PUBLICATION

Induction of a specific muscle cell type by a hedgehog-like protein in zebrafish

Authors
Currie, P.D. and Ingham, P.W.
ID
ZDB-PUB-961101-37
Date
1996
Source
Nature   382(6590): 452-455 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Currie, Peter D., Ingham, Philip
Keywords
none
MeSH Terms
  • Amino Acid Sequence
  • Animals
  • Binding Sites
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Embryonic Induction*
  • Hedgehog Proteins
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Muscles/embryology*
  • Mutation
  • Notochord/embryology*
  • Notochord/metabolism
  • Open Reading Frames
  • Phenotype
  • Proteins/genetics
  • Proteins/physiology
  • Recombinant Fusion Proteins/pharmacology
  • Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
  • Signal Transduction
  • Trans-Activators*
  • Zebrafish
PubMed
8684485 Full text @ Nature
Abstract
The notochord plays a central role in vertebrate development, acting as a signalling source that patterns the neural tube and somites. In in vitro assays, the secreted protein Sonic hedgehog mimics the inducing effects of notochord on both presomitic mesoderm and neural plate explants of amniote embryos, suggesting that both patterning activities of the notochord may be mediated by this protein in vivo. In zebrafish, however, mutants with disrupted notochord development lack a specific muscle cell type, the muscle pioneers, although they retain the ability to induce neural differentiation, raising the possibility that neural tube and somite patterning may be mediated by distinct signals. Here we describe a new member of the hedgehog family, echidna hedgehog, that is expressed exclusively in the notochord and has the ability to rescue the differentiation of muscle pioneer cells in mutants with no notochord. Moreover, we show that a combination of ectopic echidna hedgehog and sonic hedgehog expression induces supernumary muscle pioneers in wild-type embryos, suggesting that both signals act sequentially to pattern the developing somites.
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Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
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Mapping