Heasman J, Crawford A, Goldstone K, Garner-Hamrick P, Gumbiner B, McCrea P, Kintner C, Noro C Y, Wylie C
Institute of Human Genetics, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis 55455.
Cell. 1994 Dec 2;79(5):791-803. doi: 10.1016/0092-8674(94)90069-8.
The cadherin-catenin complex has an important role in cell-cell adhesion and may also function in signaling pathways. We report that overexpression of three cadherin types in Xenopus embryos causes them to develop with reduced dorsal axial structures. The same phenotype is produced in embryos that have been depleted of maternal beta-catenin protein by an antisense oligodeoxynucleotide complementary to beta-catenin mRNA. They show an inhibition in the expression of dorsal mesodermal markers MyoD and goosecoid, but not of ventral and general mesodermal markers. They lack notochords, somites, and neural tubes and are defective in dorsal mesodermal signaling in Nieuwkoop assays. The phenotype can be rescued by the injection of beta-catenin mRNA and not by the injection of Xwnt-8 mRNA. These results show that beta-catenin has an important role in dorsal mesoderm induction. They directly demonstrate the activity of a maternal mRNA in axis specification.
钙黏蛋白-连环蛋白复合体在细胞间黏附中起重要作用，也可能在信号通路中发挥功能。我们报道，在非洲爪蟾胚胎中过表达三种钙黏蛋白类型会导致它们发育时背轴结构减少。通过与β-连环蛋白mRNA互补的反义寡脱氧核苷酸使母源β-连环蛋白蛋白缺失的胚胎也会产生相同的表型。它们表现出背侧中胚层标志物MyoD和鹅膏蕈氨酸抑制，但腹侧和一般中胚层标志物没有抑制。它们缺乏脊索、体节和神经管，并且在Nieuwkoop试验中背侧中胚层信号传导存在缺陷。通过注射β-连环蛋白mRNA可以挽救该表型，而注射Xwnt-8 mRNA则不能。这些结果表明，β-连环蛋白在背侧中胚层诱导中起重要作用。它们直接证明了母源mRNA在轴特化中的活性。
