Gene Expression During Embryonic Development Of Xenopus

Dawid, Igor B.

Abstract

This laboratory has studied the molecular basis of embryogenesis in Xenopus laevis and the zebrafish, with special emphasis on axis determination and pattern formation. These events are thought to be controlled by cell-to-cell signaling and by the spatially and temporally regulated action of transcription factors. The Xlim-1 gene encodes a LIM-homeodomain protein that has been shown to be involved in the functions of the Spemann organizer in neural induction and mesoderm patterning. This gene is also important in kidney formation. The function of Xlim-1 has been shown to involve effects on cell movements and adhesion. A screen for developmentally regulated genes has been conducted in zebrafish. By screening for genes with restricted expression patterns, valuable information is collected about gene control of embryogenesis. The role of the FGF, Wnt, BMP and retinoic acid signaling pathways in the patterning of the zebrafish nervous system has been studied. All pathways are involved in specification of the anterior-posterior patterning of the nervous system. Mechanisms regulating the FGF pathway have been studied further, and regulatory molecule including a protein phosphatase and a novel inhibitory factor named Sef have been characterized. DNA microarray technology has been introduced to study early development in zebrafish and Xenopus. These studies are currently underway

Funding Agency

• Agency: National Institute of Health (NIH)
• Institute: Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health & Human Development (NICHD)
• Type: Intramural Research (Z01)
• Project #: 1Z01HD001002-22
• Application #: 6992366
• Study Section: (LMG)
• Support Year: 22
• Fiscal Year: 2004

Institution

• Name: U.S. National Inst/Child Hlth/Human Dev
• Country: United States

Publications

Dawid, Igor B (2009) Differential gene expression in vertebrate embryos. J Biol Chem 284:13277-83

Zhao, Hui; Rebbert, Martha L; Dawid, Igor B (2007) Myoskeletin, a factor related to Myocardin, is expressed in somites and required for hypaxial muscle formation in Xenopus. Int J Dev Biol 51:315-20

Hanaoka, Ryuki; Katayama, Shiori; Dawid, Igor B et al. (2006) Characterization of the heme synthesis enzyme coproporphyrinogen oxidase (CPO) in zebrafish erythrogenesis. Genes Cells 11:293-303

Pugacheva, Elena M; Kwon, Yoo-Wook; Hukriede, Neil A et al. (2006) Cloning and characterization of zebrafish CTCF: Developmental expression patterns, regulation of the promoter region, and evolutionary aspects of gene organization. Gene 375:26-36

Dawid, Igor (2006) Igor Dawid. Curr Biol 16:R391-2

Azuma, Mizuki; Toyama, Reiko; Laver, Elizabeth et al. (2006) Perturbation of rRNA synthesis in the bap28 mutation leads to apoptosis mediated by p53 in the zebrafish central nervous system. J Biol Chem 281:13309-16

Sato, Akira; Khadka, Deepak K; Liu, Wei et al. (2006) Profilin is an effector for Daam1 in non-canonical Wnt signaling and is required for vertebrate gastrulation. Development 133:4219-31

Plisov, Sergey; Tsang, Michael; Shi, Genbin et al. (2005) Cited1 is a bifunctional transcriptional cofactor that regulates early nephronic patterning. J Am Soc Nephrol 16:1632-44

Hong, Sung-Kook; Haldin, Caroline E; Lawson, Nathan D et al. (2005) The zebrafish kohtalo/trap230 gene is required for the development of the brain, neural crest, and pronephric kidney. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 102:18473-8

Takahashi, Nobuhiro; Dawid, Igor B (2005) Characterization of zebrafish Rad52 and replication protein A for oligonucleotide-mediated mutagenesis. Nucleic Acids Res 33:e120