Development, Vol 108, Issue 4 623-634, Copyright © 1990 by Company of Biologists

JOURNAL ARTICLES

The role of gap junctions in patterning of the chick limb bud

F Allen, C Tickle and A Warner
Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology, University College London, UK.

The role of gap junctional communication during patterning of the chick limb has been investigated. Affinity-purified antibodies raised against rat liver gap junctional proteins were used to block communication between limb mesenchyme cells. Co-injection of the antibodies and Lucifer yellow into mesenchyme cultures demonstrated that communication was inhibited almost immediately. When antibodies were loaded into mesenchyme tissue by DMSO permeabilization, [3H]nucleotide transfer was prevented for at least 16 h. Polarizing region tissue from the posterior limb bud margin causes digit duplications when grafted to the anterior margin. Quail polarizing region cells were loaded with gap junction antibody and grafted into chick wing buds. The antibody had no effect on growth or survival of the grafted cells. As very few polarizing region cells are required to initiate duplications, the number of polarizing region cells in the grafts was reduced by diluting 1:9 with anterior mesenchyme tissue. When either polarizing region or anterior mesenchyme tissue in the graft was loaded separately with antibody, there was little effect on respecification of the digit pattern. However, loading both tissues in the graft caused a significant decrease in duplications. This indicates that a major role of gap junctions in limb patterning may be to enable polarizing region cells to communicate directly with adjacent anterior mesenchyme. A role for gap junctional communication between anterior mesenchyme cells cannot be excluded. The results are discussed in relation to the role of retinoic acid as a putative morphogen.
CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Gu, X. S. Yu, X. Yin, and J. X. Jiang Stimulation of Lens Cell Differentiation by Gap Junction Protein Connexin 45.6 Invest. Ophthalmol. Vis. Sci., May 1, 2003; 44(5): 2103 - 2111. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Habermann, W. Y. Chang, L. Birch, P. Mehta, and G. S. Prins Developmental Exposure to Estrogens Alters Epithelial Cell Adhesion and Gap Junction Proteins in the Adult Rat Prostate Endocrinology, January 1, 2001; 142(1): 359 - 369. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Y. Kim, Y. Kam, S. K. Koo, and C. O. Joe Gating Connexin 43 Channels Reconstituted in Lipid Vesicles by Mitogen-activated Protein Kinase Phosphorylation J. Biol. Chem., February 26, 1999; 274(9): 5581 - 5587. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Makarenkova, D.L. Becker, C. Tickle, and A.E. Warner Fibroblast Growth Factor 4 Directs Gap Junction Expression in the Mesenchyme of the Vertebrate Limb Bud J. Cell Biol., September 8, 1997; 138(5): 1125 - 1137. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				D. Becker, W. Evans, C. Green, and A Warner Functional analysis of amino acid sequences in connexin43 involved in intercellular communication through gap junctions J. Cell Sci., January 4, 1995; 108(4): 1455 - 1467. [Abstract] [PDF]

				F Serras, S Fraser, and C. Chuong Asymmetric patterns of gap junctional communication in developing chicken skin Development, January 9, 1993; 119(1): 85 - 96. [Abstract] [PDF]

				J Bohrmann Antisera against a channel-forming 16 kDa protein inhibit dye-coupling and bind to cell membranes in Drosophila ovarian follicles J. Cell Sci., January 6, 1993; 105(2): 513 - 518. [Abstract] [PDF]