Chordin Is Required for the Spemann Organizer Transplantation Phenomenon in Xenopus Embryos

We analyzed the Chordin requirement in Xenopus development. Targeting of both chordin Xenopus laevis pseudoalleles with morpholino antisense oligomers (Chd-MO) markedly decreased Chordin production. Embryos developed with moderately reduced dorsoanterior structures and expanded ventroposterior tissu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Developmental cell 2003-02, Vol.4 (2), p.219-230
Main Authors: Oelgeschläger, Michael, Kuroda, Hiroki, Reversade, Bruno, De Robertis, E.M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Activins - pharmacology
Animals
Cell Differentiation
Central Nervous System - metabolism
Embryo, Nonmammalian - metabolism
Embryonic Induction
Gastrula - physiology
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Glycoproteins - antagonists & inhibitors
Glycoproteins - physiology
Immunoenzyme Techniques
Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
Lithium - pharmacology
Mesoderm - metabolism
Morphogenesis - genetics
Morpholines - chemistry
Notochord - anatomy & histology
Notochord - physiology
Oligonucleotides, Antisense - pharmacology
Organ Transplantation
Organizers, Embryonic - physiology
Phenotype
Xenopus laevis - embryology
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Summary:We analyzed the Chordin requirement in Xenopus development. Targeting of both chordin Xenopus laevis pseudoalleles with morpholino antisense oligomers (Chd-MO) markedly decreased Chordin production. Embryos developed with moderately reduced dorsoanterior structures and expanded ventroposterior tissues, phenocopying the zebrafish chordino mutant. A strong requirement for Chordin in dorsal development was revealed by experimental manipulations. First, dorsalization by lithium chloride treatment was completely blocked by Chd-MO. Second, Chd-MO inhibited elongation and muscle differentiation in Activin-treated animal caps. Third, Chd-MO completely blocked the induction of the central nervous system (CNS), somites, and notochord by organizer tissue transplanted to the ventral side of host embryos. Unexpectedly, transplantations into the dorsal side revealed a cell-autonomous requirement of Chordin for neural plate differentiation.
ISSN:1534-5807
1878-1551
DOI:10.1016/S1534-5807(02)00404-5