Wang Jin-Hu, Ding Xiao-Yan
Institute of Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai 200031, China.
Acta Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 2006 Nov;38(11):759-64. doi: 10.1111/j.1745-7270.2006.00226.x.
During vertebrate embryogenesis, presomitic mesoderm cells enter a segmental program to generate somite, a process termed somitogenesis. Mespo, a member of the bHLH transcription factor family, plays important roles in this process. However, how Mespo expression is regulated remains unclear. To address this question, we isolated a genomic DNA sequence containing 4317 bp of Mespo 5' flanking region in Xenopus. Luciferase assays show that this upstream sequence has transcription activity. Transgenic assay shows that this genomic contig is sufficient to recapitulate the dynamic stage- and tissue-specific expression pattern of endogenous Mespo from the gastrula to the tailbud stage. We further mapped a 326 bp DNA sequence responding to retinoic acid signaling. These results shed light on how Mespo expression is regulated, and suggest that retinoic acid signaling pathways play roles in somitogenesis through regulating Mespo.
在脊椎动物胚胎发生过程中，体节中胚层细胞进入一个节段性程序以生成体节，这一过程称为体节发生。Mespo是bHLH转录因子家族的成员，在这一过程中发挥重要作用。然而，Mespo的表达是如何调控的仍不清楚。为了解决这个问题，我们在非洲爪蟾中分离出一段包含Mespo 5'侧翼区域4317 bp的基因组DNA序列。荧光素酶检测表明该上游序列具有转录活性。转基因检测表明该基因组重叠群足以重现从原肠胚到尾芽期内源性Mespo动态的阶段和组织特异性表达模式。我们进一步定位了一段响应视黄酸信号的326 bp DNA序列。这些结果揭示了Mespo的表达是如何调控的，并表明视黄酸信号通路通过调控Mespo在体节发生中发挥作用。
