Activin A, a member of the transforming growth factor beta superfamily, has recently been found to have potent mesoderm-inducing activity on isolated early Xenopus animal-cap cells. We measured the activin activity of the Xenopus egg extract by using an erythroid-differentiating test with Friend leukemia cells. The results showed that an activin homologue is, indeed, contained in unfertilized eggs and blastulae of Xenopus laevis in a considerable amount. This activity was eluted at the same retention time as human activin A when fractionated by reversed-phase HPLC. Furthermore, the fraction containing erythroid-differentiating factor activity had mesoderm-inducing activity on Xenopus animal-cap cells. The mesoderm-inducing activity of this fraction was suppressed when coincubated with follistatin, an activin-binding protein. These results suggest that an endogenous activin may be a natural mesoderm-inducing factor acting in Xenopus embryogenesis.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC52115 | PMC |
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.88.15.6511 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Genetic analysis of activin/inhibin β subunits in zebrafish development and reproduction.
PLoS Genet
December 2022
Department of Biomedical Sciences and Centre of Reproduction, Development and Aging (CRDA), Faculty of Health Sciences, University of Macau, Macau, China.
Activin and inhibin are both dimeric proteins sharing the same β subunits that belong to the TGF-β superfamily. They are well known for stimulating and inhibiting pituitary FSH secretion, respectively, in mammals. In addition, activin also acts as a mesoderm-inducing factor in frogs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFSox2 and Canonical Wnt Signaling Interact to Activate a Developmental Checkpoint Coordinating Morphogenesis with Mesoderm Fate Acquisition.
Cell Rep
October 2020
Department of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY 11794-5215, USA. Electronic address:
Animal embryogenesis requires a precise coordination between morphogenesis and cell fate specification. During mesoderm induction, mesodermal fate acquisition is tightly coordinated with the morphogenetic process of epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In zebrafish, cells exist transiently in a partial EMT state during mesoderm induction.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPinhead signaling regulates mesoderm heterogeneity via the FGF receptor-dependent pathway.
Development
September 2020
Department of Cell, Developmental and Regenerative Biology, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, New York, NY 10029, USA
Among the three embryonic germ layers, the mesoderm plays a central role in the establishment of the vertebrate body plan. The mesoderm is specified by secreted signaling proteins from the FGF, Nodal, BMP and Wnt families. No new classes of extracellular mesoderm-inducing factors have been identified in more than two decades.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA Retinoic Acid-Hedgehog Cascade Coordinates Mesoderm-Inducing Signals and Endoderm Competence during Lung Specification.
Cell Rep
June 2016
Division of Developmental Biology, Department of Pediatrics, Perinatal Institute and Cincinnati Children's Hospital, College of Medicine, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH 45229, USA. Electronic address:
Organogenesis of the trachea and lungs requires a complex series of mesoderm-endoderm interactions mediated by WNT, BMP, retinoic acid (RA), and hedgehog (Hh), but how these pathways interact in a gene regulatory network is less clear. Using Xenopus embryology, mouse genetics, and human ES cell cultures, we identified a conserved signaling cascade that initiates respiratory lineage specification. We show that RA has multiple roles; first RA pre-patterns the lateral plate mesoderm and then it promotes Hh ligand expression in the foregut endoderm.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFCells of the spinal cord and somites arise from shared, dual-fated precursors, located towards the posterior of the elongating embryo. Here we show that these neuromesodermal progenitors (NMPs) can readily be generated in vitro from mouse and human pluripotent stem cells by activating Wnt and Fgf signalling, timed to emulate in vivo development. Similar to NMPs in vivo, these cells co-express the neural factor Sox2 and the mesodermal factor Brachyury and differentiate into neural and paraxial mesoderm in vitro and in vivo.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!