Inhibition of mesodermal fate by Xenopus HNF3beta/FoxA2

The winged-helix transcription factor HNF3beta/FoxA2 is expressed in embryonic organizing centers of the gastrulating mouse, frog, fish, and chick. In the mouse, HNF3beta is required for the formation of the mammalian node and notochord, and can induce ectopic floor plate formation when misexpressed in the developing neural tube; HNF3beta expression in the extraembryonic endoderm is also necessary for the proper morphogenesis of the mammalian primitive streak. In the frog Xenopus laevis, several lines of evidence suggest that the related winged-helix factor Pintallavis functions as the ortholog of mammalian HNF3beta in both axial mesoderm and neurectoderm; the role of Xenopus HNF3beta itself, however, has not been clearly defined, and is the subject of this study. HNF3beta is widely expressed in the vegetal pole but, as previously suggested, is excluded from the gastrula-stage mesoderm. We find that expression of an HNF3beta-Engrailed repressor fusion protein induces ectopic axes and inhibits head formation in Xenopus embryos, while ectopic HNF3beta inhibits mesoderm and anterior endoderm formation in explant assays and in vivo. Our studies suggest that HNF3beta target genes function to limit the extent of mesoderm formation in the Xenopus gastrula, and point to related roles for Xenopus HNF3beta and the extraembryonic component of mammalian HNF3beta during vertebrate gastrulation.