Expression of Xkl-1, a Xenopus gene related to mammalian c-kit, in dorsal embryonic tissue.
In mice, the Kit receptor tyrosine kinase and its ligand, Steel factor, are required for melanogenesis, hematopoesis and gametogenesis We have identified a Xenopus gene, Xkl-1 (Xenopus Kit-like-1) whose predicted protein has striking sequence identity in the catalytic domain and kinase insert to that of c-kit. Xkl-1 is expressed only in dorsal tissues such as the nervous system, notochord and somites of neurulae. Ultraviolet irradiated embryos and animal caps treated with basic FGF unexpectedly express Xkl-1, since they are considered to develop only ventral type tissues. These observations raise the hypothesis that Xkl-1 is involved in Xenopus dorsal development and that dorsal tissues inhibit the expression of Xkl-1 in ventral structures.
Kao
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KR
Division of Molecular and Developmental Biology, Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Bernstein
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D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001483:Base Sequence; D002384:Catalysis; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology*; D005865:Gestational Age; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009115:Muridae / Q000235:genetics*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases / Q000235:genetics*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D012689:Sequence Homology, Nucleic Acid; D014982:Xenopus laevis / Q000235:genetics*
D020794:Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases