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First published online 3 December 2003
doi: 10.1242/dev.00905

Development 131, 153-163 (2004)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2004
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Xenopus Meis3 protein forms a hindbrain-inducing center by activating FGF/MAP kinase and PCP pathways

Emil Aamar and Dale Frank*

Department of Biochemistry, The Rappaport Family Institute for Research in the Medical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa 31096, Israel

* Author for correspondence (e-mail: dale{at}tx.technion.ac.il)

Accepted 6 October 2003

Knockdown studies in Xenopus demonstrated that the XMeis3 gene is required for proper hindbrain formation. An explant assay was developed to distinguish between autonomous and inductive activities of XMeis3 protein. Animal cap explants caudalized by XMeis3 were recombined with explants neuralized by the BMP dominant-negative receptor protein. XMeis3-expressing cells induced convergent extension cell elongations in juxtaposed neuralized explants. Elongated explants expressed hindbrain and primary neuron markers, and anterior neural marker expression was extinguished. Cell elongation was dependent on FGF/MAP-kinase and Wnt-PCP activities. XMeis3 activates FGF/MAP-kinase signaling, which then modulates the PCP pathway. In this manner, XMeis3 protein establishes a hindbrain-inducing center that determines anteroposterior patterning in the brain.

Key words: Xenopus laevis, XMeis3, Neural caudalization, Hindbrain-inducing center






© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2004