Expression of xSDF-1α, xCXCR4, and xCXCR7 during gastrulation in Xenopus laevis

Abstract

Chemokines play a crucial role in developmental processes and recent studies have revealed that they also control gastrulation movements. In this paper, we report the expression patterns of xSDF-1a, xCXCR4 and xCXCR7 and regulation of the expression of xSDF-1a and xCXCR4 during gastrulation. We performed whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) and quantitative realtime RT-PCR (qRT-PCR) analyses to examine the distribution of transcripts. The effect of activin/ nodal signaling on the expression of xSDF-1a and its receptors was examined by animal cap assay and microinjection of cer-s mRNA. We have demonstrated that the xSDF-1a transcript is increased in the blastocoel roof during gastrulation, but not in the involuted mesoderm. xCXCR4 was expressed in the mesendoderm at late blastula and was retained throughout gastrulation. xCXCR7 was found in the dorsal lip around the blastopore in the early gastrula stage and became localized in the presumptive notochord later. We also show that the expression of xCXCR4 and xSDF-1a were reciprocally regulated by activin/nodal signaling. These results suggest that xSDF-1a and its receptors contribute to the cell arrangement of mesoderm cells and their expression patterns are partially regulated by activin/nodal signaling.

Identification of new regulators of embryonic patterning and morphogenesis in Xenopus gastrulae by RNA sequencing

“…Fig. 1; also see in situ patterns of ARHGEF3 and CXCR7 in Hufton et al, 2006 and Mishra et al, 2013). We co-injected RNAs encoding these molecules with activin RNA into the animal region of two-cell stage embryos, dissected the animal caps at the blastula stages, cultured them to late neurula stages, observed the morphology of the caps, and examined the mesodermal marker expression in these caps (Fig.…”

Roles of Xenopus chemokine ligand CXCLh (XCXCLh) in early embryogenesis

“…These results suggest that XCXCLh functions as a ligand for XCXCR3 . On the other hand, XCXCR4 , XCXCR6 and XCXCR7 were also expressed in the dorsal region, overlapped with XCXCLh ‐expressing regions at the gastrula stage (Fukui et al., ; Goto et al., ; Mishra et al., ). Dorsal injections of XCXCR4, XCXCR6, and XCXR7 also caused morphogenetic defects (Fukui et al., ; Goto et al., ; data not shown).…”

“…Moreover, several CXC‐type chemokine ligands and receptors also affect early Xenopus morphogenesis (Goto, Michiue, Ito, & Asashima, ). In Xenopus , BMP and canonical Wnt signaling affect tissue‐specific expression patterns of xCXCL14 (Park, Hong, Sohail, & Saint‐Jeannet, ), and activin/nodal signaling regulate the expression of xSDF‐1 α, xCXCR4 , and xCXCR7 (Mishra, Nagata, Furusawa, Sasaki, & Fukui, ). However, chemokine molecules that affect tissue differentiation during Xenopus embryogenesis have not been previously reported.…”

Identification of anti‐cancer chemical compounds using Xenopus embryos

“…S1a), the signaling for which is also activated by EMT in various cancer cells . During gastrulation, SDF‐1 is present in the blastocoel roof, which provides extracellular substrates through which the LEM migrates toward the anterior region …”

“…(10)(11)(12)(13)(14) During gastrulation, SDF-1 is present in the blastocoel roof, which provides extracellular substrates through which the LEM migrates toward the anterior region. (15,16) Cranial neural crest cells (CNCC) are a transient, migratory and invasive population during embryogenesis. These cells emerge from the ectoderm and differentiate into bone, cartilage and melanocyte after migration.…”