spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif spacer gif
QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced]


spacer gif
     Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents    

First published online 8 October 2008
doi: 10.1242/dev.027284

Development 135, 3655-3664 (2008)
Published by The Company of Biologists 2008
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.027284v1
135/22/3655    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 Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Kazanskaya, O.
Right arrow Articles by Niehrs, C.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Kazanskaya, O.
Right arrow Articles by Niehrs, C.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Wnt signaling regulator R-spondin 3 promotes angioblast and vascular development

Olga Kazanskaya1,*, Bisei Ohkawara1,*, Melanie Heroult2, Wei Wu1,3, Nicole Maltry, Hellmut G. Augustin2 and Christof Niehrs1,{dagger}

1 Division of Molecular Embryology, German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
2 Division of Vascular Oncology and Metastasis, Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg, and German Cancer Research Center, Im Neuenheimer Feld 581, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
3 Department of Biological Sciences and Biotechnology, Tsinghua University, 100084 Beijing, P. R. China.

{dagger} Author for correspondence (e-mail: niehrs{at}dkfz-heidelberg.de)

Accepted 8 September 2008

The vertebrate embryonic vasculature develops from angioblasts, which are specified from mesodermal precursors and develop in close association with blood cells. The signals that regulate embryonic vasculogenesis and angiogenesis are incompletely understood. Here, we show that R-spondin 3 (Rspo3), a member of a novel family of secreted proteins in vertebrates that activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling, plays a key role in these processes. In Xenopus embryos, morpholino antisense knockdown of Rspo3 induces vascular defects because Rspo3 is essential for regulating the balance between angioblast and blood cell specification. In mice, targeted disruption of Rspo3 leads to embryonic lethality caused by vascular defects. Specifically in the placenta, remodeling of the vascular plexus is impaired. In human endothelial cells, R-spondin signaling promotes proliferation and sprouting angiogenesis in vitro, indicating that Rspo3 can regulate endothelial cells directly. We show that vascular endothelial growth factor is an immediate early response gene and a mediator of R-spondin signaling. The results identify Rspo3 as a novel, evolutionarily conserved angiogenic factor in embryogenesis.

Key words: R-spondin, VEGF, Placenta, Vasculogenesis, Wnt, Xenopus, Mouse


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Signals for a good blood supply

Development 2008 135: e2204. [Full Text]  





© The Company of Biologists Ltd 2008