Expression profiles of the Gα subunits during Xenopus tropicalis embryonic development

The Ric-8A/Gα13/FAK signaling cascade controls focal adhesion formation during neural crest cell migration

“…Consistently with this regulatory model, the Ric-8A and Gα13 transcripts are co-expressed during embryogenesis ( Fig. S1A; see Maldonado-Agurto et al, 2011;Fuentealba et al, 2016), and, as we show here, the Ric-8A and Gα13 proteins interact in co-immunoprecipitation assays. As Ric-8A and Gα13 homologues are known to be involved in the migration of Drosophila embryonic cells and mouse embryonic fibroblasts (Peters and Rogers, 2013;Wang et al, 2011), our results might be applicable to a wide variety of cellular contexts.…”

“…Heterotrimeric G proteins are classified into four families according to the structural and functional similarities of their Gα subunits. These include the Gαs, Gαi/o, Gαq/11 and Gα12/13 members, all of which are expressed in NC cells (Fuentealba et al, 2016) and are involved in different embryonic processes (Wilkie et al, 1992;Malbon, 2005). We recently reported that the Ric-8A guanine nucleotide exchange factor (GEF) protein, for Gα13, Gαi and Gαq (Tall et al, 2003;Klattenhoff et al, 2003;Von Dannecker et al, 2005;Nishimura et al, 2006;Chan et al, 2011a,b;Malnic and Gonzalez-Kristeller, 2009), regulates cranial NC cell migration in Xenopus (Fuentealba et al, 2013).…”

“…Considering that migrating cranial NC cells express Ric-8A and Gα13 transcripts (see Fig. S1A; Maldonado-Agurto et al, 2011;Fuentealba et al, 2016), and that Gα12/13 is known to regulate migration events of a wide variety of cell types (Bian et al, 2006;Kelly et al, 2006a,b;Lin et al, 2005Lin et al, , 2009Offermanns et al, 1997;Parks and Wieschaus, 1991;Xu et al, 2003), we decided to further investigate the epistatic relationship between both genes. We first designed a Gα13 morpholino (Gα13MO) and a synthetic rescue mRNA (not recognized by the Gα13 morpholino) that lead to a reduction and increase in Gα13 levels, respectively (Fig.…”

Xenopus as a model organism to study heterotrimeric G‐protein pathway during collective cell migration of neural crest

“…Recently, we have described the expression profile of four Gα subfamily proteins in Xenopus tropicalis . We showed the presence of the different Gα subunits before and after neural crest migration stages, suggesting a crucial role for the Gα proteins and their multiple effectors during this process (Fuentealba et al, ).…”

“…In addition, since several studies have proven that multiple signal cascades activated during migration are similar to those activated in cancer, Xenopus cranial neural crest cells have become an important tools for the investigation of the mechanisms involved in EMT in cancer (Barriga, Maxwell, Reyes, & Mayor, ; Kelleher, Fennelly, & Rafferty, ; Mayor & Theveneau, ). Furthermore, over the past years, an increasing amount of data has been accumulated on heterotrimeric G‐protein signaling during embryogenesis, making Ric‐8A a suitable therapeutic target to challenge cancer progression, even though further investigation is required (Fuentealba et al, ; Malbon, ). Therefore, the Xenopus model with its different tools, such as explants and transplants, paired with improved in vivo imaging techniques, will allow us to tackle the multiple signaling mechanisms involved in neural crest cells migration.…”