Default neural induction: neuralization of dissociated Xenopus cells is mediated by Ras/MAPK activation

Xenopus embryonic ectodermal cells dissociated for three or more hours differentiate into neural tissue instead of adopting their normal epidermal fate. This default type of neural induction occurs in the absence of Spemann's organizer signals and is thought to be caused by the dilution of endo...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Genes & development 2005-05, Vol.19 (9), p.1022-1027
Main Authors: Kuroda, Hiroki, Fuentealba, Luis, Ikeda, Atsushi, Reversade, Bruno, De Robertis, E M
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Animals
Blotting, Western
Bone Morphogenetic Proteins - metabolism
Cell Differentiation - physiology
DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism
Ectoderm - cytology
Ectoderm - physiology
Embryonic Induction - physiology
Enzyme Activation - physiology
Extracellular Signal-Regulated MAP Kinases - metabolism
Nervous System - embryology
Oligonucleotides
ras Proteins - metabolism
Research Communications
Signal Transduction - physiology
Smad Proteins
Staining and Labeling
Trans-Activators - metabolism
Xenopus - embryology
Xenopus Proteins
Citations: Items that this one cites
Items that cite this one
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Xenopus embryonic ectodermal cells dissociated for three or more hours differentiate into neural tissue instead of adopting their normal epidermal fate. This default type of neural induction occurs in the absence of Spemann's organizer signals and is thought to be caused by the dilution of endogenous BMPs into the culture medium. Unexpectedly, we observed that BMP ligands continue to signal in dissociated cells. Instead, cell dissociation induces a sustained activation of the Ras/MAPK pathway, which causes the phosphorylation of Smad1 at sites that inhibit the activity of this transcription factor. It is this activation of Ras/MAPK that is required for neuralization in dissociated ectoderm.
ISSN:0890-9369
1549-5477
DOI:10.1101/gad.1306605