PUBLICATION
Nodal signals mediate interactions between the extra-embryonic and embryonic tissues in zebrafish
- Authors
- Fan, X., Hagos, E.G., Xu, B., Sias, C., Kawakami, K., Burdine, R.D., and Dougan, S.T.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-070920-8
- Date
- 2007
- Source
- Developmental Biology 310(2): 363-378 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Burdine, Rebecca, Dougan, Scott T., Fan, Xiang, Hagos, Engda, Kawakami, Koichi, Xu, Bo
- Keywords
- Zebrafish, squint, cyclops, EVL, YSL, Nodal-related, Mesoderm, Endoderm, Extra-embryonic, SB-505124
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Animals, Genetically Modified
- Base Sequence
- Body Patterning
- Endoderm/metabolism
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/genetics
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins/metabolism*
- Mesoderm/metabolism
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Nodal Signaling Ligands
- Response Elements
- Signal Transduction
- Zebrafish/embryology
- Zebrafish/physiology*
- Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
- Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism*
- PubMed
- 17850782 Full text @ Dev. Biol.
Citation
Fan, X., Hagos, E.G., Xu, B., Sias, C., Kawakami, K., Burdine, R.D., and Dougan, S.T. (2007) Nodal signals mediate interactions between the extra-embryonic and embryonic tissues in zebrafish. Developmental Biology. 310(2):363-378.
Abstract
In many vertebrates, extra-embryonic tissues are important signaling centers that induce and pattern the germ layers. In teleosts, the mechanism by which the extra-embryonic yolk syncytial layer (YSL) patterns the embryo is not understood. Although the Nodal-related protein Squint is expressed in the YSL, its role in this tissue is not known. We generated a series of stable transgenic lines with GFP under the control of squint genomic sequences. In all species, nodal-related genes induce their own expression through a positive feedback loop. We show that two tissue specific enhancers in the zebrafish squint gene mediate the response to Nodal signals. Expression in the blastomeres depends upon a conserved Nodal response element (NRE) in the squint first intron, while expression in the extra-embryonic enveloping layer (EVL) is mediated by an element upstream of the transcription start site. Targeted depletion experiments demonstrate that the zebrafish Nodal-related proteins Squint and Cyclops are required in the YSL for endoderm and head mesoderm formation. Thus, Nodal signals mediate interactions between embryonic and extra-embryonic tissues in zebrafish that maintain nodal-related gene expression in the margin. Our results demonstrate a high degree of functional conservation between the extra-embryonic tissues of mouse and zebrafish.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping