title: Protein kinase C mediates neural induction in Xenopus laevis.
abstract: Inductive cell interactions are essential in early embryonic development, but virtually nothing is known about the molecular mechanisms involved. Recently factors resembling fibroblast growth factor and transforming growth factor-beta were shown to be involved in mesoderm induction in Xenopus laevis, suggesting that membrane receptor-mediated signal transduction is important in induction processes. Here we report direct measurements of protein kinase C (PKC) activity in uninduced ectoderm, and in neuroectoderm shortly after induction by the involuting mesoderm, in Xenopus laevis embryos. Membrane-bound PKC activity increased three to fourfold in the induced neuroectoderm while the cytosolic PKC activity was decreasing, indicating that PKC activity was translocated during neural induction. A similar time- and dose-dependent translocation of activity was seen after incubation with the PKC activator 12-O-tetradecanoyl phorbol-13-acetate, which also induced neural tissue in competent ectoderm, suggesting that PKC is involved in the response to the endogenous inducing signal during neural induction.
authors.affiliation: Hubrecht Laboratory, Netherlands Institute for Developmental Biology, Utrecht.
authors.forename: A P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Otte
authors.forename: C H
authors.initials: CH
authors.lastname: Koster
authors.forename: G T
authors.initials: GT
authors.lastname: Snoek
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Durston
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004305:Dose-Response Relationship, Drug; D004475:Ectoderm / Q000187:drug effects; D004627:Embryonic Induction; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D011493:Protein Kinase C / Q000502:physiology*; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate / Q000494:pharmacology; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000196:embryology
chemical_list: D011493:Protein Kinase C; D013755:Tetradecanoylphorbol Acetate