Chin A J, Chen Jau-Nian, Weinberg Eric S
Department of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania, School of Medicine and Cardiology Division, Children's Hospital, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA, , , , , , US.
Cardiovascular Research Center, Massachusetts General Hospital and Department of Medicine, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA, USA, , , , , , US.
Dev Genes Evol. 1997 Jul;207(2):107-114. doi: 10.1007/s004270050097.
We have cloned and examined the expression pattern of zebrafish bone morphogenetic protein-4 (BMP4) as a start to evaluating signals which might participate in the fashioning of organ systems in this genetically tractable species. The predicted sequence of the mature zebrafish protein is more than 75% identical to that of other vertebrates and 66% identical to Drosophila decapentaplegic (Dpp). As in other species, BMP4 is expressed ventrally during gastrulation, but the zebrafish is unusual in having an additional dorsal domain of expression. Subsequent BMP4 expression is especially prominent in sensory organs, fin buds, and in the gut, kidney, and heart. In all these sites, it becomes particularly enriched in regions of inductive demarcations. For example, expression initially extends through the entire heart tube but then becomes limited to the boundaries between cardiac chambers (sinus venosus-atrial junction, atrio-ventricular junction, and aortic root) prior to cushion formation. In early pectoral fin development, BMP4 is at first expressed uniformly but then becomes restricted to the mesenchyme subjacent to the apical ectodermal ridge. This suggests that among its roles in development, BMP4 serves as a signal in primordial outgrowth and also as a signal demarcating the borders within organs or structures where subspecializations occur.
我们已经克隆并检测了斑马鱼骨形态发生蛋白4（BMP4）的表达模式，以此作为评估可能参与塑造这种遗传上易于操作的物种器官系统的信号的开端。成熟斑马鱼蛋白的预测序列与其他脊椎动物的序列相似度超过75%，与果蝇的“短体节”（Dpp）相似度为66%。与其他物种一样，BMP4在原肠胚形成期间在腹侧表达，但斑马鱼的不同寻常之处在于它还有一个额外的背侧表达结构域。随后，BMP4在感觉器官、鳍芽以及肠道、肾脏和心脏中表达尤为突出。在所有这些部位，它在诱导分界区域特别富集。例如，其表达最初贯穿整个心管，但在垫形成之前，表达局限于心腔之间的边界（静脉窦-心房交界处、房室交界处和主动脉根部）。在早期胸鳍发育过程中，BMP4最初均匀表达，但随后局限于顶端外胚层嵴下方的间充质。这表明，在其发育过程中的作用中，BMP4既是原始生长中的信号，也是划分发生特化的器官或结构内边界的信号。
