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PMID: 7489713 Published · ppublish English Journal Article Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

The role of gsc and BMP-4 in dorsal-ventral patterning of the marginal zone in Xenopus: a loss-of-function study using antisense RNA.

The EMBO journal ·Vol. 14 ·No. 21 ·1995-11-01 ·Pages 5230-43

Steinbeisser H, Fainsod A, Niehrs C, Sasai Y, De Robertis EM

Abstract

The dorsal-specific homeobox gene goosecoid (gsc) and the bone morphogenetic protein 4 gene (BMP-4) are expressed in complementary regions of the Xenopus gastrula. Injection of gsc mRNA dorsalizes ventral mesodermal tissue and can induce axis formation in normal and UV-ventralized embryos. On the other hand, BMP-4 mRNA injection, which has a strong ventralizing effect on whole embryos, has been implicated in ventralization by UV, and can rescue tail structures in embryos dorsalized by LiCl. The above-mentioned putative roles for BMP-4 and gsc are based on gain-of-function experiments. In order to determine the in vivo role of these two genes in the patterning of the Xenopus mesoderm during gastrulation, partial loss-of-function experiments were performed using antisense RNA injections. Using marker genes that are expressed early in gastrulation, we show that antisense gsc RNA has a ventralizing effect on embryos, whereas antisense BMP-4 RNA dorsalizes mesodermal tissue. These loss-of-function studies also show a requirement for gsc and BMP-4 in the dorsalization induced by LiCl and in the ventralization generated by UV irradiation, respectively. Thus, both gain- and loss-of-function results for gsc and BMP-4 support the view that these two genes are necessary components of the dorsal and ventral patterning pathways in Xenopus embryos.

MeSH Terms
Animals Base Sequence Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Gastrula/metabolism,pathology Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental Genes, Homeobox Mesoderm/metabolism,pathology Molecular Sequence Data Proteins/genetics RNA, Antisense/pharmacology Xenopus/embryology,genetics,metabolism
Chemicals
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins Proteins RNA, Antisense
Authors & Affiliations
5 authors, click to expand affiliations / ORCID
Steinbeisser H
Howard Hughes Medical Institute, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1737, USA.
Fainsod A
Niehrs C
Sasai Y
De Robertis E M
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Article Info
Journal
The EMBO journal
Abbr.
EMBO J
ISSN
0261-4189
Published
1995-11-01
Pages
5230-43
Language
English
Region
England
NLM ID
8208664
PMCID
PMC394633
Subset
IM
Grants
NICHD NIH HHS · HD 21502-10 · United States
External Links
PubMed source PMC Full Text View journal details
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