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Published on: February 28, 2017
Stepwise participation of HGF/MET signaling in the development of migratory muscle precursors during vertebrate
Noritaka Adachi1,2, Juan Pascual-Anaya3, Tamami Hirai1,3
1Laboratory for Evolutionary Morphology, RIKEN Center for Biosystems Dynamics Research (BDR), 2-2-3 Minatojima-minami, Chuo-ku, Kobe, 650-0047 Japan.
Background:
The skeletal musculature of gnathostomes, which is derived from embryonic somites, consists of epaxial and hypaxial portions. Some hypaxial muscles, such as tongue and limb muscles, undergo de-epithelialization and migration during development. Delamination and migration of these myoblasts, or migratory muscle precursors (MMPs), is generally thought to be regulated by hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) signaling. However, the prevalence of this mechanism and the expression patterns of the genes involved in MMP development across different vertebrate species remain elusive.
Results:
We performed a comparative analysis of Hgf and Met gene expression in several vertebrates, including mouse, chicken, dogfish (Scyliorhinus torazame), and lamprey (Lethenteron camtschaticum). While both Hgf and Met were expressed during development in the mouse tongue muscle, and in limb muscle formation in the mouse and chicken, we found no clear evidence for the involvement of HGF/MET signaling in MMP development in shark or lamprey embryos.
Conclusions:
Our results indicate that the expressions and functions of both Hgf and Met genes do not represent shared features of vertebrate MMPs, suggesting a stepwise participation of HGF/MET signaling in MMP development during vertebrate evolution.
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