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Blastomere Explants to Test for Cell Fate Commitment During Embryonic Development
Published on: January 26, 2013
Regulators specifying cell fate activate cell cycle regulator genes to determine cell numbers in ascidian larval
Kenji Kobayashi1, Miki Tokuoka1,2, Hiroaki Sato1
1Laboratory of Cell and Developmental Biology, Graduate School of Bioscience, Tokyo Institute of Technology, Yokohama 226-8501, Japan.
Abstract:
In animal development, most cell types stop dividing before terminal differentiation; thus, cell cycle control is tightly linked to cell differentiation programmes. In ascidian embryos, cell lineages do not vary among individuals, and rounds of the cell cycle are determined according to cell lineages. Notochord and muscle cells stop dividing after eight or nine rounds of cell division depending on their lineages. In the present study, we showed that a Cdk inhibitor, Cdkn1.b, is responsible for stopping cell cycle progression in these lineages. Cdkn1.b is also necessary for epidermal cells to stop dividing. In contrast, mesenchymal and endodermal cells continue to divide even after hatching, and Myc is responsible for maintaining cell cycle progression in these tissues. Expression of Cdkn1.b in notochord and muscle is controlled by transcription factors that specify the developmental fate of notochord and muscle. Likewise, expression of Myc in mesenchyme and endoderm is under control of transcription factors that specify the developmental fate of mesenchyme and endoderm. Thus, cell fate specification and cell cycle control are linked by these transcription factors.
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