AP-1(c-Jun/FosB) mediates xFoxD5b expression in Xenopus early developmental neurogenesis

AP-1 (activator protein-1) is composed of Jun and Fos proteins and functions in cell proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. Previous studies have demonstrated that different AP-1 complexes participate in the determination of various cell fates. However, the role of different AP-1 complexes during early vertebrate development is not yet fully understood. In the present study, we demonstrate that AP-1(c-Jun/FosB) regulates neurogenesis via FoxD5b expression. We show that FoxD5 was induced by the inhibition of BMP and that FoxD5b plays roles in neurogenesis. Additionally, we show that the FoxD5b promoter region within -1336 and -1316 contains an AP-1 binding site, which is required for the transcriptional regulation of FoxD5b and is induced by the inhibition of BMP signaling in animal cap explants. Moreover, c-Jun, a component of AP-1, directly binds to the AP-1 binding site of the FoxD5b promoter and induces FoxD5b expression cooperatively with FosB, but not with c-Fos or Fra-1. Altogether, these results suggest that AP-1(c-Jun/FosB) may play a role in neurogenesis via the induction of FoxD5b expression during early vertebrate development.