QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dupé, V. Articles by Lumsden, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dupé, V. Articles by Lumsden, A.

Hindbrain patterning involves graded responses to retinoic acid signalling

MRC Centre for Developmental Neurobiology, King’s College London, Guy’s Campus, London SE1 1UL, UK

*Author for correspondence (e-mail: andrew.lumsden{at}kcl.ac.uk)

Accepted April 9, 2001

Several recent studies have shown that retinoic acid signalling is required for correct patterning of the hindbrain. However, the data from these studies are disparate and the precise role of retinoic acid signalling in patterning the anteroposterior axis of the neural tube remains uncertain. To help clarify this issue, we have cultured a staged series of chick embryos in the presence of an antagonist to the all three retinoic acid receptors. Our data indicate that retinoic acid is the transforming signal involved in the expansion of posterior hindbrain structures. We find that the hindbrain region of the neural tube down to the level of the sixth somite acquires the identity of rhombomere 4 when retinoic acid signalling is blocked. Specification of future rhombomere boundaries has a retinoic acid dependency between stage 5 and stage 10⁺ that is lost progressively in an anterior-to-posterior sequence. Furthermore, the application of various concentrations of antagonist shows that successively more posterior rhombomere boundaries require progressively higher concentration of endogenous retinoic acid for their correct positioning, a result that strengthens the hypothesis that a complex retinoid gradient acts to pattern the posterior hindbrain. Our dissection of early retinoic acid functions allows us to re-interpret the wide disparity of hindbrain phenotypes previously observed in various models of retinoic acid deficiency.

Key words: Anteroposterior patterning, Hindbrain, Segmentation, Retinoic acid, Morphogen, Chick

This article has been cited by other articles:

				T. F. Schilling Anterior-posterior patterning and segmentation of the vertebrate head Integr. Comp. Biol., August 5, 2008; (2008) icn081v1. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				G. Davidson, B. Mao, I. del Barco Barrantes, and C. Niehrs Kremen proteins interact with Dickkopf1 to regulate anteroposterior CNS patterning Development, March 14, 2003; 129(24): 5587 - 5596. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				H. Grandel, K. Lun, G.-J. Rauch, M. Rhinn, T. Piotrowski, C. Houart, P. Sordino, A. M. Kuchler, S. Schulte-Merker, R. Geisler, et al. Retinoic acid signalling in the zebrafish embryo is necessary during pre-segmentation stages to pattern the anterior-posterior axis of the CNS and to induce a pectoral fin bud Development, March 8, 2003; 129(12): 2851 - 2865. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				C. Kiecker and C. Niehrs A morphogen gradient of Wnt/{beta}-catenin signalling regulates anteroposterior neural patterning in Xenopus Development, November 1, 2001; 128(21): 4189 - 4201. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]