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First published online March 1, 2007

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Metamorphosis - the end of a tail

How a tadpole metamorphoses into an adult is a captivating process. But how does the tail disappear? Now Chambon et al., on p. 1203, identify a gene network together with a cell-cell communication protein called Ci-sushi that are required for apoptosis in the regressing tail of Ciona tadpoles. From a microarray expression profiling analysis of Ciona larvae treated with inhibitors of the MAP kinase and JNK pathways, which regulate apoptosis, these investigators uncovered a network of genes that show expression changes during metamorphosis. Ci-sushi, one such gene, is expressed in the tail epithelia and is downregulated by JNK inhibitors - when knocked down by a morpholino, tail cell death and regression are prevented. The authors propose that JNK activity in the CNS (which escapes cell death) causes apoptosis in adjacent cells through Ci-sushi activity. Given their basic chordate body plan, similar studies of Ciona larvae might shed light on the regulation of apoptosis in other vertebral column tissues, such as the neural tube.

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Related articles in Development:

ERK- and JNK-signalling regulate gene networks that stimulate metamorphosis and apoptosis in tail tissues of ascidian tadpoles

Jean-Philippe Chambon, Akie Nakayama, Katsumi Takamura, Alex McDougall, and Noriyuki Satoh
Development 2007 134: 1203-1219. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?