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Notch signaling can regulate endoderm formation in zebrafish.
Yutaka Kikuchi1, Heather Verkade, Jeremy F Reiter
1Division of Biological Science, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University, Furo-cho, Chikusa-ku, Nagoya, Japan. yutaka@cc.nagoya-u.ac.jp
Summary
Notch signaling regulates endoderm formation during vertebrate development. Activating Notch signaling reduces endodermal cells, suggesting its role in segregating endoderm from mesoderm.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Cell Signaling
- Genetics
Background:
- Vertebrate gastrulation establishes three germ layers: ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm.
- Mechanisms governing endoderm and mesoderm segregation remain unclear.
- Zebrafish embryos show a shift from multipotent to fate-restricted marginal cells by late blastula stage.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate the role of Notch signaling in endoderm and mesoderm fate segregation.
- Determine how Notch signaling influences the formation of endodermal cells.
Main Methods:
- Analyzed expression patterns of Notch pathway components (deltaC, deltaD, notch1) in zebrafish embryos.
- Assessed endodermal cell fate using sox17 and foxA2 gene expression.
- Examined the impact of Notch signaling activation on endoderm formation, including in bonnie and clyde (bon) mutant embryos.
Main Results:
- Notch pathway gene expression in marginal zones depends on Nodal signaling.
- Early Notch signaling activation reduces endodermal cell numbers.
- This reduction is linked to decreased expression of endoderm-specific genes bonnie and clyde (bon) and faust/gata5.
- Notch signaling impacts endoderm formation independently of bon gene function.
Conclusions:
- Notch signaling plays a crucial role in endoderm formation during early vertebrate development.
- Notch signaling likely mediates the segregation of endodermal from mesodermal cell fates.