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BMP-2/-4 and Wnt-8 cooperatively pattern the Xenopus mesoderm
1Howard Hughes Medical Institute and Department of Pharmacology, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle 98195, USA.
Mechanisms of Development
|June 20, 1998
Summary
In Xenopus embryos, both BMP and Wnt signaling pathways pattern the mesoderm. While BMP-2/-4 signaling regulates Wnt-8 expression, Wnt-8 refines dorsal mesoderm patterning, specifying notochord and somite development.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Dorsoventral axis establishment is crucial for embryonic organization.
- Two signaling molecule classes, BMPs and Wnt, pattern the Xenopus mesoderm.
- BMP-2/-4 and Wnt-8 specify ventral fate and inhibit dorsal mesodermal development.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate mutual regulation between Wnt-8 and BMP-2/-4.
- Compare their roles in mesoderm patterning.
Main Methods:
- Gene expression analysis in Xenopus embryos.
- Overexpression and inhibition studies of BMP and Wnt signaling pathways.
Main Results:
- Wnt-8 and BMP-4 exhibit indistinguishable ventral gene induction.
- BMP-2/-4 signaling regulates Wnt-8 expression, but not in a linear pathway.
- BMP-4 overexpression rescues ventral gene expression in Wnt-8 inhibited embryos.
- BMP-4 broadly inhibits dorsal gene expression, while Wnt-8 specifically inhibits the notochord marker Xnot.
Conclusions:
- BMP-2/-4 signaling localizes dorsal mesodermal fate.
- Xenopus Wnt-8 further patterns dorsal mesoderm into notochord and somite precursors.