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First published online July 21, 2003
doi: 10.1242/10.1242/dev.00626
,*
1 Program in Developmental Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor
Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
2 Departments of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Baylor College of Medicine, One
Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
3 Molecular and Human Genetics, Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza,
Houston, TX 77030, USA
4 Verna and Marrs McLean Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology,
Baylor College of Medicine, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA
5 Department of Biology, Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY 14850, USA
Author for correspondence (e-mail:
jamrich{at}bcm.tmc.edu)
Accepted 27 May 2003
Molecular analysis of vertebrate eye development has been hampered by the
availability of sequences that can selectively direct gene expression in the
developing eye. We report the characterization of the regulatory sequences of
the Xenopus laevis Rx1A gene that can direct gene expression in the
retinal progenitor cells. We have used these sequences to investigate the role
of Fibroblast Growth Factor (FGF) signaling in the development of retinal cell
types. FGFs are signaling molecules that are crucial for correct patterning of
the embryo and that play important roles in the development of several
embryonic tissues. FGFs and their receptors are expressed in the developing
retina, and FGF receptor-mediated signaling has been implicated to have a role
in the specification and survival of retinal cell types. We investigated the
role of FGF signaling mediated by FGF receptor 4a in the development of
retinal cell types in Xenopus laevis. For this purpose, we have made
transgenic Xenopus tadpoles in which the dominant-negative FGFR4a
(
FGFR4a) coding region was linked to the newly characterized regulatory
sequences of the Xrx1A gene. We found that the expression of
FGFR4a in retinal progenitor cells results in abnormal retinal
development. The retinas of transgenic animals expressing FGFR4a show
disorganized cell layering and specifically lack photoreceptor cells. These
experiments show that FGFR4a-mediated FGF signaling is necessary for the
correct specification of retinal cell types. Furthermore, they demonstrate
that constructs using Xrx1A regulatory sequences are excellent tools
with which to study the developmental processes involved in retinal
formation.
Key words: FGF receptor, Photoreceptors, Retina, Transgenic, Xenopus, Xrx1A
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