The homeobox gene Pitx2: mediator of asymmetric left-right signaling in vertebrate heart and gut looping
- Authors
- Campione, M., Steinbeisser, H., Schweickert, A., Deissler, K., van Bebber, F., Lowe, L.A., Nowotschin, S., Viebahn, C., Haffter, P., Kuehn, M.R., and Blum, M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-130524-1
- Date
- 1999
- Source
- Development (Cambridge, England) 126(6): 1225-1234 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Haffter, Pascal, van Bebber, Frauke
- Keywords
- none
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Mice
- Amino Acid Sequence
- Zebrafish Proteins
- Vertebrates/embryology*
- Species Specificity
- Molecular Sequence Data
- Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
- Paired Box Transcription Factors
- Digestive System/embryology*
- Transcription Factors/metabolism*
- Heart/embryology*
- Homeodomain Proteins/metabolism*
- Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
- Nodal Protein
- Genes, Homeobox*
- Morphogenesis
- Transforming Growth Factor beta/biosynthesis
- Transforming Growth Factor beta/metabolism
- Xenopus Proteins
- Activins
- Tissue Distribution
- Inhibins/metabolism
- Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
- Zebrafish
- Xenopus
- Gastrula
- Abnormalities, Multiple/embryology
- Nuclear Proteins*
- Body Patterning*
- Cell Communication
- Mice, Mutant Strains
- PubMed
- 10021341 Full text @ Development
Left-right asymmetry in vertebrates is controlled by activities emanating from the left lateral plate. How these signals get transmitted to the forming organs is not known. A candidate mediator in mouse, frog and zebrafish embryos is the homeobox gene Pitx2. It is asymmetrically expressed in the left lateral plate mesoderm, tubular heart and early gut tube. Localized Pitx2 expression continues when these organs undergo asymmetric looping morphogenesis. Ectopic expression of Xnr1 in the right lateral plate induces Pitx2 transcription in Xenopus. Misexpression of Pitx2 affects situs and morphology of organs. These experiments suggest a role for Pitx2 in promoting looping of the linear heart and gut.