
- Mutational analysis of FCE1 suggests interplay between positive and negative transcriptional regulation by bHLH proteins.
- A separate Lfng regulatory region directs expression to the rostral aspect of condensing somites.
Conclusions:
- Distinct regulatory elements control different aspects of Lfng expression during somitogenesis.
- These findings provide a molecular framework for understanding somite segmentation based on Lfng regulation.
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