Abstract
The marginal zone is a ring of tissue that gives rise to a characteristic dorsoventral pattern of mesoderm in amphibian embryos. Bmp-4 is thought to play an important role in specifying ventral mesodermal fate. Here we show (1) that different doses of Bmp-4 are sufficient to pattern four distinct mesodermal cell types and to pattern gene expression in the early gastrula marginal zone into three domains, (2) that there is a graded requirement for a Bmp signal in mesodermal patterning, and (3) that Bmp-4 has long-range activity which can become graded in the marginal zone by the antagonizing action of noggin. The results argue that Bmp-4 acts as a morphogen in dorsoventral patterning of mesoderm.
Publication types
-
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
MeSH terms
-
Animals
-
Biomarkers
-
Blastocyst
-
Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4
-
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins / physiology*
-
Carrier Proteins
-
Cell Differentiation / genetics
-
DNA-Binding Proteins*
-
Embryo, Nonmammalian / physiology
-
Embryonic Induction / genetics
-
Gastrula / physiology
-
Gene Dosage
-
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental*
-
Homeodomain Proteins / genetics
-
Mesoderm / physiology*
-
Muscle Proteins / physiology
-
Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5
-
Proteins / physiology
-
Trans-Activators*
-
Transcription Factors*
-
Xenopus / embryology*
-
Xenopus Proteins*
Substances
-
Biomarkers
-
Bone Morphogenetic Protein 4
-
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins
-
Carrier Proteins
-
DNA-Binding Proteins
-
Homeodomain Proteins
-
Muscle Proteins
-
Myf5 protein, Xenopus
-
Myogenic Regulatory Factor 5
-
Proteins
-
Trans-Activators
-
Transcription Factors
-
Xenopus Proteins
-
bmp4 protein, Xenopus
-
ventx2.1 protein, Xenopus
-
noggin protein