PUBLICATION

Maternal Huluwa dictates the embryonic body axis through β-catenin in vertebrates

Authors
Yan, L., Chen, J., Zhu, X., Sun, J., Wu, X., Shen, W., Zhang, W., Tao, Q., Meng, A.
ID
ZDB-PUB-181127-52
Date
2018
Source
Science (New York, N.Y.)   362(6417): (Journal)
Registered Authors
Chen, Jing, Meng, Anming
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Axin Protein/metabolism
  • Body Patterning/genetics*
  • Embryonic Development/genetics*
  • HEK293 Cells
  • Humans
  • Maternal Inheritance/genetics*
  • Proteolysis
  • Wnt Signaling Pathway
  • Xenopus Proteins/genetics
  • Xenopus Proteins/physiology*
  • Xenopus laevis/embryology*
  • Xenopus laevis/genetics
  • Zebrafish/embryology*
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/physiology*
  • beta Catenin/metabolism*
PubMed
30467143 Full text @ Science
Abstract
The vertebrate body is formed by cell movements and shape change during embryogenesis. It remains undetermined which maternal signals govern the formation of the dorsal organizer and the body axis. We found that maternal depletion of huluwa, a previously unnamed gene, causes loss of the dorsal organizer, the head, and the body axis in zebrafish and Xenopus embryos. Huluwa protein is found on the plasma membrane of blastomeres in the future dorsal region in early zebrafish blastulas. Huluwa has strong dorsalizing and secondary axis-inducing activities, which require β-catenin but can function independent of Wnt ligand/receptor signaling. Mechanistically, Huluwa binds to and promotes the tankyrase-mediated degradation of Axin. Therefore, maternal Huluwa is an essential determinant of the dorsal organizer and body axis in vertebrate embryos.
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