spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif ARCHIVE ANNOUNCEMENT! spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 17 January 2007
doi: 10.1242/dev.000380

Development 134, 789-799 (2007)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2007
This Article
Right arrow Figures Only
Right arrow Full Text
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow Supplementary Material
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
dev.000380v1
134/4/789    most recent
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Related articles in Development
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow reprints & permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Ybot-Gonzalez, P.
Right arrow Articles by Copp, A. J.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Ybot-Gonzalez, P.
Right arrow Articles by Copp, A. J.

Convergent extension, planar-cell-polarity signalling and initiation of mouse neural tube closure

Patricia Ybot-Gonzalez*, Dawn Savery*, Dianne Gerrelli*, Massimo Signore, Claire E. Mitchell{dagger}, Clare H. Faux{ddagger}, Nicholas D. E. Greene and Andrew J. Copp§

Neural Development Unit, Institute of Child Health, University College London, 30 Guilford Street, London WC1N 1EH, UK.

§ Author for correspondence (e-mail: a.copp{at}ich.ucl.ac.uk)

Accepted 5 December 2006

Planar-cell-polarity (PCP) signalling is necessary for initiation of neural tube closure in higher vertebrates. In mice with PCP gene mutations, a broad embryonic midline prevents the onset of neurulation through wide spacing of the neural folds. In order to evaluate the role of convergent extension in this defect, we vitally labelled the midline of loop-tail (Lp) embryos mutant for the PCP gene Vangl2. Injection of DiI into the node, and electroporation of a GFP expression vector into the midline neural plate, revealed defective convergent extension in both axial mesoderm and neuroepithelium, before the onset of neurulation. Chimeras containing both wild-type and Lp-mutant cells exhibited mainly wild-type cells in the midline neural plate and notochordal plate, consistent with a cell-autonomous disturbance of convergent extension. Inhibitor studies in whole-embryo culture demonstrated a requirement for signalling via RhoA-Rho kinase, but not jun N-terminal kinase, in convergent extension and the onset of neural tube closure. These findings identify a cell-autonomous defect of convergent extension, requiring PCP signalling via RhoA-Rho kinase, during the development of severe neural tube defects in the mouse.

Key words: Mouse, Neurulation, Morphogenesis, Neural tube defects, Convergent extension, Planar cell polarity, Chimeras, Embryo culture


Related articles in Development:

PCP: mind the gap

Development 2007 134: e406. [Full Text]  



This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
M. J. Garcia-Garcia, M. Shibata, and K. V. Anderson
Chato, a KRAB zinc-finger protein, regulates convergent extension in the mouse embryo
Development, September 15, 2008; 135(18): 3053 - 3062.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home page
 DevelopmentHome page
T. Nishimura and M. Takeichi
Shroom3-mediated recruitment of Rho kinases to the apical cell junctions regulates epithelial and neuroepithelial planar remodeling
Development, April 15, 2008; 135(8): 1493 - 1502.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2007