Landesman Yosef, Goodenough Daniel A, Paul David L
Department of Neurobiology, Harvard Medical School, 220 Longwood Ave., Boston, MA 02115, USA.
Biochim Biophys Acta. 2002 Jul 19;1576(3):265-8. doi: 10.1016/s0167-4781(02)00344-5.
Xwnt-2 (formerly Xwnt-2b) is a member of the Xwnt-8 class of axis-inducing Wnts. Its zygotic expression is at the prosencephalic-mesencephalic border of the early tadpole brain and above the heart primordium [Mech. Dev. 63 (1997) 199]. Here, we report that Xwnt-2 has an earlier, maternal pattern of expression. It is detected in the oocyte, egg and the developing embryo. Studies of the spatial localization of maternal Xwnt-2 show transcripts in both vegetal and animal blastomeres with enrichment in the animal hemisphere. The identification of maternal Xwnt-2 raises questions about possible roles of dorsalizing Xwnts in axial patterning of the Xenopus embryo.
Xwnt-2（原Xwnt-2b）是诱导轴形成的Wnt蛋白中Xwnt-8类的成员。其合子表达位于早期蝌蚪脑的前脑-中脑边界以及心脏原基上方[《发育机制》63(1997)199]。在此，我们报道Xwnt-2具有更早的母源性表达模式。在卵母细胞、卵子和发育中的胚胎中均可检测到它。对母源性Xwnt-2空间定位的研究表明，转录本在植物性和动物性卵裂球中均有，且在动物半球富集。母源性Xwnt-2的鉴定引发了关于背侧化Xwnt蛋白在非洲爪蟾胚胎轴向模式形成中可能作用的疑问。
