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Updated: Aug 11, 2026

Grafting of Beads into Developing Chicken Embryo Limbs to Identify Signal Transduction Pathways Affecting Gene Expression
Published on: January 17, 2016
The ectodermal control in chick limb development: Wnt-7a, Shh, Bmp-2 and Bmp-4 expression and the effect of FGF-4 on
K Akita1, P Francis-West, N Vargesson
1Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College, London, UK. k.akita2@med.tmd.ac.jp
Abstract:
We have manipulated the chick limb bud by dorsoventrally inverting the ectoderm, by grafting the AER to the dorsal or ventral ectoderm and by insertion of an FGF-4 soaked heparin bead into the mesoderm. After dorso-ventral reversal of the ectoderm, Wnt-7a expression is autonomous from an early stage of limb development in the original dorsal ectoderm. Exogenous FGF-4 causes ectopic Wnt-7a expression and induces ectopic Shh. In addition, exogenous FGF-4 increases the thickness of cartilages and also shortens them, and both Bmp-2 and Bmp-4 may mediate this effect. The ectoderm outside the AER can regulate not only the dorso-ventral polarity of the underlying mesenchyme cells but also the cartilage formation, and both Bmp-2 and Bmp-4 may mediate this control.
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