The Tufts Center for Regenerative and Developmental Biology, and Biology Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts, USA.
Dev Dyn. 2011 Aug;240(8):1889-904. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.22685.
Using voltage and pH reporter dyes, we have discovered a never-before-seen regionalization of the Xenopus ectoderm, with cell subpopulations delimited by different membrane voltage and pH. We distinguished three courses of bioelectrical activity. Course I is a wave of hyperpolarization that travels across the gastrula. Course II comprises the appearance of patterns that match shape changes and gene expression domains of the developing face; hyperpolarization marks folding epithelium and both hyperpolarized and depolarized regions overlap domains of head patterning genes. In Course III, localized regions of hyperpolarization form at various positions, expand, and disappear. Inhibiting H(+) -transport by the H(+) -V-ATPase causes abnormalities in: (1) the morphology of craniofacial structures; (2) Course II voltage patterns; and (3) patterns of sox9, pax8, slug, mitf, xfz3, otx2, and pax6. We conclude that this bioelectric signal has a role in development of the face. Thus, it exemplifies an important, under-studied mechanism of developmental regulation.
利用电压和 pH 报告染料，我们发现了从未见过的非洲爪蟾外胚层分区，不同的细胞膜电压和 pH 界定了细胞亚群。我们区分了三种生物电活动过程。过程 I 是一个跨越原肠胚的超极化波。过程 II 包括与面部发育的形态变化和基因表达域相匹配的模式的出现；超极化标记折叠上皮，超极化和去极化区域重叠头模式基因的域。在过程 III 中，局部的超极化区域在不同的位置形成、扩展和消失。通过 H(+) -V-ATPase 抑制 H(+) 转运会导致：（1）头面部结构的形态异常；（2）过程 II 电压模式；以及（3）sox9、pax8、slug、mitf、xfz3、otx2 和 pax6 的模式异常。我们得出结论，这种生物电信号在面部发育中起作用。因此，它例证了一个重要的、研究不足的发育调节机制。
