The LIM-domain protein Zyxin binds the homeodomain factor Xanf1/Hesx1 and modulates its activity in the anterior neural plate of Xenopus laevis embryo.

The question of how subdivision of embryo into cell territories acquiring different fates is coordinated with morphogenetic movements shaping the embryonic body still remains poorly resolved. In the present report, we demonstrate that a key regulator of anterior neural plate patterning, the homeodomain transcriptional repressor Xanf1/Hesx1, can bind to the LIM-domain protein Zyxin, which is known to regulate cell morphogenetic movements via influence on actin cytoskeleton dynamics. Using a set of deletion mutants, we found that the Engrailed-type repressor domain of Xanf1 and LIM2-domain of Zyxin are primarily responsible for interaction of these proteins.